Adam and Heather Hayes

We try to go on a road trip every summer and this year we decided to go to to the West Coast.

MONDAY July 23, 2007

We left our house at about 9:30 in the morning and drove straight up and over to Moses Lake Washington. It seemed to go really fast. I read Harry Potter 7 aloud and it kept our minds off the clock. We arrived at my Aunt and Uncle Allen and Christine Quinn's house at 6:00 pm our time but, oops, 5:00 pm their time. They were very gracious hosts to us even if we were an hour early. We were fed well, updated on what all my cousins were up to, and got to see some pretty hilarious pictures and YouTube videos. Lisa let us sleep in her newly painted room and entertained our girls to their heart's content, bless her!

TUESDAY July 24, 2007

We left the Quinn's after a delicious blueberry pancake breakfast and headed for Canada. This is where our perfect trip started to mock us. We had never gone through the border before but wow, don't get in the left lane! The right lane is 5-6-10 times faster! So after looking at the peace arch in Blaine Washington for a couple hours we finally got through the border.

Canada doesn't look that much different from Washington! There were lots of people picking berries out in the berry fields and the people are very proud of their country and they know french. That's the impression Canada left on me. We went straight to Vancouver which is huge and has a lot of Asians. We tried to find some Korean shops for Adam's Korean pleasure but we burned out of walking downtown before we found any. We learned there are no left turns from 8-6 on several major roads in Vancouver and when you see a big sign that says Parking you'd better take it fast! We went on top of the Vancouver LookOut which is like the Seattle Space Needle but not as tall and you have to stay inside the glass. It was cool. I love seeing the lines of boats and seagulls and all the sights you never see in Idaho. We then went to Burnaby with the intention of going to a "see what it was like in the old days" Burnaby Village, but alas it was closed and wouldn't be open until 11:00 the next day which we didn't have time or patience for.

So we went to the "Second best campground in North America" which is in Burnaby to camp for the night. We checked in and asked if there was anywhere close to eat and they said there was a Subway a ten minute walk from there. We didn't think the kids could last so we drove with a scribbled map on a paper and the ten minute walk turned into a 2 hour lost in Canada adventure that eventually brought me to tears. They rename the roads every mile or two in Burnaby and we kept accidentally getting on the freeway and leaving Burnaby and trying to turn around and get back in and find the campsite. It was a joke. So the swimming pool and playground had lost their zing when we finally made it back. We got the tent pitched and all the kids settled down the best that was humanly possible and then the air tram/train something LOUD sounded like it was going over our heads FOUR times that night. Viola would finally be asleep and then ROAR and WAAA! It was NOT a good night's sleep. Needless to say as soon as it was light we got out of there and didn't look back till we saw the American border.

WEDNESDAY July 25, 2007

You'd think we would have learned our lesson about the left lane but alas, we obviously didn't because we were in it again and the right lane just WIZZED through. We sat there for an hour which is better that 2 hours I'll admit but still, I guess I have patients issues.

We got through and drove straight to Seattle and parked the car by the Underground Tour in Pioneer Square. Walked in and found out they do it on the hour and we'd missed the last one by 5 minutes so did we want to wait for 55 minutes? We probably should have but no we walked to Pikes Market. It was a refreshing walk with the ocean breeze blowing in at you. We didn't see them throwing fish I'm afraid and the high class luch we bought was too high class for the kids. They refused to eat it after waiting an hour to get it. But they liked the fresh raspberries we bought and free samples of other fruits. That market is huge takes up both sides of a road and like 8 levels! Adam really wanted an oriental painting but we thought it would get ruined (or get too heavy) while we walked.

Then we walked to the Space Needle. Tricity was NOT coping well with the walking by this point. It was fun. You could go outside and feel the breath catch in your throat as you looked down.

When we were done and heading to the children's museum the kids couldn't stop staring at the rides around the base of the space needle. I told them we only had time for rides or museum, and what do you know, they chose rides! There was a monorail right there by the rides and we took it to get closer to Pioneer Square. When we got off we found out that they offer FREE buses to all the tourist spots in downtown Seattle! Now you tell us! There were no buses to be seen and we really needed to make the next underground tour so we walked the rest of the way anyway. We saw a lot of Seattle that we probably wouldn't have noticed by bus at least. There was a shop that had a gorgeous full size fox I really wanted but again, how could I carry it? Or find room in our packed car where it wouldn't get ruined?

