Baseball

Ethan told us that he wanted to play baseball this year.  So we signed him up for little league.  At the beginning of March, before Spring Break, they had a try out before doing a draft for teams.  Ethan did really well and we got a call that night letting us know that he would be playing on the Dodgers team.  Yeah, I know, but Bryan is going to cheer for the Snow Canyon Little League Dodgers this year!

Ethan has had 1 practice and Bryan takes him out at night so he can get more comfortable on the field.  I am actually really excited to have him play.  We have been going to the Snow Canyon games and they are 9-0 this season so far.  Our neighbor is their catcher and it's fun to watch when you know the kids.  Ethan said baseball is a lot more fun to play than it is to watch but Bryan is going to start teaching him strategy and we'll see if he doesn't just change his mind.

Cross Country Skiing

Bryan was going to take the boys to play laser tag on Saturday but then we got a text on Friday afternoon saying that the Teachers were inviting the Deacons to go cross country skiing with them.  Ethan wasn't happy to have the change in plans but we sent him anyway.

The leader said they would be back by around 5 p.m. in the text but he told Bryan it would probably be closer to 3 p.m.  They were skiing and then going to Pizza Hut afterward.

Ethan got up, got everything ready and was off.  We had him put on sunscreen before he left and he did (in a 12 year old way) and then he left the bottle of sunscreen in the bathroom.  Ugh!

While Ethan was gone, Courtney had the place to herself and she was pretty happy about that one.

 Snow Canyon Baseball was having a tournament so we went and watched a game in the afternoon and were planning on going to the game in the evening but at 7 p.m. the boys still weren't back from skiing.  At about 6 p.m. or so I got a text from the leader with this picture of Ethan:

The leader said they were having a blast and that Ethan was looking awesome.  We knew, at this point, that Ethan would be coming home with a massive sunburn.  He has been wearing a coat so I knew he didn't have sunscreen on his arms and he probably wouldn't have it on his chin or under his nose.  Oh well.

They finally got home a little before 8 p.m.  Ethan showered and then I put aloe all over him.  The poor kid was in pain but he said he had a lot of fun.  He told us he had skiied 10 miles but one leader said it was probably more like 5.  I know it seems so much longer when you are the one doing it!

On Sunday his burn was pretty bad and hurting him.  After more aloe and some Tylenol he was doing okay.  All the boys had burns on their chins where they forgot to apply.  Ethan's burn is now peeling pretty badly.  It's gross but I think next time he will remember to use a lot of sunscreen!

Fun Run!

We only have a couple of weeks left until our Fun Run and I was having a banner printed to put on the school fence.  I wanted to get it up during Spring Break so everyone would see it on their first day back.  So on Friday, Courtney and I went to pick it up and put it up.  It's really bright so I'm hoping everyone will see it!

We're Bored!

The kids were bored the rest of the week of Spring Break.  After Monday and Tuesday at Disneyland they had to spend the rest of the days at home...pulling weeds.  The garden area looks great but they weren't too excited about having to weed it.

By Friday they were driving me nuts so I told them to get their stuff and we were going to the park.  Many of their friends were gone for the break so they didn't have anyone to play with but each other and they were getting on each other's nerves.  So we went where they would have a lot of space.

It lasted about 2 minutes before Ethan took a huge fall on his skateboard and we had to leave so we could clean him up.  Oh well, they got their outside time.

Disneyland for Spring Break!

The kids wanted to go somewhere for Spring Break.  They had been bugging us and bugging us but they couldn't ever figure out what they wanted to do.  Friday was the last day of school so on Saturday afternoon Bryan decided we had had enough of listening to them.  Courtney got a hat while Bryan got a bunch of slips of paper ready and then everyone was able to put 2 ideas into the hat of things to do for Spring Break.  This has worked for them before and they had hopes that it would work again.  The ideas that were put in were: pulling weeds (Bryan's suggestion), going to Denver, camping, going to Bryce Canyon, Disneyland, and a couple others I can't remember.  Bryan put each suggestion in the hat twice.

We each got to pull something out of the hat and the first suggestion that was pulled out twice would be what we would do.  After 4 draws it was....Disneyland!  The kids were excited!

I sent a quick text to Kristina to let her know it was all on and then we started packing.  After Sacrament Meeting on Sunday, and a quick trip to a missionary welcome back luncheon, we were off to California.  We didn't make very good time and were late getting to the Freeman's house but Sydney was still up!!  She is the MOST smiley baby ever...and that is saying a lot because our nephew Tyler is really smiley too.  The kids got to play with her for a bit until it was time to eat dinner and Sydney had to go to bed.

It was pretty late so we went to check into our hotel.  We stayed at the Del Sol which is our favorite because it is right across from the park.  It used to have free parking but they make you pay for it now, but it's less than at Disneyland so I was fine with it.  This little elephant greeted us in our room when we arrived.

The next morning we were up, bright and early, and then took off to go to Disneyland.  We had tickets that were for one park each day, no park hoppers for us this time, and I was a bit nervous because we haven't ever done that before.  I like having the option but figured that it was so much cheaper not to park hop that we didn't need it this time.  Plus, it was our Spring Break and so many people come down that I figured it would be crowded and would take us all day to go through Disneyland anyway so we wouldn't need the park hopper.

