Megan's Basketball Clinic

Megan has been showing interest in basketball lately.  Instead of doing games the rec center decided to put on clinics.  So, we signed Megan up and she loved it.  She looks forward to playing games on a team in the future.

Easter 2021

After getting everything unpacked, we went to Margie's for dinner and Easter fun.  She had Landon and Cortnie hide the eggs and the kids all found them.  They loved it and had a great time with their cousins.  We always have a good time with family.  

Spring Break 2021 - Day 10 & 11: Auburn to Elko & Elko to Home

We left Wendy's house after breakfast.  Wendy had to take Julie and her kids to the airport, so we figured we'd go at the same time.  We drove to Elko and got some gas and walked around Costco.  We then picked up some lunch in a small town on the way.  We had planned to stay in a hotel in Battle Mountain but once we got there, we saw that their pool was closed.  The main reason we didn't just drive home in one day was so that the kids could swim one last time.  So, we called a bunch of hotels in Elko (an hour away from Battle Mountain and an hour closer to home).  We finally found one that had an open pool and a room that would work for a family of six.  So, we checked out of the ghetto hotel and drove the hour to Elko.

The new hotel was much nicer, and the pool was good.  We all got in and enjoyed the pool and their hot tube.  Allie and I got done first so we went up to the room to get showered and dressed in jammies.  The rest came up a little later and also got showered.  Tony picked up some pizza for dinner and we enjoyed it in our room while watching a movie.  

The next morning, we got dressed and went down to eat breakfast in the hotel.  It was ok.  Better than nothing, I guess.  After we checked out and drove home.  We were all glad that we were an hour closer to home.  We were able to listen to the morning session of General Conference in the car once we got to Wendover.  It was a lovely way to spend our Easter morning with family and talks on the Savior.  It was a great trip, and we were glad we were able to do it!

Spring Break 2021 - Day 9: Easter Egg Hunt, River Fun, Swimming, & More Cart Rides

This was our last full day at Wendy's.  We had an Easter Egg hunt in the vineyard in the morning.  We then stopped at Taco Tree for some lunch to eat by the river.  The kids threw rocks in the river and enjoyed the view. After that we went back to Wendy's for some more swimming.  

Allie didn't want to swim for a long time so after she was done, Tony and I took her on a golf cart ride around the neighborhood to see all of her animal friends.  She is such a silly kid.  We had the kids eat left over pizza for dinner while we adults went out to dinner.  It was a good restaurant with good company.  It was the perfect way to end the trip.  After dinner we got the kids ready for bed and then we all went to bed for the night.  It was a fun and busy day.

Spring Break 2021 - Day 8: Fun Hike, Swimming, & Golf Cart Rides

We wanted to go on a little hike in the morning by a canal.  It was a fun hike but really warm.  After we hiked, we got some lunch from the Taco Tree.  After eating we went back to the house to swim in the pool.  

While the kids swam Tony went with Gabe and his boy's dirt biking.  He said they had lots of fun.  After swimming and eating dinner, we went on more golf cart rides.  Another great day!

Spring Break 2021 - Day 7: Swimming & Relaxing

It was another perfect sunny day.  Tony and I fed the kids and then we went to breakfast with Julie and then Costco after that.  We needed gas and wanted to walk around the store.  After we got back, we let the kids get into the pool.  They couldn't get enough of the pool.  

Julie, Wendy, Averee and I went into Wendy's work.  She had her new desks getting delivered so we needed to be there for the delivery.  It was fun seeing Wendy's office and where Julie will work in the future.  We picked up the kids some food on our way back to Wendy's house.  The rest of the day we played, relaxed, chatted and had fun with family.  

Spring Break 2021 - Day 6: Anaheim to Auburn

We loaded up the car and checked out of our hotel room before starting our journey to Auburn.  The drive was good, and we had no problems.  We stopped at a restaurant on our way that was kind of fancy.  It was pricier than we thought it was going to be, so we shared a couple meals and got a couple kids meals.  It was a new experience that we will probably not repeat.  

After eating we got back on the road and got to Wendy's house in good time.  Julie's family was already there and swimming, so the kids quickly got on their suits and got into the pool.  

After swimming for a few hours, the kids got out of the pool, and we all had tacos that Uncle Gabe made.  It was a yummy dinner with great company.

After eating the older kids wanted to go to the high school and play some tennis so they filled up Jacob's car and left.  The rest of us went down to the garage to take the golf cart and four-wheeler out for a tour of the neighborhood.  We found Tyler in the playroom all by himself.  We asked why he didn't go to the high school with the other kids, and he said that they told him they didn't have room for him.  It turns out that Benje wanted to go with the older kids (because he thinks he's a teenager not an 8-year-old) and so that meant that there wasn't a seat in the car for Tyler.  

After finding this out Tony took Tyler over to the school himself.  That left Wendy, Julie, Josh, Allie, Megan, Kimball, and I to go on a ride.  Julie and I took the four-wheeler, and the others went on the golf cart.  It was so much fun and so beautiful. We met all of Wendy's animal friends and found the perfect spot to stop and see the sunset.  Wendy had us all make a wish when the sun went down.  It was a super pretty sunset and we all loved it. 

After our rides and playing at the school we all came back for some relaxation and conversation.  The kids loved snuggling Wendy's smaller doggies, Tink and Bell.  Josh especially loved picking them up and showing us that he picked them up.  It was pretty adorable.  It was a great day, and we were all happy to be there with family.

Spring Break 2021 - Day 5: Whale Watching

We got up early on Monday to get ready and drive down to the beach about 20 minutes away.  We had to check into our whale watching tour and hour before departure.  We found our parking place and then walked on the docks before we checked into our tour.  We had plenty of time before our boat departed so we walked around the board walk and looked in a couple stores before using the restroom and then getting in line for the boat.  