The underground tour was very funny and interesting. We were the only ones with little kids. Vi finally fell asleep, but our poor arms were so tired from carrying her all day, it was a task walking up and down the stairs to the old underground Seattle buildings. As soon as it was done we rushed to our car and rushed to Adam's high school buddy Clifton's house. Clif had just barely moved there from Arizona so he didn't know the area that well yet and his directions were a little sketchy, but luckily we made it there just fine.

It was so nice to see Clif and Bree! After a LONG day of walking it was heaven to sit back, relax, eat the amazing barbecue they had prepared for us, see their new twin girls, and chat to our heart's content! When it was the kid's bedtime we said goodbye and headed for our hotel which after about an hour of trying to find it we realized it had a 3 foot concrete median in front of it and you could only get to it from one way! Mapquest can be a blessing but it can also be a cursing because it doesn't know the little details, or, how to tell you there is a median down the middle of the road for 10 miles!

The hotel gave us a room someone was already in. AWKWARD! But It's much funnier now than it was then! Oh well! The important thing was we did eventually have a room to stay in.

Thursday July 26, 2007

We did have a pretty good night's sleep to get us going Thursday morning. We left Seattle and drove to highway 101 right as Washington meets Oregon. We were under the impression that highway 101 gave you a view of the coast from Washington to California. It does follow the coast as best it can but it's not a constant ocean view. In fact it's a s-l-o-w, winding, occasional ocean view kind of road. It's absolutely beautiful! But very slow. (Especially if you're used to taking the freeway!)

Most of the 400 pictures we took on this trip are of the Oregon coast. We have a less than 20% sample of all the pictures we took in the image gallery if you would like to see more than you see here. (Which is worth the time, I promise!)

We wanted to see all the lighthouses we could between Seaside Oregon and Florence Oregon. Sadly again we planned more than we had time for. The Lighthouses that were open to visitors were only open from 11-4 and we never made it to a touring one during those hours. So we made the best of it. We went to Seaside to see the Lewis and Clark Monument that probably said something like "That's ocean, so I guess this is as far as this land goes, let's turn back and tell the President" but we never found it!

We did find a beautiful beach though, so we let the kids get a taste of the ocean and the beach and Vi, the sand. They loved building sandcastles, collecting shells, and running from the rip tides. The next day they got a little braver.

We saw four lighthouses, one really close up (Yaquina Bay), the other three, not very close up. One was on it's own little island (Tillamook Rock) and another was on a rocky ledge we couldn't find a road to (Yaquina Head). The Cleft of the Rock Lighthouse is actually an old lighthouse keeper's house he built like a lighthouse but you can't get too close. The Yaquina Bay lighthouse would have been fun to tour if only we could have made it between 11-4!

In Newport Oregon I REALLY wanted to go to the Newport Aquarium but it closed at 6 and we got there at 6:45. I must say if nothing else I learned some valuable lessons about planning opening and closing times into family vacations! We had reservations in Florence so we couldn't just camp there and go to the museum in the morning. (Another valuable lesson learned, reservations aren't always the best way) We got to our campsite at Honeyman State Park quite late because 35 mile an hour curves only let you go so fast down the coast

FRIDAY July 27, 2007

We got up early and went to the Sea Lion Caves just North of Florence, there were tons in and outside the cave. Then we went to the Hecta Head Lighthouse which is right next to the Sea Lions but we didn't think the kids could handle waiting 2 hours then hiking up the trail to the lighthouse, so we didn't tour it. We took lots of pictures on the beach there of the kids and the lighthouse. Erith and Tricity loved getting their legs and feet wet this time. It was so beautiful. There were about 15 painters out there that morning painting the beautiful scene.

Then we drove across Oregon, all day long.

We started Harry Potter over again because we were in such need of an escape. It was quite beautiful, but not very fast, till we got to the desert and drove like the wind.

We got to New Plymouth Idaho at about 8 pm. Our old neighbors from in town Ririe moved back there after they were done schooling at BYUI. It was so fun to be out of the car! Our girls played with their girls and the parents could talk and relax and have ice cream. We spent the night there and chatted and ate great food and went to a classic car show next door.

