Disneyland

We got free tickets to go to Disneyland through the "Give a day, Get a day" program.  Check out my post here  about it.  Since we were already in California, we decided this would be a good time to use our tickets.  Amber and Samantha didn't have tickets, Samantha was free and Amber was a $67 to get in I think.  We saved a fortune!  Especially since we tried to bring our own food to eat, and drinks too.  I had a whole backpack full of snacks and sandwhiches and drinks.  We had a blast!  Last time we were at Disneyland, Lindsey and Lauren were 2 and Emily was 4.  Unfortunately we are still odd, so it makes it hard on some rides, because someone has to ride alone. 

This was Splash Mtn.  The girls went on it with their dad, then they took me on it.

This is Indian Jones.  Lindsey was too afraid to go on it the first time, but then the other girls LOVED it so they begged to go on it again, this time Lindsey went on it too.  The first time they went with their dad on it.  The rest of us went to Tikki's something with singing and talking birds.

This was Pirates of the Caribean ride.  The girls liked it except Amber.  She wasn't liking the drop offs.  The first one Robert told her it was the last one it was all over.  I then pushed him and pointed forward where there was another one.  Ooops!  It wasn't her favorite ride, but the other girls seemed fine with it.

Lauren and Emily on the Pirates ride... they liked it too.

 

The girls rode this ride at least 2 times.  They liked Thunder Mtn. 

This was the Submarine ride, now it is Nemo themed.  The little girls went on it and thought it was fun.

I had the little girls for awhile, and they LOVED this ride too.  I was a little dizzy, well alot dizzy when it was over.  I can't do spinning rides.  Even Nemo's Submarine ride made me feel dizzy or sick.

This was Space Mtn.  The girls LOVED it.  They went with Robert first then they took me on it again.  They take a picture of you somewhere through all the winding and spinning.  Look at how scared Lindsey looks.  Emily was plugging her ears the whole time because it was a super loud ride.  I didn't care for it that much.  I liked the old one, or what I remember of the old one anyway.  It has been so long, maybe I didn't like that one either.  I perfer the up and down hills instead of just round and round rides.  (Shh, don't tell anyone but I am more of a Magic Mountain/Six Flags fan.)

This was It's a small world.  I have a picture really close to this of Lindsey one this same ride.  It will be cute to compare them. 

This was Amber and Samantha's favorite ride I think.  They wanted to come back on it again.

There was lots of times when we split up, the big kids went with one of the parents and the little kids went with the other parent.  Some rides we could all go together and some we couldn't due to the nature of the ride or the height requirement.  We took all the girls on the Mattahorn.  Amber was groaning toward the end and yelling, "I hate this ride, I hate this ride!"  We were cracking up laughing.  That wasn't a favorite for her either.  I took the big girls on the Haunted House, which is one I like, but they didn't really like it and it was all changed and decorated for Nightmare Before Christmas.  I was bummed! 

This is the little girls eating a sandwhich while we were waiting for a Pooh ride.

Can you tell the big girls are like, "Really, you want me to stand by Pooh's stuff?"  They just got off Splash Mtn with Robert,

This is some stuff the girls were playing with while we were waiting in the line for a Pooh ride.

The little girls and I waiting in a long line to see Pooh, Eyeore (who had to go right when it was our turn), and Tigger (who left right at the person before us).  I was bummed we only got to see Pooh, I would have settled for Tigger instead.  Oh well.  The girls liked it.  Amber gave him a big hug when she left.  It was so cute!

I took the girls into Toontown.  We had fun there too.  The other girls I think were in line for Space Mountain I think.

Amber and Samantha got to meet Mickey Mouse!  Amber said, "Hey I have seen you on TV!"  It was cute. 

This is a fountain in Toontown. 

Again this is in Toontown, this is Goofy's car, parked in front of his house.

The girls had to drive every car they saw, several times!

This was so funny!  Amber was playing with this.. then she pulled it all the way up and put down the handle.  It triggers all these noises, exploding sounds, firework sounds, smoke coming out of the building.... and they just kept going on and on.  Amber was running around in a circle screaming.  It was hillarious!  People tried to do it again after we left, but it just made a little "boing" sound. 

