We took a quick trip to Utah over Labor Day weekend. Two reasons.
1) Madelyn's one request for her birthday was to go swimming with the cousins at the pool in Lehi, UT. It was two months late, but she didn't care. At one point we were all going around the lazy river, and all the kids decided to pile on top of me so that I could pull them around. After two times around I was exhausted. I suggested that Rebekah should then carry me around. She had me in a vey strange hold, and I realized how ridiculous I looked, and I started laughing until tears were running down my face. It wasn't that funny, but it was.....ya know? We also went up AF canyon and had a BBQ. Everywhere we went, all of the cousins wanted to ride together in "the bus" (our new bohemeth of a van).
Look, there's still one seat open for A.J. when he grows up;)
Look at that face!!!
2) Grandpa Liddell turned 90 years old this summer, and we wanted to celebrate! Despite BYU's first game being a loss (Liddells are HUGE BYU fans), we had a wonderful day with the Liddell clan, and Grandpa hung in there the whole day - actually, I don't think he wanted to go home at the end of the night;) This man has lived quite the life (officer in the Army Air Corps, newspaper reporter for Deseret news, etc.), and it's always fun to hear his stories. Reminds me of my Grandma Petersen, who would be 101 this year;) We got our traditional four Joseph's photo...
....and then Grandpa insisted on one with just him and our Joseph.
I think Grandpa sure loves the fact that we named J.T. after him (Joseph Thomas). I think they look a lot alike too:) I hope J.T. always knows what an honor it is to be named after him.
The kids cried when we had to head back to California. It broke my heart. Quick trips like that are always hard, but worth it. We love our families!
So two of my sisters came out for a visit - Lorraine (and her kids) and Rebekah. They didn't want to do the same things they did the last time they were here, but lunch at Fisherman's Wharf is a MUST, no matter how many times you've been there.
We were lucky enough to see a bunch of jelly fish swimming around in the water while we were there - big ones too.
Sorry about the side-ways video. My movie-making program won't allow me to turn the videos, and I kept forgetting to take videos side-ways on my phone, ugh.
We also took them to Phil's Fish Market, and they liked it so much that we adults went a second time:)
Rebekah is making a short documentary about "The Clam Chowder Incident", but until she publishes it on Youtube, I can't go into it, other than to say that, in my defense, they have dang good clam chowder there!
The BIG thing that we did was go to California's Great America, which was very fun, and also very sad because Joe couldn't go with us. I wish that I had known about this place sooner, and how awesome it is.
This is us after we went on Rip Roaring Rapids.
This picture does not do justice to how soaked we were. I couldn't have been more wet if I had actually jumped into the water. I love Madelyn's and Alex's faces. Guess which one said, "I want to go on that all the time forever!", and which one said, "I am never going on a water ride again!"
The way they go about getting you soaked is very calculating because at the end of the ride is this....
....in which you can pay $5 to get somewhat air-dried out.
The wooden roller coaster was my favorite, but the most thrilling was the Drop Tower - 227 feet with a top speed of 62 mph.
I pretty much screamed the whole way.
Alex loved the water rides, but he wasn't much into the "thrill" rides......if you want to call "The Mouse" a thrill ride;)
And finally, I like this stop-motion sequence of how big of a geek my sister and daughter are. It speaks volumes:)
I made Cora's blessing dress, and bought her baptism dress. I bought Madelyn's blessing dress, and always told her I was going to make her baptism dress. Talk about leaving things to the last minute....but Madelyn did not let me forget;) I finished it up Friday night, just in time for her baptism on Saturday. We were both pleased with the final outcome.
No white shoes were to be found, so pink shoes were the obvious choice for this girly-girl of mine;)
She wanted a big bow AND a flower. I obliged.
We were grateful that Joe's parents were able to make it out for the day. Madelyn's grandpa played the piano for the program, and her grandma gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. Madelyn was joined by 2 other children in the stake that day, and it all turned out nice. The one thing.....I've often heard of the water being too cold, but never too hot. Madelyn's face coming up out of that hot water was quite the picture - poor girl;) But no worries, she had a wonderful day.