SATURDAY

It was a great end to a less than great road trip! The drive from New Plymouth to Ririe took about 5 hours. Which wasn't too much compared to what we had been doing each day! We arrived back home at about 6:00 pm and were amazed at how hot it was. The coast had a nice 70s feel to it, Ririe Idaho was over 100!

Anyway, though I planned it poorly, we have family memories that we'll never forget! The kids handled a lot of time in the car amazingly well. It was poor Vi's first road trip and she got a little anxious when we put her in her car seat shortly after that, bless her heart. But we survived it! Our kids tell anyone who asks how the trip was something like "It was GREAT! The best trip ever!" So how can you have any regrets! :)

Hi friends and family! Welcome to our blog! We realized how convenient it is to put pictures, videos, and pertinent information on the web so we can show and explain things (Our road trip this summer inspired it) without bringing laptops, cds, dvds, scrapbooks and etc. along with us everywhere.

For those of you who don't see us often, I will quickly bring you up to speed on who and where we are.

Adam is running his own business from our home, AH Digital FX Studios . He does web design and hosting. The wonderful thing about that is he can work from anywhere, even Ririe Idaho. He was in charge of his 10 year high school reunion last Saturday, it was a blast. (That also gives you a clue on how old he is!) He is the BYU Idaho 7th Stake Clerk, that takes up a lot of Sunday morning time but he loves it and he can make it back for 1:00 church with me so I really don't mind it either! He is enjoying swinging a bat this summer whether it's softball, baseball, wiffleball he's in the middle of it. Our business is doing well. In fact we are about to close in our 1 car garage and make it the office so there is an outdoor access and more room. In order to do that we needed a shed/shop to store all the stuff in the garage now, so we are looking at the foundation in the backyard and hoping it will be mostly done next week.

I (Heather) am in the middle of yard and garden work. Picking and canning green beans, finding new ways to convince my family to eat zucchini, watering my 1 acre yard by hose and sprinkler, keeping Baby Vi out of every cupboard, and primary presidency stuff. It's an exciting, but busy time of year. I LOVE harvest season. All the hard work in the garden is paying off. Getting Erith and Tricity ready for kindergarten and preschool is fun. The summer has been so busy, I'm excited to get a break once school starts!

Erith is 5 years old, she will turn 6 in December . She played T-Ball this summer and had a playdate with her best friend once a week. She LOVES to learn just like her Dad. She is excited to start kindergarten Aug 20th where Adam's aunt will be her teacher. She has been learning to read words one at a time when we have family scripture study. She's up to 30 and can sound out as many or more.

Tricity is 4 and very smiley. She went to a private preschool last school year twice a week and will get to go 3 times a week this year! She loves to play with her big sister Erith. They are inseparable and imaginative. Yesterday they were making people out of clay and using story books for their tents. (Propping them on their covers /\ I liked it!) She can read about 10 words.

Viola is 1 and walking (ahhh!) She is still a bit stiff legged but it's cute. She has a lot to say but we can't understand most of it. Her favorite word is Dad, yeah she's a Daddy's girl. She has a lot of personality coming through now that she's walking. She's quite the trouble maker. We can't leave anything on the floor or 3 foot from it.

I plan on updating this blog about once a week I will detail our trip we just took next probably. We will continue to add pictures to the photo gallery and I will e-mail when the updates are posted or extra good!

Hello everyone, I can't believe a month has passed since Clara was born. Erith and Tricity have had their end of the school year parties and programs, and T-Ball practice starts this week. Summer is here! Now if we could just have more than one day of sunshine at a time...

I have been inside with the baby watching the rain and actually longing to do some gardening and yard work! Clara is growing up so fast. She likes to use her neck even though she probably shouldn't. She is awake more. She's very alert and loves being entertained by her sisters.

Viola is very interested and protective of her. When she cries she gets Adam or I and says "Mon! Mon! Baby!" as she pulls on our hand.

Erith has become my second set of hands, bless her heart. I am usually taking care of Clara when Vi needs assistance, so Erith helps, like a second Mom. I sometimes have to remind her that I am still THE Mom though!

Erith may be the baby/toddler tender but Tricity is my cleaner. It's amazing how messy a house gets with four kids, and Tric is my quick to obey house cleaner, yeah for her!