The girls found yet another car to ride and drive.  This was a fire truck next to the TNT box.

I think this was in Goofy's house.  We played here for awhile waiting for Robert and the big girls.  They had a little play area outside his house with a slide too.

This is note worthy that Samantha is driving!  That didn't happen much.  This is Mickey's car right outside of his house.

Emily was trying out the little door.  I think she has seen someone named Alice try to fit in small places before.

We had a great time!  I would totally do the "Give a Day, Get a Day" again for tickets.  The bummer was we had to choose between California Adventures or Disneyland.  I also felt guilty that much of the time we were catering and trying to work out ways to get the big girls back on the big rides they wanted to do.  We didn't do many of the little rides and the ones they wanted to do again, like the It's a Small World, we didn't get to do it again because we were hurring to go to some other big ride.  I felt bad about that.  We did only a few small rides for the little girls.  I guess that just means we will have to go again!  I also regret not getting a picture in front of the castle....  I kept meaning to do that, but Robert wasn't much into waiting around for pictures, instead it was riding rides and getting in line to ride rides.  The kids had a good time. 

We brought home souviners, 4 princess plastic cups for the little girls, a snoglobe Emily picked out, Lauren got a hat with mouse ears, and Lindsey picked out a little stuffed Bolt dog.  That cost probably more than our food did. 

California Trip

Typically we make a trip to California in the fall.  This year we went a little earlier than normal.  The girls were really excited to go to California to see their cousins and family there.  Robert and I always enjoy our visit... and look forward to the time we get to spend with family there. 

Samantha was glad to see a little greeter on the porch.  She looked in her (Samantha refered to it as a her) little bag and said, "Its enpy!" (empty)  It was pretty funny.  She also knocked "her" over and was trying to put her back up.  With the wind we have here at our house, this cute decoration would have never made it.

Samantha really liked this pumpkin girl as she refered to it.  She gave it several kisses.

This is cousin Sean and their cooky dog Duke.

Cousin Serena gave make-overs to the big girls.  Lindsey said she looked ugly, then looked at Lauren and said how pretty she looked.  I looked at both of them, and said "You LOOK the same!" 

Here is Serena doing her magical work on Lauren.

Now Lauren is complete!  Lauren was loving the make-up!

Then it was Emily's turn.

And Emily just aged about 4 years!  Time to wash it off, I am not ready for her to be that old!

This is why they call Duke a cuke!

Silly Duke!

Then it was time for the girls to do Serena's make-up!  She was a little scared. I didn't blame her, the girls were saying... where does this go?  Serena would say, that is lipstick, it goes on my lips.  I didn't get a picture of the final out come.  Serena did better at doing her own make-up then the girls did.  She re-did her make-up right away.

We visited the beach. 

 The girls were asking what the noise was, they thought it was thunder, but it was just the waves, they were crashing!



I can't remember if it was Serena's suggestion or one of my girls' for a picture here, but I think it was a good one. 



Serena was so good with the little ones.  And they loved her too!

Emily is trying to keep Amber at a safe distance from those big waves.

Lindsey found something....  someone perhaps left behind or lost.

Oh, it was just Serena's hair piece.  Serena's lots of fun!

The pictures don't really do justice for the size of the waves.  They were pretty cool to just sit and watch.

Ping Pong battles were on most the time.  I played with Amber across the table from side to side instead of end to end.  Amber was pretty coordinated really for being just 3, well almost 4.

We went out for ice cream.  Who could complain about that?  The girls were loving it!

 Then our time was over and it was time for us to come home.  We look forward to visiting them again.  Thanks to Uncle Bill, Aunt Michelle, Sean, and Serena for the fun time.  We also went to Sean's water polo game, and that was pretty amazing.  That is a tough sport!  Serena delighted us with some of her music on her Tenor sax (I hope I am right on the tenor) which we were glad to see her new saxophone she got from Christmas last year.  We will look forward to the next time we get to come visit again.  (If we do the Disney "Give a day, get a day" again, I would like to go back before Samantha turns 3 so she will still be free.)  Plans are already in the making!

