Thunder Over Utah

On Saturday there was an airshow at the St. George Airport. The airshows we have been to at Nellis Airforce Base in Las Vegas were free but they were charging $20 per adult (if you bought your tickets early) plus $5 for parking (in addition to an on-line ticket order fee). It was a rip off but kids were free so we decided to do it as a final fun thing to do for Spring Break.

Unfortunately, Ethan woke up early in the morning throwing up. He wanted to go really bad so we waited until he said he would be good and took off for the airshow. We were taking Brennon with us (he was free so why not) but Ethan kept throwing up on the way. When we finally were parked, Ethan wanted to go home. So Bryan took Courtney and Brennon to find my parents and enjoy the airshow while I took Ethan home. (Ethan slept all afternoon and woke up feeling great. It was a weird 12 hour flu bug that Courtney got after we went to Legoland the week before.)

They had anticipated 20,000 people showing up on Saturday and had 30,000 actually show up. So parking was a mess, there weren't enough bathrooms and traffic was horrible but Bryan said they had a great time!

They all had a blast watching the Blue Angels and all the other planes. I wish Ethan could have gone but we are going to take him to Nellis in November so he can see an airshow again. We went when he was little and we lived in Vegas but he doesn't remember it.

Courtney in some military planes:

One of the airplanes flying:
Here is a video Bryan took of the Blue Angels:

Newport Beach

The kids were bummed on Sunday when we wouldn't let them get in the water and swim at the beach. We decided to go home later on Thursday so we could go to the beach. After checking out of our hotel we took them back to Newport Beach. It was overcast and windy but that didn't stop them from getting in the water and playing on the beach. The water was freezing so I didn't get in but Bryan went part of the way in too. There were so many surfers that it was crazy. I guess they must really love it to get in that freezing cold water!

Cute beach bums:
Digging in the sand:

After collecting shells and getting all sandy, we got some ice cream and then headed to Kristina and Mark's to shower and change our clothes. Mark was there so we got to say good bye to him.

Then we were on our way home. We made good time and made a quick stop to Macaroni Grill in Las Vegas for dinner.

It was a great trip and I'm glad we were able to surprise the kids!

Griffiths Observatory

Bryan loves the stars so we decided to drive up to Griffith's Park Observatory in Los Angeles to see the stars. We thought that on a Wednesday night it wouldn't be too crowded...boy were we wrong!

We got a little twisted around but finally found the Observatory but no parking. People were flocking to the place and so Bryan dropped us off and then had to park down the mountain. This gave us a chance for a potty break before going in.

I had been there before but it was years ago and things have changed. They have built on to what I had seen before and it was huge. We watched a demonstration of a Tesla Coil which lights up and is in the movie "Sorcerers Apprentice." Then we went downstairs to see all the exhibits on planets. We could have stayed there forever and our kids were LOVING it, but Bryan was really tired so we pulled the kids away and went back to the hotel. I couldn't believe how many people were still showing up to the Observatory when it only had 30 minutes left until closing time.



Courtney and Einstein:Ethan making seismic waves:

Disneyland Day 3

It was our last day at Disneyland so we went back and did all the rides we had missed or wanted to do again. Bryan and Ethan went on some of the rides they wanted to ride while I took Courtney back to Princess Faire. We were 4th in line and she got her picture taken with Tiana, Arial and Belle. She was pretty excited.

Here we are waiting for the Princess Faire to open:
Courtney with her favorite princess, Ariel:
We met back up with the boys and went on a few more tides until California Adventure was open. We had everything planned out how we were going to do it but when we looked at the schedule for the events we realized that they didn't perform Aladdin on Wednesdays. So we never got to see that one.

We went on a bunch of rides in California Adventure, played around and then we went to the backlot and I got to see some attractions that I wanted to see before we left. We went to see Crush the Turtle. It was super cool. He is interactive so he calls on people in the audience and has a conversation with them. The kids all sit up front and the parents sit in the seats behind them. When Crush came out he wanted to talk to the "little turtle with the white shell and the blonde moss on top." It was Courtney! He called her Cowabunga Courtney. It was hilarious. He then asked to talk to her "parental unit" so I got to talk to the turtle too. He called me Maui Michelle. It was pretty neat the things they do with digital technology. We aren't sure how they did it but I had a conversation with Crush the Turtle from Finding Nemo.