Here are 8 things that Madelyn thinks you should know about her:
1) I like ladybugs
2) I love my family
3) I'm kind to my dad
4) My mom spoils me
5) I love my dog named Bo
6) I like to go swimming
7) I love to play Big Brainz math games
8) I love going to Activity Days
Here are 8 things that I think you should know about Madelyn:
1) she likes to be right
2) she REALLY likes to be right (yep, that deserves repeating)
3) she thinks she's right ALL of the time
4) she is Miss Silly McSillypants, most days of the week
5) she loves dresses, skirts, dress/church shoes, purses and other accessories
6) she's self-motivated
7) she's determined/stubborn
8) she tells the weirdest jokes
1) When people save seats - could be at the movie theatre, could be at a school program, and the very worst is at church. And I don't mean people saving 1 or 2 seats because somebody went to get popcorn, or talk to the bishop, or the one person is running late but everyone else in the group is already there. What I'm talking about is when there's one or two people saving the entire row/bench, or when nobody is even there at all, just all their stuff (this does not apply for parades). If I get there before you, why should you get a better seat than me? Better yet, if I'm on time, and your late, why should you get a better seat than me? Why?! And don't hate me for saying this, but I find that people in Utah are the most guilty of this. I'm sorry Utah people, but it's true. The last time I went to sacrament meeting in Utah I walked in and saw several empty benches. I walked up the isle to the one closest to the front. It was being saved with the usual pile of coats, scriptures, etc. I walked back to the next one - taken. Next - taken. Next - taken. Our family ended up sitting in the overflow section, and watched as those other families came in after us to take their saved seats closer to the front - some even showed up after the meeting had started. This has NEVER happened to me in a ward outside of Utah. Just sayin'. Several years ago, in my parents' ward, the bishopric even had to address this issue because it was getting so bad. Honestly, I wish that more bishoprics would do that. And I noticed that a lot of the new theatres in Utah have assigned seating now. They obviously recognized the problem too. ***Update. I wrote this, but didn't post it, a week before a man was arrested in UT for fighting over saved seats at church. When I read that news article it made me laugh, and laugh, and laugh.
2) Any movie with John Cusack that is rated R. I don't watch rated R movies. They're just not for me. But I just want to see every movie that John Cusack is in, and I get mad if I can't. I don't know why, but I don't have this reaction with any other actor/actress, even though there are many that I like just as much as, if not more than John Cusack. I can't explain it.
3) Food that is assembled sloppily. A pizza that has a whole bunch of pineapple on one slice, and only 1 or 2 on another slice. A burrito that has a huge glop of sour cream on just one end. A sandwich that has three pickles stacked up on top of each other, instead of spread out. I am notoriously known for rearranging my food. I want each bite to be what it's supposed to be. I know, from having worked in the food industry, that it doesn't take any longer to assemble food correctly than it does to throw it together in a jumbled mess.
4) How lazy I'm being this summer. I had such promising plans for this summer (I always do - sewing, crafts, science experiments, reading, day trips, etc), but this is by far the laziest summer I've ever had with my kids. We've hardly done anything. I don't even want to think about it.
5) Boy Scouts/Cub Scouts. I realize this is like opening a huge can of worms, and some people might think I'm apostate, but there it is. I've said it. It's out there. I own it. Let me just start by saying that Joseph is in scouts, he likes scouts, we support scouts, and I don't see that changing as long as the church supports scouts.....but sometimes it's like fingernails on a chalkboard. My grievances? 1) The cost! If I had a dollar for every dollar I've spent on scouts, I'd be.....well, I'd have a lot of money back;) Seriously though, this is supposed to be the equivalent of Activity Days for the 8-12 girls, and Personal Progress for the 12-18 girls. Having been both Primary president and Young Women's president, I know that the budget for scouts far exceeds anything else. Plus the out-of-pocket cost for the parents is higher too. You buy a shirt, a bandana, a book and a couple of badges and BAM, you've just spent $70. Day camp also cost me $75 for a week of cheap crafts and lame activities (okay, there was SOME good stuff), and that didn't include lunch. I personally priced out all the materials for crafts, T-shirts, rental fee for the park, etc. and I was having a hard time coming up with $25 per boy, let alone $75. I'm wondering how much of that money went to the Boy Scout council. There's no overhead for Activity Days and Personal Progress. 2) Why is Cub scouts every week and Activity Days is every other week? Anyone? My daughters have asked me that, with no prompting on my part. They see the discrepancy, and they don't think it's fair. Have your girls asked about that? What do you tell them? 3) There is supposed to be a correlation between Cub scouts and the Faith in God program (the church manual says, "To maintain a gospel focus in Scout activities, leaders use the Faith in God for Boys guidebook as one of their resources"), but I have yet to be in a ward where that was actually put into practice like Activity Days. I've never had a scout leader ask the boys to bring their Faith in God booklet with them, or passed any of them off. The focus is on passing off scouting requirements, period. 4) FYI - If you know Joe and his 4 brothers, you know that they are smart, talented, successful, and honorable men. NONE of them are Eagle scouts. Just sayin'. I'm sorry if I offended anyone. That is not my intention. Yes, I can see and appreciate the good things that the scouting program does offer. We've had some great scout leaders that I love and appreciate. I'm just getting stuff off my chest. Still going to support the scout program;)
Okay, and now I'll counter those things with 5 things that I do like:)
1) My current nails. They're not perfect, but those black tips were dang tricky.
