Adventure to California with Leslie & Millie

Nate and I were lucky enough to go on an adventure with our good friends, Leslie & Millie Andrus!  They flew in to Vegas from SLC and we drove down to Southern California for a few days.  Leslie came prepared for the drive with Disneyland maps & surprised them with their very own new Mickey & Minnie!

I was thrilled to be able to be there when Millie saw the ocean for the first time ever!  It was a classic moment, actually.  We get to the beach and the kids are walking up closer to the water and Millie turns around to run away from a big wave and stumbles and falls and the wave washes up right over her!  [We weren’t planning on full on water fun so they weren’t in swimsuits.  It was pretty chilly!]   The beach was great . . . it’s amazing how much fun the kids have every time.  They were so wet and sandy so we headed straight to the hotel to get them cleaned up before dinner.

We went to Downtown Disney for dinner - it was packed so we sat down at the pizza place because they called us first and after reviewing the menu & ordering waters we decided we didn’t want to eat there so we left & headed to Tortilla Joe’s.  Good choice!

Then began our Disney adventure – it was also Millie’s first trip to Disneyland so we were up early & ready to go.  After all of our Disneyland trips I feel like I know a few good strategies to the park but they didn’t work at all this trip!  The first morning the area between the parks was packed with hundreds and hundreds of people who were doing a walk for charity through Disneyland an hour before it opened.  So we showed up 1.5 hours early, hoping for fewer crowds like normal, and it was nuts.  Leslie is our brave soul and had us all try to sneak in with the walking crowd to try to get in early but it didn’t work so we headed to CA Adventure and got in line behind the ropes to run to Cars Land and to get World of Color fast passes.

All of Day One was at CA Adventure.  It was pretty busy but for the most part, we were able to do everything we wanted to do!

Day Two was at Disneyland.  These kids of ours were rather interesting together – they are completely opposite children and so we split up a little on Day 2 so we could have some time with each of our kiddos but met up quite often throughout the day.  Millie was a total trooper on the rides.  Leslie took her on the Ghost Galaxy Space Mountain and while she said she never wanted to go again – she didn’t dwell on that scary ride at all.  She was ready to ride anything!  Nate on the other hand is much more timid but we made a few breakthroughs this trip.  He decided he LOVES the Toon Town rollercoaster and even rode it the entire time with his hands in the air.  And he also now loves Thunder Mountain.  Hallelujah – we can actually ride a roller coaster!

We drove back to Vegas after Day 2 and then we got to spend a day with Leslie & Millie and Kiley in Vegas.  After a leisurely morning we went to lunch at Metro Pizza and the park before they had to catch a flight back to Utah.  It was great to be able to spend some time with a few of our favorite people!  Thanks for coming, Leslie & Millie.  And a big thanks to the husbands and siblings who watched our little guys while we went and had some fun.

September 2012

Life is pretty good these days.  These boys of mine have endless energy and make every day exciting.  Here are a few details of life in September.

- These four boys are great friends!

- We had Blake over one day and Nate asked if he could “entertain the babies” [2.5 year olds].  It was great!

- I brought a box of absolutely delicious peaches home from Utah.  I ate most of them and made some raspberry peach jam with the rest.

- Nate needed some rest so he watched Lilo and Stitch for the first time.  He cried at the end because it was a little sad!

- Wes’ cousin Matt and his cute new wife came over to visit.

- Ryan getting a haircut.

- Daisy did a little yoga class in my living room.

- Time with the boys at the pool. 

- After the pool, they came in and turned in to super heroes.

- Wes became the high dive at our pool.

- We made Rolo Cheesecake bars.  Yum.

- I met dear friends for dinner.  Miss these girls.

- We go to the park with our ward every Friday.  These kids have a blast.  We love it when the big kids are back in school!

- I took Nate to see Seussical.  It was darling!  A family from our ward was in it.

- Uncle Jeff came to visit!  It was great to see him.  Now we just need to get all of the Thorntons out here.

- Nate started taking tennis lessons.

- I hate public restrooms.  Ryan loves them. 

- The boys are obsessed with Star Wars.

- Wes took the boys swimming so I could clean up dinner and have a moment of silence!

- Wes gave me an awesome gift – white cabinets and a white banister!

Nate’s primary program 2012

Nate was in his second primary program a few weeks ago & did great.  This year he sang a duet with his buddy, Carter.  They sang “Choose the Right Way” and did such a good job! 

I have to say that I absolutely love being in primary.  I’m the primary secretary – which is by far the best calling in the church!  I love being able to sit in the back and see Nate in action.  And being with children every week is uplifting.  There is a purity about them that is wonderful.

This year’s program turned out well – again!  We have awesome leaders & it truly was a success.  It was a huge part of our church lives for a month there and was such a relief to see the kids do such a good job after all their hard work.

back to DISNEYLAND!

We just can’t get enough of the happiest place on earth.

This time my kids were invited.

Wes was working in California all week so Sam and I packed up the boys and drove to Anaheim first thing Thursday morning.  Wes couldn’t take that day off so Sam and I met up with two childhood friends who live in So Cal. with Disney passes – Katie & Natalie.  It was great to catch up and visit with friends we’ve had for 20+ years. 

Wes met us for dinner at Downtown Disney that night & then we checked in to our hotel.  This was the first time Ryan has slept in the same general area as the rest of us & definitely the first time he shared a room with Nate.  Lets just say it was a long night and luckily Nate was exhausted and slept through it all.  At one point, Ryan was sleeping next to Wes and he fell off the bed.  It was an experience I’m not really looking forward to again.  But we survived.  The best part was as the boys were trying to fall asleep Ryan just kept saying, “Nate.  Nate.  Nate.”  and as soon as he woke up he started saying “Nate. Nate. Nate.”

Friday was our day at Disneyland with Wes.  He hasn’t been with us since Nate was 2 and I was pregnant with Ryan.  It was so great to have him there!  It was his first time at California Adventure so I wanted him to just go have fun so Ryan was my little buddy for most of the day so Wes could go with Sam/Nate on a lot of the rides & we met up in between. 

We weren’t going to wait in the long Cars Land line but as we were sitting in A Bugs Land, a cute old couple came up and asked if 3 of us wanted to go with them right then on the Cars ride because they had a special pass and their grandkids were asleep at the hotel.  It was our lucky day!

 

This was really Ryan’s first trip to Disneyland. [He went for a few hours in July but that didn’t really count].  He absolutely loved the rides.  He cried and tried to stay on the ride almost every time.  As we’d walk past Thunder Mountain or Splash Mountain – he’d yell “me ride dat.  Me big.  Me ride dat.”  He wished he was 40” all day long.  But he truly loved every ride [well, except for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride] and had a great time.  His favorite ride was definitely Jungle Cruise.  He loved seeing the animals!  We went 3 times. 

The poor guy was hammered and by the end of the 2 days I thought my arms were going to fall off from carrying him so much.  Even though it’s exhausting, I had a great time with my little guy. 

Nate overcame a few of his Disneyland fears [he’s a bit of a weenie] but he still definitely is not a fan of a few of them, too.  But he did tell me yesterday that he’d go on almost any ride for a treat! 

[We were standing in the Toy Story line and I held Ryan like this and within a minute or two he was dead asleep!  This is the boy who doesn’t sleep anywhere but his bed so you know he was tired!]

It was a great trip – glad Wes was able to join us!