...Through the Gorge to St. George!

Wow!  Summer's over and I haven't blogged a single thing about it!  My summer began with an amazing adventure!  I got to take 4 of my nephews on a road trip to St. George, Utah for a few days!  We visited Daniel, Tyisa, and Danny and did so many fun things!  It was so cute seeing the boys play together and I absolutely adore my baby brother, so it awesome to get to spend time with him!

It started on June 8th, when I picked up the boys after church.  We packed ourselves into my car and headed out!  Last time I took the boys to Utah with me, we had jobs: a food guy to pass out the snacks, and a trash man to be in charge of the trash bag and make sure there was no mess made in the car.  This time, Aaron was the food guy because he was sitting in the front seat with all of the snacks and Cy volunteered to be the trash man.  Then, Jonathan was very displeased to discover that there wasn't a job for him.  "I need a job!  What's my job?"  Ummmm...that's a good question, Jonathan.  So, we brainstormed jobs for Joey and Jonathan.  Cy, who is only 6, was the brainstorming champ!  He decided that, because Joey is the oldest and strongest, he could be the guy that opens stuff (Capri Suns, etc.) and Jonathan could be the holding man.  That is, if someone needed to do something, but had something in their hands, Jonathan could hold it for them for a second.  Those sound a little silly, but let me tell you, they came in handy!  What a smart and amazing kid Cy is!  The boys were really well-behaved, despite the long drive.  Before the trip I asked the boys what songs they liked and we put together a playlist on my iPod that was specifically tailored to their requests.  The most requested song on the entire trip? the Duck Tales Theme Song!  It was by a landslide!  We played that one over and over and over again and sang like maniacs every single time!  It was awesome!

Anyhow, we made decent time driving to St. George, but got in very late.  We spent the first night in a hotel and then stayed with Daniel and Tyisa for the rest of the trip.  I wanted to make sure our morning got off to a smooth start, so I set out all of our clothes the night before.  In all honesty, I was exhausted, but couldn't wait for morning to come so we could get the party started!

The next morning, I woke up and got showered and dressed while the boys slept, and then woke them up.  That's when the fun began! haha!  Like me, the boys are NOT morning people.  BUT they were good sports and everyone was showered/bathed, and dressed by 9:00, which gave us a half hour to go eat breakfast.  Oh man!  We were quite a spectacle in the breakfast room.  Each boy wanted something different, until they saw their brothers eating something else, and then they wanted that too!  We just rolled with it!  They're kids, for Heaven's sake, and we were having an adventure!  So, to the old ladies chowing down on their frosted flakes and bran muffins, while staring at us with looks of disapproving judgement, we don't care what you think! At the end of the day, we will have had a great time, and you will still be grouchy and mean.  For the record, the boys were reasonably quiet and well-behaved; they were just very very...hungry! ;)  After breakfast, we went back to the room and had just enough time to catch an episode of Sesame Street together before getting back into the car to start our day!

The first place we went was to the Jacob Hamblin home.  He was a really interesting man, known for his kindness and honesty, among the Native Americans.  Because of this, the early members of our church didn't have to be as concerned about attacks, etc.  The boys thought the house was super cool and they loved getting to see the cotton and homemade soap!

Aren't the precious???

Next up: Brigham Young's Winter Home.

The boys, even Jonathan, had done so well in the Jacob Hamblin Home, that I was extremely optimistic about taking the tour of the Brigham Young Home.  However, it proved to be a little more of a challenge!  The older three did fine, but Jonathan had had enough and was begging me to take him somewhere else! haha!  I promised him that, if he did a good job there, I would take him to get ice cream.  He thought I meant only he would get ice cream and he immediately begged me to get his brothers ice cream too!  It was adorable!  That's one of the things I love about my nephews; they really do have each other's backs because each of them have done this type of thing at various times.  Once I promised to get ALL of them ice cream, Jonathan did his very best to settle down and I think he did a pretty good job, especially for a three year old!

Jonathan was trying SO hard to be good! haha :)

We made it and now we can go get ice cream!

