The Vacation

 

Planning

We were bound and determined to find the best deals we could for this vacation.  It isn’t that were cheap, so much as we hate getting worked over.  We saved a ton of money by getting discounted tickets to the theme parks through our friends (thanks Tiffanie and Lyle).  My brother twisted our arms to stay with them while we were near Disneyland (not too much twisting necessary, and hopefully a mistake they do not regret too soon); thanks so much for being such incredible hosts.  All that was left was to find our San Diego hotel.  We scoured the internet and looked at what must’ve been hundreds of pictures until we came to this:

We immediately burst out into laughter.  A double-take confirmed it.  This hotel offered a “short stature kit” in its rooms.  Otherwise known as a STOOL!  We almost booked it for that reason alone.  We especially thought it was great that it featured the Mom from the “Little People, Big World” reality show.  In the end, all of these features were not enough to earn our business and we decided on somewhere else.

Day 1-Driving

We left in the morning (barely) of the 26th.  We spent all day driving.  We also stopped to get gas, and go potty.  Three DVDs watched, two books read, many travel games played.  Arrived at my brother and sister-in-laws house at 10:49PM (their time, not ours).

Day 2 & 3 – Disneyland

We loved our two days in Disneyland.  We rode all the rides and were sure to see ALL of the shows.  We even walked through the shops of downtown Disney.  The kids both became Jedis (after a failed attempt or two) and defeated Darth Vader with their light-sabers.  We met The Mouse that started it all, and we had a great time.  Disneyland seems to hold a special magic (at least to me), but it is even more amazing at Christmastime.  They are not afraid to use the word “Christmas” or to celebrate its traditions.  The kids loved all the rides that one might think they would be scared of (splash mtn., space mtn., thunder mtn., Matterhorn, etc.).  The park was busy, but we ended up being able to do everything that we wanted.  While waiting in one line, a British gentlemen asked, “is it some kind of American holiday today?”  I replied, “no, people just tend to celebrate and relax between Christmas and New Year’s.”  He said, “I would have thought you would all be holidayed out with your American Thanksgiving and Christmas so close together.”  I said, “no, we look forward to New Year’s as well.” He just nodded.  I couldn’t help but think that his kind of logic is probably what caused us to win the Revolutionary War.  He doesn’t understand us at all.  We will take EVERY opportunity to relax that is given to us! (the picture of Ady’s face on Splash Mountain is priceless).

 

Day 4 – Playing and Puking

We scheduled a relaxing day with my brother, sister-in-law, and kids for Wednesday, knowing we’d be out so late at Disneyland.  The resting was interrupted by Treven throwing up at around 3AM and not really stopping until 6PM.  We still had a great time relaxing while the kids played with their cousins…..and their washing machine cleaned the mess off Treven’s sleeping bag.  In the late afternoon we said goodbye to our family and set off for San Diego.  We settled into our hotel and went to sleep. 

 

Day 5 – San Diego Zoo

We loved spending time at the San Diego Zoo.  It is so much bigger and better than our local zoo (not that we don’t appreciate ours though).  We loved the double-decker bus tour, the sky ride, and seeing all the different animals.  We especially loved seeing the koalas, polar bears, panda bears, and other animals not available to us here.  While we were there, we also got a call from my brother informing us that our newest niece was born, my parent’s 20TH! grandchild. It was a great day at the zoo.

Later that night, while lying in bed, I began to feel the same kind of sickness which had affected Treven the morning before.  I rushed to the bathroom and took care of business immediately.  Afterwards, I thought a warm shower might help.  When I came out at 2AM, I smelled a not so delightful smell.  I asked the kids, “did someone have an accident in the bed?” A sweet, sleeping little girl, with eyes still shut, simply raised her hand.  The pajamas and undies were a total loss and were promptly bagged and thrown in the outside garbage.  We bagged all the sheets before tossing them in the hall and calling the front desk.  It seriously looked as though our little girl had taken up mud wrestling.  So disgusting and only now funny.  I began to feel okay by morning and decent by late afternoon.  Ady seemed to be fine after 5PM that night.  The only one not affected by this 24 hr. kind of flu was Mom, who instead decided to fight a cold during the second portion of our vacation.