I really love my girls, and wouldn't trade a one of them. They have a sweetness and a goodness that they were born with that has nothing to do with me. Even when I'm tired and grouchy they still love me and forgive me and want to be by my side. I have noticed Erith hanging out with me A LOT lately. She is constantly watching and mimicking me. I definitely need to watch my words and attitude. It's embarrassing to see some of my episodes repeated!

Well, we are glad to have water again (read Adam's explanation on that) and wish you all a Happy Memorial Day!

(There are a bunch of new pictures of the baby and the other kids in the Image Gallery under Kids 2008 , check them out!)

Adam and I went to the Miss Idaho Paegent last week and did some buisiness advertising and had a fun get away from life. 

We went to an Art Museum, which had exhibits of Idaho Artists.  It was okay, nothing that inspired us too much.

We then went to Camel's Back Park to hike up the camel's back.  It was steep up onto the hump and then had a bunch of winding trails around the top and down the sides. 

I thought we were lost after 45 minutes and finding a stream instead of the park. 

But we were just one hill curve away from the park.

We spent 5 hours in the Boise Temple Saturday, it was a great oppurtunity to get ahead on our family names.  Thank you to all the Quinn family helping with our family names, we should have enough to do a huge 8-12 couple sealing session by the end of the summer, thanks for all your help!

We were happy to see our kids again when we got back.  They have been having tons of fun feeding and collecting eggs from our 4 hens everyday. 

(I highly recommend a few hens for teaching kids responsibility!)

We used a trail of cracker crumbs to lead our neighbors free ranging chickens into the coop.  (they gave us permission to take them) We got to play Momma kitty to a batch of kittens as well, that story does not have a happy ending I'm afraid.  We tried!

I saw this picture a while back on Toon Club by Shane Lewis and I had to post it.

Heather says that the pictures of the average person and the I.T. Guy should be switched though...

Where have I been the past few months?  Well, this is Idaho, and it is winter, so believe it or not, I've been cooped up in the house.  Reading books, watching old movies, and for the past couple weeks exercising! 

I have a goal to lose at least 30 pounds this year. I've joined a group of ladies in my ward who walk 3 miles every morning (5 days a week, M-F) and lift weights immediately after on Tuesday and Thursday (our whole stake is invited to that).  I hope going from nothing to this will be a big improvement.  It has already helped my mood a ton.  January always makes me so stir-crazy.  I'm usually broke after Christmas, thus I don't leave the house much.  I feel like everyday is the same, and there is nothing to look forward to, and I just get down and sad/grouchy.  So I am LOVING the happier mind-set exercise gives me, and I'm sure my family is too. 

We are going to do a complete overhaul on our upstairs bathroom when we get our tax return back.  (Since we incorporated in 2008 we had to pay 90% of Adam and Heather Hayes' AHFX 2007 earned income AND AH Digital FX Studios Inc., so this years return should be a good one) 

Our bathroom is straight out of the 70's from baby blue sink, toilet, and tub to the blue plaid carpet. Yeah, gross, I know. So all new everything, even cabinetry.  Yes, the carpet is going, it will be replaced with: most likely tile.  Post on the comment section the likes and dislikes of all your flooring and counter tops.  We are leaning towards tile floors and granite counter tops.  (Is tile to hard and cold on your feet and does granite show too many splatters and fingerprints?)  We will do before and after pictures of it.

We'll be adding more toys to our swingset, and hopefully... laying some cement for a basketball/volleyball court. It should be a fun, busy year! 

Well, here comes another quick update for posterity sake on what I've been up to. 

Work has been going well and I'm scrambling to keep up. It feels like I just run and run. I just signed up with the new family search and I'm loving it. It is my escape now to search for people. We did a quick trial run and got 3 families ready for the temple and then Heather and I did a whirlwind day of everything for one family from baptisms all the way through to sealings. It was really fun to go through for people that I had gotten from family search and turned in. These next ones will be even cooler because I'll have done the research and finding myself.

I also helped out a buddy of mine that needed another player for his city league softball team. I went to 7 games and we won 5 of the 7. It was a lot of fun. We did a couple of games a week, so it seemed like a lot in a short amount of time. I got to play 1st base the whole time which brought back great memories from childhood.