Since I had promised them ice cream, and we had a little more time to kill before going to Daniel's, when Siri told me there was a Dairy Queen in Hurricane, I put it into my GPS and headed out!  BUT when we got off the freeway, there were a bunch of signs pointing toward Zion National Park!  I asked the boys if they were up to an adventure and 3 out of 4 said yes!  So, it was off on a spontaneous adventure to Zion's!  We got there just fine, but it was SO HOT!!! Like, living on the sun kind of hot.  And the stroller was buried under all of our bags, beach towels, air mattresses, ya know...pretty much everything in the entire world!  Once I was done excavating my trunk to unearth the stroller, and had drunk approximately 92 bottles of water (that may or may not be an exaggeration), we got on our way!

I realize that Jonathan looks like he's being tortured here, but I assure you he's fine!  It was just bright!  And 10 million degrees.  No biggie.  ;)

This was in the nature center at Zion's.  They had a bunch of uniforms and Cy immediately asked if he could try this one on.  He pretty much melts my heart!  How cute is he!?!

Out in the sun...

In the nature center...the AIR CONDITIONED nature center, that is.  Heaven.

He was teaching me all about this little guy! "He's little and he has eyes and he sits in the trees!"  haha!

This mountain lion was super pretty, but I would NOT have wanted to run into it in the wild!  The muscles in its legs were crazy!

We decided to postpone ice cream and head down to Uncle Buddy's (Daniel's) house!  Once there, we all changed clothes and headed to the splash pad!

We LOVE this splash pad!

After the splash pad, we walked to dinner at Iceberg, where the boys were finally able to get their ice cream!

Mmmmmm!

It was a very full, fun, and exhausting day!  At bedtime, Uncle Buddy read the boys a story and then we put them to bed!

 When we put them to bed, they were neatly tucked in, each in their own space, but when we checked on them in the morning, this is what we found!  The two on the bed had even traded places! Daniel and I had a good laugh over this, especially about how Danny was now sleeping on the floor, with no blanket, snuggled up to that huge, stuffed monkey!

We had another full day ahead of us, but it wasn't as hectic as the previous day!  Daniel went to work and Tyisa and I walked the five boys over tot he Children's Museum!  Oh my goodness, it was the coolest children's museum I have ever seen!  We were there for HOURS, all the way until it closed and there was still more to do!

They LOVED "fixing" this car!

 By the way, I totally got busted...by a very vocal 5 year old for letting them go through the baggage claim!  She repeatedly told me, "You can't let them do that!  They're not allowed!"  When she realized that I didn't care what she said, she gave up on me and went to tell the boys directly that they were NOT allowed to play with that!  haha!  The way I see it, there was no sign that said not to, it was in a hands-on children's museum where everything is interactive, and if kids weren't allowed to go through it, they wouldn't have made it large enough to accommodate them.  Also, she's 5 and not my mom!  haha!  ;)

 Danny and Jonathan playing in the sound booth!

 Sir Joey slaying a dragon!

 Daniel came by to visit us on his lunch break!

 There was a science room where you could make a bubble around yourself!

 Jonathan and Danny playing in the kitchen!

 Joey, Aaron, and Cy running the grocery store!

 This place really was the coolest!!!

Later in the evening, we all went down to the St. George Temple visitors center!  Danny told us the story of how Jesus got hurt and then he got better (aka the Crucifixion followed by the Resurrection).  He is SO adorable!

In case you were wondering, Danny is laying on the grass behind us!  :)

   

After this, we drove to a park and had a pizza picnic!

We ended our night with ice cream bars and a superhero movie, though I can't remember which one!  Such a fun day!

The next day was sad. Our vacation was over and we had to say goodbye.  :(  I guess nearly all good things must come to an end, though.  On the way home, we stopped at Whiskey Pete's to get McDonald's for lunch and to see the Bonnie and Clyde Cars!  In the pictures, the boys look like it was them who just got shot, rather than Bonnie and Clyde, but I promise you they thought the cars were pretty cool!

