1st day of school

Another school year has begun. Summer always seems to fly by. However, the boys were excited to start back. They were both excited about their new teachers. I am sure that we will have another good year. They both seem to enjoy school, which makes it easier on me!!

Tyler is in 5th grade this year.

Brayden is in 2nd grade.

They wouldn't let me go to the bus stop for a picture, so I had to get one as they went out the front door. My boys are both growing up. :(

Free Entertainment

This weekend was the last one before I go to back to work. :( I wanted to do something fun with my family, but didn't want to spend a lot of money. Dinosaur Park in Ogden was offering free admission from 4-8pm so I talked Bryce into going. When we drove up around 4:30 there were a lot of cars and not a lot of parking spots. Bryce almost talked me out of going but then a parking spot opened up. YEA!! The boys and I had not been there in a while and Ellie and Bryce had never been there. We enjoyed looking around the museum and then walking around the outdoor exhibits. There were a lot of people but it wasn't too crowded. The kids and even Bryce seemed to have a lot of fun!!

After Dinosaur Park we traveled up Ogden Canyon and stopped at The Oaks for dinner. We had a great time eating right next to the river and enjoying the fresh, cool air. Everyone enjoyed their dinner and we even splurged and shared a chocolate lava cake a la mode. Dinner of course was not free, but it was worth the money. I love The Oaks!! YUMMY!!

After dinner we went further up the canyon to the Balloon Festival at Wolf Creek. We have never been to it and I thought it would be fun to see the 'Balloon Glow' they do on Saturday night. And yes, it was free. As we drove up to the park there were a ton of cars and people, but we found a spot off the side of the road that we could see the balloons from. There were about 7 balloons to start with, (we thought there would have been more), and as we waited about 15 minutes until dark three of the balloons deflated. We weren't sure what happened and we were a bit disappointed but the kids enjoyed seeing the HUGE pink Energizer bunny balloon inflate just before dark. (last photo-hard to see but notice the bunny ears) They didn't seem to get all of the balloons glowing at once, and the pictures we got weren't great because of the dark, but overall it was fun to see.

SuMmeR VaCatioN

Our family recently returned from our summer vacation to Southern California. We all had a great time, especially the boys. We were able to meet my sister Pam and her family from Arizona and my parents were there from Montana. My younger sister Megan lives in the LA area and we were able to spend some time with her family also. Pam booked our hotel for us. It was located in Santa Ana about 15 minutes from the beach. It had great accommodations, except the beds were a bit hard and only double size. Breakfast was made to order which came with the price of the room. We got a great deal, way to go Pam!! Our rooms overlooked the pool/hot tub area which the kids enjoyed every day we were there.

We went to Huntington beach the Monday evening we got into town and ate on the pier at a diner called Ruby's. The kids enjoyed wading in the ocean for awhile after dinner. My boys didn't take the time to change into their swim suits after dinner, so they came back to the hotel- wet, cold, and with a pound of sand in their shorts. Boys will be boys!!

The next day we went to a large water park at Knott's Berry Farm called Soak City. The kids had a blast. Ellie got tired by mid afternoon, so grandma and grandpa came to the rescue and took her back to the hotel so I could enjoy my time at the water park. Thanks, Mom and Dad. That night Megan and her three boys came and stayed over at the hotel. We all went to dinner at a yummy BBQ restaurant. That was an adventure to say the least. 7 adults and 9 kids, YIKES!! Overall, everyone behaved themselves.

Wednesday was our first all-day, beach-day at Newport Beach. We loaded up 3 cars and all our gear for the day. Pam brought an easy-up canopy so we were able to have some shade. We had about 6 boogie boards altogether, 2 coolers, 5 beach chairs, and several bags with towels and beach toys. It looked as if we were camping overnight. The kids had a great time. Tyler tried boogie boarding along with his dad and his cousins. Brayden was a little leery of the water that day but he enjoyed digging for sand crabs and sea shells with Sadi (Pam's youngest girl). Ellie is like me I decided. She doesn't like to get wet and especially in cold water. She hung out in the sand under the canopy and had a blast digging away with Megan's boys. That night my parents got KFC for everyone, that we enjoyed by the pool at the hotel. Everyone was a bit tired that night and seemed to sleep pretty well.

The next day we had a casual morning. The girls decided to go get pedicures and do some shopping. The boys found a batting cage and went to Laguna Beach for lunch. We all had a great time!! That night we traveled about 50 miles to Dodger stadium. That took about 1 hour 45 minutes. Yikes!! I could never live in California with all that traffic. My sister Megan was able to get $10 tickets in lower left field. It was Mormon night at the Dodgers!! I didn't enjoy the game much because I wrestled with Ellie the whole time, but overall I think the boys enjoyed it. I believe we spent close to $100 on food while at the game. Our most expensive day yet on the trip. Bryce and I decided we wanted to beat the traffic and so we left with Ellie in the 9th inning, Dodgers were losing 4-2. The boys wanted to stay and so my parents said they would bring them home. It turns out after we left in the bottom of the 9th- there was a walk-off home run and the Dodgers ended up winning 5-4. Bryce was a bit bummed he missed it, but I was glad my boys stayed with grandpa and grandma and we weren't stuck in traffic.

On our last day in California we ventured to Huntington beach for the day with everyone. It was a bit cooler that day, but it actually turned out okay. Brayden gave boogie boarding a try and loved it. They had fun finding more sea shells and building another sand castle. On the way back to the hotel we stopped and had "Cold Stone" ice cream. Yummy!! That night some of us got into the hot tub at the hotel and basically enjoyed a relaxing evening.

We stayed in Las Vegas on the way to and from California to break up the traveling a bit. Ellie is not fun to travel with. :( But I can't blame her. I don't like it either. I think we spent the majority of our money in Vegas. No, not on gambling, but on dinner at 'The Rainforest Cafe', souvenirs at M & M world, the Shark aquarium at Mandalay Bay hotel, and the roller coaster in Primm, Nevada. Overall, we had a great vacation. One I hope the boys will always remember. Enjoy the slide show of all our adventures below.
P.S. If you are wondering why we didn't do Disneyland, it was because Bryce didn't want to. Too crowded in the summer, but I told him we will be coming back in January or February to enjoy Disneyland then. :)