 

Day 6 & 7 - Sea World

Treven and I headed to Sea World on Friday as scheduled.  Mom and Ady decided it might be best if they stay at the hotel and rest (although they were not excited about it).  I was starting to mostly feel better, but I had to push myself.  I didn’t eat anything the whole day, but Treven sure did.  I got him the all you can eat pass at Sea World that day.  He could eat as much as he wanted at any diner within Sea World.  I think we got our money’s worth.  Mom and Ady joined us in the evening after I kept texting to tell them about the amazing shows (it helped that they were feeling quite a bit better by then).  We loved all the shows from the sea lions to Shamu, and the Blue Horizon dolphin show.  We originally were only going to use one day of our two-day pass.  After seeing all there was to offer, we decided to spend the morning of our first travel day back at Sea World as well.  It was worth every minute, although we made sure to stay away from the “soak zones.”

 

Day 7 – First Leg Home

We originally were going to try to drive to St. George before stopping.  After spending time in Sea World we settled on Vegas.  We had no reservations at any hotels.  We decided to do something we had never done before.  Hotwire.com advertises the best hotels at the best rates….too good for the hotels to publish.  The closer you are to your arrival time the better because hotels want to sell their un-booked rooms. Since we were in Vegas, we felt like gambling!  We clicked on a 4-star hotel with all the amenities for our family for something like $55/night (on a weekend mind you).  We ran the card and looked for straight 7s.  We were pleasantly surprised to find we had scored an amazing room at the Hilton Las Vegas.  Our room was really nice and included everything.  We felt like we had beat the house that night.

 

Day 8 – End of the Line

We woke up at our leisure and enjoyed our morning in our hotel room.  The kids especially enjoyed the enormous tub first thing in the morning.  We gassed up the car and headed home.  The trip had been, fun, amazing, tiring, but most of all a great family vacation.  We were blessed with great weather throughout our vacation.  The weather was 63-70 degrees and sunny almost every day except our rest day; when it didn’t matter anyway.  Imagine the shock to our system when we glanced up at the mirror to see 17 degrees smiling back at us, just before stepping out into the Utah air.  It could be that it was less shocking than seeing our gas costs in Utah (avg. $2.71/gal) jump to a $3.25/gal. average in California.  We were truly blessed with no car trouble, great roads, and complete safety………well, except for Ady getting wrestled off the bed by Treven and hitting her head….AND the time Treven jumped off the bed and fell into the dresser at the hotel, but neither left any permanent scarring.  That is what I call a successful vacation!  

• The kids were playing travel size games (guess who?, battleship, connect4) in the car.  Treven kept losing, and he really does not like to lose.  He said, “Hey Ady, how about we don’t keep score.”  We inquired to see if that was because he kept losing, and found out it was.  We explained that we know it is hard to lose, but we need to be happy for others when they win, even if we don’t.  Ady then said, “yeah, Treven, I am happy for you when you win…(long pause)…..sort of.”
• Treven snooped at the hotel bill the moment they slid it under the door in San Diego.  I came in from loading the car to see him reading it.  He asked if hotels really cost that much.  I said “yes”, but explained that he shouldn’t be worrying about things like that.  While driving past the hotel on our journey home from Sea World, I said, “there goes our hotel, see you later.”  Treven piped up and said, “yeah, see you later hotel, thanks for taking $____(the bill amount) of our dollars.

 

 

Christmas 2010

 

 

 

 

This year we got a real Christmas tree.  This was the first time in my whole life that I have had a real Christmas tree.  It was a lot of fun going to the tree lot as a family and picking out our special tree.  It totally beat doing the grunt work of hefting the fake one up the stairs.  It was also fun to have the pine smell throughout our house.  I was all for a pre-lit fake tree originally, but since Ashley wanted a real one and she was willing to put on the lights (my least favorite part of decorating a tree), I was all for it.

