Friday: left at around 9am to head to cedar city. The drive was great. When we got there we all went to the park by Heidi's house and the kids had a great time. After that the kids stayed at Heidi's house with the older kids babysitting while the adults went out to lunch. We went to Bruno's which is an Italian restaurant at a gas station. Surprisingly really good! Afterwards we went ice skating with all the kids. It was my kids first time and they all had a great time! Parker especially did really well without the walker. But they all did well and had a blast. We made dinner, watched "storks" and did a chocolate fondue fountain. Then we headed to St. George to stay at my parents new house. We got to chat with Tiff and Adam who were also staying there and then headed to bed.
Saturday: Tiff and I made French toast, eggs and juice for breakfast. Then after getting ready, I gave Maxwell a haircut (which he despised but looks so handsome :)) and then we took some family pictures. After that we went swimming at the rec center which was really fun and they had great slides. Then we picked up pizza for lunch and met everyone at my grandma's clubhouse to eat. The boys got in some ping pong and pool games while the kids played games with Grandma. Then we headed back to my parents to hang out, make dinner, watch a movie and have rice pudding and cookies for dessert.
Sunday: we watched Mormon channel videos in the morning until church at 11. After church we came back and packed our things to head to Las Vegas. We stayed at the circus circus. We saw a couple circus acts (trapeze and the thing where they do tricks from curtains 😁) at our hotel, then went back to our room for dinner which was cup o noodles and PB&J. Yum 😊. Then we ventured out for another circus show (foot juggling), the volcano show, the billagio gardens and fountains, the gardens at the flamingo, watched street performers, and looking around. We didn't get back until 11pm and the kids crashed!! So did we! We had a lot of fun though!!
Monday: slept in, watched some cartoons, had Costco muffins for breakfast, went to town square playground for the kids, then drive the 5.5 hours to get to san Diego and accidents added an hour to our time. When we got here we stopped at Costco to get simple dinners and then headed to Krisina's house. It's gorgeous here! Her husband just left on a 6 week business trip and so she's letting us stay in the master bedroom as a family which is so generous!
Tuesday: sea world. We had such a fun day. Highlights included: the fish that"cleat/eat" your hands, the dolphin training that we were really up close and personal for, the shows, the kids especially loved the sea lion show, the rides (Caden loved the Elmo rides and Parker and Spencer really liked the big tall one and the ride they got wet on (can't remember what they're called 😊)), the sharks and the whales. After sea world we tried to go to Belmont park but they were closed so instead we went to the beach right next to Belmont park to play in the sand and watch the sunset. It was GORGEOUS!! The kids loved playing in the sand and looking for shells, and Darrin find a bunch of whole sand dollars. When the sun was down we headed back home to eat dinner and relax before heading to bed.
Wednesday: we went to the San Diego zoo today! It is HUGE! They had many animals that the zoo at home doesn't have like koala bears, panda bears, hippos, and much more. The animals seemed really active and we got to see several babies. We also learned a lot from the workers about the tortoises, ant colonies, polar bears and giraffe's! We barely saw everything before closing-barely! After the zoo we came home for dinner and relaxing.
Thursday: we drove to Knott's Berry farm today! We had to drive 2 hours to get there but it got us out of the rain in San Diego. It stayed dry all day, it was a ghost town, and we had such a great time! We didn't have to wait in one line and got to go on many rides multiple times. The shows were fun too. Spencer was so funny though and so scared to go on multiple different rides. We had to keep making him go and then he was happy he went :). Even Caden loved all the rides he could go on and Parker of course other was like, "bring it on!!"
Friday: We tried Legoland today but got completely rained out 😥. As in they shut the whole park down after only being there for under two hours. While we were there despite the downpour we ride 3 rides and watched their new 4D 12 minute Lego movie. Then we got to see the masses of Lego creations which were incredible!! We loved it all that we got to see. They still had their aquarium open and gave us free tickets to get into that that a ticket to come back another day. So we went to the aquarium which was pretty good and then to the museum of making music after. So, all in all, still a great day! Side note, Parker had an accident within the first 20 minutes of being there! I was shocked and completely unprepared. We had to go in the bathroom And wash them with hand soap and attempt to dry them with the have dryer which didn't work so he walked around the rest of the day with wet pants 😛.
Saturday: we had booked a whale watching excursion for today and were really excited about it since this is a great time of year to do that here. They called last night and left a message saying they cancelled the excursion due to "severe weather conditions". He left a number I could call to rebook or with any questions. The number was out of order and the weather today was great. We were really looking forward to that and were super bummed. BUT, we ended up going to Legoland attempt number two today since yesterday they gave us free tickets to come back. The weather was really nice with the exception of a few "sprinkle" periods and we really enjoyed Legoland although we agreed that it's certainly for young kids. Our kids' ages we're perfect but we're not sure we'll go back only because the kids will outgrow it quickly. But we were really impressed with the originality and the variety and of course all the Lego creations that were amazing!! We all had a great time. After closing we went to dinner at Denny's. Great day.
Sunday: went to church with Krisina to listen to her brother and sister in law speak. They did a great job. Then we came home to pack up and Krisina was so sweet to make us a big enchilada lunch before we headed out on the road. We had such a wonderful time staying with her! Then we drove the 6 hours to El Monte, AZ to Brent and Kat's house. They had set up a nice bedroom for us with chocolate on the pillows 😊. It was great to see their family again!
Monday: Darrin worked while Kat and I took the kids to the playground and then to the nature center and Library. We all had a great time. Then back to their house for lunch and naps. Our kids all got along so well with each other! For dinner we made a spaghetti dinner with salad and garlic bread. Then we gave them their Christmas gifts. After getting the kids in bed the adults posted LOLZ which was fun!
Tuesday: we got to join Karina's preschool class on their field trip to the fire station! It was so fun! The kids got fire fighter hats, bracelets, coloring books and stickers. The fire fighters gave a tour of their strain including where they eat and sleep. Then we got to go out to the fire truck where they got to go inside, talk on the headsets with the firemen, try on the real fire helmets, see all their tools, and they talked about fire safety. After we were all done we went to the park to play. Then we came home, had lunch, got packed up and headed out for st. George. It was a 6 hour drive. We arrived pretty late at my parents house.
Wednesday: My Mom made a really delicious breakfast for us. Heidi came to spend time with us which was so great! We got to go to tannaquin park which was literally the coolest park I've ever been to. Really big, lots of equipment I've never seen before, a big volcano, rock climbing and so much more! Then we walked over to feed the ducks. There were so many and they just came right up to us to eat out of your hands along with huge swans. Then we went back for lunch. After lunch we went to the mall and did the train ride there and then the playground there. We went back for a nap, then we packed up and headed for home. The drive was decent with only a couple scary parts. So grateful we were safe. Always bitter sweet to come home.
