Christmas at Disneyland!

We surprised the kids and took them to Disneyland over Christmas Break.  It was hard to get everything packed and ready without telling them.  It had also been 10 years since we had been there so they weren't as excited as we hoped when we told them.  K said she'd rather go see Grandpa.  Once they got there though, they had a BLAST!  N's favorite ride was California Screamin' (Yes, that's my 7 year old for ya!  The day after Christmas we drove to L.A.  It took twice a long as we anticipated because of traffic and road construction).  There we went shopping at the American Girl Store while the big boys saw The Hobbit.  Now K tells me every day that we should get in the car and drive to Disneyland again.  :)

Telling them and arriving

 

 The Rides

 

 

 The Characters

 

 The Princesses

 

The Food!



The Shopping

5 kids + 15 hours + 1 car equals...

We make a trek down to Arizona at least once a year to visit our extended families.  Every year I try and fit everything I can into the van and plan out ways to survive the trip.  Here's the Grand Plan - I don't always get it ALL done but I try my best.

Road Trip Survival Ideas
· Fill up clean car with gas and clean the house because there's nothing better than coming home to a clean home after a long car trip. 
· Rent books on CD from the library and put on my iPhone.  Since I'm LDS aka Mormon, I also  like to listen to General Conference. 
· Fill balloons with play dough for squishy fun.
· With a cheap $1 picture album, make a Family Photo book so kids can remember names/faces of aunts/uncles/cousins.
· Pipe Cleaner creations
· File folder games
· Board Books for toddlers, bigger books for older kids
· Lacing Cards
· Glow sticks for nighttime
· Divider sheet with sticky Velcro – sticks to car roof perfectly for a sun shade or it can stop the “they’re looking at me!"      
· Bibs for toddlers because they will spill and you don't want to arrive looking like you survived a wreck.
· Dry snacks: raisins, popcorn, crackers, dried fruit, apple chips, cereal, jerky, chocolate chips, cheerios, pretzels, goldfish, marshmallows, m&ms, fortune cookies, mini oreos, ring pops, make fruit loop necklaces, suckers, dried fruit and fruit snacks. 
(KIDS FAVORITES:  Make a smores mix by filling snack size baggies with Teddy grahams, chocolate chips and mini marshmallows.  Make a caramel apple mix by doing dried apples and Kraft caramel bits.  Trail mix with m&ms, pretzels and peanuts.)
· Seatbelt strap pillow for napping toddlers.
· Personalized water bottles with their name and picture on it using packing tape
· Label inside of kids shoes with name and phone number
· “Don’t get lost” necklace (Put emergency contact info on a necklace under toddler's clothes)
· Eye-spy game with TP tube binoculars and duct tape.
· Friendship bracelet kit for my daughter to work on.
· Road Trip pillowcase with handle to carry and a pocket on one side for a book
· Chargers and electronics only after working equal time on Scouting or Faith in God. 
· Rent XBOX game from redbox – I love that my van can do this!  Movie on one side and game on the other side of the screen. 
· Old DVD case turned into a coloring kit (paper on one side, colored pencils on the other)
· Put each outfit in a large ziploc bag with socks and accessories
· Trash bags in a lidded plastic cereal container so trash is contained

Parade of Homes - continued

More pictures since blogger stopped me on the last post.

Parade of Homes

This is very picture heavy - I apologize in advance. 10 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms. Sleeps 28 in beds plus 8 Costco sleeping mats for kids loft. Time for a family reunion! We won "Best Layout" and will find out later if we won People's Choice award. We had some amazing competition. It was fun being in the Parade of Homes. Now we can relax, right? :)

December Recap

She's crawling which means this is all you're going to get because she's getting into stuff again.

P.S. We had a fun week-long winter break at our cabin Bear Lake (that's where this video was shot)

