Our latest family adventure...part 3

I got a little sidetracked and forgot to finish posting about our vacation. I'm not so sure anyone noticed. Readership isn't quite what it used to be, you know what I mean?

I've been a little preoccupied and can't remember the specifics of what we did every day. On Monday, we went to SeaWorld. The children thoroughly enjoyed it. So did I. And Chris liked it, too. It stopped raining around noon. We still got plenty wet because of the splashing killer whales and splashing roller coasters. After one roller coaster, I asked Beth if she had fun. She said, "Yes. I had so much fun. I was screaming like a girl." I asked her if she wanted to go again. She said, "NO!" quite emphatically. So I asked if she really liked it the first time. She said, "Yes. I loved it. I was screaming like a girl."

Nathan and Sarah stood as close as possible so they could let the whales soak them. They were very wet most of the day. Everything was fun. I'll just post a bunch of pictures.

At the tide pools or petting zoo or place to touch sea creatures:

The sea turtle is, well, my mother-in-law explained to me that it's like a family crest. And here is Sarah with a sea turtle.

San Diego is a pretty part of the world.

Watching a show. The kids complained that I made them go to another show. And then they watched the sea lions and they laughed and laughed. Then they thanked me because I am awesome.

Beth is waiting for the others to get off of a twirly-whirly, spinny ride that she wisely chose to skip.

Ammon and Sarah are pretending that they are going to throw-up after being on that twirly-whirly, spinny ride.

Majestic, beautiful, and large.

Nathan and Sarah waiting for the whales to splash them.

Official SeaWorld ponchos.

I like sharks.

Look out! Those giant shark jaws are about to get you! (Bethie's acting tough because she is punching the jaws.)

RUN!!!!

Awww....

Ammon's favorite animal has long been penguins. He loves them. This is the first time we've seen emporer penguins. That large, hooded shadow is actually Ammon enjoying the display.

We were watching this polar bear swim around when suddenly, he leaped onto a ledge right by the window. Nathan screamed and fell off his seat.

Our latest family adventure... Part 2

Day 3: Friday. We had another relaxing day. The older cousins were at school. Oh wait. I forgot something from Thursday. Chris' brother, Nate, flew in from Chicago late Thursday night. So we woke up on Friday with Woody's family, Trevor, Nate, and all of us in one house. Nate bought doughnuts for breakfast. This has no relevance other than the fact that there were doughnuts. I didn't eat one. I'm not one for sweets first thing in the morning.

Nate and Trevor left to pick up another cousin, Justin, who came in from Utah. He could have driven with us, but he chose to fly. Chris spent the morning exercising and running in the rain. It was a day of errands for Michelle, so I stayed home with the kids and sometimes with the baby. I like that baby. She's so pretty and very sweet.

Friday night, we had Michelle's family over for dinner. (Really, Michelle had them over. She was having us over, too.) Then we all went to the church for Elle's baptism. This was the reason for the visit. Elle was radiant. I used to wonder if children understood enough by the time they were eight-years-old to decide for themselves if they wanted to make the covenant of baptism. Then I had an eight-year-old. They know what they're doing. And Elle knew what she was doing. It was a beautiful, perfect evening. I am understanding more and more the importance of baptism.

That night, after everyone finally went home, we attempted to send the kids to bed. The boys went to bed pretty well, but the girls. Oh, the girls! They stayed up past midnight. Elle and Sarah talked late into the night. But they weren't silly. They were singing primary songs about baptism. Then they quoted Articles of Faith together. They read all the little notes Elle got at her baptism. They were having a very sweet, spirit-filled evening together. It was hard to tell them to be quiet and go to sleep. Eventually they slept.

Day 4: Saturday. We got up, cleaned up, and packed up. We drove down to Lodi to Chris' sister's house. Michelle came, too. So then we had a big group. We went to lunch and then went over to a little science museum. We stayed there for hours. It was Nate's idea. He said he had always wanted to go there, but needed a bunch of kids to take with him. Well, Michelle and I provided the kids. The museum was small, but entertaining. Everything was very hands-on and the kids could have stayed even longer. We actually took some pictures. So finally, we start the promised slideshow.

