California Trip - Mickey & Minnie

Josh, Mickey, Megan, and Tyler.

Josh, Mickey, Megan, and Tyler.

The Steenblik's and Mickey.

Margie and her crazy family.

Allie, Tony, Megan, and Mickey.

Tyler playing in Minnie's house.

 Megan, Josh, Allie, and Tyler sitting on Minnie's couch.

Megan loves Minnie so much.

Minnie pointing out the Minnie on Megan's shirt.

Allie liked Minnie but didn't want to get down and hug her.  Megan hugged Minnie enough for the both of them.

The other kids came to say Hi to Minnie all while Megan is still hugging Minnie.  Tyler was too cool to give Minnie any of his time.  Silly kid.

Josh, Mom, Minnie, Megan, Dad, Allie, and Tyler.

Margie joined our fun with Minnie.

California Trip - Day 4, 5, & 6: Disneyland Family Photos

Allie, Josh, Megan, and Tyler in front of the flower Mickey in the front of Disneyland.

The back of Margie and the kids shirts.  All the grand kids shirts say "Grandma's Favorite" and Margie's shirts says "Grandma" - we got lots of compliments.

California Trip - Universal Studios: Little Minnion Land

Tyler

Megan and Mom

Josh

Dad and Allie

Josh checking to see if he's tall enough.

Squishy face Megan.

All of us with the Minnions.  Allie was super tired.

Megan liked those silly Minnions.

Daddy with tired Allie.

California Trip - Universal Studios: Harry Potter Land

We haven't been to Universal Studios in many years.  They really don't change things too much and they don't have many things for little kids to do, but then they opened Harry Potter Land.
The three older kids have gotten really into Harry Potter lately and have loved playing with their cousins and their wands.  So with this sudden interest in all things Harry Potter we figured that we would go check out the new land and everything else that Universal had to offer.

There are two rides in Harry Potter Land.  One is an outdoor smaller roller coaster that kids Megan's size and taller could ride.  It was pretty fun and all the kids liked it.  They also have a ride in the Hogwarts castle.  We didn't go on that ride because the lines were always too long for us and they didn't accept the "Front of Line" passes.  Megan wasn't tall enough for that ride, so we figured we'd save riding it for another time.

There are a few shops and places to buy drinks.  They have a fancy wand shop but also wand carts outside so you could just buy them outside and make it easier.
It was a really neat place to walk around and we hope to spend a little more time exploring things next time we go.

California Trip - Day 3: Universal Studios

Our sweet little family in front of the Universal Studios globe (of many colors).  This was at the end of the day and we were still smiling - that is a good sign because we started the day off a little rough.
We hit a lot of traffic and then we had a problem with our tickets once we got there.  We had to wait extra time in the guest services line.  Because of the mix up and time wasted Tony complained and they gave us some "Front of Line" passes that allowed us to bypass a lot of the line.  It was very nice to have those.

Allie, Margie, Megan, Tyler, and Josh waiting for the animal show to start.  It was pretty fun and the kids really enjoyed the show.

Margie, Tyler, Josh, Megan, Tony, and Allie on the tram that took us on the Back Lot Tour.  We all liked that ride and next time we will eat before we go because it is an hour long ride.

Josh, Megan, and Tyler on the escalators that go to the lower lot.  Tony and Margie took them down to ride the rides that are in the lower lot while I stayed up with a sleeping Allie.  I walked her around while she slept and then I found the quietest spot I could, that had shade, for me to sit and wait for them to be done with the rides.  They came back about the same time Allie woke up so it worked out perfect. 

Tyler, Josh, with Shaggy and Scooby Do.  Megan didn't want to see them, so she just watched.  They were both really funny with Josh and Tyler.

California Trip - Day 1 & 2

We all got up early Saturday morning and got ready for grandma Margie and Nana to come and get us.  Nana had come up to visit some people and we were going to take her home with us on our way down to California.
We got all our stuff and kids packed into the van and we were off.  The traffic was good and so was the drive down to St. George.

We dropped of Nana, stretched, went potty, and then got back into the car.  We decided to eat lunch in St. George and then we got back on the road.
Josh got car sick and threw up a few times in the car.  He had his throw up cup all ready and was good to get it in his cup each time.  He said he felt ok and was good to keep going, so that was good. Everyone else traveled well.  Allie did good in the car and took a good nap.

The traffic was good until we got closer to LA.  It wasn't too bad though and we got to our hotel in good time.  We unpacked the car and let the kids play in the room.  We decided to pick up some dinner and eat it in our room at the hotel.  Margie and Tony picked up some pizza and pasta from a local place.  It was pretty good and we enjoyed it.  There were leftovers that we enjoyed another night.

The next morning we got up and ate breakfast at the hotel.  After we ate we got ready for church and then headed to the church for sacrament.  It was a nice ward with very few children.  If we had stayed for primary we would have doubled their numbers with our kids.
After church we went and changed our clothes and then went to the swap meet.  We like walking around and seeing all the different things for sale.  We found some sunglasses for the kids, Tony, and Margie.  They all were very excited about them.  I didn't find any that I liked.
After we walked around all the vendors we headed back to the hotel to let Allie take a nap.  She fell asleep in the car but transferred nicely.  While she napped I had the boys start in on their homework.  Tyler had a lot of math to do and Josh had reading for everyday.  They also enjoyed some popcorn while they worked.
After Allie woke up we headed towards Downtown Disney to walk around.  Tyler had said that his feet hurt while walking around the swap meet so we decided to find a Sketchers store and see if we could buy him some better shoes for all the walking we were going to do this week.
It took us longer then expected, but we found the store and got Tyler some nice shoes (and Josh some for when he outgrows his current shoes because is was buy one get one half off).  So after that adventure we went to Downtown Disney.  We got a really good parking spot and had fun looking around.  We went back to the hotel to get a good night sleep before going to Universal Studios the next day.

Josh's Last Baseball Game

When we planned our trip to California I knew that Josh would miss his last baseball game but because of rain he is going to miss two games.
We are kind of bummed about that, but that's okay.  Josh had a really good time playing baseball this season and wants to play again.  He had a great coach and the other dads stepped up and helped a lot too.  It was fun to watch him and I look forward to a lot more games!

Walking The Dogs

We are watching the dogs, Max and Sam again.  We get them for about 2 weeks this time.  They are pretty fun to have around and they really fill up our house with big white dogs.
We decided to take all the dogs and kids for a walk and it was a good time.  The dogs did really good on their leashes and walked really good with us.
We had Tyler take Max and then Tony took Koda and Sam.  I had Allie in the stroller to start off and then Megan joined us in the stroller about half way through the walk because she tired out.
Josh did really good on his scooter the whole walk.  Tyler did really good holding Max and Max did really good staying right by Tyler.
It is always fun having the dogs, but it's also nice when they go home.  Our house is just too small for three big dogs all the time.  A couple weeks at a time is just perfect!

Tyler's Last Soccer Game of the Season

Since we will be in California during the actual last game we had the team get together for a team picture after today's game.
Tyler has played really good this season and is still really liking soccer.  He has been practicing a lot at home and loves kicking the ball really far.
Tyler has scored multiple goals this season and has stopped a bunch too when he played goalie.

He still loves Tony being his coach and Tony enjoys it too.  This team was fun to coach.  The kids all got better as the season progressed and Tyler got to play with Noah who used to live in our neighborhood.  I really enjoyed chatting with Rachel (Noah's mom) during the games.  We sure do enjoy soccer.