To my sisters

My little cars haven't seen so much action since you left.  They have been used but not as frequently and not as fast.  They typically go for a short ride that starts up by the garden (not half up the hill) and ends at the house below mine. 

The cars have requested that you come back to play.  They want to race again. 

Please come back soon....  I miss you girls!.... Lots!

Cascade Springs

It was the beginning of October if I remember right, we took a drive up into the mountains.  Our destination was Cascade Springs.  We took lots of snack type things that were left over from the previous days breakfast.  Pancakes, grapes, melon, and then some granola bars.  We had dinner kind of in the car or on the trails as we went along.  Lauren decided she was like a chipmunk stuffing her cheeks full of grapes.  We had to put a stop to that very quick, I didn't want anyone choking on grapes.  Of course, after I got a picture.

 I am not sure how Lauren got in so many pictures... but she seemed to be the one lingering as I was taking pictures.  Cascade Springs was kind of crowded so Robert was herding us through quickly not wanting to hang out to get too many shots, or any that took any time to take.

 I thought I got some pretty good shots of the girls all together.  I would have been more happy if they all would have looked at me at the same time and smiled.  I guess I can't have it all right.  We got some good ones anyway.

 They had several little bridges, the girls liked to watch the water move under them.  I was a little nervous for the little girls.  They seemed so small and the water seemed so fast.

Notice Amber's leg, she is holding it up.  She is such a poser when we take pictures!  lol

 Look at that, it is Lauren again!  Although looking at this picture, and her facial expression, I think it could pass as me at 8 yrs old.  Her nose all scrunched up like that, that is identical to mine. 

 I like this last picture, if only Lindsey would have leaned forward a little more.  I was trying to get them all arranged, and then I heard this, "Hurry, there are people waiting!"  Robert is aways so concerned about other people!  I was thinking, let them wait for just 2 minutes and then we will be done.  It is still cute. 

A sneaky plan

So it all started back in Aug.  I got a call from my sister in law, Sarah who asked if she could come for a day to visit.  She was driving back with a friend, Natalie who was visiting Utah.  I told Sarah I would for sure pick her up from the airport, it would all work for me.  As we talked we decided it would be fun to do some fun stuff while both of them were here, I would get a baby sitter and we would have a fun day doing whatever.  I marked it on my calendar, she arrived on the 22nd of Sept.  I got it all planned out.  I then got a babysitter all round up too.  Everything was fine. 

The day before Sarah needed to be picked up, my babysitter canceled.  (It was Rob's mom that was going to watch the kids, but her husband was having a skin graft for a cancer spot on his eyebrow.)  Sarah seemed really bummed, but I figured we could work around it.

I got to the airport, Natalie drove with me, and my 2 little ones that didn't have school.  We got to the airport.  Picked up Sarah.  Then once we got back to the car I started hearing our family call... "Peeeeeacock!  Peeeeeeeeeeacock!" (That is a long story maybe I will tell another time.) I thought it was just some crazies at the airport yelling having fun. I was right about that, but it was MY crazies!  Out of the concrete pillars pops out one of my friends, Summer.  Then I see someone else, is it Renee, my neice?  No, it's my sister Tracy, and there's my other sister Brenda!  Where did they all come from? 

Apparently I was the only one who didn't know!  Robert and his mom both knew, my whole family knew.   I guess they didn't tell my mom until the very end afraid she would spill the beans, and accidently tell me. 

I had NO CLUE!  There were a few things that seemed strange, like why when Sarah was trying to figure out how to meet us, why was she calling Natalie instead of me...?  It was an airport I was familar with, I wasn't sure if Natalie even had ever been there.  Then Sarah was on the phone which I thought was my brother, but it was really my sister's who were hanging out back behind us.  I guess another time when we got on the elevator they totally saw me, and I could have saw them but I wasn't even suspecting anything so I didn't even notice anything.  In the elevator as we were getting on, Natalie and Sarah were discussing which floor we were going to...

"We are going to number 2?"
"No, we parked on number 3."
"So push 3?"
"Yeah we need to go to floor 3."

