This is the point in the day when everyone has totally lost their marbles. Ross and Willie totally tune out by playing on their phones. It was my bright idea to "make a movie" while we were standing in line. I was trying to distract them, is all. Elliott was hogging the camera. Molly is being a drama queen. Wyatt went and hid behind his dad. Crazy!!
On Day 3, we watched parades. Molly thought they were pretty cool!
05 April 2013
Disneyland!
We decided to go to Disneyland - my family, my parents and brother, my sister and her family, and my Aunt Cindy, Uncle Evan, and Parker. We decided to drive. It was a challenge at times, but overall a great trip!
- Left on Thursday after work and headed to St. George
- Drove to Anaheim and then the beach (and Ruby's Diner) on Friday night. We stayed at the Peacock Inn and Suites. It was very nice.
- Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were spent in Disneyland and California Adventure. The first day was great and everyone was really well behaved. The second two days had a few more tired meltdowns and little babies refusing to sit in strollers, but still it was mostly good.
- On Tuesday we drove through Joshua Tree National Park and then ended up in Boulder, Nevada.
- On Wednesday we left Boulder and drove the rest of the way home.
Ruby's Diner on the pier at Huntington Beach
Molly was so excited and so funny when we actually got in the park Saturday morning. She ran everywhere and was just insane. "Wook at that, Mom, wook at."
Waiting in line for the Dumbo ride, then riding on it with mom.
Family picture on the teacups. Molly loved everything about Fantasy Land. A couple of times she said, "Whoa that was scary," but never actually acted scared on anything. In fact, the only ride she didn't like was Luigi's Tires in Cars Land but that was just because she rode with me and Parker and we kept squishing her. She got super mad at us.
I've never ridden on the giant Ferris wheel and I never will again. Super freaky (and it was on the non-sliding cars)!
After this picture was taken, James, Parker and Willie, went on the Tower of Terror like 7 more times. Crazy. Once was enough for me.
My mom was watching Jack while the previous picture was being taken. He was so sick of sitting in the dumb stroller that she found a corner in Bug's Land and just let him crawl around on the ground. We were watching him, but then he picked up a rock. At least I thought it was a rock . . . until I took it from him and it was a snail . . . GROSS!!
Molly loved the Dumbo Train. We sat in the "camoose."
Storybook boats
Toon Town.
Before we took this picture, Molly rode the little Toon Town roller coaster twice in a row. She thought it was way cool. Her dad told her she had to hold her hands in the air. The next time we go to Disneyland, she'll probably be big enough to try out a few more crazy rides and I think she'll like them.
Our last pictures in Disnyeland were three attempts at a family photo . . .
1) Molly get over here and get in the picture.
2) Tell us how you really feel
3) Finally, a sort of decent photo
We did have a lot of fun on this trip, but it was a challenge. We took Molly to Disneyland when she was Jack's age, but I don't remember it being as much work as it was this time around. Jack is a super mover and never holds still. Molly is a ticking time bomb. I think James and I were both totally exhausted by the third day. Thank goodness for all of our extra family to help out with our crazy children or we never would have made it. As challenging as it was, I'd do it again in a heartbeat!
27 March 2013
Little Mover
If you read back on my blog to March of 2010, you'd see that Molly was just barely starting to crawl. Her little brother, on the other hand, is a moving machine at the same age. He is literally all over the place faster than anyone can catch him.
Lately he has started standing alone for quite a while at a time (thought he'll only do it if he has something in his hand). I think he'll be walking pretty soon.
Here is also an example of his moving abilities. Though he's still just little, he can already take his big sister for a ride.
Lately he has started standing alone for quite a while at a time (thought he'll only do it if he has something in his hand). I think he'll be walking pretty soon.
Here is also an example of his moving abilities. Though he's still just little, he can already take his big sister for a ride.
20 March 2013
Car-scapades
Cars. Cars. Cars. Cars.
James and I both have long, trusting relationships with our cars. He had his Toyota and I had my Honda, each of us for much longer than we've known each other. I took really good care of my car before I got married, and then James has taken care of it since then. We have, however, had a series of significant (and some unfortunate) car events in the last 6 months. Here they are:
September - We bought a new car. Against our inner Dave Ramsey's we took out a loan for the vehicle. We paid a good portion down and are quickly paying it off, but nonetheless, we don't exactly "own" it yet. It fits us better, is much more comfortable, and is a great family car. In the event of an emergency, however, it means that we refuse to take out a loan on anything else (except our houses, of course).
January - We sold the Toyota to Jarrell and Whytnee. They needed a car. We had an extra. It worked out well.
End of February - During one of the last super icy snow storms, James got rear-ended in the Honda (along with a Granite District Police Officer) by an uninsured teenage driver, driving his Grandma's car. Molly, Jack, and I drove past the accident on the way to school that morning. The kids mother misled police that she DID have insurance and then stopped answering calls from the insurance company all together.