Ammon building a marble maze 

Sarah and Elle build a huge tower using every one of these magnet blocks 

Justin helping, or watching, Sarah and Elle 

LEGOS!  

 I hope this makes up for us not going to Legoland.

 

 Conjuring a tornado

 

 Building patterns with pattern blocks

Cute kid. 

 Sending smoke signals

 

 Nate building something cool.

 

Trevor helping the girls finish their castle 

The finished product. 

 More tornado. Isn't my Bethie cute?

 

 Beth in the cockpit. Ready to blast off!

 Beth loved this thing. It's supposed to show you how everything would sound different if your left ear was your right ear and your right ear was your left ear. When I tried it, everything just sounded muffled.

 

 Chris thoroughly enjoyed the museum.

After the museum, we headed back to Tammy's to relax and have some fun. Then up to Chris' dad's and step-mom's for dinner and more family fun. Chris' step-sister, Tara, came over with her family and his step-brother, Michael, introduced us to his fiance. It rained. A lot.

Chris' new best friend. :)

I love my in-laws.

Our latest family adventure...

I will now bore you with a slideshow from our family's vacation to California. Ha ha. Just kidding. I can't show you a slideshow because you are not here at my house and I don't have a slide projector anyway. I will tell you about our week with words.

Day 1: We drove to California on a Wednesday. We made it in record time! The kids are all so old now that we have to stop less and less frequently. We were trying to beat a storm. We really wanted to get through the Sierras before the snow started. In those mountains, it seems like they make you put chains on your tires even if there is a light rain. We didn't feel like putting on chains. Mostly because we couldn't remember where we last saw those chains. But we did it! We won the race! We got safely to Sacramento where cousins greeted each other with noisy celebration! And then the storm came and stayed. We got there on a Wednesday and it rained almost nonstop until the next Monday afternoon.

We stayed with Chris' brother, Woody (not his real name), his lovely wife and four children. The kids have so much fun together. So. Much. Fun.

Day 2: Thursday. Woody's older kids went to school. We had a quiet morning with the little ones. We drove down to Lodi (about an hour away) to pick up our nephew, Trevor. Lodi is where Chris grew up. As we got off the freeway and turned onto Woodbridge Road, I felt a sort of homecoming even though it's not technically my home. I love Lodi. It's full of grapevines (right now, they just look like fields of sticks) and it is beautiful. Anyway, we took Trevor to lunch and then headed back to Sacramento just in time for the cousins to be getting home from school.

Woody and Michelle told us weeks earlier that Michelle's parents wanted to take us somewhere that night, but they wouldn't say where. They just told Woody to find a babysitter for all those kids. I thought they might be tricking us into an Amway meeting. (That's just a joke since this slideshow has been lame so far.) Woody hadn't got a babysitter yet. I procrastinate these things, too. But it was getting late. Trevor, who is 18-years-old, kept telling us he could babysit. Eight kids? we said. He said he'd be fine. Including a baby? we said. He said if the baby cried, he'd let her cry. The kids get wild together, we said. He said nothing could frustrate him. So we believed him.

Michelle's parents came and picked us up. We drove to a little town in the Sierras called Auburn. Everything is so pretty in this part of the world. First we went to In-N-Out for hamburgers. When In-N-Out was only in California, people would take us there as a special treat. I was never that impressed, so when it came to Utah, I haven't bothered. But this night, it tasted so tasty. So tasty that I haven't been able to get it out of my mind and I've already been back to the one in West Jordan. Maybe I've been a little anemic and have been craving red meat. But I don't feel anemic. I just feel like In-N-Out is tasty. So tasty.

I think I'm getting off the point. After dinner, we went to a little, old, historical movie theater. And guess what was playing? It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. Because I am not much of a movie buff, I had never even heard of it. But it was full of famous people that I have heard of. Apparently, it's Michelle's dad's favorite movie and he has tried to get Woody to watch it for years, but Woody keeps falling asleep. It's a long movie. But if you like movies, I think you'll like it. I did.

