Last Week or So...

We had a fairly boring couple of weeks in there - crafting, cleaning and stuff while the kids were in UT playing, but it got exciting again a week or so ago. Katie ended up coming back down with Becca and the kids and we got to take Katie back up to Cedar while at the same time being able to go to a homecoming for Kris Hansen and the 13th. We were also lucky enough to be able to leave the kids in CA with Aunt Becca while Mark, Katie and I got to play in UT. We spent the almost the whole weekend helping Katie get her kitchen into a functioning one. We made her cook us all sorts of food so she could get used to using her kitchen for cooking and not just re-heating :-) I haven't heard if it stuck or not, but it was a lot of fun. Our first stop for appliances and other basic needs was DI and we ended up getting her a football shaped crock-pot. It happened to look exactly like one that Mark and I used to have, but had recently given to a DI down in CA. If we'd only known she needed one... We also helped her fix her car (it was just a dead battery) and get her used to replacing/fixing a few small things with the car - windshield wipers, washer fluid, steering wheel squishy :-) All in all it was a good weekend for us. On the way home that Monday Mark and I tried to stop by Calico (it's a ghost town in CA - I think it's between Baker and Barstow it I remember right), but it was closed. I'm not sure for how long, but it was disappointing to get our hopes up and then to be denied at the gate. Oh well, there might get to be a next time, there might not :-)

The kids seemed excited to see us, but I think there were still a little shell shocked. It might have been from being away from us for a whole week, then there were only back for about 5 days before we left them here without us. We've made up for lost time though this last week. On Wednesday we went to the beach with Aunt Becca (she's the only one who had a camera, so I don't have any pictures) and the kids had a blast! Jason played in the sand the whole time and got covered! He was tired at some point and was signing 'nap' (we've taught him that's just putting his hands to the side of his head). Apparently he was SUPER tired though and was putting both hands to his head... which wouldn't have been nearly so bad if he wasn't COVERED! in sand. It got all in his ears and all over his hair! Even the bath he took right afterward didn't get all the sand out! Shelly was adventurous and went out into the ocean up to her waist and had a blast letting the waves get her! She needed someone to stand right behind her though so the waves wouldn't knock her down. Doug and Mark had a fun time digging a hole, and Danielle helped build a reinforcement wall. Becca seemed to have fun watching the kids and just being at the beach in general. It was fun!

Wednesday night I got a call from Uncle Keith saying that one of his kids and their family was going to be in town and was going to Disneyland - but they had Southern CA tickets and needed someone with Southern CA ID to get them in. So on Thursday, Danielle, the kids and I planned a trip to D-land to go play and let in cousins. Turns out the cousins didn't need us after all, but we had fun playing at the Brother Bear playground in CA Adventure and then going on the Winnie the Pooh ride anyways. The kids were exhausted! after the adventure and napped well that day.

Friday was Becca's birthday, and due to a failed try earlier in the week, wanted Doug to go on the 'Great Balloon' ride here in OC for her on her birthday (Becca had to leave on Wednesday after the beach, so she didn't get to go). So, Doug, the kids and I all went on the great balloon ride in honor of Becca on her birthday. It was rather enjoyable. I probably won't go out of my way to go alone again, but I'll tag along if anyone else wants to go. They take you 400 feet up in the air and you get to see the surrounding area. I have a video and some pictures I took, but they're still on my camera. When I pull them off I'll post some. Friday night was also the Ward Corn Roast at the beach. It's a favorite ward activity of mine, so Mark puts up with the crowd for me. The corn was tasty and the watermelon was good! The kids food was sandy (we were at the beach...) but they still snarfed down more than I thought they would. Shelly ate an ear and a half and Jason actually did pretty good eating his ear of corn. We started them off sharing one, but they soon need to share another - and Shelly had the nerve to ask for 1/2 of one of mine! Shelly would clean off the middle part, and leave a few columns around the outsides and Jason would grab her leftovers with his sandy hands right around that cleaned off middle and start chomping away at the edges! It actually worked out rather well for them...
After everyone was done with food, we went for a climb on some nearby rocks. It was rather impressive to watch Shelly climb the entire thing all by herself! I held her hand for about 5 seconds on a downward part, but she soon gave up holding onto me and turned around to climb down so she could be a 'big girl' and do it all by herself. She LOVED it! It's good to watch our kids growing up and realize just how much they can do on their own, and how much they love to us they've learned and how independent they can be!

Saturday was mercifully a day of relative rest. I picked up the folks from their Alaskan Cruise in the evening from the evil airport an hour away... but other than that, it was nice and calm. In the evening Danielle's family came to visit. They are here on vacation for a few days and we got a chance to visit with them for a short time that evening. They also came over Sunday for a tasty Sunday dinner and stayed for the afternoon to play games and work on puzzles. It was fun having them over to get to meet her family and enjoy spending time with them. They all went to D-land yesterday (Monday, even if it is 4 in the morning!) but I though I did some serious damage to my pinky toe when I stubbed it on Sunday, so I stayed home to avoid aggravating it. I was looking forward to getting to play too! :-( I hear they're going back on Wednesday though, so maybe I'll go with them then if I'm still invited. My toe was tender and quite bruised yesterday, and I thought I broke it for a while there. I can move it on my own though, and walking has gotten better, so it's probably either just a sprain or a small enough break that there's nothing we can do anyways.

So, there's my super long explanation of the last week or so... Tune in next time to hear: (I got nothing to go here - it's late!) :-)