California! {part five}

{I am determined to finish writing about this trip! I am such a slow poke, huh? And I have way to many pictures...}

On this day Chris and Natalie took their kids to Universal Studios, but we decided to just have a day of exploring. We started out at Balboa Park where we ate these amazing fresh dipped chocolate ice cream bars, and we did an alphabet scavenger hunt with the camera {coming soon!}. We felt ripped off after paying to go into the Japanese Garden there because there was not much to it, and we peeked into the Air and Space Museum. We wish now that we had taken the kids in there because there was a Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit with flying machines constructed from the drawings in his notebooks. I'm sure it would have been awesome, so maybe next time we'll do that. The best part of the day was when we explored the Cove in La Jolla. We had been there before, watching seals on New Year's Day 2008, but it was too cold to splash in the water that time. After walking down the steep staircase to the beach, we loved this amazing little spot. The kids found the most interesting little shells and pieces of sea glass, but Nina kept putting hers "in a home" buried in the sand so they all washed away. It was funny to watch her try to run away when the waves would coming rushing up unexpectedly.

There is a big park up above the Cove where we walked around and listened to the waves crash in on the rocks below. An elderly couple came shuffling toward us, and the man said, "You've got quite the crowd here!" They stopped and looked at our kids and then he said with a big smile, "You two are producers!" Haha! As they shuffled away, he called over his shoulder, "Have a wonderful life!"

You don't meet people that say that everyday, do you? It made my day.

Good Reads For October

Hi Everyone!

Is anyone else excited for the Where The Wild Things Are to open this weekend? What a fun movie for Halloween time. I hope it lives up to my expectations, since I really do love the book by Maurice Sendak. It's such a classic! I'm amazed when I hear of adults that have never read it, or that say, "I don't get it, there are about ten words in the entire book." What's not to get? True, there aren't many words, but the illustrations are enough for me. I love how the limited text leaves so much open for imagination. It's a peek into a child's world, where anything is possible. As a parent, I think this book is a reminder that our kids see the world from a totally different perspective than we do.

Also by Maurice Sendak are four tiny rhyming books in The Nutshell Library. For me, these are a walk down memory lane. I have three of the four original copies from my childhood, and though they are a bit beat up now from years of love, I display them on a shelf in Ben's room. The new editions are more beautiful, but just as small as the originals, making them perfect for little hands. Alligators All Around teaches the alphabet and stars an alligator family,Pierre is a cautionary tale about a boy who just doesn't care, Chicken Soup With Rice is all about the months of the year, and One Was Johnny is a counting book. My kids love these as much as I do.

{I recommend the boxed set since they are all hardcover, and they come in the sweet little 4x3 inch size. Separately, they are paperback and slightly bigger.}

The Little Bear books by Elsa Holmelund Minarik were illustrated by Maurice Sendak. Personally, I don't remember reading them as a child, but when my son was little we started listening to the audio versions in the car. To this day, it is a CD I always keep in the car because my kids love the stories so much. The simple, cozy little stories are perfect for your beginning reader. I love how Little Bear involves messages about friends and family in such a sweet way, especially in our fast-paced world. More here, and here.

{P.S. The animated series is very cute, and pretty true to the actual text in the books. Don't miss the Halloween DVD, a fun treat for your little ghosties and witches.}

Last but not least, a couple more Halloween treats for you...

If you have older grade schoolers, this would be a great month to get your hands on The Witches by Roald Dahl, and read a chapter every night. Fun!

For the little ones, make sure you get these Charlie and Lola picks:

Boo! Made You Jump!

DVD Volume 9 What Can I Wear For Halloween?

{Ours is on it's way and we can't wait to watch it!}

Happy Halloween!

California! {part four}

The best day at Coronado Beach! Olivia loved crawling around and occasionally taking a bite out of the beach. Sand came out in her diapers for the next day or two! Nina hated getting muddy, but loved building sandcastles with W., and Ben and Hannah wore themselves out jumping the waves and collecting seashells with Chris and Natalie's kids. We saw (and heard) huge bomber jets and fighter planes all day since this beach is next to an Air Force base. And we ate sandwiches, Fritos, and Twizzlers, all with a little crunch of sand mixed in. Sand gets in everything!

At one point we were exploring some tide pools, picking off hermit crabs and touching sea anemones. Two ladies approached me and asked, "Are you a home school family?" Haha! Right. They said they just assumed we were since we are a "big" family, and seemed to be quite educational there on the beach. That is something I really noticed on our trip, that people were always amazed that we had FOUR kids.

California! {part three}

Natalie and W. on Dumbo

Olivia being happy at lunch.

A happy girl after going on Pirates...

Our trusty navigators!

Pull harder!

Cute guy and cute baby.

Celebrity sighting, yay!

Little did I know the line was 1 1/2 hours long to see some princesses...

...but who could say no to girl as excited as this?