I fixed the deck, (see the other post for in the middle picture). It seems to be holding up well and we'll see what happens after a year has gone by how they hold up.The stain seems to be working so that is great compared to our first attempt at protecting the deck (the paint wore off within weeks in some spots last time)

I also did a number of days over at another friend's house helping them move some trees (little trees from 1 1/2 feet to 7 feet tall. I'm guessing I helped out with 1500ish trees of the 7500+ they moved. It was fun even though I got sore fingers and a couple of blisters out of it. 

Erith and Tricity helped me the other day go get potatoes and deliver them to a bunch of people. One of the farmer's daughters in our stake did a young women's project and gave away a bunch of potatoes. All you had to do was show up, pick them up, and haul them off. Erith and Tric had fun picking potatoes with a little bit of dirt clod throwing (mostly at me).

All in all it has been a crazy summer and I think we've accomplished a bunch.

Sorry it's been so long. I've been run, run, running since school got out.  I am coaching Erith and Tricity's T-Ball team, it's not been the easiest thing ever for me, but I'm liking the time with the girls. 

Scouting is taking quite a bit of time right now, the constant rain is making the grass grow like mad, and I'm trying to plan our summer vacation.  Adam kidnapped me and took me to Boise for a couple days. 

Adam made the Miss Idaho website this year so we got free tickets and a huge table to advertise on.  It was really fun.  I loved it.  It was held at Boise State's Morrison Center.  It was a two day thing. Our hotel was within walking distance and they held the Boise IronMan triathalon right through the middle of campus.  The roads got blocked off and the judges for the paegent didn't get there till a half hour after it was suppose to start the second night.  So it didn't get over till 11:00pm, and that put us home at 3:30 am.  Then I had to get the binders with our ward's flag routes to the place they are stored by 6:00am.  I am still trying to catch up on sleep.  It was fun to get away from it all for a couple days though.  I have to put in a plug for the place we ate the first night.  It was right in between our hotel and Boise State  It was a locally owned Italian resteraunt called Papa Joe's.  They make everything from scratch and it is goooooood.  I still have not painted the trim in the bathroom, maybe I will finally do it tonight, and then I will post the after pictures.

Erith and Tricity have started school again.  They are really enjoying it so far.  They have lots of friends on their bus route, and it's the shortest amount of time they've ever had to ride.  

Vi, Clara, and MOM really misses them while they're gone.  Erith and Tricity help so much with the little ones.  When I hear Clara screaming to get down from her highchair, my natural inclination is to say "Erith can you get Clara down from her chair?" But alas, I have to do it.  And when it gets way to quiet I want to say "Tric can you see what Vi and Clara are doing?"  But now, I find them, or just Clara covered in permanent marker plus my front entryway covered in permanent marker, just a few minutes too late.  I should have taken a picture but I was too mad.

So, I am relearning to shut the bathroom doors all day long so I'm not cleaning up toilet water, and not leaving things on the kitchen table that a 16 month old can easily pull a chair up to and make a mess in.  I am determined to buy some child proofing devices.  My old rubber band-it-shut trick doesn't work on this trouble maker!

Vi has grown up enough that she's okay passing on the trouble maker mantle to Clara.  Vi has bonded with a kitten this summer and they spend a lot of time together.  The kitten just lets her pack her around, arms around the tummy, squishing her quite hard at times.  I keep asking Vi what the kitten's name is and she always says "Baby Kitten."

Oh, and no, I don't let my kids outside in their pajamas...

Day 6: California Adventure

We didn't get to bed till super late Tuesday night, so we had a late start Wednesday morning.  (Plus I felt like we should take it slow so Adam could have his daily health issue.  But, he didn't have any more problems that trip!)

Wednesday was the coldest day of the trip.  We had shorts and short sleeves thinking, it's hot in California.  But alas it was windy, overcast and sprinkled on us a couple times!  We should have brought some warmer things!

We started out in It's a Bug's Life and rode Flik's Flyer.

We let Andrew take the camera for a while, it's nice to see us all together.  It was kind of cool to see what it's like to be tiny like a bug.  I'm used to the opposite, too tall to see the underside of things.

We did the spinning ladybugs next, and like I said, Andrew had the camera.

Adam, Clara, and I chose to be together so we wouldn't have to spin more than necessary.  Ugh.

