California - Day One

For about the past year we have been talking about taking Luke and Ruby to Disneyland and finally decided that now was the right time.  They are at stage where they are so impressed and entertained by nearly everything and we knew they would just be amazed by the entire experience.  In addition to Disneyland, we really wanted them to experience the beach.  We talk about the ocean and beach a lot and it's one of Tim and my favorite places so we were excited for them to experience how amazing the beach can be.  Thanks to watching Curious George they know all about building sand castles and were super excited to play in the sand.

Tim worked hard at creating a schedule to maximize our time.  This meant leaving our house before 5:00 a.m. which seemed a little insane.  The poor kids were quite sleepy, but woke up quickly with the excitement of the airport and the first time plane ride that they were old enough to remember.  The airport was actually super smooth and before we knew it, we were airborn and the kids were being amazed by the airplane wings and the clouds.

Pretty excited kids, just waiting for the roar of the engines

They made sure their friends were seatbelted for takeoff

We brought plenty of activities to keep them entertained

 After landing at Los Angeles Airport, we took the shuttle to the rental car lot, picked up our van and headed to the beach.  When we arrived it was just after 9:00 a.m. and a little cool and cloudy so we had the entire beach to ourselves - perfection.  The water was cold, but that didn't stop the kids from having fun.  They giggled and screamed and ran around like wild ones as the waves chased them back and forth. Ruby and I thought it was way too cold to get in past our knees, but Luke and Tim headed straight out where they could wave jump and "surf".  Poor Luke was a little blue by the time they got out, but it turns out he is a total beach boy.  He kept begging Luke to go deeper, and now tells anyone who will listen about how he went "surfing".

The kids have been playing in the sand box at home, and were thrilled to now have the entire beach as their play place.  They built sand castles, hunted seashells, made sand angels, and fell in love with the beach just like I hoped they would.

 

For a boy who hates to be dirty,
I was amazed at how much he LOVED playing in the sand

Tim taught them how to hunt for seashells

We found so many treasures!

I may have napped while they played,
Tim was on lifeguard duty

When it was time to leave the beach, everyone was exhausted and happy.  We had a quick lunch at Wahoo Tacos, then returned the rental car and caught the shuttle for Disneyland.  The kids were completely worn out and slept through all of the transfers and only work up right in time to arrive at Disneyland Paradise Pier Hotel.  We were thrilled to find Grandpa and Grandpa already at the hotel waiting for us to arrive.  We explored the room, had some pizza, and settled the kids to bed.  It was an exhausting first day, but we all went to sleep dreaming of even more fun to be had the next day.

Onion Days 2016

Golden Onion Days.....So many memories on repeat....As I sorted through the pictures from Monday, I realized that this post will look suspiciously like my Onion Days posts from the last several years. Good thing we have little kids who keep changing so we can at least tell if the pictures are current. I have so many great memories of celebrating Labor Day in Payson at Onion Days - loving the fireworks as a kids, great times at the carnival in high school, taking college friends to our "small town celebration" and now watching my kids enjoy the celebration with extended family.  As we headed home Monday afternoon, Tim and I agreed that this had been one of our favorite years yet!

If you asked Luke what his favorite part of Onion Days was, he would definitely tell you it was the night before when Gavin slept at our house. He was so excited to have a sleep over.  Of course everyone woke up extra early - they somehow sensed the excitement and wanted to get some playtime in before leaving for the day.

My parade shots aren't so great this year.  I was mostly content to sit and watch and enjoy having a shady spot.  Ruby was excited to wave to the princess and all of the kids were thrilled with any entrance that threw candy.  Leonda kept it interesting by throwing candy from back where she was sitting - the kids never seemed to realize it was coming from the crowd and were just as anxious to scoop it up.

Luke was so happy to get sprayed with water by a float.

Ada loves to hear us cheer when she comes by with her clogging team.

Who could resist giving her their drink?

We relaxed for awhile in the park and ordered Fat Jacks Pizza for lunch.  The little girls thought the pizza was fine....mostly just a method to get more ranch.

The littles were so excited when they saw the carnival - I didn't have the heart to turn down their pleas for a few rides.  Watching their faces and total enjoyment made the money spent the best ever.