California Trip Day 6

May 26th: San Diego to Cedar City, Utah.

The Colby's were nice enough to give us some guest passes to the San Diego Zoo, so we met them there and spent the morning hanging out with them at the zoo. This zoo is HUGE! It was so much fun, but we didn't have enough time to see all it had to offer. Guess we'll just have to go back again:)

While we were at the zoo, I got a voice-mail from my amazing friend Felicia (who lives in DC) saying they were at the airport heading to Utah for the long weekend. I was so excited to hear that we would both be in Utah at the same time! 

After the zoo, we headed to Old Town San Diego. Aunty Devi & Uncle Nathan met us there and took us out for some authentic Mexican food.

While there we visited the Mormon Battalion site. They had lots of fun stuff for the kids and it was an interesting historical site. Next time I would love to take the guided tour, but we didn't have enough time this trip.

Aunty Devi & Kimmie walking around Old Town San Diego

We couldn't leave Cali without a picture in front of a palm tree!

Mormon Battalion site

 Once we said goodbye to our wonderful friends, it was back on the road. This time, we were leaving California and heading to Utah. Before we left Cali, we made one last stop at the Redlands Temple.

Now we had to say goodbye to California, and head to Utah. We left the Redlands Temple and began the long drive to visit my family.

 At one point we stopped at a Wal Mart in Rancho Cucamonga to get some snacks. I was extremely disappointed when I opened my honey roasted peanuts only to discover someone had already opened them in the store and helped themselves. I was even more disappointed when I realized that someone in the store had also helped themselves to my chewy chocolate chip cookies. How ghetto is that?!?! 

This is what I saw when I opened it up, no protective covering, & half eaten. Nasty!!!

As we were passing through Vegas, around 9pm, David threw up. So, we had to pull over at the next exit to clean him up. So there we were, in the parking lot of a McDonald's stripping down a crying boy while trying to keep the other kids from getting sick from the smell. That just keeps up our tradition of one child throwing up while we are on vacation, it has happened every time. (Did I mention in my earlier post that Joshua puked all over me our first night in Anaheim??)

After David was all cleaned up, we got back on the road. This was the only part of our trip we had not planned out. We did not have a hotel reserved and it was Memorial Day weekend, so we were having a difficult time finding somewhere affordable and available. After a few hours on my phone and with Nicky's help, we found a hotel in Cedar City. 

We pulled into our hotel around 1am. After waiting forever for someone to come to the front desk and check us in, we finally got the last room they had and headed to finally sleep for the night. Can I just tell you, this place was GHETTO!!!! But, I didn't care, I was tired and we needed somewhere to sleep, and it was cheap. 

California Trip Day 5

May 25th: San Diego

I have been so excited to go to San Diego. Our first stop was to visit our friends, Aunty Devi & Uncle Nathan at their bakery in Escondido. We were greeted with smiles, hugs and yummy food! It was so nice! Seth went out to visit/help them last year and I have been begging him to take me ever since. So, this was a great day for me. We visited with them for a bit, and then headed to the San Diego Temple.

 After the temple we went across the street and had lunch. Seth got a lobster burrito, it was so good! Then we drove to the La Jolla Coves. Joshua was asleep, so I stayed in the car while Seth took the kids down.

 After the Coves we drove to the beach. The kids were SOOOOO excited to play at the beach! Kimmie and David just ran into the water and then back out again, over and over, laughing and screaming. At one point Kimmie got knocked over by a wave and just laughed. Joshua LOVED the water, that kid would have played all day if we let him. I wish we would have had more time to spend at the beach, but we had plans for dinner so we only stayed an hour. The kids cried when we left, I am talking major melt down in the parking lot, but it was still lots of fun.

 Our next stop was to pick up dinner. Our friend told us this amazing pizza place (did I mention it was the best pizza, it was super cheap, and the funny thing is it is run by a Chinese family!) So we picked up dinner and headed to visit one of Seth's mission companions (the only one he really ever talks about!) I have heard so many wonderful stories about Michael Colby, I was so excited to meet him and his family. Funny thing is, he and Seth hadn't talked for years, and last year when Seth came out to help Aunty Devi with her business, he went to church with them and while he was sitting in sacrament that Sunday, in walked Michael Colby. What are the chances they would be in the same ward?!?! It was a nice reunion and I was excited to finally meet him and hear some stories about Seth as a missionary. And boy did I hear stories. Michael is the BEST STORY TELLER EVER!!! I could not stop laughing, that man is hilarious. Now I understand why he and Seth got along so well. His wife, Becky, was so sweet. And, they even have 3 kids all the same ages as ours. So, this kids played while the adults laughed. It was a great night.

Serious faces

Silly faces

After laughing all night, we headed back to Aunty Devi and Uncle Nathan's. They were kind enough to let us stay with them that night.

California Trip Day 4

Ok, I know I am super behind on my blogging, but I am trying to finally catch up on our trip to California/Utah and then I will finally blog about Kimmie starting school and everything else we have been up to....

May 24th: Los Angeles

We woke up and checked out of the condo we were staying at in Anaheim. Seth planned this day just for seeing all the sports places and I didn't mind at all since he was sweet enough to agree to go on this crazy vacation in the first place!

First we drove to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, home to the USC football team. It is the only stadium to have hosted the Olympic games twice, in 1932 and 1984. It is the largest football stadium in the Pac 12 and has also hosted many other sporting events.  

Next we headed to the Rose Bowl, home of the UCLA football team. 

 

 After the Rose Bowl we drove to the Griffith Park Observatory. I have seen this place in movies before, and read online it was a great place to see the Hollywood sign. It was super busy, so we didn't stay long.  

 Next we headed down Hollywood Blvd. 

 To Sunset Blvd...

 To Rodeo Drive!!!

Our next stop after Rodeo Drive was the LA Temple. The kids fell asleep, so we just did a drive-by.

Our next stop was Venice Beach. I have always wanted to see this place, but the kids were still asleep and parking was crazy, so we just drove by. Next time...

Next drove Highway 1 along the coast. It was BEAUTIFUL!!! We passed through Long Beach, Huntington Beach and stopped in Newport to see the temple.

Huntington Beach

Newport Temple

look at those cute faces!

After visiting the Newport Temple we headed back to check into our new hotel in Anaheim.  It was a long day of driving and sightseeing. The kids were so great. They spent the entire day in the car and did not complain at all. It was a great day! 

Kimmie's 5 year check-up

I can't believe that I am posting about my baby girl's 5 year check-up. I am not ready to accept that she is growing up.

Here are her stats:

Weight: 51 lbs 12oz (90th percentile)

Height: 3 ft 8 3/4 in (90th percentile)

BP: 98/60

 

She is growing great! The doctor asked her all sorts of questions about colors, shapes, animals, etc. Then she had her write her name and draw some shapes. Kimmie nailed it!!! She is so ready for kindergarten. They also did a hearing test and a vision test, both of which she passed.

After the eye exam came the scary part...SHOTS! She had to get three shots. I stayed in front of her so she couldn't see and tried distracting her with talk about ice cream and yummy treats. It worked for about two seconds, then the first shot came..she looked right at me with the look of complete shock. Then the second shot, she yelled. Then after the third, and final shot, she cried "I want my Dadda!" The nurse was great and it was all over so fast, and she handled it like a champ.

On the way home I offered to take her to McDonald's, but she politely declined saying she doesn't want to eat chicken nuggets anymore because they are bad for you:) Instead, we went home, picked up Cyndy, David & Joshua and went to get some frozen yogurt.

I only have one week left to enjoy having my sweet girl home all the time. I better plan some fun things to do.