Our girls were terribly impatient to drive the bug bumper cars.  They all feel it empowering to be the driver.

Wonderful Drew stayed out with Clara who was too short and took pictures.

The rides seemed a bit short and non thrilling after the wild night we'd just had, but this vacation was for the kids. 

I didn't go to Disneyland till I was 18 for my senior trip and I wanted my kids to have some fun kid memories. 

The Heimlich ride was more a ride for your senses than anything.  We traveled through a watermelon rind that smelled and felt wet and juicey, and an animal cracker box that smelled like some of my favorite childhood snacks.  Like I said, not thrilling but creative.

This bug land place had SO many fun places to take pictures.  We didn't put a dent in the possibilites. 

They had a fun 3D bug show with a stinky stink bug, black widdows coming down from the ceiling, and wiggley maggots.  I love 3D shows like that.

Wade joined us and brought us lunch.  Clara had a tradition of falling asleep through every meal.  It was so cute to see Vi share the stroller and hug her till they both fell asleep.

Oops, I forgot to flip that pic.  After lunch we went to the forest rangery part. 

They had a cave to tell you what your inner animal was.(Adam was a skunk!) rope bridges, tire swings and Clara's favorite: rock slides!

Poor Vi barely made the height measurement at the bottom of the swings, walked all the way up the rope bridges to the swing ride just to be told she was too short to ride.  She cried and cried and said, "That lady thinks I'm little and I'm not, I'm a big girl, waaaaaaa!"  Gotta love it!

Adam took Vi back down and while he was comforting her, she decided she wanted to get a picture with Brother Bear.  Good idea Vi!

The lines at California Adventure averaged about 30 minutes except the next two: Mickey's Fun Wheel and Toy Story Mania, those were looooong. (probably an hour)

The fun wheel was way too high for Adam's taste, I was afraid he might toss his cookies for the third time on that one!  It's a huge feris wheel with most cars on rollers.  Vi and Clara put on their brave faces.  Andrew, Wade, Jerica, Erith, and Tric were making theirs rock and roll like crazy!

Toy Story was a shootem up video game ride, I was terrible, Andrew and Wade smoked us.  Then we went to the tortilla factory for free tortillas and the sourdough bread bakery for free sour dough.  Then we ran into these green army guy musicians.  That was pretty cool.

We went to a super cool Aladdin live production.  Who knew you could get a 45 minute Broadway show at California Adventure at no extra cost!? We then had dinner in the brr cold and split into groups again.  The big kid group did Soarin' Over California (which is VERY cool, if you're on the front row you don't have feet dangling above you and it really feels like your're flying into the green screen!) and California Screamin'.

Screamin' is pretty intense!  It was Erith and Tricy's first upside down rollercoaster!  Erith said she was too scared to scream, Tric asked, "Did we go upside down yet?" Yep! (Get Fast Passes to both, like we did!)

Yeah right Wade, even a ride pro like you couldn't fall asleep on screamin'!  Then the boys took off to play stake volleyball.  I'm not sure where Ryal and Cory took the little ones while we were gone.  I believe they did King Triton's carousel more than once.  We girls met up with them and watched the electrical parade, then the second it was over Ryal, Erith, Tric, me, and yes Vi, did Hollywood Tower of Terror! Sleeping Clara stayed with Aunt Cory.

Remember Where's Waldo?  Where's Viola?  It was a pretty scary story line (Twilight Zone) and it is probably too much for an almost 4 year old, but I didn't think she would behave for Cory while we went, so I took her, and she did it!  I told her it was all pretend and she was extremely proud of this picture. "HER picture".

Vi threw a huge fit on the way to the car.  She wanted me to carry her, not Ryal, not the stroller, give me a break kid, you're heavy and I'm tired!  Another late night, got kids to bed and did 2 loads of laundry.

Day 7: Drive to San Diego to see Trevor at Camp Pendleton

My brother has been at Camp Pendleton since last summer when he went to do marine boot camp to join the marine reserves.  He tore the cartilage off his hip while doing the usual drills and whatever and was declared physically unfit enough to finish. (2 weeks before his graduation no less) He has been sitting in the the hospital wing for 5 months waiting for his discharge papers to come home.  It's very depressing and he longs for company, so we came to visit.

He can't leave the base, he got leave to have this visit with us, and they have an awesome rec center to play and eat in, so we played and ate.

