Happy Halloween

Another Halloween down.  I had planned on Tyler being Harry Potter this year because I had the outfit already from last year, but the night before Halloween Tyler said he really didn't want to be Harry Potter.  So Tony took him to Walmart to see what they still had available.  He really wanted to be a cop, but they didn't have any of those left so he was stuck with being Spider Man.  He seemed pretty happy about it.  Josh was a ninja, Megan was a witch, and our little Allie was an adorable Minnie Mouse.

They all had parties in their classrooms.  Allie and I helped out in Josh's class room and Allie thought that was super fun.
Tony made it home from work just in time to take the kids out trick-or-treating.  They started out down the street and went to the ward's trunk-or-treat.  Allie had an accident so I came to the church with fresh clothes.  She wasn't happy and just wanted to come home with me.  So Allie and I went back home and handed out candy to the the trick-or-treaters.

We didn't have tons of kids, but a good amount.  Tony and the three older kids had a good time going around the neighborhood.  They came home to dump out their bags and then go out again.  Allie decided that she wanted to go again so she went out with Tony and Josh decided he had enough.
After going around the block Tony came back with the other kids and they were all done for the night.  The kids then all fought over who got to pass out candy to our trick-or-treaters.  They all think this is super fun.

Since it was a school night we got the kids all ready and put to bed before too late.  They all had a wonderful time and it was another successful Halloween.

Fall Break: Day 4 & 5 - Parker Dam & Visitors Center Fun & Home

On our last day we packed up our car, checked out of our hotel and then went to check out Parker Dam.  It is located on the way back into Lake Havasu.  It is a small but very impressive dam that is kind of hidden from the main road but is located right off of the main road.  It was kind of fun to see another dam.
After we checked out the dam we went back into Lake Havasu.  We wanted to go back to the visitors center to get some souvenirs.  We found lots of fun thing to do there that we didn't notice before.  We found a jet ski that the kids could play on and some coloring pictures  They also gave each of the kids postcards.
After that we got back into the car and started our drive home.  The kids did pretty good in the car and we made good time.  We drove to St. George and stayed there for the night.  We got checked into the hotel and then went and visited with Nana.
We then all went to have dinner at The Pizza Factory.  It was really busy but it didn't take too long to get a table.  The food was good and we had a good time with Nana.  After eating, Margie and Nana went back to her place while we went to visit my Aunt Connie.
She was surprised to see us and very happy too.  She is such a nice person.  She let the kids play with a bunch of different toys and even let Josh keep any change he found on the ground.  Silly boy went looking all over their house for change.  After a nice chat we decided to go back to our hotel and get some sleep.
The next morning we checked out of our hotel and picked up Margie at Nana's house.  Then it was back on the road to go home.  It was a fun trip and we were glad that we got to go check out a new town.

Fall Break: Day 3 - Hotel Swimming

We got back to our hotel and got ready to go swimming.  It was so hot we were all looking forward to a good swim.
The pool was all ours and the water felt great.  Once the sun went down and we were in the shade it did get a little cold for me, but the kids didn't seem to mind at all.  They love the water and are all becoming very good swimmers.
Allie and I enjoyed the hot tub and then went back to our room to get washed and into pajama's while the other's stayed and swam.

We love us a good pool and a good hotel and we got both.  We all had a good time at the pool.

Fall Break: Day 3 - Exploring & Eating Ice Cream

We thought we'd find some yummy ice cream to eat so we drove around for a little while.  We found that a lot of places were already closed.  I guess they close early on the off season.
We then drove and found some older shops along a strip of road so we parked the car and walked around.

We luckily did find an ice cream shop and it was pretty good.  The kids all loved their ice cream.  We then tried to find some gifts for the kids.  We found a backpack for Allie that was a doggie.  She loved it.

We didn't find anything else for the other kids so we kept looking.  We stopped at a few more stores before heading back towards our hotel.  We decided that we were not super hungry but wanted something before going to bed.  So we ended up at McDonald's.  We ate and let the kids play at their play land.  It was a happening joint with lots of locals there.  After eating we went back to the hotel.  It was a long day but a super fun one.

Fall Break: Day 3 - Playing in Lake Havasu

After the boat tour we went drove around the town a little before stopping at a Mexican Restaurant.  The food was really good and it was nice and cool inside.
After eating the kids wanted to go swimming.  So we drove down to the water and found a good spot.  On the drive down to the water Allie fell asleep.

I volunteered to stay in the car with Allie while she slept, so that I could rest too.  While Allie was sleeping Tyler, Josh, and Megan got changed into their swimsuits and played in the lake.  I was able to watch them from the car for the first little while until I fell asleep.
Megan got tired of swimming first and then played on the playground that was by the water.  Margie and Tony decided not to swim and watched the kids in the water.
When Allie woke up she did not want to go in the water but wanted to play on the playground.  I let Tony go with Allie while I watched the boys play.  They loved the water and wanted to play for a long time.  We finally made them get out and let them air dry while playing on the playground. After that we had the boys change and we went to explore the town.