They let us on the boat, and we went up to the top deck and found us some seats.  They were benches that were looking inside the boat, not outside, but they were still good seats.  The view was beautiful and the homes in that area were crazy fancy.

Before we saw the whales we got to go through a huge pod of dolphins.  There were hundreds of dolphins swimming with the boats and all around us.  It was so awesome to see, and we all loved seeing them jump and swim in the waves of the boat.

Then the boat drove to where the whales had been spotted.  When they stopped the boat to watch the whales the boat started swaying.  The swaying really made Allie seasick.  She had to sit down and then she threw up.  Luckily, she made it in the garbage can that was right next to her.  She then spent the rest of the boat ride laying on Tony.

We did see three whales who were kind of playing with each other.  I wasn't feeling great myself, so I went back and forth of wanting to see the whales and wanting to sit down.  The problem with whales is that they come up for a minute and then go down for like five minutes.  But it was fun to see them when they came up for a that minute.  I then had a lay down on Tony too.  The three older kids were fine watching the whales and didn't get sick.

After a while we headed back to the docks.  After we were moving normally and after I was laying down for a while, I started feeling better.  Allie fell asleep on Tony.  Tony wasn't feeling good himself, so I had Allie lay on me while he walked around a little.  Allie felt a lot better after her little nap, so we bought a couple cups of popcorn and we all shared it.  Popcorn is always good to us.

We were going to go the beach after our tour, but since Allie got sick, she said she'd rather just go back to the hotel and go swimming there.  I asked what the other kids wanted to do, and they all agreed that they'd rather do the pool.  I was okay with that since that is a whole lot cleaner than playing in the sand.

We still had lots of leftovers at the hotel, so we ate lunch in our room before we went down to the pool.  I had some laundry to do so we got a load started before we went to the pool.  I had to wait for the person who was using the laundry room before me to finish before I could start our laundry (stupid Covid rules).  But I was able to set the timer on my phone and switch around the laundry while the kids were swimming. The kids loved the pool again and spent a couple hours down there playing.  It was fun watching them swim and still get the laundry done.

After swimming we got the kids all washed and in their jammies.  Tony and I decided we wanted to go back to Downtown Disney, so we fed the kids the rest of the leftovers and Tony and I walked down to Downtown Disney.  

I saw a necklace at the World of Disney when we were there on Saturday that I talked myself out of, but then I decided I really did want it.  So, we walked around the store and we couldn't find it where it was before.  So, I asked a worker and they said they moved it into a store in California Adventure.  Big bummer, so I wasn't able to get the necklace that I wanted.  We did get a couple things and then went to dinner at Tortilla Joe's.  I didn't want to leave the kids by themselves in the hotel room for too long by themselves, so we were happy to see no wait to get into Tortilla Joe's.  Tony and I shared a meal and it was really good.  It was nice to have a little time with just us.  After dinner we walked back to the hotel and found four well behaved children doing what they were supposed to in the hotel.  

They were rewarded with their fourth night of icy goodness from Joe's Italian Ice.  It was of course super good just like the other three nights.  I got us mostly packed so we wouldn't have much to do the next morning before checking out.  We all had a great time in Southern California, and we were ready for our next adventure of going to Northern California.

Spring Break 2021 - Day 4: Hiking in the Heat

We started off our Sunday by watching our wards sacrament on-line.  It was nice being able to enjoy our wards sacrament meeting even when we are in another state.  After the meeting we had sacrament in our room with bagels from breakfast.  What a blessing to be able to partake of the sacrament while in a hotel on vacation as well.  Usually, we would go to a local church but with Covid we didn't know what would be open, so we opted for on-line church.  The boys got to participate in Young Men's on-line as well.  It was fun to hear them talking with their leaders and fellow quorum members.  Technology is pretty darn awesome.

After their lesson was over, we drove to a really cool park that has tons of activities and a hiking trail that goes to a drove of Redwood trees.  We started off by going on the hike to see the Redwood trees.  They had a bunch of big trees all together that they had brought in about 15 years earlier.  It was cool to see, but it was already very hot that day.

After our hike we went to let the kids play on the playground and Tyler and Tony had their mitts and balls to play catch.  The girls went on the playground and quickly found out that it was way too hot to play on.  They had like three big playground that were all in direct sun. So, we got out a blanket from the car and some snacks and we watched Tony and Tyler play catch in the shade.  Once they were done playing catch, we left the park.

Tony wanted to go check out a swap meet that we have never been to.  It was huge with tons of vendors and tons of shoppers.  We parked and then walked around.  It was so hot, and we were all hungry.  The kids were not impressed and wanted to go.  We walked around and found some cute bows for the girl's hair, but that is about all that we got.  We looked at the food that was offered but none of it appealed to us all.  If it had just been Tony, Tyler and I we would have been fine, but the younger three aren't as adventurous.  It was just way too hot, and we weren't finding much for us, so we left.  We found a McDonald's that was close by and that made everyone happy.

We then drove back to the hotel to cool off and rest.  I wanted to go to the Walmart that had all the Disney stuff, so we left the boys at the hotel and took the girls to the store with us.  The boys don't enjoy shopping, so they were happy to stay in the hotel.  We found a couple things at Walmart that we wanted and then we headed back to the hotel.  First, we stopped at a yummy Italian restaurant and got takeout to take back to the hotel.  The food is good, and it is a good deal.  We had more than enough for dinner and plenty of leftovers for the next day.  We finished the day relaxing at the hotel with full bellies.