This was one of the most fun trips I've ever been on!  I love being with my family so much and I'm grateful that David and Melissa trust me enough to let me kidnap their kiddos for a few days every now and then!  Until next time!

Away Down South in Dixie!

A couple of weeks ago I realized that my Disneyland pass was expiring and I still hadn't eaten at Blue Bayou or gotten Mickey/Minnie ears, BOTH of which were on my bucket list.  So, I decided to make it happen.  I ended up booking a room in Anaheim and making a little getaway out of it.  I spent my evening at Disneyland and California Adventure and went land by land doing everything that I wanted to do and, of course, taking full advantage of the single-rider line (best thing ever, by the way).  I also bought these:

My first pair of ears!!!

I stayed almost until closing and then went back to my room; I was so glad that I decided to stay nearby because I was seriously so exhausted by the end of the night!  You can pretty much see my exhaustion in the picture above, but that's what happens when you work a full day and then run around like a crazy person all night long!  ;)

The following morning, I got to Disneyland just after it opened and picked up where I left off, going from land to land hitting all the rides I wanted to go on.  At 4:30, I had a reservation at Blue Bayou and I looked forward to it all day long!  Finally, the time came and I got to check off a big bucket list item!

Blue Bayou is everything I had hoped it would be!

The food was delicious and the atmosphere was so cool!  I'm so glad I decided to go!  After dinner, I hit a few more rides and then headed home.  I'm really grateful that I've been able to do things like this and realize that I'm such a lucky girl to have had so many cool opportunities!

100 Years of Magic!

Ok.  So Disney hasn't been around for a hundred years yet, but they named one of their Disney on Ice shows "100 Years of Magic".  I'm not sure where the 100 comes from, but I'm willing to overlook that because, let's face it:  seeing a bunch of my favorite Disney characters gliding flawlessly and gracefully across a frozen floor is pretty dang impressive, especially when you consider those wearing costumes with very big heads on them.  

Anyhow, I have wanted to see Disney on Ice for a very long time now and one day, a couple of months ago, I decided that I was going to see it, no matter what.  So, I looked on the website and was willing to drive as far as Vegas to see it.  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was playing just 20 minutes from home, just a couple of months down the road!  Can it get any better than that?  I think not!  

I seriously looked forward to seeing it from the moment the tickets were purchased.  Right before the show, I got a little nervous because my expectations were sky-high and I was worried that anything less than perfection would be a major disappointment to me!   High expectations are certainly a double-edged sword.  Luckily, the show was amazing and, not only did it meet my expectations, it exceeded them!  It really was the perfect night!

Pretty awesome, no?

It was the coolest show and we had an awesome time!

Palm Springs!

Spring Break!!!  Ya know...the time when every teacher is about to go crazy and then, just in the knick of time, we get a week off???  I love my job and I have awesome students, but let's face it, teaching is hard and stressful and it's definitely time for a little break.  I was having a hard time of coming up with something to do, so I decided to check my bucket list and do something off of there!  The only area where absolutely nothing had been checked off was Palm Springs.  So, I booked a room for a couple of days and hit up TripAdvisor to find some awesome things to do there.

The first day, I went to the Palm Springs Air Museum!  I have always been fascinated with aviation and military planes because my grandpa was in the Air Force and I grew up hearing and loving all of his amazing stories!  During WWII, he was a tail gunner in B-17s.  As it turns out, the air museum had a B-17 on display and you could actually board it and tour it; I'd seen B-17s before, but had never toured one!  It was the coolest thing ever!  As I tend to be a quite enthusiastic paparazzi, prepare for a picture explosion!!!  You're welcome!  ;)

 Control panel of the B-17

 Inside the middle portion of the B-17

Here's a shot of the whole thing!  The one my grandpa flew in was called "Old Reliable".

My grandpa would have sat just inside the tail of the plane and looked out of the glass to shoot.  So scary!

There were lots of other planes you could see and even others that you could go inside of!  Upstairs, they had flight simulators on computers that you could try out.  I took a stab at it and did ok for awhile, before plunging directly into "the drink" as my grandpa used to call it.  I miss him so much and it was a really neat experience to be inside a type of plane that I had heard so much about!

