California Fun

Last week we went to California with our neighbors Nick, Paige, & their 4 yr old niece Alyssa. We flew from Vegas into LAX, this was so fun for the kids since it was Braxton & Alyssa's first time flying. Braxton liked watching the rutters on the wing & listening to the air traffic control tower on our headphones. As soon as we landed we got our rental car & headed to Disneyland for 2 days. We told the kids about going there on our way to the Vegas airport & they were so excited. The kids were tall enough for all but about 3 rides and they had a blast, so fearless!! Space Mountain, Splash Mtn, The Tower of Terror, Grizzly River Run were Braxton's favorites. Tanner was very patient to hang out in the stroller while we waited in lines & slept a lot - he loved the Dumbo ride, making us go up & down. I don't think he was quite sure about "Pirates of the Carribean", but he danced & clapped through out the whole Pixar Parade.

Late Friday night we drove down to Oceanside and stayed 2 nights. Saturday morning we swam in the pool and then walked down to the ocean and played in the cold water. Alyssa had fun collecting seashellsa and helping me make sand castles, Braxton loves to jump over the waves as they come in. After lunch we drove down to San Diego and made a quick stop to walk around the temple and take some pictures before we headed for what Troy calls his most favorite part of the trip: the U of U vs. San Diego State football game held at Qualcomm Stadium home of the San Diego Chargers. The Ute fans certainly outnumbered the home team fans, and we had a blast even tho the games was a massacre by Utah 63-14. After the game we had ate at Uno pizza, which in my opinion would be worth another trip down there. The kids got to make their own pizza which was fun, they brought out dough, sauce and whatever toppings they chose, and then took it back to be cooked when they were finished.

Sunday we headed back up to LA in the midst of all the smoke from the fires, drove down Rodeo Drive a few times, and drove past all the huge homes in Hollywood and Beverly Hills. We also spent some time at the Chinese Theater and on the Hollywood walk of fame. We drove up to the LA temple to walk around and had to answer a few questions from church security before we could enter the parking lot. They told us a little about the riots and what had gone on during the previous week. It is such a beautiful place and so sad about the things that went on. We had enough time there for a few pictures and gobble up our yummy cheesecake before going back to catch our 10:35 pm flight back to Vegas. We climbed into bed at 4 am and crazy me didn't take the day off and had to be to work by 8:30.

We had a great 4 days and loved spending it with our kids and friends. Now we have to work for awhile and save up for the next vacation....