I've Been Spoiled

I grew up in Utah, and I LOVE the fall there.  The weather can be unpredictable, but you still get a lot of perfectly sunny and cool days.  The Fall colors are everywhere, and there's nothing better than a drive up the mountains in the Fall.  Plus Utah has a lot of fun things like corn mazes, pumpkin patches, haunted houses, etc.  Always something to do.

The Fall in Korea is spectacular.  The weather is PERFECT and the leaves are breathtaking.  You want to be outside all the time, and you are, because you just went through a muggy summer, and a freezing winter is right around the corner....which just makes you appreciate the fall even more. 

I've been spoiled to live in places with perfect Falls.

Fall here is....different.  Granted, it's not like San Angelo, where Fall is non-existent.  The weather here is mild all year long, which is nice, I guess, sort of, but there are no beautiful Fall colors here.  That's sad.

What they DO have here are lots of farms, and lots of pumpkin patches.  Most of the school classes take field trips to different farms around the area during the Fall, so I chaperoned a couple, and then we also went as a family to get some more pumpkins for ourselves.

First up was Madelyn's class.  This was a great field trip because the farmer and his grandson took us around, and taught the kids a lot of things about farming.  Made me want to be a farmer;) Very educational, as well as fun.  They also got to pet different farm animals, go on a hayride, and pick their own pumpkins.  The had a little market there, and they also had fresh, homemade pies that looked soooooo good.  I should have bought one.

Next up was our family adventure.  The farm we went to had a miniature corn maze, a rock labrynth, lots of different gardens, and was in a really beautiful location in the Carmel Valley.  Everyone got to pick their own pumpkins - 3 of the 4 kids went with multiple mini-pumpkins instead of one big pumpkin.  They ventured into different colored pumpkins too, instead of just sticking with the classic orange;)

 Last up was Alex's class.  This place also had a lot of animals, which the kids loved.  But what I didn't love was that there was no structure.  We all just wandered around aimlessly in our groups.  But, it was still fun, and it was actually right next to the farm our family went to, so we ended up going over there and doing the corn maze too.  And each of the kids got a mini-pumpkin.

 One more thing this place had was a "spooky" hay tunnel.  The kids wanted to go through this again and again, but I had to limit it to just two times.

 It's a REALLY good thing nobody was allergic to hay.  I came out coughing as it was.  Here we are inside the tunnel.

 This is what it actually looks like inside though, without the flash from my camera.

Oh, I almost forgot - this place sells the BEST, fresh, homemade guacamole!  We bought some and some chips, and we couldn't get enough.  Overall, all good experiences, and they helped to make our Fall a little more Fallish;)  But I'm still super jealous anytime someone posts pictures of the beautiful Fall leaves.  Now for Halloween.

Sisters

I'm so very behind on blogging (see post on lice). 

So, when my week from hell started, I was trying to enjoy a nice visit with my sister Marie, who had come to stay with her husband Antione, and their two beatiful girls, Ava and Jada.  Despite the chaos that ensued, we were able to have a great time with them, and hope they come back soon?

Among other things, we went to Fisherman's Wharf and sampled clam chowder at EVERY restaraunt, and then went back to the first one and got some big sourdough bread bowels full of the delicious stuff - a MUST-DO if you ever come to visit us.

We also had other good seafood, Mexican food, turtle-brownie sundaes.....so much good food, so little time....and we've been trying to work off those calories ever since;)

We went and collected sea-glass at the beach. 

We found a pretty sweet spot, where it was easy for the kids to find plenty of it, and we challenged ourselves by trying to find the blue pieces. 

We also went to the Carmel beach, and the kids played in the sand, while the adults enjoyed the sunshine and admired Pebble Beach.

 

 

 The beaches here have some of the funkiest things wash up on them.  I remember the first time we lived her, and the first time we saw this stuff - Joe chased me around the beach with one of these things.

 Nothing funnier than a pregnant woman realizing that she's about to be washed away.  I was mean, and didn't tell her that it was coming.  She noticed just in time to run away, but not in time for it to soak the bottom of her pants.  Hehehehehe;)

  Love ya sis!