This year, the kids seemed disappointed to see that they each only received one small toy.  They mostly opened clothes from Mom and Dad.  We then opened stockings as a family before we brought out what Santa had brought.  Santa brought what appeared to be a simple Mickey and Minnie snow globe.  Attached to the top of the box, a little bit hidden, was the above pictured letter.  The kids got a personalized letter from Santa on his personal stationary.

The letter read as follows:

Last night I came to visit while your parents were fast asleep,

The stockings were hung by the chimney and your presents were in a heap.

I took out my “naughty and nice” list and looked to find your names

And soon discovered you’ll both receive something more than just games.

For girls and boys that are EXTRA good, I sometimes give a special gift,

I hope you hold on tight, your first DISNEYLAND ride might be swift.

Your tickets are bought and paid for, simply enter at the gate,

Say “hi” to Mickey and Minnie, next Monday is the date.

Your Mom and Dad agreed, that you deserved this too,

So they agreed to drive you, to where your dreams come true.

The adventure that awaits you, is not simply a cartoon,

It is something so fun and amazing, it will send you to the moon.

Remember I’m always watching, over my little girls and boys,

Those that are good can get, some wonderful, awesome toys.

I’ll see you in another year, don’t forget to hold someone’s hand,

When you are on your adventure, running through Disneyland!

Ho-Ho-Ho, Merry Christmas

Love,

Mr. C

 

The kids seemed to be in shock as they read the letter.  They didn’t know how to respond.  We then explained that we were leaving the next morning and heading to California.  We would spend two days in Disneyland/California Adventure.  After a day to rest in-between, we would then head to San Diego and spend one day at the San Diego Zoo and the next day at Sea World before beginning the drive back home.  It was a fun Christmas Day and the kids were really excited to get going.  While Mom has been to Disneyland at least 10 times, Dad has only been at age 8 and 14.  The kids have NEVER been to any of the amusement parks.  They are genuine first timers!  Even Mom and Dad were excited to head back to Sea World and the San Diego Zoo after over 20 years since our last visits.

Christmas Tradition

We began a new family Christmas tradition this year.  We decided that just before Christmas each year, we would go as a family to see a Christmas play, concert, etc.  This year we chose the symphony.  The symphony, as always, was amazing.  The kids really enjoyed it.  We especially thought Santa’s antics while guest conducting the symphony were funny.  There were even trains all set up in the lobby for us to see.  After the symphony, we finished off our afternoon by heading to Noodles & Co. for lunch.

Park City Weekend

October has been a fun month for our family.  Last weekend, Kent’s parents were generous, as always, and offered us a free night in Park City at their time share.  I was so excited to be surrounded by the fall colors because I know winter is approaching fast.

The time share was so nice with six outdoor hot tubs!

Our two rooms were separated by a living and dining area.  Our room had a HUGE tub.  It was divine.

The time share even had activities for the kids.  We played table tennis outside for hours.

We played life size chess as well.

For lunch on Saturday, we went to one of my favorite places to eat in Park City. It’s on Main Street and called Pizza and Noodles.  They have the best barbecue chicken pizza I’ve ever eaten. 

After lunch, we walked through some of the art galleries.  I wanted to show Ady how art can be made from a variety of mediums and I know Treven loves museums and would be interested too. 

Before we left Park City we stopped at the cute bookstore on main street.  It is so cozy and I love walking in every time I visit.  I knew Ady would love to see it because of the two cats that live in the store.

After our Park City adventures and church on Sunday, we went over to Grandpa’s to pick pumpkins.  Grandpa always plants enough pumpkins for each of his grand kids and it is tradition that the youngest pick first. 

Grandpa’s pumpkin patch is better than any pumpkin patch around because you always have to take a picture with Grandpa after you’ve picked your pumpkin!

We gladly carved our pumpkins for our Family Home Evening activity.  They aren’t the most elaborate but we like the homemade look the best.

We had such a great weekend thanks to Grandma and Grandpa!

