the happiest place on earth!!!

Day 1


After spending a day in Sea World we headed to Anaheim for 3 days of disney! To save money on rooms we decided to book a family suite with four queen beds and just have the boys sleep with us. When we checked in they gave us two joint rooms and one of them just happened to have a set of bunk beds too. How lucky is that? I think the boys were more excited about the bunk bed than actually going to disneyland! That night we ordered pizza and went to bed early. It was an off week so the park didn't open until 10 am so we had plenty of time to have breakfast at Denny's and wait for the gates to open. I got all excited when they did the count down to open the gates. We decided to start in Fantasyland and work the boys up to the big rides. This being a good plan didn't really pass with Gavyn who was scared too death of the storybook land canal boats. We loved Peterpan, dumbo (probably the longest wait in the whole park), Alice in wonderland, and Snow White. We made good time even though it was starting to get crowded. After lunch we headed over to Matterhorn which was luckily open (my last two visits it has been closed). I had forgot how much fun it was. When we got off matterhorn Cael spotted the Cars over at Autopia so we headed there. This was one of are longer waits and I wish I could say it was worth it, but Cael loved it. The gas pedal was so hard to push down that I had a cramp in my leg by the time I was done! I have no idea how all those little kids can drive them. Since we were in Tomorrowland we hurried and went on Buzz Lightyear which was Cael's favorite of the whole trip. Casey was itching to go on Splash Mountain and we were all in the mood for a little excitement. I was a little nervous to take the boys on it especially after the fairytale boat ride incident. We had to split into two boats so we separated the boys so they wouldn't get each other upset. As usual I couldn't get enough of this ride and we luck out that night to be able to walk on it 4 times in a row. I got sooo wet that I had to buy me some lounge pants to wear back to the hotel! Cael never did cry, but he wasn't real happy ether. The boys only went once the first day and I was so mad when we got the pictures back you couldn't see the boys in it. I wish someone would of told us to put them on the right side of the log so you can see them...but whatever. After checking with several workers we finally accepted the fact that Pirates was going to be down the whole time we were there. Sooo bummed! We also hit winnie the pooh while we were in critter country. The giant honey pots would hold 9 people...we had ten and did our best at squishing in. Nikki claims that at one time she lost feeling in her legs. We couldn't even get the bar down and laughed the whole ride. I wish I would have got a picture, but my camera was smashed in the middle and there were a lot of people gawking wondering why we didn't just take two honey pots! The first day went by really fast and the park closed at 8 which was fine since the boys had had enough by then anyway. On the way back to the room Nikki started going into convulsion over her needed some lobster gravy at Olive Garden. We had the GPS so we could find anything....right? No, we missed about 500 off ramps, almost wrecked a half a dozen times, saw many back roads, and asked for direction at least twice! The whole time I kept asking Nikki on the walky "do you have to eat Olive Garden?" "i'm craving that gravy, i'm craving the gravy" was her answer! It was 10pm by the time we finally sat down!
more pics @ http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=107341&id=1332408589&l=3bd783773e

Sea World 2009

After many months/years of begging Casey finally took me, I mean Cael, to California. We had been soo busy the weeks prior that I really don't think it hit me until we were in the car going down. Yes, i said it CAR. Casey was totally against driving but when I did our price break-down it was a huge difference. So me and my whole family (except baby girls) headed down on Saturday April 25 to San Diego at around 6:30 am. We made good time to Beaver where we had breakfast and fueled up. Between Beaver and Baker, Ca we stopped a lot. This was stressful for my dad who said he had never made this many stops before, but hey we had two 4 year-old boys. The only problem was that it wasn't them that had to stop it was all the adults. Casey whined a lot and made threats of paying a 1,000 dollars to fly next time. I'm telling ya the boys were the best riders. We soon made a pack that when we stopped Everyone went to the bathroom, Everyone got a drink, and Everyone stretched their legs! After that we sailed right along and beat the GPS prediction of arrival time. The boys did really good til the last half hour when Cael and Chad started fighting and calling names. We stayed in the Hampton by SeaWorld and I would highly recommend it. The beds were sooo comfy and I slept like a baby! We also lucked out and had a Denny's next door. We made it to the park in good time after a quick stop to Target for ponchos and Cael a new shirt. gotta love ketchup. The boys loved loved loved seeing the animals. Our first stop was the Believe show with Shamu. The boys didn't move through the entire thing. I got some really good pictures with my camera and it was good practice using the settings. Next stop was the ship wreck rapids. We all went on and started to get our poncho's on when Cael decides to test me. He refused to put the poncho on, which would have been fine except for the fact that he HATES to get wet and I knew it would lead to him whining the rest of the day. I kept asking him to put it on, he was acting like a total brat so I grabbed his arm and pulled him out of line and took him back to the stroller. He of course started screaming like he had been kidnapped. I made him sit in the stroller and watch everyone go on the ride without him. After that he never made another peep about have to wait to go on the rides or to wear a poncho. We also watched the Sea Lion Live show which was a lot cuter than the pirate one they use to do and the Dolphin show. We all about had a heart attack when the mom from the audience fell in the dolphin pool. I was so panicked that I didn't even get a picture. Casey said he still gets a stomach ache when he thinks about it! Anyway after she fell in all the trainers started yelling at her while she swam the long way across the pool. That's when I realized that she was one of the trainers. They totally got me, that girl should give up the marine biology and try acting! After the shows we decided to try the Wild Arctic ride. It's a lot like star tours or back to the future where you feel like you are riding in a helicopter looking at all the Arctic Animals when all of a sudden ice starts to give and you feel like your falling. Everyone got really quiet and then Gavyn yells "are we gonna die?" That place started laughing so hard. After the ride we got to see the polar bears which are my favorite. Atlantis was the last thing we went on because we knew we were going to get wet. It was the end of the day and there was no wait. It was so much fun and got me really excite to go to Disney the next day. My mom even liked it. Most of us went on it 4 times. Soo fun! By that time we were all tired and decided start heading to Anaheim. Bye Bye Shamu :) check out all pics at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=107344&id=1332408589&l=15f1628c84