Then it was time to go. We took Kristina to dinner (Mark had class and was in the middle of finals so we got him something to-go). It was a great Disneyland trip!!

Ethan on the climbing wall:
Courtney with Mater and Lightning McQueen:
Rolling in style:

Disneyland Day 2

I have to admit that I am an amusement park nut. I want to ride as many rides as I can and spend as much time as possible running around to those rides. I don't want to waste any time and I have to have a plan. So, with this in mind, you need to have a lot of sympathy for my family.

With our three-day park hopper passes we got a Magic Morning. I LOVE Magic Mornings because it means that you get into the park 1 hour earlier than everyone else. Tomorrow Land and Fantasy Land are open just for those who have Magic Morning passes. Now, last time we went the hours of operation were later than they were this time. Granted, a 7 a.m. gate opening time is early but I wasn't deterred, even though my family was exhausted and wanted to sleep. I was at Disneyland to go to Disneyland! You can sleep any old day. Right?!?

Disneyland had "Spring Break Hours" which meant they opened normally at 8 a.m. and our Magic Morning time was 7 a.m. The kids were exhausted and Bryan left it up to me to either wake them up and endure a grumpy-kid day, or let them sleep in and miss most of the Magic Morning. It was a rough decision but I let them sleep in. We got to the park with about 10 minutes left, which got us right on to Space Mountain. But it didn't matter because we went on a lot of rides before the 9 a.m. opening of California Adventure.

When California Adventure opened we ran over and got in line for a fast pass for World of Color.

Ethan said a phrase almost exact to this one once and we had to take the picture when we saw the sign. "This way means adventure." -Ethan
Then we went to the pier to wait for the park to officially open. Then we made a mad dash to the Toy Story ride. The line was HUGE. This ride doesn't have a fast pass so you have to wait in line and it is really popular so you are in line forever. But we had a great time on it.

Here we are, waiting in line for Toy Story:
So this is how kids come now:
We spent the rest of the day riding all the rides we wanted in California Adventure. There are some really cool rides. The down part of the day was the Aladdin play. We stood in line for an hour to get into the performance of Aladdin. It began late and then about 5 minutes into the show they had "technical difficulties" which they had to work through. About 5 minutes later they started from where they had left off. About 10 minutes later they again had "technical difficulties" but this time they cancelled the show! We were so miffed and it made for some grumpy people.

After we left the theater we were told that they weren't sure if they were going to cancel the rest of the performances that day or not. We decided we would go to Aladdin on Wednesday before we left. But we decided that we were all grumpy enough that we needed to go back to the hotel, nap and go swimming. So we did.

When everyone was rested, we went back to California Adventure and rode some more rides. Bryan had to go on the huge Ferris Wheel. He and Ethan were both a tad bit nervous but they lived through it. We didn't get a car that swung, though. I wouldn't have survived that one. We also did some swings that were really fun!

Waiting for the Ferris Wheel:
On the swing ride:
Then went to find a space to watch the World of Color. Our tickets were blue so they were in front but we decided to stand to the side in the "You will get wet" area. We didn't get wet though. The show was AMAZING!! I was so impressed and the kids, in spite of having really sore and hurting feet, said it was even better than the night before with the fireworks.

We then loaded the kids back into the stroller and took off for the hotel. We slept well that night!

Disneyland Day 1

We woke up, ate breakfast, made lunches, packed up the van and drove to our hotel around the corner from Disneyland. They wouldn't let us check in yet but they allowed us to park for free at the hotel. That was a huge plus!!

Kristina took the day off to go to Disneyland with us, which was great!!!

Obviously Ethan is THRILLED to be going on the carousel with us girls. Kristina is part of our family. We were so happy to have her there but missed Mark. Maybe next time when he is finished with school! (I'm not sure how Kristina will feel about us coming again in a few years because it seems like each time we come, she gets the calling of Girl's Camp Director or assistant and I end up bringing my camp stuff for her. I think she would like to break that two year rotation they seem to have her on.)
We started our day at Star Tours, which has changed since the last time we went to Disneyland. They have about 11 different scenes which they randomly mix and match. It was really cool. That got us off on the right foot. Kristina and I got fast pass tickets to Space Mountain then we walked onto Astro Blaster....and the day continued on. Kristina rode with Courtney on Autopia, a mistake she won't make again. Courtney gave her whiplash going from side to side! It was hilarious.