We bowled 2 games at the bowling alley and then had lunch, hamburgers and pizza. (There were about 4 choices on the menu)  Vi wailed on her big sisters at bowling! (Bumper buddies and a ramp helped!)

Then we hit the free arcade.  Trevor's favorite game is this shoot deer and elk game, I think he liked having a gamer like Adam for competition.

I couldn't pry the sunglasses off Erith's face this trip!  That was a dark room!

Tric loved the basketball hoops game, Clara loved the one thing she could climb on by herself and reach the controls!  Vi had too short an attention span to do much of anything.

I had to give them my driver's license to get the air hockey puck and paddles, so muscle men, don't hit the puck hard enough to jump the table and lose it!

Speaking of losing things, Clara lost one of her shoes and it took forever to find.  Guess where it was? Behind the propped open door, that tiny triangle of space was the last place I thought to look!

We got Trev back a tad late for his 4:00 cut off, oops, bad shoe.  We're glad we could see him.  We zipped back to LA without too much traffic trouble and then climbed in the passenger van for an Angels game!

Praise to Andrew again for the tickets and chicken burgers hot and ready in the van when we got there just in time to leave.

This is our family's first major league baseball game. 

We didn't have as much red as the average fan.  But I did buy a t-shirt before we left.  I know, I am a junkie for vacation suveniers!

The angels did not win I'm afraid.  They lost to the San Diego Padres 5-2.  The whole experience was awesome though, being able to buy hotdogs and peanuts from your seat, the great american pasttime.  I have to say though, Adam playing here at Tauphaus Park moved tons faster! (no raking the dirt!)

Surprise Tricity!  When we got back from the game this was waiting for us!  Andrew is magic, I'm telling you!  Tricity's surprise princess birthday party!

Day 8: We drive 11 hours to Andi's in Ogden Utah, goodbye California, Wheelers, Trevor, we love you!

Only a cool sister like Andi would let 6 people crash her one bedroom apartment at 12:30 AM!  Thank goodness she did because we were having a hard time getting that far, all the way home would have been misserable!

Day 9: Conference, birthday presents, meeting the infamous Mike, and Fat Cats.

We finally got to meet Andi's best friend she's been hanging out with for 3 years.  We met up for a between sessions lunch.  I liked him a lot, we need tall men in this world like him!

This Fat Cats place had a ton of fun things to do, but we just didn't have enough time to do all we wanted before conference started, so we settled for Jazzi style bumper cars and ice ball. (skee ball)

It was a fun ending to a fun vacation, I'm very glad we went.  I'll write about Tric's birthday later, and that's all she wrote!

Day 5: Disneyland!  We had to delay our departure to Disneyland by an hour Tuesday morning.  Why? You ask, because Adam was puking again!  He passed 2 kidney stones that morning!  Some people's bodies just don't know how to kick back and have fun! 

It could have been worse though, they only took an hour to pass, he wasn't on a ride or driving in traffic.  Praying for safety is definately worth it!

As you can see we got there safe and sound.  The first thing Vi wanted to do was the carousel, even though we have those in Idaho we jumped right on.  Those who smile get put on the blog! (hint, hint, Erith)

Then we did Toad's wild ride, (which our friend Wade tells us is the only ride in Disneyland, all the others are 'attractions') Peter Pan, Pinocchio's daring journey,Snow White, Flying Dumbos, and then bought some cute Mickey/Minnie Mouse ears on our way to lunch.

Gotta love waiting in line.  It was a hopping day that day.  Most lines took 50 minutes which is still tons better than summer lines I'm told.

I have to say that my kids were amazingly patient in the lines.  I was way more annoyed at waiting than they were.  They just gaped and stared at everything going on around them. 

I had a backpack full of snacks to give them something to do in line and I only brought stuff out twice the whole day.

Andrew was key to the success of this vacation.  He drove us around once we got to his house, he dropped us off at the gates, he left and brought back food right at mealtimes, he volunteered to take Clara and/or Vi when they were too short for rides.  He bought our girls big pens and other treats. He saved Adam's life in the ocean, he is a miracle man, we owe him big time!  Oh, and he's single ;).

We got to meet his little boy Jake for the first time that day.  He hung out with us at Disneyland for a while.