Nina checking out her new crown.

Beautiful princess Nina!

The highlight of Nina's trip.

My two little ones.

Nina trying to not step on any cracks, haha! Good luck there, kid.

Peter Pan!

What a blast! You just can't go wrong with Disneyland. The crowds were small and the weather was perfect. It was just too bad the park opened at 10 and closed at 8. Usually it's the other way around. So we weren't able to do everything, but still it was a great day. I wish I had taken better pictures, but it was pretty tricky juggling all the kids and the camera while rushing from one ride to the next. We all kept splitting up too, trading off with the kids and baby and such.

Nina was in love with the idea of meeting some princesses. We missed meeting Tinkerbell at "Pixie Hollow" by literally 30 seconds, so sad. Then the wait to see the princesses was an hour and a half! After a half hour, Olivia was squirming, and I didn't think we could wait anymore. Lucky for us, the sweetest mom was in front of me and offered to hold my place in line if I wanted to leave for a bit. So we explored the princess shop and Nina chose a new crown. She was so cute looking at herself in the mirror with it on her head! Then we hopped back in line with my new friend and finally made it to the princesses...Mulan, Jasmine and Belle. I am glad it worked out because that was such a big deal for Nina.

As I was doing the whole princess thing, Clay had the other kids with him at Star Tours, and lost his iPhone. GREAT. So he called me on Chris' phone, we met up, and he used my phone and installed an app to track his phone. He went to the lost and found on Main Street with Olivia while Chris and I took all the kids to Autopia. We had no idea where Natalie and little W. were. Chaos! The funniest thing was all the looks Chris and I got walking around together with 6 kids. It looked like we were married and had our hands full! I can't believe someone actually turned Clay's phone into the lost and found, but what a relief. Anyway, so that took a chunk of time out of the evening, and before we knew it Disneyland was closing. I just wish we'd had a little more time!

California! {part two}

Obviously this was our Sea World day. I've never been a big Sea World fan, and although it was okay, I don't think I'll ever pay to go back there. The kids had fun petting the string rays and seeing Shamu and the dolphins, but later Clay and I wished that we had spent the time and money on another day at Disneyland.

I was under the height requirement for the bounce house there, so everyone thought it would be funny for me to go in there with all the kids. Of course Nina was crying within 5 seconds, so I tried to cheer her up, then I was out of there before I got a fat lip or something!

The kids went with Clay and Chris on the rapids ride about 3 times and came out drenched, and then the other big highlight was the penny pressing machine (which by the way is a LOT less expensive than admission to Sea World, haha!). What is up with the Elmo pig ride? Let's go to Disneyland guys!

California! {part one}

Okay, we've been home from this fun trip for two weeks now. So it's high time for me to buckle down and write about it before it slips away forever!

I was so worried about the road trip because Olivia usually cries so much in the car, but she was an angel. She didn't cry at all on the first stretch, which was to New Harmony (near Cedar City). We were blessed enough to have our good friends Chris and Natalie and their four kids along, which made our vacation even better.

We stayed the first night at the most amazing ranch...or should I say estate? Good grief, that place was unbelievable! It's the home of Chris' mom and stepdad, and they were so generous to let us explore their property, feed us wonderful food, and give us the coziest beds. There are multiple homes on their ranch, a kid-sized cottage with electricity and a thermostat, a playground nicer than any public one, a vegetable garden with rabbits hopping around, goats and lots of other animals, a house dedicated to displaying animals from their multiple safari adventures, a pool with a breathtaking view of Kolob Canyon that you can't see from the freeway...there's no way to describe it all! I loved this "Motto To Live By" which I saw inside one of their houses.

That first night we swam and had a great dinner by the pool. After getting the kids to bed (Nina was so happy to sleep in her own personal fairy room), Clayton and I went out to the hot tub with Chris and Natalie. Just as Natalie was telling us a freaky story, one of the beach balls that we had put away came rolling toward us out of nowhere....SCARY! At least Nat and I thought it was scary! So of course the rest of the time Clay and Chris kept saying, "Did you see that? Did you hear that?" just to freak us out even more. We were so far away from the house we were sleeping in, we had to ride on golf carts to get back, which was also FREAKY in the dark! Haha! I'm such a pansy.

Sweet Dreams

Tonight I went up to Solitude and ate at Kimi's Bistro with my family to celebrate my sister Hailey's 19th birthday. So cozy, such good food, and even better company! It was even more cozy with the pine trees all powdered with snow and glittering with little white lights, and a nice pot of cheese fondue. I had only Nina and Olivia with me, since Clay is out of town on business and the other two are at the cabin with their cousins. Afterwards, as I buckled Olivia in her car seat, she started to fuss. Nina was so cute, "Olivia, just go to sleep," she said in her sweetest voice, "I hope you will dream of princesses." I thought that was so cute, because in Nina's mind, that's the best thing you can dream about.