The last while

So only after being home from California for a couple of weeks, we were off to Utah again. As some may know, my friend Misty and I decided to do a triathlon. The training was hard and took a lot of time but got easier pretty quickly. I was surprised. So I was little nervous but mostly because I wasn't too sure of the logistics of it. The day before we stopped at Aunty Fun's house for a while. We finally got Jane on the horse. She really loved it. Also Jane can make a dress up out of just about anything. Get ready for lots of photos. 

I was so happy that I decided to do my first one with Misty. She has done a couple already and gave me some good advice. She walked me through some of the things that I was nervous about. The water was cold but not horrible and it warmed up pretty quickly outside so the rest was nice. Overall I did better than I had hoped I would. Lots of people ask me if I would do it again. I really think I will but maybe wait till the kids are a little older and the training wouldn't be so hard in that way. 

Here are random pics of the kids for the past little bit. I just thought this first one was hilarious. Jane has really got to love playing with Grant. She always tells me that I shouldn't put him down for a nap because she says she 'needs to play with him'. I really love it.

We took a quick trip to Utah, again, in October for a funeral. It was really last minute and quick so I decided to to just take Grant. Jane got a lot of dad time that weekend. I surprisingly got to see a lot of family so it was nice. I also got to see Misty again. Max and Grant were playing so well together until Grant tried to chew Max's head.

California Pt 2

Jeff's parents work 3 days a week at the family history library at the Los Angeles Temple. So we decided to go down one day and say hi and show Jane around. Can I just tell you how much I love her face in this first picture. 

They have a bunch of interactive features at the visitors center. Stuff for kids to do. Jane really liked it.

Needless to say Jane was wiped out each day. We would find her in funny positions on the bed. She did fall off the bed one night and so I think that she was paranoid about falling off.

On recommendation from Jeff's sister, we went to aquarium of the pacific in Long Beach.  They had some of the craziest fish. It was pretty cool.

We also got to touch some fish. There were some sharks and manta rays in this pool and you could reach him and feel them. We also touched some jelly fish and anenames (not sure how to spell that).

Grant was obviously having a good time too.

Of course, they put all of these fish in one tank together. Jane kept talking about seeing the nemo fish. "look there's Dory"

We also went on a harbor cruise as part of the aquarium tour. Jane wasn't too sure how she felt about it but we saw some interesting things.

Everyone was tuckered out after the aquarium. We took a minute to rest before we went to dinner.

We left the next morning. It was a really good trip. I am so glad that we were able to go. Jeff's parents are the best hosts and Jane just loved being there and having time with them to play. Plus, Jeff's mom let us go on a date of sorts one day while she watched Jane. Thanks it great.

California Pt1

I just have so many pictures of california that I decided to break it up. So here we go.

We didn't get in until late and so the next day we just lazed around. There was a lot reading and playing with Grandma. So fun. We also went swimming at a friends pool. It was really nice of them to let us come at a moments notice.

We decided to go to a baseball game since Ellis is a huge Dodgers fan. It was pretty hot but it cooled some as the sun set. Grant wasn't very fussy and seemed to enjoy everything that was going on around us.

On Saturday we hit the beach. We went to a beach up north of where they live. It wasn't too crowded. I forgot how beaches are kind of hard with a little one. Sand is just everywhere. Everywhere. So that was fun to manage. Jane really loved being in the ocean in Texas but wasn't too keen on it this time. He just loved playing in the sand with Grandma.

Jeff and I debated for a long time about wether to go to Disneyland or not. Is Jane too young to appreciate it? Will she have a good time? Will it just be too much work for us? Ultimately, we gave into going. One of the factors is that Grandma could come with us because they have season passes. She was so nice to come and help us out. It was a good day because it really wasn't very crowded. It was kind of hot, though.

Jane really loved the tea cups and kept asking to go back and ride them again. We did ride them a couple of different times.

Jane is all about castles and princesses. Cinderella is probably her favorite movie. So the castle was so fun for her to see. Then when we ran into the fairy godmother, it was just the greatest. She loved it.

So Jeff's mom was such a trooper. She let Jeff and I go on a couple of rides and she watched the kids. Once she took both of them on a ride, twice, while we went on a ride. I seriously love this picture when we were strapping the baby carrier on her. Seriously she was such a trooper.

I was a little worried that Jane wouldn't like the rides. Especially since she freaks out about the horse at the grocery store. She really liked them, though. She even really like the little rollercoaster that is in toon town. She was barely tall enough to ride it. When we got off she said she wanted to go again. And of course, small one was a hit.

One of the great things about going is that my friend Sharla joined us later in the afternoon. She lives really close and had season passes. So she brought her 2 boys. I haven't seen her in almost 7 years. We worked together in Idaho Falls. She is so fun and it was great to catch up. Plus her boys are so dang cute.

 We stayed to watch the parade. Jane was all about it. Especially when the float came by with all of the princesses.

So even though it cost an arm and a leg to get it, we are glad we did it. Grant, again, was such a trooper. She only had two small naps and didn't cry until we were about to leave. He cried for only a minute and then fell asleep. Jane overall did good too with only one meltdown. She still talks about going. She was just saying today that she had fun at disneyland. 

So there is much more to come on our California trip. That is all for now.