This outside picnic area became our home away from rides for a couple days.  We'd get our hands stamped, walk out and into it's hard to see entrance and there would be Drew with food for us.  It was awesome!

After lunch Aunt Cory, Jake, and Drew joined us for Roger Rabbit, (that was the worst long line with cranky kids we had this trip) when we got out there were tonsof fun picture opportunities before we did the Rescue Ranger rollercoaster.

Notice the pink Mickey Mouse balloon on the stroller?  Some nice random lady gave it to Vi. It made the other's jealous I'm afraid, but it did help us find our stroller among the thousands there.

We couldn't forget Adam, the usual picture taker!  I have a picture of Adam 9 years ago in this same spot on our belated honeymoon.  I should scan it and show how he's changed!

The Rescue Ranger rollercoaster, the line anyway, our first thrilling ride of the day.  Clara went with Cory, Brenda, and Drew to the play yard/picture area next door.

Clara loved the slide and the jack-o-lantern.  We couldn't resist taking a few pictures when we came to pick her up.

She is so cute and sweet when she's not throwing a tantrum!

Gotta love 5 cute girls on boxes.

Vi is the kind of kid that makes you forget your useless cares and just smile...or laugh!  (Again, when she's not throwing a tantrum)

We wanted a picture with Mickey or Minnie, but the wait time was close to 2 hours, so we opted for the 5 minute wait with goofy instead.

After that we popped into It's a Small World, which was better and newer than the last time I went.  I then draffed the younger croud who joined us to go to Captain EO, Michael Jackson, 3D show.  Then we did a fast pass onto Autopia.  Erith and Tric were big enough to drive themselves.  Vi drove me.  Clara fell asleep in the stroller with Cory on the way to dinner.  After dinner it was dark and we split into 2 groups: Erith and Tric big kids, Vi and Clara little kids.

Adam and I were in the big kid group.  We did Splash Mountain, Matterhorn, Thundermountain Railroad, (during the fireworks) Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, and with 7 minutes to spare till midnight, Adam, Wade and I booked it to Indiana Jones.  Poor Tric was asleep standing in line for Space Mountain.  Andrew took the two girls on the train to get to the car to sleep while our crazy trio ran to Indiana Jones.  Not bad for s day's work!

I got majorly soaked in the front of that log.  I didn't want anyone else to be wet and cold that late at night, so I guess I took one for the team.  I could hear Tric behind me saying "Mom, you said only you would get wet, I just got a little wet!"  Thanks to Evie and Gregg for braving it with us.

Poor sleepy Tric looks like Cousin It in this pic, and Wade and Andrew are hilarious as always.

The little kid group did Winnie the Pooh, Astro Orbiter, Dumbo again, and the train.  Then bless their hearts, Ryal and Cory took Vi and Clara home and put them to bed.

I was very impressed that Erith and Tric could handle the big rides.  As you can see from the look on my face, I can barely handle the big rides!  The Matterhorn was Erith and Tric's favorite, Thundermountain was mine.

We had Adam's family over to our house for Thanksgiving this year and it was a delicious success. After the turkey settled in our stomaches guess who was the most tired?

Don't be fooled by this picture! We had a picture of practically everyone dead asleep EXCEPT me. But I must admit I didn't want angry girls calling me and demanding I take their zonked out picture off the web!

Our girls were so excited when I bought a Slip'nSlide that they invited a bunch of family over for a water party.

Viola surprised us by potty training herself this week, so this is her first time swimming without a swimming diaper. She'll be two next week.

What would a water party be without hotdogs and Adam in his grilling apron?

We had otterpops and splashed it up to stay cool in the hot sun.

The slip'nslide said for kids only, but what fun is that? Yes, that person is me, Heather.

I just had a baby remember, I've got some baby fat to lose!

Here are some skinnier splash kings and queens.

Kami and Josh

Tricity and Sarah

Some just came to chat and laugh at the rest of us.  Jaleesa was there, how did she escape the camera...

Erith was being a prim little princess and didn't want to hit the water with her face very badly.

Clara had a trick up her sleeve that day too. She rolled over from tummy to back about 6 times!  Loa got a video of it, I will try to get it from her and post it soon.  She will be two months next week.  She is very active and alert and determined to grow up on me.

Hope you all are keeping it cool!