During the movie, Woody got a text from our fearless babysitter. "Where's the binky?" Of course, there's no way we could find the binky from the movie theater. But Trevor texted a little later, "I got her to sleep without the binky. I'm just that good."

On the way home, Woody got another text telling him that his three-year-old had had an accident. Yuck. Not easy for an 18-year-old boy, right? Wrong. Trevor just dealt with it. He took care of the mess, the little boy, and all was well. When we got home, six of the kids were asleep. AMAZING! The baby was awake, but not upset. And the 3-year-old was still in the shower. I complimented Trevor on taking care of the mess without complaining and he said, "I just felt so bad for him. He's so embarrassed." It was awesome to see a kid showing complete compassion in a situation that is kind of gross.

I wish Trevor lived in Utah so he could babysit for us all the time. Except that I already have a few good babysitters. But still, I was impressed.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Today is Dr. Seuss' birthday. We had a themed dinner. You know how I love a themed party! Would you like to know what we ate? Just say yes.

"Fun is Good" Milk Cow (chocolate milk)

Did you ever milk this kind of cow?
Well, we can do it. We know how.
If you never did, you should.
These things are fun and fun is good.
From One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish


Schlottz’s Knots (knotted breadsticks)

And, while we are at it, consider the Schlottz,
the Crumple-horn, Web-footed, Green-bearded Schlottz,
whose tail is entailed with un-solvable knots.
From Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?


Jedd’s Bed of Shrimp (shrimp)

A Jedd is in bed,
And the bed of a Jedd
Is the softest
Of beds in the world,
It is said.
He makes it from pom poms
He grows on his head.
And he’s sleeping right now
On the softest of fluff,
Completely exhausted
From growing the stuff.
From Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book


Who Roast Beast (steak)

And he brought back the toys! And the food for the feast!
And he . . .
. . . HE HIMSELF . . . !
The Grinch carved the roast beast!
From How The Grinch Stole Christmas


Noodle-Eating-Poodle Noodles (pasta)

When a fox is
in the bottle where
the tweetle beetles battle
with their paddles
in a puddle on a noodle-eating poodle,
THIS is what they call . . .
. . . a tweetle beetle
noodle poodle bottled
paddled muddled duddled
fuddled wuddled
fox in socks, sir!
From Fox in Socks


River of Nobsk Corn-off-the-Cobsk (corn)

I’ll go to the far-away Mountains of Tobsk
Near the River of Nobsk, and I’ll bring back an Obsk,
A sort of a kind of a Thing-a-ma-Bobsk
Who only eats rhubarb and corn-on-the-cobsk.
From If I Ran the Zoo


Grin-itch Spinach (spinach salad)

After that, a week went by.
Then one dark night in Grin-itch
(I had to do an errand there
And fetch some Grin-itch spinach) . . .
From "What Was I Scared Of?" in The Sneetches and Other Stories


Cat in the Hat Tub Cake (angel food cake with strawberries)

Do you know where I found him? You know where he was?
He was eating a cake in the tub! Yes he was!
From The Cat in the Hat Comes Back

For the birds

Do you like birds? I hope so. We went to the aviary the other day and not many pictures of children turned out. But I like birds a lot. Sometimes, birds in captivity just sit there being boring. But not this day. They were active and entertaining. We were entertained. Enjoy the photos.

Pelican. Every time I see a pelican, I think, "Fish gotta swim. Birds gotta eat." 

Don't worry. That's not a real bird.

Beth and Sarah are supposed to be in the picture.

There are some other ones but we'll pretend they're not there.

Ammon and Sophie:

There were so many peacocks wandering around the aviary.

They were everywhere, but hard for me to photograph.

A bunch of kids. I know them.

Swan. Every time I see a swan I think of Louis. 

In my imagination, Louis is friendly with Wilbur and Charlotte.

Beth looking at some birds.

Who dresses this child?

Another attempt to capture a peacock.

(Capture a photo, not capture a bird.)

Cousins.

Majestic

So beautiful.

And the flamingos. I almost forgot the flamingos.