Our California Adventure

Some might call me crazy... I loaded up all three kids and my 6 months pregnant self into the car and drove 6 hours to California to visit family. The kids had such a great time. And yes, it was a lot of work and I am very tired today, but it is so rewarding to know that the kids have new memories of their family. We brought my mom with us and so first we drove to Claremont to drop my mom off at her mom's (Oma) and we stayed there for the first night (Thursday). We hung-out there for most of Friday. We went to a park and then had lunch downtown in Claremont. After lunch we made our favorite stop at the "Some Crust" bakery and got some yummy and spooky halloween cookies. That afternoon the kids and I got back in the car (Gigi stayed at Oma's) and we braved the Friday afternoon traffic on the 10 freeway to stay with the inlaws. It took us 1 1/2 hours to go from Claremont to Redlands! I don't know how people do it. Grandma Donna and Jamie were so excited to see us. The kids could hardly waite to see them. I think they have more toys at their house than we do. My kids turned their house upside-down! On Saturday we got back in the car and drove to my nephew Josh's b-day lunch which was at the Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney. We had such a great time seeing Josh and Ryan & Geraldine and their beautiful baby. To the kids it was like we went to Disneyland. We drove back to Redlands to stay with Donna and Jamie again after a visit with my sister and her sweet little girl Leilani. On Sunday we drove home. I'm so tired of driving, but I am very grateful for the chance to see everyone we love. This was David's first time ever being home alone. I came home to a tidy home and a man who missed his family! We sure missed him too. We'll have to take him with us next time.

Just FOY Fun

On Saturday we took a very last minute trip tp Park City, Utah. It is not easy to pack up two kids, a baby, and a dog, but we did it! It rained and snowed on us all the way up. On Sunday we were blessed with beautiful fall weather. We went to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City on Sunday. SLC is so pretty in autumn. The air was crisp and the animals were lively. After a long day at the zoo (we like to get our money's worth) we went to the Spaghetii Factory for dinner. We had another full day on Monday and some more beautiful weather. We went to the Discovery Kids Museum in SLC, which was a lot of fun. This museum is new and you can just let the kids run around and play all day. Even Emma June had a great time. After that we visited Temple Square and then back up the mountain to our room in Park City. I made dinner and we rested for what seemed like forever, but it was still only four o'clock. So we decided to drive back down the mountain to Thanksgiving Point to go to the Dinosaur Museum. The kids loved this museum. There were a lot of hands-on things for the kids to explore. Mom and Dad were tired by now. We had planned on staying another day, but we were all ready to head back home. On Tuesday we picked up Bishop at the kennel in Heber, which is the town next ot Park City, and drove back home. It was great to spend time together as a family. Emma was a little uncomfortable being away from home, but Sophia and Nathan had the best time.