After leaving the air museum, I decided to grab a milkshake at a local place that got great reviews.  It's called Great Shakes and, as you might have guessed, they have great shakes there!  They had lots of different flavors to choose from and I had trouble choosing!  I finally decided on the s'mores shake, which was amazing and definitely tasted like a s'more...right down to the roasted marshmallows!  Yum!

After enjoying my shake, I took a little walk down the street to see the Forever Marilyn statue.  After waiting in a line of tourists (like myself), I was able to get this picture:

I know, I know.  I'm making you all kinds of jealous with this one!  Haha! The statue is HUGE, as you can see and, in all honesty, kinda gaudy! BUT it's a must-see if you're doing Palm Springs.  Plus, it's being moved somewhere else soon, so I had to see it while I got a chance.

Next, I checked into my hotel room.  I stayed in a place called The Monroe and was really happy with it.  First of all, the room was orange...my very favorite color!  LOVE IT!  The bed was super comfy and it was close enough to stuff to be very convenient, but not so close to stuff that it was a crowded disaster.  I loved my room, especially since I had it all to myself!

Orange walls, orange bed skirt, orange throw!  Love, love, love!

I hung out in my room for a little while and then headed over to the aerial tram.  This was another bucket list item and was worth a visit.  First, you get into the big, round thing that is full of people standing around and then it transports you up the mountain.  Nothing too complicated, but it gives you a pretty view of the mountain and of the valleys below.  The floor actually rotates so you get to see everything, regardless of where you're standing.

Not a great shot, but there wasn't much room in there.

Once you get to the top, you can go hiking on the trails or just walk around and enjoy the beauty of nature.  You can also get your dinner while you're up there.

 I didn't do any extensive hiking here, but I did take a leisurely stroll along one of the paths.

 This was my view from my table!  Dinner at 8,500 feet!  Gorgeous!

 Now, I know that posting pictures of your food is a faux pas, but I'm going to go ahead and go there.  The chicken I ordered for dinner was so-so; the sauce it came in was kinda weird and it just wasn't my thing, but this German chocolate cheesecake made it all better.  Oh. my. goodness.  Soooo good!!

Still snow on the ground!  Too bad I left my jacket in the car!!!

After roaming around a bit, I rode back down the mountain and went back to my room for the night.  I ended up watching/listening to some shows on the Disney Channel for awhile.  Ummmm...by the way, have you watched the Disney Channel, lately???  It is so angsty!  Whatever happened to Dumbo's Circus and Pooh Corner?  No wonder kids have so much drama these days!

The next morning, I woke up without an alarm.  My hotel's breakfast was provided at the restaurant across the street and was served from 6 am until noon!  SCORE!!!  I got to take advantage of the free hotel breakfast AND sleep in!  Afterwards, I drove to the Tahquitz Canyon Visitor Center and hit the trail for a hike to Tahquitz Falls.

  

In all honesty, I wasn't expecting more than a trickle from this waterfall since we've gotten, practically, no rain.  Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised!

It was more than a trickle and it was beautiful!

And now for the obligatory selfie:

 And it would be rude of me to not introduce you to my little friend!

That's right!  I encountered 3 rattlesnakes on the trail!

After the hike, I went back to my hotel room to relax a bit and then headed to Sherman's Deli and Bakery.  If you're ever in Palm Springs, go there.  Seriously, the best and most tender pastrami and Swiss sandwich ever.  I didn't try their dessert, but it was on display and looked amazing.  Go there!

Next, I went to the Walk of Stars, which is Palm Springs' version of Hollywood's Walk of Fame.  Definitely not as big as Hollywood's, but also much cleaner.  I'll take it!