Here is Courtney outside the castle (just as a side note, it's not allowed to have your daughter stand on the moat wall to take her picture, the photographers will ask you to "get her down" but Bryan already had a cute picture):
The kids kept telling us that we were "forcing them" to ride the different rides, but they loved them once they got on them. The Haunted Mansion was one of Courtney's favorites last time but she was scared of it this time. But once she got on it, she was fine. At least I didn't make them go on the Tower of Terror this year (bad mom moment).

They were working on Tom Sawyer's Island the last time we were there and they really improved it. We took the raft out to the island to eat lunch.

Here is Courtney finishing her carrots:
Then Bryan and I used our fast passes for Indiana Jones while Kristina took the kids around the island. We finished at about the same time and then started watching some actors who were doing a show outside a restaurant. They were hilarious and the kids became addicted to their show...which was every 30 minutes. Ethan was hilarious and laughed so hard at these actors! Courtney was asked to be the bodyguard of the one character for a minute. It was funny. The rest of our afternoon was planned around what rides we could get to, ride and then get back to the play in time.

Here they are sitting on the sidewalk watching the show:
When it was time for dinner we decided to check into our hotel. Kristina had to go so we said good bye to her (Courtney kept saying how much she missed her the rest of the day). Our hotel was around the corner from Disneyland so it wasn't too bad. We had dinner at the hotel (we take our own food to save money) we went back for a few more rides and to watch the parade before the fireworks.

The kids were tired so they sat on the ground during the parade. Ethan laid back and relaxed. It was pretty crowded but we made ourselves some room in the crowd. The parade was different from last time and was really fun!

Look at Ethan's crazy-blue eyes! The light was just right to make them look neon. Cool!
We decided to watch the fireworks from Adventureland so we could see the Fantasmic water show which began 15 minutes after the fireworks. I am so glad we decided to do that because you could still hear the music and see the fireworks but we were in a good place to see the water show. It was super cool!!! They had a fire breathing dragon and everything. I was blown away by how wonderful the display was. I was impressed.

By the time it was over, it was late and our feet were killing us!! We had taken the big jogging stroller again this year which was wonderful because we could put everything in it and not have to carry bags around. It was a bit hard to maneuver around all the people in the park but we made it work. We were really grateful for it at night. Both Ethan and Courtney would climb in it and then we could go as fast as we wanted back to the hotel without kids yelling that they couldn't keep up. Courtney fell asleep in the stroller each time. It was great!

Just a Side Note

Okay, here's a little side note for you. Church ball...doesn't that just conjure up thoughts of "the brawl that begins with a prayer"? Our ward is a bit dangerous in the men's basketball scene. Last month our bishop dislocated his elbow and shattered his radial during a game. He was taken by ambulance to the ER and had surgery. But, I have to say, our High Priests and Elders teams are pretty good. We have quite a few relatively young High Priests that can play ball.

The Thursday before we left for our vacation, our High Priest team was playing another ward's Elders Quorum team and it got rough. During a play at the very first of the game, a tall skinny guy with really sharp elbows and a very aggressive attitude plowed into Bryan's side (I wasn't there so I'm taking a little author's liberty on that description). No foul was called on the play (there should have been) and Bryan's side was really hurting afterward. He finished out the game but was in pain and had a hard time taking a deep breath of air.

Bryan is a Ward Basketball Referee and went on to ref the following game after he was hurt. He was able to run around and wasn't doing too bad. That night he wasn't feeling too hot and actually took some ibuprofen on Friday morning (that tells you that he was in quite a bit of pain because he never takes medication!).

He rode rides in Legoland and Disneyland during Spring Break but was in pain and still couldnt't take a deep breath. We concluded that he probably had a broken or cracked rib. He went to the doctor today (we are home now and I'm late blogging, sorry) and found out that it is broken. There isn't anything they can do for you but to have to manage your pain and take it easy for 4-6 weeks. I think this is his first broken bone (a nose is cartilage so it doesn't count, I think).

Our High Priest team is in the Stake basketball finals but Bryan won't get the play. His rib hurts him too much. But he's going to take the kids and cheer the team on!!

Church ball is dangerous!!!