We went to Cannery row and saw the sea lions sprawled out on the rocks, soaking up the sun.

We went to the Butterfly grove in Pacific Grove, but only saw a few butterflies - next month should be better.

We drove around the coast, and we went to the park, and....well, basically we tried to keep things cheap, because, hey, we all just went to Disneyland.  We wanted to do a lot of things that we couldn't afford right now, but we'll have to save those for their next visit.  Lots to do here people.  And we're lice-free now:)

The Week I Wished All My Kids Were Dogs (a.k.a. The Week From Hell)

Getting a new puppy has been challenging.  I love the little stinker to death, but somedays I feel a little buyer's remorse.  This week however, our dog has been the easiest thing I've had to deal with.  Why?  Because dogs don't get lice.

I always imagined that my kids getting lice would be absolutely horrible.  And guess what?  IT IS!!!  It is a nightmare.

Alex had been scratching his head a lot, and the first thing we thought of was lice.  But after examining his head several times, we attributed it to dry scalp or something like that.  However, when Madelyn started scratching a couple of  days later, we found lice on her head right away.

It was gross.  Lice is gross.

Upon further inspection, Alex DID have lice too, and so did Cora.  I ran to Walmart and bought a couple of lice removal kits.  First the special shampoo.  That's the easy part.  Everyone in the house got shampooed, whether they had any signs of lice or not. 

Then the combing, to get out all the eggs.  That ONLY took 8 hrs.  EIGHT HOURS!!! 

Let me tell you something about lice eggs.  They are not ON the hair, they are AROUND the hair shaft.  That stupid little comb they give you does NOT do the whole job, especially on very fine hair.  Those stupid eggs do not want to come off, and I had to take my fingernail and scrape each one down to the end of the hair shaft before they would come off.

The cherry on top was that we discovered the lice at night.  We were up way past midnight that first night, and it was torture.

Besides the hair, we had to wash all the bedding and clothes, and spray down mattresses, furniture and carpet with a special spray.  Hours and hours and hours.  Then comes the re-checking over and over and over again, every day for the next week to make sure that the lice don't come back. 

By the end of the week I was thinking we were in the clear.....and then Joseph told me his head was itching.

Can I just tell you how much I need a good cry?  I haven't yet....probably because I haven't had time....but I am a ticking time-bomb, let me tell ya.

So Joseph had lice.  And upon further inspection, so did Alex again, and Joe thought he saw one in Cora's hair too.  So back to Walmart we went.

I must say, getting rid of lice is not cheap.  Especially if you have a large family.  Especially if it is the second time you have found it, and you are out for vengence, so you buy about 50 cans of the spray stuff so that you can spray every surface of, well, everything.  Not cheap.

This time we buzzed both of the boys' heads, and I cut the girls' hair - they were sad, but I was beyond caring.  Everyone got shampooed again, with twice as much shampoo as I'd used before.  More long hours of combing through hair. I lost track of how many hours - I just know I'm really tired.  This time we are literally washing EVERY piece of clothing and bedding in the house, even if it hasn't been used in the past couple of months.  Everything is getting sprayed, and wiped down, and soaked in hot water, and, and, and, and.....I'm losing my mind.

Joe has had his own week from hell, because he's trying to prepare for a big test coming up, and right now he feels like he's at the bottom of the class.  He has had to do extra tutoring every night, on top of the tons of homework they give him every day, so he really has not been able to help me as much as he wishes he could.

Not to mention, our house is still not completely unpacked.  Not to mention, Joe and I were asked to speak in sacrament meeting on Sunday (afterwhich Joe was  set apart as the Teacher Development Course Instructor, and I was set apart as the 3rd Counselor in the RS Presidency. I don't know why, but I was expecting cubscout leaders;)).  Not to mention, our fridge stopped working, and we had to have somebody come out for that.  Not to mention, we had family come to visit us, so we felt huge guilt about the possibility of contaminating them with our grossness.