The rest of this day was spent relaxing in my room and watching movies on my laptop.  Typically, my family vacations like lunatics.  We go, go, go until you can go no longer, but we get to see so many cool things!  When I go plan my own vacations, I make it a special point to plan plenty of cool stuff to see, but also to schedule in some downtime.  Let me just say, this was exactly what I needed!  The next morning, I woke up relaxed, energized, and ready to conquer the world.  I checked out of my hotel and then drove to the Living Desert, which is, basically, a zoo in Palm Desert.  I got to see some cool animals, including a giraffe, and then I got to FEED a GIRAFFE!  I've had annual passes to the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park several times and, somehow, never got to feed the giraffes, so I was super excited.  

Just look at how majestic this animal is!

Then, I got to visit the petting zoo!

I spent a little while longer there and then headed towards home.  On the way, it started getting super windy and then it started raining and the temperature dropped from around 80 degrees to about 60 degrees.  I, however, had one more stop in mind and was not about to let the weather deter me.

 The World's Biggest Dinosaurs!

Fortunately, there was an equally crazy family there to take a picture for me!

This was the last stop on my Spring Break adventure!  It was awesome and I was able to check off every single thing on my Palm Springs bucket list and then some! What an adventure! :)

Whale Watching: Take 2

About a month ago, Scott and I went whale watching to celebrate his birthday and we had tons of fun!  At the time, my mom mentioned that she would like to go whale watching sometime and then I found out that it was on my dad's bucket list too!  So, I found a Groupon deal for the same whale watching cruise Scott and I had gone on and booked it!  My parents, Nancy, and I went and had a great time!

Here we are, waiting to get out on the water:

The water was super choppy and it made for a bumpy, but amazing ride!  The spray from the waves coming up was crazy and Nancy and I loved it!  We were soaking wet, but it was still awesome!

We had a great time together and nobody puked!  I call that a win!

Tea Time!

In January, Nancy and I had a girls' day and went to see the Princess Diana exhibit at the Queen Mary.  Remember this post?  Anyhow, after seeing the exhibit, we went to The Tea Room (a restaurant right by it) and had dessert.  While there, we noticed these women hanging out and having a cute finger food, tea time meal; Nancy mentioned that it would be fun to do that sometime, so we did!  Since it's Nancy's birthday, it's the perfect way to celebrate!  My mom, Nancy, and I were super excited to see what a real tea time was like!  It's called the Windsor Tea and it comes with a course of finger sandwiches and scones and then a course of petit fours for dessert!  It was all super cute, fancy, and yummy!  

We all agreed that the sandwich flavors were not necessarily what we would order if given the option, but it ended up being great and it was fun to have a chance to try some foods that we wouldn't ordinarily eat. For example, caviar.  Neither my mom nor I had ever tried caviar and Nancy never eaten black caviar before and we weren't super sold on eating it, but we rolled with it and it was actually pretty good!

That's caviar on top of smoked salmon, cucumber, and bread.  Actually pretty tasty!

We had a good time together just talking and laughing!  When dessert came out, we were super excited because they were SO adorable!  

We weren't sure how we could eat something so pretty...but we did!  HAHA!  And they were every bit as yummy as they were cute!  Especially the pink ones!

It was fun to spend time together and do something special to celebrate Nancy's birthday!

After lunch we walked around the souvenir shops a bit and just took some time to relax and browse.  Life is super hectic, so it was nice to do something at a slower pace for a change!

What a fun day!!! Happy Birthday, Nancy!!!

On the Street Where You Live...

On my 16th birthday, a million years ago, we went and saw My Fair Lady at the Candlelight Pavilion and it was awesome.  Fast forward 13 years, and My Fair Lady is playing at Candlelight again...this time, celebrating their 200 Broadway musical!  Last night I got to go see it!  I'm ridiculously sentimental, so I was WAY excited!  Additionally, that play has always held a special place in my heart because my parents' "song" is from that play: On the Street Where You Live.  Awww!  When they showed Professor Higgins' house, it was totally the same set that they used the first time I saw it!  I remember being in awe of it then and was equally in awe the second time around!  Plus, This time around, I went with Scott and his mom; anything I do with them is awesome, so it made for a fun night!

It was just a fun night all around!  Great food, great music, great show, great company, and great conversation!