November Recap

Almost every year we go down to Arizona to visit with both sides of our extended families. Thanksgiving Day is with my family and the day after is Young Thanksgiving at my SIL's house. The kids love playing with their cousins and we really enjoy the warmer weather. We've also rode in El Tour de Tucson a couple of times which is always held the weekend before Turkey Day. It's a great ride for a great cause and it's well-supported. This year I did the 40 miler and Troy did the 109 miler, and we both didn't train nearly as much as we should have, like... next to nothing. We just did not have time. But my dad convinced us to stick to it. I rode with my cousin Julie. We drove up just as the 40-milers were starting, traffic was backed up so we were late. Oops. So I put the car in reverse and drove a couple hundred yards to the closest parking lot. :) We jumped out, got on our bikes and started the race without ever going across the offical starting line. A mile into it we ran into my dad and Troy who were doing the 109 miler together. The were exhausted at that point but I had to get back to my baby ASAP so I kept going. My brother Mark was doing awesome and was quite a ways ahead and we thought for sure he'd finish first. I tried to keep up with Julie but she trained for this and was hopping on the back of people's tails to draft and I can only draft behind people I trust so she lost me after 10 miles. I kept going. Then about 15 miles from the finish I see the shirt of my brother Mark. I almost spanked him coming up from behind but didn't want him to crash into me. LOL He had gotten leg cramps and was hurting. I couldn't go much faster so we stuck together and I pulled him for 5 miles. At one point we pulled over, let our bikes down and laid down on our backs on the sidewalk. We were beat. It was fun to ride together and finish together. My dad and Troy weren't too far behind so we hung around for a picture. My cousin Julie came in first - she's amazing! She's also getting married on 1/1/11 and I couldn't be happier for her. Before she left to go home we made sure to ride our favorite bike ride - the Saguaro National Monument East Loop. It's like a Disneyland ride on a bike. I LOVE it!

Terrific Time in Tucson

I'm warning you now, this is long and has lots of pictures. Ready? :)

I took the kids out of school (along with their homework) and we all went to Tucson for over a week. The kids did their reading in the car between field trips and they were good about practicing piano every day. J even learned how to play a new song from his cousins "Star Wars" music book.

We drove down all day Thursday and got in after midnight so we slept in for Z's birthday on Friday. We went and picked up our Tucson Attractions passports at Park Place (this saved us over $40) and played there for awhile then saw Inkheart since he's read all the books. I want to go read the books now, the movie was very interesting. Then we picked up his cake and icecream (I love Costco) then had a party with family and friends. It was fun visiting with everyone!

Saturday was my neice's baptism and what a special day it was. I should have taken more pictures but was too caught up in the moment. I made this exploding box and had some beaded crocheted white socks inside with a poem tag.

Sunday we got up early to drive to St. David for morning church then hung out with them and the rest of the Young side. We played a new game Wits and Wagers that was fun.

Monday we went with my brother's family to Kartchner Kaverns. This is hands down the best cave I've ever been too and very well protected. I only wish we could've taken pictures inside. Next time we'll do the other room that wasn't open. The Rotunda/Throne room was outstanding. After lunch we headed to St. David to help paint/re-model a bit then back to Tucson for FHE with Greg & Misty and their kids and my other brother Mark & his new wife Michelle and their new puppy Hank joined us.

Tuesday we went to the International Wildlife Museum, San Xavier Mission del Bac (picture below) and the Tucson Children's Museum. We'll definitely go to the Children's Museum again and we'll remember to bring quarters for parking. Took us 5 minutes to search the car for coins! :)


Wednesday we drove way over to tour the Biosphere 2. So cool! I've always wanted to go. We brought along our lunch every day and this saved us a lot of money as well. That afternoon we went to the Tucson Botanical Gardens. The Butterfly Magic exhibit was the best. Definitely worth the extra $ and we got some cute pictures, learned about composting and saw a mutated saguaro.

Thursday we went to Sabino Canyon (they ONLY take cash and no, they don't have an ATM anywhere closeby) and rode the tram all the way up for the tourist info then stopped at shuttle stop 6 for a picnic lunch and played in the water. The boys found a little cavern they had fun playing in. Later we headed over to Reid Park Zoo and saw an albino (white) peacock with its feathers displayed. It took my breath away.

Friday I starting working in the kitchen since my SIL wants to remodel the house while my parents are on their mission in Chile. I hate wallpaper... That afternoon we drove to Safford for a Surprise Birthday Party for my 85 year old father-in-law. Boy were they surprised to see us again. They thought we drove home. All part of the surprise plan... Troy got this funny picture since everytime I tried to take a picture, my MIL had her eyes closed.


Saturday I spent the whole day stripping... wallpaper. :) I did take a break halfway for lunch. I grabbed my kids and 2 of my brother's kids and we got lunch at Eegee's (yummm) and ate over at Aqua Caliente Park.

Sunday I woke up at 5am, and after trying to go back to sleep I got up at 6am and we left by 8am to drove home. We got in about 8:30pm. I missed my pillow... and my showerhead... and my laundry detergent.

OK, I'm done. Now I need a vacation to relax from all this vacationing. :)