Yep, it's been quite the week.  Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.....not that I have any enemies.....that I know of.

I bet your head has been itching while you've been reading this post.  I know.  My head has been itching so bad this whole week, that I've nearly scratched it raw, and I DON'T have lice.  It is a psychological phenomenon - you think about lice, and your head itches.  I'm sorry to do this to you, but this is my outlet.  This is my way of getting it off my chest so that I don't end up in the looney bin.  Of course, that could still happen - if I find more lice in a week from now.....or ever again.....I'm checking myself in.

End of story.

And the Award Goes to......

Welcome to the first and only "Picking up your car (that was shipped from Korea) in Los Angeles, and using it as an excuse to go to Disneyland Awards"!!!

*Award for making us laugh so hard/had to be there moment:
We had dinner at McDonald's, and I ordered WAY too many fries.  We divided the fries onto two different trays, and by the end of the meal, Joseph had eaten almost a whole tray by himself, plus his chicken nuggets.  Madelyn, on the other hand, had hardly eaten any fries, and when I opened up her nugget box, she had only taken one little nibble out of one nugget.  Joseph, who is usally the first to volunteer to eat anyone's leftovers, took one look at her box and exclaimed, "Whoa!  I can NOT eat that!"

*Award for proudest parent/geek moment:
Joe was wearing a Batman shirt, and when Cora first noticed it she said, "Hey, that's DC - traitor!"

*Award for the gayest moment (did I mention it was gay pride week at Disneyland?):
When I realized that all the people at the park for gay pride were wearing red shirts, and I was wearing a red shirt, I said to Joe, "Hey, did you notice what color of shirt I'm wearing?"  Joe answered with, "If your gay, then I'm a lesbian."

*Award for most commented on T-shirt:
Joe's BYU T-shirt.  But we got all kinds of comments on all of our T-shirts.  We like T-shirts;)

*Award for the most popular ride:
Radiator Springs Racers in the new Cars Land.  How popular is this ride you ask?  It is so popular that you have to get there before the park even opens, wait in line, then as soon as they let you in, race to the line that is quickly forming for the fast passes, then wait in that line, get your fast pass, wait for the time on your fast pass, then by-pass the 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hour line (yes, 2 1/2 HOURS!), and enjoy the ride!  Oh, and by that time ALL of the fast passes are gone.

*Award for the most magical ride:
The Haunted Mansion, decked out for Halloween/Christmas with the "Nightmare Before Christmas", which happens to be one of our family's favorite holiday movies!

*Award for the ride that should never be closed down when we're there, but was:
Indiana Jones Adventure, booooohoooooo:(

*Award for coolest display:
Costumes from "Once Upon a Time", which happens to be one of our family's favorite new shows!

*Award for "We make these look good!":

*Award for best photo-op:
Mickey's house, always Mickey's house.

*Award for worst picture taker:
The worker at Mickey's house:(

 Wah, wah, wah - well, the second one was a little better, but still not great.  But seriously people, what the crap is Mickey wearing?!!!

*Award for making "best" friends the fastest:
Alex - every line we were in with a kid near us.

*Award for the most excited at the parade:
Madelyn - VERY excited:)

*Award for the most wet on a ride:
Our brother-in-law Antione and our niece Ava both looked like they had taken a shower with their clothes on after they got off Grizzly River Run.

*Award for best end of the day quote:
We were riding the shuttle back to our hotel, and Alex's eyes were closed. Joe said, "You're not tired, are you Alex?" Alex's sleepy response was, "No, I'm just blinking."

*Award for best scared look caught on a kid's face:
Alex on Splash Mountain!   Sorry kid;)

*Award for old people:
Joe and I are getting OLD, so we got sore and tired much quicker than in days of yore.  We still had fun though.

 *Award for best memorabilia:
A picture of Walt himself with an original Mickey doll, and that doll next to it:)

 *Award for best place to put your kids:

 *Award for the best monster:
Check out Madelyn - she wins over Sully;)

And that concludes the awards.  Thanks for coming.