Fall Break: Day 3 - Lake Havasu Boat Ride

We got up and had breakfast before heading back into Lake Havasu.  We got us signed up for a boat tour and we wanted to make sure we got there on time.
We signed up and waited for the tour guide and captain to arrive.  It was a beautiful morning and we were all very excited to go on the boat.
The boat took us around Lake Havasu and showed us a few of the small light houses.
It was a fun ride that we all enjoyed. We were all glad we did it and enjoyed learning so much about Lake Havasu and the towns history.

Fall Break: Day 2 - Lake Havasu

Once we got to the city of Lake Havasu we wanted to go visit the London Bridge visitors center.  We had a hard time finding it and ended up driving around in circles but then we finally found it.
The area was pretty cool.  They had a big fountain and a visitors center along with some small stores around the area that were right on or by the water.
We first went to the visitors center and got a map of the area and some good information about the water and different places to eat and shop.
After getting information from the visitors center we walked around the waterfront.  We found a phone booth like they have in London as well as other London decor.  All these buildings are located under the old London bridge that they brought over from London years ago.
We walked around and found out that they have boat tours on the water and other fun events.  After we checked it all out we decided to drive around and see what else we could see in the city.
After driving around a while we decided to go check into our hotel and pick up dinner in the town of Parker where we were staying. Our hotel was really new and very nice. They even had a night reception with soms food and drinks for us. Tyler really liked that they had salad. After eating we got ready for bed and got a good nights sleep.

Fall Break: Day 2 - Hoover Dam

It didn't take us too long to get to Hoover Dam.  We got parked and headed out to see the dam.  Man was it hot out, but it was super cool to see the huge dam.
We were able to walk down the sidewalk and see the dam up close.  They built a really big bridge opposite of the dam and it was super cool to see it.  We did end up going over the bridge on our way to Lake Havasu.  They have a pretty big sides so you can't see over the edge.
At the Hoover Dam they have a few different buildings that you can go into and check out the history of the dam and how it was built.

We even went into the visitor center and saw a video of the making of the dam.  It was pretty cool how they were able to make such a huge dam way back then.
After we checked out all the sites we went and got some lunch at their deli.  The food wasn't the best but we were glad to have some food to eat besides car snacks.  After eating we all used the restrooms and then got back into the car for our drive to Lake Havasu.

Fall Break: Day 2: Cactus Gardens

Outside of the chocolate factory is a really cool cactus garden.  They had tons of different types of cacti and other plants.  Lots of different rocks and benches to sit on.  They had started decorating for the holidays and so they had lights on the trees and plants and other decorations.  We wished we could have seen it all done and lite up at night.  Maybe some day we'll go back and check it out.
The girls loved getting their pictures taken at every new plant or decoration.  They had a tree called The Joshua Tree and Josh LOVED it.  He wanted his picture by it and he felt super special.  All the kids liked looking at everything and walking around the trail.
After we checked out all the different cacti we all got to eat some chocolate.  We then piled back into the car and headed to the Hoover Dam.

Fall Break: Day 1 & 2: Ethel M. Chocolate Factory

We started our trip right after the kids got out of school on Wednesday.  They had early day and Margie came and picked us up.  Her and Tony packed up the car and it was all ready to go when the kids got home.
We drove for a couple hours before Allie needed to use the restroom.  Her potty training is doing so good and I would say she is pretty much trained.  We put her in a pull up while we drove, but she kept it dry.
We got into St George and picked up some popcorn at the theater and then picked up some dinner to eat at Nana's.  The kids liked the break from the car and they always love seeing Nana.  After eating and letting the kids play for a short time we got back into the car and drove to Las Vegas.

It was kind of late when we got to the hotel so we unpacked what we needed and then got the kids ready for bed.  The boys slept in Margie's room and the girls were in our room.  It was a pretty nice hotel.
The next morning we got up and ate breakfast.  It wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst.  We all ate what we wanted and then checked out of our hotel.  Our first stop was the chocolate factory.
It wasn't far from our hotel and we were all very excited to check it out.  A big bus pulled up when we did and out came a large group of Asians.  They too were excited to see the chocolates.

The factory had large windows where you can watch the workers make the chocolate and then the machines molding and packaging the chocolate.  It was fun to watch and Tony really enjoyed seeing what kinds of machines they use.  They kids got bored of watching the fastest and were ready to sample the chocolate.  I think they each had at least two or three pieces.
After watching the workers and the machines we walked around the gift shop and decided we would come back and get some goodies after we saw the cactus gardens.
After the gardens Margie let each kid pick out a candy bar, or chocolate covered marshmallows, or chocolate covered pretzel.  Josh wanted a candy bar and the other three went for the marshmallows.  They loved them and had a wonderful time at the chocolate factory.