Hawaii in a nutshell

After the kids had been in school for 5 days, we took them out for 6 days and headed to Oahu.  We LOVED LOVED LOVED it there!  We had so much fun and our week flew by!
We stayed in Waikiki and the beach across the street from our hotel (Addison counted 180 (of her) steps from our hotel to the water) was AWESOME!  The kids loved the waves and had so much fun in their tubes!  There was also a sand bar that went way out in the ocean and it was so fun to be way out but still be able to touch.  We also saw big sea turtles every day (and I freaked out the first day thinking it was a sea lion and tried to save my kids until a cute Australian couple told us they were turtles).  They were so fun to spot and follow around the rest of the trip.

 We took a drive one day, trying to find a waterfall hike, but when we got there, we realized there had been a landslide years ago and it was closed.  So, we just had yummy food at the shrimp shack truck and hung out at the beautiful Kailua beach.

We went to Hanauma Bay to snorkle.  It was breathtakingly beautiful.  The kids were AWESOME snorkelers and hung in there with us pretty much all day!  That same night we went over to the Disney resort, Aulani, for dinner (notice Addison's Mickey Mouse dessert she is holding).  The resort was so beautiful!

This was back at Waikiki beach, there was a super yummy shaved ice place right there on our walk between the hotel and the beach, lucky for us!

Another day we headed to the Dole Plantation, Matsumoto's Shave Ice and the Polynesian Cultural Center.  

On September 11th, we went to Pearl Harbor (sorry there are two collages from that day).  The Veteran in this picture is 96!  I couldn't believe it.

Then back to our Waikiki beach and stayed for our last sunset.  boo!

 Of course Thursday morning before we flew home we had to spend a couple of more hours at the beach.  We are all coming back tan and happy!  What a great trip!

First Day Of School!!!

The kids started school a few weeks ago.  

1st Grader:

 5th Grader:

 Next year Addison will be in Middle School so they are excited to be going together this year!

 After first day of school treats-caramel apples, yum!

On a side note, we found out while we were in Hawaii that Carter is having to move to a different school because there are too many 1st graders in his class.  It is a MAJOR bummer!  :(

Auntie Amy visits!

Yay!  Amy came for the 4th of July and we had so much fun!  

I picked her up and we headed to dinner at Lungomare (girls night, yay!)  It was so, so delicious!  

 Of course as soon as she got to the house, the kids and the dogs never left her side.

 She was able to help bury little Turbo.  RIP

On the morning of the 4th, we headed to the parade in Clayton to watch Addison walk in it with the Girl Scouts.  So cute!  (and hot, but we survived!)

 Afterwards we came home to BBQ and swim.  Carter wanted his plate to be patriotic!

 The kids loved having her in the pool with them.

oh yes and let's not forget the super frightening location we chose for fireworks on the night of the 4th.  haha, we survived but it was a little sketchy for sure (and no pictures to prove it!)

 And then on Saturday we headed into the city.  It was kind of a nightmare with traffic (holiday weekend and the Bart strike was happening), but once we FINALLY found parking, we had a great time.

 Carter on stage, again, with the magician at Pier 39.

 Super delicious lunch!

 And the wax museum where they had a semi (or really, actually) creepy display of the last supper.

 And of course a stop at Ghiradelli for yummy, yummy ice cream!

We loved having you Amy.  Come back any time!  xoxo

(The night before she came, we went to the Singing Flag here in Concord which was pretty cool and had good fireworks so we were glad we went).

 Always a good time!  :)

too many things to blog about!

I have been wanting to blog, but honestly too many things to blog about and not enough time to give each post what it deserves.

So, sometime in the (hopefully) near-ish future, the following posts will appear:

12 hour visit with best friend Amy

crazy (but fun) NYC trip, including some church history

UTAH

best friend Amy funeral (blah!)

Redwoods in a great cabin and time with the Jones'

Wilcox family visits, and we celebrate Addison's bday a couple of days early with them and the Jones'

Addison's actual birthday...yay for 11!

blogging while I wait for clothes to dry so I can pack for one last trip where we leave our house at 4 a.m. (okay not really a post, just what I am doing at the moment)

and, finally our trip to Louisiana to see our favorite Elder Stewart return home from Africa (yay for Hunter!)

Oh ya, and the fact that I bought Addison a ticket to fly home from Las Vegas by herself.  She's so excited!

xoxo

Out of the ordinary Disneyland activities

So we haven't done Disneyland in the summer before.  There were definitely bigger crowds, and it was definitely hot!  But, we had just as much fun and did several things we have never done before which was great!  I just wanted to post all the "new" stuff we did this trip.

Back behind Big Thunder Mountain (which is under construction still) is a little petting zoo which was SO cute and not crowded at all.

 Cute Minnie and Mickey all decked out in their western wear back in that area.  So cute!  Carter told them "you look very nice today" which they of course loved.

 They had coloring pages so Carter colored a picture of Woody and then ran over and gave it to him.  Gotta love those sweet Disney characters!

 They also moved Billy and the Hillbillies over to this area.  It was a cute little show, so glad we "discovered" this area.  We will probably eat the BBQ buffet they have next time cause you know we love food.

Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln: This theater was beautiful inside and the animatronic Abe Lincoln was pretty cool too.  Kids may have been a tiny bit bored, but it was good for them!  This exhibit has been there since the 1950's!

We also saw the flag retiring ceremony one evening which was pretty cool and felt very patriotic.  One of the things that I ADORE about Disneyland is that they are patriotic and Christian.  I appreciated their Christmas songs when we were there in December that were about Christ.

Fireworks EVERY night!

There is a new show called Mickey and the magical map which was super cute and fun!  

(notice the guy is INSIDE of that balloon/ball)

 Marty and the kids wanted ice cream, so I went and got a frozen lemonade and sat and relaxed by myself for a little while.  It was so delightful!  :)

 Blue Cellar.  We have done this before, but not recently and not since the Fanstasy Faire model/conceptual idea was on display.  After seeing this it was fun to go over to this area in Disneyland and see everything.  We especially liked the big music box.

Grizzly Bear Rapids.  yes Carter looks like he has his hand on a pregnant belly but I'm still posting it cause this was his FAVORITE ride.  We have never done it before and we all loved it.  It was awesome on such hot days.  Next time we go we want to stay at Grand Californian so we can go a bunch of times and then go back to the room and change (assuming it's not 100 degrees again).

 Playing in the water in Bugs Land.

 (we are all just watching Carter get soaked!)

We also went to the 4-D show that we have done once before several years ago.  It's super cute!   The flash blinded Carter so he hurried an covered his eyes.  Silly kid! 

The Carousal.  Another one that we have done before but not in a long time!

Fun to find less crowded areas and not feel rushed. 

I will post more pictures of the rest of our trip soon.  Including several things Carter got us just for being cute and talking to every Disney employee in the park!  :)

LOVE

I have known and loved this girl longer than anyone else I know (who is not related to me).  

Our older brothers were all friends before we were even born, and when I was born, her mom made me a tiny green outfit that I still have.  We were both the youngest and when I started kindergarten we walked to school together, with our brothers, every day.  We have never stopped being friends.  She is an amazing woman and I wish I could be with her right now.  This will have to do.  Love you!  

He's officially a 1st grader!

And so darn cute!

 His kindergarten teachers were so, super fantastic!  We loved them both so much and are going to miss them like crazy!  I'm so glad we had such great teachers, we left a super amazing teacher in Utah and I really didn't think anyone could compare.  But these super ladies were awesome!

 They had a party on the last day and he got his face painted, just showing it off (naturally he requested Mickey Mouse on one side, Pooh Bear on the other!)