Ingenuity

Getting treats from the candy basket.

When I moved the candy basket to another high, hard to reach place, Brielle just watched me, then with supreme indifference announced, "I can climb up there too." and walked away.

(yes, the kids put the chairs there all by themselves.)

Déjà vu

Today I got out of the shower to find that Brielle had taken scissors and cut geometric shapes out of the sliding glass door's screen. I put her in time out and went to get dressed, when I returned to tell Brielle she could come out I saw pencil drawings ALL OVER her wall. Apparently she keeps a stash of pens and pencils under the bed for just such an occasion.

Seriously, this kid was sent to Earth to destroy me.

Touché

On Saturday I suggested to Russell that he take the kids with him to the grocery store so that I could finish cleaning. His reply:

"I won't be able to get anything productive done if I have two kids with me!"

Thank you. That sums up my life perfectly.

Again with the showers...

I got out of the shower to find that my children had emptied the sugar bowl on the carpet, and then poured several glasses of water over it. I'm not sure if this was before or after they pulled all of the wet wipes out of the box, because when I found them they weren't doing either, they were sitting in their room eating chocolate that had previously been on top of the refrigerator.

WHY?

Seriously though, why??

California trip: part 2

So about now you're probably thinkin' "DANG! They took plenty of pictures, and then some!! What was she talking about all that 'sparse' nonsense??!!"

Well here is where the pictures become a little spotty. We went to Sea World on Tuesday and Friday, and Disneyland on Wednesday and Thursday. You're going to have to use your imagination to read between the lines.....or photos.

The tidal pool at Sea World. For Tyson, Hyrum and Aubrey this was a favorite.
The children also loved all of the shows, the killer whales, dolphins, sea lions and pets, in fact I think all three of the older girls now want to be Sea World trainers when they grow up. One of the Sea World highlights was the young walrus that tried to escape over the glass at the end of the Sea Lion show!

And now we're at Disneyland. After waiting in line for two hours to meet the princesses, Josh is getting pretty antsy for his boy to arrive. Only another month to go!!

Darcy with Mary and Aubrey on the Alice in Wonderland ride.

I'm not sure if you can tell, but Tyson is fast asleep here. We were having some SERIOUS fun on this trip!! All sleep had to be done standing up while moving forward.


Waiting in line for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Turns out it was a little bit too wild for Hyrum's liking.

The model out in front of the ride was much better. (my Mom with Brielle and Hyrum.)

It's amazing just how many rides toddlers can go on. We could have spent three days easy just going on rides without height restrictions. As for Brielle, she was tall enough for everything but the Indiana Jones ride. She went on Splash Mountain THREE times, Thunder Mountain once, and the Matterhorn once. If you're planning a trip anytime soon, the adult favorites are Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, California Screamin' and Soarin' Over California. However the kids would vote for Winnie the Pooh, It's a Small World, The Jungle Cruise, Finding Nemo Sub, and Tea Cups. And actually Hyrum was happy every time he found a rock, or some old chewing gum.


Our little family at Mission Beach, last day.

Christian, Shannon, and Tyson. (no pic of Josh's family since they are waiting for the new addition before bothering with a family photo. very smart.)

The whole family!!!

There we have it, the trip in a teeny tiny nutshell. It was so much fun to have all of us together before Mattie-pants heads out on his mission.

Every single day was fun, the children loved the beach and the ocean, the seals and the tidal pools, and then just when they thought life couldn't get any better, we took them to Sea World. They were thrilled! Then the next two days were spent at Disneyland and I'm pretty sure my kids think that is what Heaven will be like. (I kinda think that myself, though without the lines) We hadn't even left California before we started planning how soon we could come again! Then Friday we went back to Sea World for another wonderful day. This truly was the most amazing vacation EVER!!

Thank you so much, Mom and Dad!!

Intermission

Funny side note: When I was a kid, every time our family would vacation at either Disney World or Disneyland, my Dad printed up a legal document for each child to sign, stating that we would not sing, hum, whistle, or chant the song, tune or words to It's A Small World After All for an entire 6 months following the trip. We always thought that was so funny, I mean seriously, why would we? But now I understand. For the last two weeks Brielle has been singing "It's a small world" NON-STOP!!! The worst part is, those are the only words she knows!!! So all day long I hear "It's a small world after all, It's a small world after all, It's a small world after all, It's a small world after all, It's a small world after all, It's a small world after all.........."

If only I had had my father's foresight!!

California trip: part 1

First of all let me warn you that taking pictures was not our number one priority on this vacation. That was eating, followed closely by having fun. So we have several pictures of some days and a much sparser selection for others. This top picture is the family sitting down to enjoy dinner at the beach house Dad rented. We were right on the beach, Mission Beach in San Diego, we could literally watch the dolphins jumping from the balcony. (Dolphins jumping in the ocean, not off the balcony. WE were sitting on the balcony watching them.)

On Memorial Day we went to La Jolla beach to see the harbor seals and the tidal pools.

These slug-like creatures are the seals. They're living the good life, lounging on the beach, occasionally taking a dip in the ocean and bringing home some sea food.

The Pirate caves.

Christian and Tyson
Shannon and Hyrum

The three trouble makers: Mary, Cassie, Brielle.

Cassie and Brielle

Shannon and Cassie watching the waves.

Hyrum starting with the little pools...

...moving up to the big pools.

And finally brave enough for some serious deep sea fishing. "Yup, yup, that's a sea urchin there..."

Mary and Hyrum
Christian using baby toes as crab bait. (note: not good parenting)

Did I drop the car keys in this one?

Shannon showing Mary the Giant Octopus

Matt looking for barnacles

And the tide is coming IN. Run Matt and Dad, run!

Nine Days of Happy

We spent 9 days in California with the whole Francis family, staying in a beach house, going to Sea World and Disneyland and California Adventures. It was the BEST VACATION EVER!!!

And my kids could not have been more thrilled!

The first few days after we got home it became clear to me HOW big of an impression the trip made on the kids. Apparently everything in life can be compared or contrasted with "THE VACATION".

For example, I was driving the kids to playgroup on Tuesday and we were late (kids' fault, not mine) so I was driving quickly, yet legally, down the winding road and Brielle throws her arms in the air and shouts out "It's just like Space Mountain!!!" (in case it's been awhile since you've visited the Magic Kingdom, let me just explain that having your driving compared to Space Mountain is not a good thing!)

The next day I took the kids swimming in our pool and as soon as I get in Brielle starts shouting "SHAMU SHAMU!!" (with the famous killer whale hand motions included.)

Can't wait to see what else they remember.

Pictures of the trip coming soon!