March - It's been a long month of trying to figure out what to do with the Honda. Because it was an uninsured motorist and we had liability only on our trusty car with 220,000 miles, it was just been slow. For a couple of weeks afterwards, it still ran fine. James duct taped the rear end and pounded it out a little. (It looked great . . . um no.) He continued driving it, even in it's terrible state.
Finally, we heard word from the insurance company that the car was officially totaled. We had a few options, but after weighing them all we decided to get rid of the Honda. Sniff. Sniff.
If we kept it, the estimate for the rear end repair was quite high, plus it is going to need a new clutch soon. Both of those items would add up. In addition, as much as we hated to admit that it was totaled, the insurance company's amount they would give us was actually more than we figured we'd be able to get by selling it (pre-accident).
It took us a few days, lots of time on the internet, the help of both sets of grandparents tending kids, and some major evaluation and then re-evaluation of the family finances to see exactly what we could spend . . . but James found a new car he liked and we bought it.
It is a 2002 Hyundai Sonata. It is a little older, but in excellent condition. The previous owner had taken it to the dealership we bought it from for years and there were accurate service records of all of its maintenance. We saw it before it had been detailed and it was exceptionally clean. That was a plus! It also has brand new tires and relatively low miles for an older car.
We filled out all the paper work on Saturday, but it still needed to be cleaned and have new brakes put on. We went back on Monday to give them a check and pick it up.
James and I both have long, trusting relationships with our cars. He had his Toyota and I had my Honda, each of us for much longer than we've known each other. I took really good care of my car before I got married, and then James has taken care of it since then. We have, however, had a series of significant (and some unfortunate) car events in the last 6 months. Here they are:
September - We bought a new car. Against our inner Dave Ramsey's we took out a loan for the vehicle. We paid a good portion down and are quickly paying it off, but nonetheless, we don't exactly "own" it yet. It fits us better, is much more comfortable, and is a great family car. In the event of an emergency, however, it means that we refuse to take out a loan on anything else (except our houses, of course).
January - We sold the Toyota to Jarrell and Whytnee. They needed a car. We had an extra. It worked out well.
End of February - During one of the last super icy snow storms, James got rear-ended in the Honda (along with a Granite District Police Officer) by an uninsured teenage driver, driving his Grandma's car. Molly, Jack, and I drove past the accident on the way to school that morning. The kids mother misled police that she DID have insurance and then stopped answering calls from the insurance company all together.
March - It's been a long month of trying to figure out what to do with the Honda. Because it was an uninsured motorist and we had liability only on our trusty car with 220,000 miles, it was just been slow. For a couple of weeks afterwards, it still ran fine. James duct taped the rear end and pounded it out a little. (It looked great . . . um no.) He continued driving it, even in it's terrible state.
Finally, we heard word from the insurance company that the car was officially totaled. We had a few options, but after weighing them all we decided to get rid of the Honda. Sniff. Sniff.
If we kept it, the estimate for the rear end repair was quite high, plus it is going to need a new clutch soon. Both of those items would add up. In addition, as much as we hated to admit that it was totaled, the insurance company's amount they would give us was actually more than we figured we'd be able to get by selling it (pre-accident).
It took us a few days, lots of time on the internet, the help of both sets of grandparents tending kids, and some major evaluation and then re-evaluation of the family finances to see exactly what we could spend . . . but James found a new car he liked and we bought it.
It is a 2002 Hyundai Sonata. It is a little older, but in excellent condition. The previous owner had taken it to the dealership we bought it from for years and there were accurate service records of all of its maintenance. We saw it before it had been detailed and it was exceptionally clean. That was a plus! It also has brand new tires and relatively low miles for an older car.
We filled out all the paper work on Saturday, but it still needed to be cleaned and have new brakes put on. We went back on Monday to give them a check and pick it up.
The Honda is still sitting in the garage. The insurance company sent us the wrong paperwork to fill out and we're waiting on that, I guess, before they come pick it up. James has driven the Honda a few more times int the last week or so and said it it starting to make super loud noises. This morning he drove it to Lowes and said that that the heater wouldn't work. I guess it is time to pull the plug on it. It has led a good life.
19 March 2013
Ahhhhhhh!
It's 4:30 in the morning. Jack woke up and just went back to sleep. Rather than going back to bed, I decided to do some school work that I didn't get done last night. I started by checking my e-mail.
I know I'm a nerd (and this video is really stupid), but the musical stars have aligned and I am sooooo excited (while I sit in the office with the door closed so the light doesn't wake anyone up.)
This just made my year! (Not that things were bad or anything, but how cool is this?!!)
I know I'm a nerd (and this video is really stupid), but the musical stars have aligned and I am sooooo excited (while I sit in the office with the door closed so the light doesn't wake anyone up.)
This just made my year! (Not that things were bad or anything, but how cool is this?!!)
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