I thought it was odd.  But of course later found out why.  It was such a surprise, such a sneaky plan!  My sisters are sooooo sneaky!

Everyone crashed on my front room... it reminded me of some middle school sleepover party. 

 We went to Timpanogas caves.  It was a great day to go.  It was sunny and warm.  I found a neighbor to watch my little ones and we were off to the caves.

 Here's Tracy in the parking lot. Waiting for our adventure to begin.

 Unfortunately something was on my camera lens so it made some of my pictures that were in the sun turn out all bad.  Bummer!  It would have been a good picture.

 Natalie and Sarah on the trail.

 This was a cool little place we walked through.  Tracy is on the other side.

 This steep trail, I think they said it was 16% grade was really hard on Brenda!  She was taking forever!!

 Tracy sitting next to a fault line, which is that crack in the rock.

 Rattlesnakes?  Really?

 Here we are, almost to the top, in rattlesnake territory.

 Apparently this is a very trecherous climb. We were always on the look out for falling rocks.  There was one place that ha some rocks sliding down right after we walked through. 

 Oh yeah... see!  Here is some falling rocks right here!  Luckily Tracy was able to escape the falling debri.

 This is our group at the top waiting to go into the caves.  Back row, Karla (me), Sarah, Tracy, Summer, and then Brenda and Natalie in the front.  Man I had a great time while they were here!  I would like a replay if I could.

And this is the only picture I got before my camera died. 

We had a fantastic time.  I am not sure Robert would agree.  He comments on how bad it is to share a house with 6 girls, and then to add 5 more...  he was one brave soul to go along with it and be so supportive.

Not pictured, beacuse I can't access the photos is the races on the wiggle cars we had going down the street.  I will have to post those.  I sure love my family!  I hope my girls have as much fun with their sisters later as they grow up as I do with my sisters.  My sisters are my best friends!  My mom is one of my best friends too!  It seems like that is how a family should be.  And I am grateful that my family is that way.  I hope for the family that I am raising will be the same way too. 

Thanks Sisters for a great time!  I really needed a day and  a half of fun filled chaos to give me a break.  It was much needed!  Come again anytime!!

O where, o where is my little black kitty?

As a child I remember my mom singing a song about a little gray kitty that was lost.  It started out, "O where, o where is my little gray kitty, o where, o where could she be?"  Or that is how I remember it anyway.  It talks about how they look under the table and under the chair, they even go down to the brook to see if the kitty drown. 

I find myself in the same problem... but with our black kitty.  GATO (gee-ah-tee-oh) has been gone for about a week an a half.  In fact he disapeared the day before my sisiters came into town.  It wasn't like him to go off for more than a day. 

I called the animal control and they didn't pick up anything in our neighborhood around that time, I even looked at the animal shelter.  That was REALLY sad, all those poor kitties meowing and begging for their homes, or even for some attention.  There were a few that looked much like him, but he had a bald spot on his back side where he was in a fight and I shaved his back so I could treat the area. 

Now we are cat-less.  Not that Robert really cares, he has been wanting to get rid of the cat since we got it.  It is strange when you get use to having something and then you don't have it anymore.  I am constantly going somewhere and expecting to see him.  On the kids' beds, in my closet, on the couch, in Samantha's bed, sitting on the stairs in the garage.  I still will hear something and think it is him meowing, which then makes me run to the door and search for him. 

I think something ate him.  Poor cat.  He was about 9 years old.  He was a good cat.  He was great with the kids, even when they tied him up in a pillow case, or we dressed him up and put him in a build-a-bear box as the build-a-cat.  The girls have drag him around, crawled on him, sat on him.  I remember Lauren once sitting on him like a horse and he was squished to the ground... Lauren was rocking back and forth yelling, "go, go, go!" 

Now I am just wondering when do I get our next cat, for Amber's birthday or maybe Christmas?  Robert says we shouldn't get one again... but it doesn't seem right to not get one.  Maybe what would be best is get a kitten when we get a puppy so they can be friends together?  Until then, I have a just opened bag of cat food.