We were so early that the park still had a while to open so we walked around Downtown Disney.  We haven't been there before so we thought it would be fun to see.  Courtney immediately found "her store!"  If you don't know this about her, she rarely wears socks that match.  She has them but she likes to wear mismatched socks.  This store had all kinds of mismatched things and she loved looking in the window!  Ethan found a store with RC cars that he was drooling over.  It was a fun way to pass the time before the park opened.

 When it was time to go in, we got in line and were kind of amazed at the lack of people.  Don't get me wrong, there were still a lot of people but nothing like we are used to.  I was a bit in shock.  When they let us in, 15 minutes before the park opened, we went to Tomorrowland so we could get into Star Tours quickly.  We waited at the rope until it was time and then we dashed into Star Tours.  It was great, as usual.  When we got out we walked right into Astro Blaster, then we went back and walked into Star Tours again, then we walked back and went right onto Star Tours again.  As you can tell, the amount of people was a lot less than we were used to.

I then took Courtney on the Astro Orbitors which had a line but wasn't more than 10 minutes while Bryan and Ethan waited for us.  We should have sent them to get fast passes for another ride but we didn't think about it until afterward.  We then went to get fast passes for Indiana Jones (I think) and after this it gets kind of blurry because we went on SO MANY rides.  We ended up riding Pirates of the Carribean 3 or 4 times, Indiana Jones, the railroad ride a couple (I think), the Haunted Mansion (which kept breaking down), going to Tom Sawyer's island, riding the river boat and then Ethan and I went to Innoventions and pretended to be IronMan while Courtney and Bryan drove the cars at Autopia a couple of times.

In all seriousness, by noon we had been on everything we wanted to at least twice!  It was amazing.  A lot of it was due to our great luck at picking lines.  But it really didn't seem like there were a ton of people there until the afternoon when it started filling up a bit more.  So we went back to the hotel in the early afternoon and went swimming and napped.  It was a great relaxer between everything!

Kristina and Sydney met us after work in Disneyland and we subjected Ethan to the worst form of punishment around...It's a Small World!  Poor kid has nightmares of "creepy little dolls" that sing.  But Sydney loved it so that's all that mattered.  She smiled and we had a great time walking in her parade (she waves and smiles at people as you go by so it really feels like you are in a "Sydney Parade.")

We then rode the teacups (well, Courtney and I did) and I realized that I don't like spinning around.  I did really well  until I looked up and then it was too much.  So I just spun us and focused on the wheel in the middle.  Not a ride I need to go on again.

We went to eat dinner and then we went on Pirates again...with Sydney!  She did really well and we all had fun watching to see how she would react.  She is now a seasoned Disneyland girl!

After a little more, it was time for us to use another fast pass (I think) and Kristina had to go to put Sydney to bed.  It was great to see them.

We didn't stick around Disneyland too late because we had done everything we wanted to do and we were tired. Ethan did go back and buy himself a custom light saber as his souvenir.  It's pretty cool.  It was a great day!

Tuesday we woke up and went to California Adventure.  We immediately got a fast pass for Radiator Springs Racer because those go fast!  Then we went to the Toy Story ride and didn't have to wait very long.  We had the kids get back in that line while Bryan and I went on California Screaming.  It was a fun ride but really long!  We then hopped in line with the kids and did the Toy Story ride again.  Then we went to use our fast pass but the Radiator Springs Racers were broken.  They told us they would accept our fast passes later so we weren't too worried.  We went to Bug's Life land and Courtney rode on the bumper cars while Ethan relaxed and I went to get myself a fast pass for the Tower of Terror (no one will ride it with me).  Then Ethan and I went back to Car's Land while Courtney rode another ride in Bug's Land with Bryan.

We then went back to the Radiator Spring Racers and they were working so Ethan and I got in the Single Rider line.  It was really short so we got on pretty quickly.  When we got off we saw Bryan and Courtney in the Single Rider line not too far behind us.  So we went to the shade and waited for them to finish.  Then we all went together using our fast passes.  It wasn't a bad wait for us but when we got off the line was HUGE!  Once again, we got really lucky.

Then it was time for my fast pass so I went to the Tower of Terror while the rest of the group got in line for Alladin, the musical.  I finished, met up with them and we watched Alladin.  It was pretty good.

By this time we were pretty tired.  We went on a couple more rides, I think, got a treat and then were ready to go.  Courtney wanted a Build a Bear for her souvenir so we went there and she got to make one.  She bought a dog. 

 Then we loaded in the van and drove home.  We didn't get home until really late but we had a great time at Disneyland.  It was such a fun trip!!

The Dance

A few months ago the young men and young women got together to make some plans for their combined activities this year.  Ethan was in the meeting and suggested laser tag but his suggestion was quickly forgotten when a Priest suggested ballroom dancing.  Ethan, and the rest of the deacons, has been dreading this activity for months.  Bryan told them all he would take them to laser tag if they would go and have a good attitude (i.e., dress up and actually dance).

The night arrived and Ethan got dressed in his church clothes and then...he hid in the living room.

But when it was time to go, he was all ready to go. I wanted to take a picture but he obviously wasn't in agreement.

 They all went and actually had a good time.  We had reports that Ethan was smiling during the dance and that it wasn't as bad as he thought it was.  But he is really looking forward to going to play laser tag with his buddies.