Goodbye, Hello, Goodbye

VW Jetta

For some time before we got married, we talked about selling Ashley’s car.  The payment was a little higher then we liked, and rather then refinance it for longer, we thought maybe we should instead plan for the future by getting a larger vehicle.  I wanted to make sure Ashley was okay with all of this as well, especially since this was her first vehicle.  She had bought it on her own and it had ALL the options. We put it on KSL classifieds and less than a week later, we said our goodbyes. We had our other car and an old truck that I have had for years, but do not drive very often.  Our plan was to take plenty of time and not rush into anything.  Ashley could drive the car, I could begin driving the truck and we could take our time to make a great deal, all the while saving money. We wanted a three-row SUV, but we wanted something really inexpensive as well.  We were fairly resigned to the fact that we would probably meet our match in the dreaded mini-van category.  Nevertheless, we were going to take our time……that is until I mentioned our recent success selling our car through KSL to a friend.  He asked, “now what are you going to get to replace it?” I told him some of the SUVs we were considering, but explained the likelihood of a mini-van.  That is when everything changed.

 

Chevrolet Tahoe

He mentioned that he had a relative that REALLY needed to get rid of their car (before a repossession could take place).  It happened to be this beauty above.  We got an AMAZING deal on it.  In fact our deal was so great that if current values stay the same, we could drive this thing for two years and then sell it and STILL make money on it.  I love this car, and I think Ashley is slowly starting to have a relationship with it, even though she feels like she is on the rebound from her last car relationship. This car gives us everything we need.  It was inexpensive, is a safe vehicle, and we have room to grow (this post is not an announcement) as a family.  In the bonus category, it has every option imaginable, and it tows the boat and all our camping gear up over Parley’s Canyon at 75+ MPH.  I admit I am more excited than Ashley is, but we are both excited that we were so blessed with such an amazing purchase.  

 

 

 

1972 Ford F-100 Truck

 

“Big Yellow” 

 

 

 

We also came to the decision that we really do not need three cars right now.  Part of the problem is parking all three of them.  We also did not need the added cost of insurance, maintenance, etc.  Huge gaps of time have passed between our old truck being driven.  I came to the conclusion that I would much rather someone have this old beauty then allowing it to rot away.  I was sure there was someone who could get more use out of it, and could value it more than I currently was.  So, shortly after we got the Tahoe, I put the old truck up for sale on KSL.  Within 15 minutes I had six phone calls.  I placed the truck on there at a horrible time.  I thought it might be a couple of days before it really got attention, and that was fine because I was busy for a couple of days before I could really show anyone.  I was wrong! Two people called before I even finished the ad.  It took only three days, mostly because I was letting the calls, texts, and e-mails go to voicemail.  For some reason, while not answering any phone calls, I decided to answer just one.  It was from a man in a rural area who really wanted to fix this truck up with his 15 year old son.  The next day, he showed up with a trailer and claimed his new truck.  Apparently, the kid’s affectionate name of “Big Yellow” will not remain for long.  He plans to paint it Satin black with heavy chrome accents.  I can’t wait to see the progress (he apparently is going to post pictures on Face book).  In the end, I am glad it went to a good person with plans to care for it.  All in all, I had 57 phone calls in the three days (not from the same people) and there were over 1200 page views on KSL.  We are now excited to have our car dealing days behind us for a while.  We will miss our old truck, but maybe in 9-10 years, another son and his Dad will find an old truck to fix up together.