Easter 2009

The last couple of years we have went to Cherry Creak for Easter and I have to admit I like it so much better than Sand Mountain. The weather was perfect except for a few rain showers and kids had a ball! Nikki and the kids pulled out with us and they all had a good time playing in the sand and just getting dirty! Gavyn did ask everyday when they could go home, but I know he had a good time! On Thursday My mom and Dad made a surprise visit out to see us. My mom was on call so they camped out west, but still came out to see us. Chris, Jakoye and their girls also came out and rode for a day and we had a sloppy joe fest that night. We woke up the next morning to find Nikki & the kids were gone. Halle had gotten sick in the middle of the night and threw up all over their bedding. Kalee also was sick that night and when Linda called Chris that morning he said he too had been sick all night. Luckily it missed our trailer and we stayed healthy. On one of the rides Gavyn caught a lizard and loved it as long as it wasn't moving. Too funny. The boys went on a lot of rides with Casey & the gang while me and Nikki stayed back and looked after camp with the girls. Easter morning the bunny had brought Cael sponge bob Lego's and Kensie a new baby. We ended the trip we the annual egg hunt and roll. We always make such fun memories on this camp every

year and I can't wait til next!

Cael's first trip to the dentist...ugggh

What do they say..."a picture can says a thousand words". After a month of Cael complaining of a tooth ache he finally got in to see Dr. Sorensen (aka Doc Sorensen) for his first check-up. First mistake- waiting until my child was hurting to take him in. When we got there he was nervous, but soon got wrapped up in the video games and train set. Can I tell you how cute this office is, next time I'm bringing paint samples to match! So after a peaceful wait I soon heard "Cael". My heart dropped and I looked up to see a tear forming in Cael's eyes. Here we go. First stop X-rays (which were taken on a cow hide chair). This started the breakdown. After trying to reason with him I finally left to see if that would help..no, the poor assistant had to call for back-up to do X-RAYS! After a few minutes of screaming we headed to the exam chair. Second tantrum starts, the assistant Erica did such a good job and quickly pulled out the stickers. This worked good enough that he would lay back, but he was still screaming. Dr. Sorensen did the best check he could under the circumstances. We then went back on May 12 to have the four teeth crowned. This time was going to be much easier considering that he was going to try and sedate him. Let me say it again.. TRY. The little stinker fought the sedation and was awake during the whole thing. It took 2 parents, 3 assistants, and one calm dentist to get the job done. Dr. Sorensen numbed him good and felt that he couldn't feel anything and that he was just scared. He's been scared of everything else lately, so why not the dentist too. I mean I couldn't get mad... I absolutely HATE to go to the dentist. Anyway in the end he had two caps and two teeth pulled that were infected. We get to the car and of course he falls asleep, just an hour late:) Me and Casey were both exhaust and needed a nap too!

a chat with Cael

Casey: Cael don't do that the easter bunny is watching!
Cael: dad, he doesn't have his tv turned on!

Cael saying the prayer at dinner last night
"dear heavenly father, please bless food and we promise to be good-amen"

sand rats!

A couple of weekends ago Casey took Cael and Gavyn on a overnight Scout camp out at the sand dunes. When Nikki dropped Gavyn off he kept asking me if there were going to be any ellen's with big teeth. I could not figure out what he was talking about. Ellen Degeneres? No, Nikki translated it to be Aliens. The boys had a really good time except Gavyn didn't see any "eliens" or lizards which was Gavyn's second request. They were good and tired when they got home and I cleaned up enough sand to recreate the little sahara in my back yard.

the reason ......

.....i've not posted in awhile. My baby has become an expert on messes! My whole life i've not been a night person. I would so much rather go to bed early-get up early. This use to be possible, but since kids my clock has changed. I can not get anything done during the day. I feel like all i do is clean, clean, pick-up, clean! So I have decided to change my routine! I am now going to do my major cleaning at night after my kids are asleep. You heard it, NIGHT! I am so sick of my deep cleaning taking me all day on friday and saturday to complete. I finally figured out the problem- interupptions! So on friday night Casey and Cael had went to a scout campout and I had just put kensie to bed and decided to clean. I kept finding my self watching tv, but then I got in the groove and it was 1:00 am before I new it! It was such a good feeling to wake up on Saturday Morning and have all my house work done- even my laudry. This gave me more time to play with my kids and during Kensie's nap i got to play on the computer and work on my enrichment night stuff. I hope I can keep it up at least until this little mess maker has grown out of this busy stage! But isn't she sooo cute after she eats!