Field Trip

10/17/2011
Field Trip to Staheli Farm

 Aliyah's class got to go on their first field trip of the year. And luckily, it was to a place that little brothers could tag along as well.  I really think that him being in preschool is helping SO much with his rambunctious attitude because he listened so well to Aliyah's teachers and stayed right with the class.

They got to look at all the animals and pet them, then they took a hay ride over to the pumpkin field where they learned all about how pumpkins grow.  After that they got to play on all the stuff they have.  The kids had a lot of fun.

Mon, Wed, Fri classes all went together

Learning about chickens

goats, pigs, and sheep

Tom Turkey

Fiona the pig

Llama face

Hay Ride with the twins

Pumpkins

Peeking in at the witch

toy time

He was scared to jump, so he made me help him

The kids had a lot of fun, and it was good to have something to do on the day we got back from the cruise.  I think the kids would've gone stir crazy if they had to stay home.

Taya's 11 months...WHAT!?!

what she's up to:

favorite bath toy: the cup.  She likes to fill it up and try to drink it.

loves to play with daddy

loves the piano...and making funny faces

• likes to drink her bottle sitting up now instead of laying down.  She almost tips over every time.
• spins in circles on her bum when she's on the tile
• got her top left tooth in...finally
• has taken 4 steps!!!
• walks along furniture, and people
• gives me hugs when I fake cry.  It's so cute.
• her hair can fit in little piggies on top
• wears a size 3 shoe
• is tall and wears size 18-24 dresses
• favorite toy: toothbrush.  
• likes to look at books
• loves to make funny faces
• plays with Xander and "gets him" by smacking his head
• likes to eat hot dogs, veggies straws, goldfish, scrambled eggs, and vegetables
• still a smiley girl
• will walk only holding one hand

we love disney!!!

                                                                 

We just returned yesterday from our week long cruise on board the Disney Wonder.  We sailed out of LA and went to the Mexican Riviera.  It was lovely!

Highlights included:

10/9:

• Driving to California (with 8 people in a 7 seater van) and getting pulled over for NO reason by a d-bag of a cop (Aliyah was hiding in the back under a blanket on top of the luggage.)
• Arriving in LA an hour ahead of the google scheduled time  :)
• Seeing Mickey Mouse before we got on the boat.  Aliyah and Xander were ecstatic.
• boarding the ship!!!  (As we were walking down the gangway Taya was all smiles and so excited!)
• Debarkation party!
• swimming...going on the slide
• the FOOD!
• BIG room (for a cruise) with a veranda!

10/10:

• at sea all day
• laying out in the warm ocean sun
• kids having races in the halls before the Club opened
• kids playing in the Oceaneers Club!!!
• WONDERFUL service by those Disney workers
• swimming
• getting dressed up for formal night
• going to sleep  :)  (As soon as dinner was over we headed right up to our room for bed.  Ahhh.)

10/11:

• Docked in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
• took the kids out to see the city and being bombarded by people trying to get us to go on every type of excursion possible.
• conversation like this:  Jace: well, I wouldn't mind going on wave runners         Random Mexican Man: Jet Skis?  How many ma-chines you want?  GEORGE!!!  GEORGE!!! Come over here!  This guy wants jet skis       - All of us just laughing because the man came out of nowhere.  We did end up renting from him, though.        
• seeing a seal in the marina.  His name was Poncho.
• went to a dolphin exhibit and the kids saw dolphins through a window
• rented jet skiis and took Aliyah and Xander out on them.  They ended up hating them, so Jace went by himself and Nat and Ry had the other one.  I stayed behind on the beach with the kids and played in the ocean.
• WARM ocean water...and really blue
• big undertoe and made me nervous a few times

10/12

• Second day in Cabo
• Jace, my dad, and Ryan went on a zip line excursion and had a blast
• kids went to their clubs, and I put Taya in the nursery.  2 hours by myself getting tan.  :)
• saw Pluto, Goofy, and Mickey by the pool
• Taya LOVES the Disney characters and had to touch every one of them 
• Pirate Night...people take that seriously
• watched "Real Steel" in the Walt Disney Theater.  It's good.

10/13:

• day at sea
• had our character breakfast where Chip, Dale, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto come around to our table to take pictures
• one of our waiters made us all napkin hats
• saw Stitch and hung out for a bit
• bought some souvenirs
• Taya took a nap in the stroller on deck...so cute
• got pictures with Cinderella, Snow White, Dopey, and Ariel
• all the girls got pedicures...but Aliyah got the Princess Package and got a pedicure and manicure
• Amy, Nat, Ry, Jace, and me went to the adult restaurant, Palo, while grandma and grandpa braved dinner with the kiddos alone.       
• family went to Toy Story the Musical...Taya and I went to bed
• Taya took some more steps...she'll be walking in no time 

10/14:

• day at sea
• woke up to X and A freaking out about seeing dolphins in the water.  There were about 12 swimming with our boat.  It was pretty cool.
• weather = overcast, cold, and windy
• kids played in the Club
• Princess pictures with Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Snow White, and Tiana
• dance party with the Disney characters where all my kids did was sweep the confetti into piles and throw it in the air.  They couldn't care less Donald and Minnie Mouse were trying to dance with them.
• Xander found Cinderella and Tiana in the hall and got a private photo shoot
• Xander fell asleep at dinner with his head on the chair

10/15:

• Day in Ensenada, Mexico   
• Foosball tournament between Jace and Anne...Anne remains undefeated!
• saw lots of seals by the boat and dolphins     
• windy and chilly in the shade                    
• went into the city with Jace and Taya...Jace = bad negotiator.  We bought a sling shot that got confiscated because it's a weapon.  :(
• city was gross and dirty
• had our farewell dinner  :(  Sad times
• saw Goofy in the halls and took some pictures
• packed our bags

10/16:

• goodbye breakfast with our favorite waiters...Kingsley (from Jamaica) and Noel (from the Phillipines)
• get luggage
• leave the Mickey Boat  :(
• drive home

As you can see we had some big adventures and there are pictures to go with it all...just not on my computer yet.  We had a great time on our vacation and can't wait to go again...just not to Mexico.

St. George Marathon

My bil ran the St. George Marathon again this year, so we all went down to the finish line to support him in the big moment.  :)  Unfortunately, he wasn't able to keep on the pace that he anticipated and we ended up sitting at the finish line for a couple hours.  The kids held up really well and were so excited when we finally saw Ryan running towards us.

Luckily we were in the shade this year.  It was pretty hot out and I felt bad for the runners.

The kids passed the time by playing on the bleachers and going back and forth to the stroller for cookies.  We lost Xander once because he took a wrong turn to the stroller and I finally found him on the bleachers next to ours.  Crazy kid.  He insisted that he wasn't lost though.  Whatever.

Taya passed the time by eating leaves.  haha.

After we lost Xander...I mean, misplaced him because he wasn't lost...I made Aliyah make the trips to the stroller with him.  She came back and told me she held his hand the whole time so he wouldn't get lost.  What a sweet sister.

And here he comes...

That stride is looking pretty big.  :)  But honestly, I don't understand how people can still be moving after running for as long as they do.

He made it!!!  5 hours 38 minutes and 02 seconds!  

WAY TO GO RYAN!