2) Watching my kids grow. I took this picture of Cora in a skirt I helped her make, and I was like, I can't believe how grown up she looks?!!! And tomorrow I'm taking her to her first girl's camp for Young Women. Exciting times:)
3) This series of super heroes and villains that Alex drew.
That last one is Lex Luther;)
4) The four seasons. I know a lot of people appreciate milder climates, like the one we have here, but I prefer a wider range of temperature and weather. That's why I like Utah so much, and that's why I like South Korea so much. I want to be hot in the summer and cold in the winter. I want sun and snow, and fall foliage and spring blossoms. I want fabulous rain storms, with thunder and lightning, - in the spring when it makes everything smell so good and clean, and in the summer when it's warm enough to play in. I want to delight at the beginning of each season, and complain at the end of each season so I'm ready to welcome in the next one, and so on and so forth;)
5) Good food. I've been having some dang yummy food lately, either made by myself (pat on my back) or at new restaurants we've tried. I tried a new recipe for pork chops with apples. I'm not usually fond of mixing meats with fruits, but it was good. I finally got Joe to take me to an Indian restaurant. He thought it was as good as I knew he would. And yesterday our family went to Phil's Fish Market and Eatery in Moss Landing. Partly because we heard it was good, and partly because it was featured on The Food Network, which we are big fans of. You can watch the episode (Throw Down with Bobby Flay) here.....if you like that sort of thing;)
Of course, I had to order the Cioppino, and it was very good, and so was the clam chowder bowl, and so was the fried squid and shrimp. It was all good. Apparently, a LOT of people think it's all good, because the line was out the door when we got there, and it was out the door when we left. A bit pricey though, so we won't be taking the whole family back....but definitely for a date;)
We definitely need to find and try more places featured on the Food Network:)
We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. We went camping up north in Lakeport, CA. What a great little town! We are soooooooo rural people, Joe and I. This town quickly found a place in our hearts, and if we were going to be living in CA for longer, than we'd definitely go back......but there's still too many other places we want to go, and definitely not enough time.
Lakeport is right next to the largest fresh water in California, and it was right in the backyard of our campground.
Anyway, Lakeport was really just a halfway point between the two places that we were really there to see. The first day, the 4th of July, we went down to Napa for their big celebration. We got there early, so first we went and saw a matinee of Despicable Me 2 (Loved it), and then went to get treats at Sonic - such a novelty when you haven't lived near one for 4 years;) Then we went downtown where they had tons of free stuff for the kids.
A rock-climbing wall, a sports area (basketball, football, baseball), lots of bouncy houses, and this....thing with inflatable balls in water?
Surprisingly, it wasn't too crowded when we were there from about 4:30 to 7pm. The only thing they waited in line for was the water ball thing. After that we started to think about dinner, and we still had 1 1/2 hours until the fireworks started. There were a lot of vendors on the streets, and so we started walking around looking for something yummy. And then it was like waves of people started coming in, and things started getting crowded really quick. I hate crowds. So thankful for a smartphone and internet, because I Googled another free fireworks show 1/2 hr. away, closer to our camp sight, but still in Napa Valley. We decided to chance it, and were so glad we did. It was in a much smaller town called St. Helena. The show wasn't put on by the city, like in Napa. It was being put on by a local winery - a big fancy affair for $150 a person. But all the locals just bring their lawn chairs and blankets and sit out on the streets surrounding the winery, and get a free show. We joined the locals, watched them shoot off fireworks of their own in the streets, ate a picnic dinner we'd picked up from KFC, and waited for the big show.
Not bad. Not bad at all:)
The next day we headed the other direction, up north and out to the coast. It was a beautiful drive, although I've never experienced so much twisting and turning in my life;)
The beach was rocky and beautiful....
....with plenty of interesting sea creatures washing up onto shore.
Kelp is so weird.
I think this was some kind of egg because I could see something moving inside it.
And what the heck is the thing?
Really, what is it? It was soft, not hard, and it looked like this on the bottom.
There were also some great sand cliffs that our kids wanted to play on forever.
But that's not why we came to this beach. The real reason we came to this beach was for this....
It's not named Sea Glass beach for nothing.
There is more sea glass on the beach than rocks, and they're all smooth as stone, so you can walk on it with your bare feet. Coolest thing ever!:)
We would love to go back, but it's like 5 hours from here, so I don't know if that will happen or not (again, because we have so many other places we want to go) - but it was definitely worth the drive! Not a bad way to spend the 4th:)