Unscripted and Unplugged

• I asked the kids where Ashley was when we were in a store.  Ady said she knew right where she was and led us right to her.  I asked her how she knew where she was.  Ady proclaimed, “Super Ady knows everything!” This made Treven respond with, “oh yeah, what is 5,216 + 922?”  Ady then responded with “I mean everything about where people are Treven!”
• Treven was playing soccer with some friends.  The soccer ball was kicked and hit Treven hard, squarely in the chest.  Just when I thought he was going to start crying, he said, “wow, that felt weird on my heart,” then he shrugged and went back to playing.
• We hung out with some friends a couple of months ago.  The kids were all downstairs watching a “Spy Kids 2” while we talked.  Our friend went down the stairs to check on the kids.  At the end, the girl is dancing around with a tiny bit of her stomach flesh showing.  We were told that all four boys seemed to be mesmerized when one suddenly piped up and said (in a somewhat lustful way), “I REALLY like her belt!” Luckily that one was NOT Treven. 
• We were going somewhere and Treven wanted to use the GPS.  It kept directing us a different way then I wanted to go, which I knew was slower.  I told the kids it was fine and that the GPS was wrong.  Finally Treven could take no more.  He said, “do you want me to wham you mister?”………he then whispered, “I wouldn’t really wham it Dad, I am just trying to get this guy to stop being so  unreasonable.”
• On our first boating trip of the season, I told the kids we would have to move them to bigger lifejackets because they had outgrown their last ones.  They seemed sort of sad to let their last ones go.  I told them it would be okay.  When I tried the news ones on them, Treven said, “oh I like this one better anyway, the last lifejacket really bothered my penis.”  The last ones did indeed have a strap that went under the kids legs for safety, something that this new one was lacking…….apparently for the better.
• Ashley was called as the kids’ Primary teacher for the first couple months we lived in the ward.  One week she taught a lesson on being a peacemaker.  They did some role-playing.  She picked the one kid that is known as the wildest amongst their Primary class, to role-play with her first.  Before the role-playing began, Treven very clearly stated to the little boy, “you had better not mess with my Mom or my sister, or you will be messing with me.”  He said this in a quite serious, hushed tone.  He is very protective of the ladies in our family.
• When we went camping/boating over Labor Day weekend, Treven really wanted Ashley to come in the tube with him.  He kept wanting to go faster and faster.  I went  a tiny bit faster and Treven soon realized the difference two or three MPH can make on the tube.  In between laughter, he shouted out, “I am a man, I am supposed to be able to handle this!!!!”
• Whenever we are driving in the car, the kids always want me to make up stories for them.  I always ask them to give me a subject and then away I go.  One particular time I decided I was going to make all sentences in the stories rhyme.  After I had told three brief stories to the kids, Treven asked me to tell them a story about them being super-heroes.  He then said, “…and please leave out your Dr. Seuss!”

 

• Ashley bought some pink lemonade in bottles from the store one week.  We were drinking it, when Ady said that we should get it again the next week.  I said, “maybe we could save some money and make our own.”  Ady said, “I just never thought of that because I don’t know where we buy pink lemons.”  She was dead serious.
• In Sacrament one week, Ady really seemed to need to blow her nose.  I quietly helped her.  She looked down at the tissue as I was folding it up, she proclaimed (a little too loudly) “whoa, I had some really strawberry boogers today!”

Don’t Judge

When I tell you my current addiction is Teen Mom on MTV.  It was late one night and nothing was on the television.  I was flipping through channels waiting for Kent to get done with some homework when I stopped on Teen Mom and was sucked into the lives of 4 teenage mothers.  Worst yet, I’m not alone.  Kent also stays up till 11:00 pm Tuesday nights to watch.  Why aren’t we like normal couples that get sucked into Survivor, Dancing with the Stars, Amazing Race, or The Bachelor?!  Please tell me someone else shares our addiction! 

Interpretation of a Family

Trev does not like to draw or color.  However, he will draw if he is bored in sacrament meeting and we forget (wink, wink) to bring the church bag!  This picture is our family.  Dad, Mom, Ady, Trev, little brother (?), little sister (?), and our dog (?).  Apparently we are missing three members of our family and Trev wants a brother first judging on the height difference.  Each one of us is holding a lollipop.  Trev is also holding an aunt farm while Ady has a balloon.  I'm the favorite member of the family so I have a huge ice cream cone that reaches the clouds.  Dad also has ice cream but it is melting and going to fall on my head at any moment (insert laughter).  Trev has long hair even though his head is always buzzed.  I'm not quite sure what's going on with the legs but at least they look functional.  There are flowers and grass but Trev left space for Ady to draw some flowers because she loves flowers.  Ady was not interested as she was drawing a unicorn instead.

This picture makes me happy.