California Trip 2009

Well, we are back, and we had the best time. We took over 350+ pictures because this was a trip we had been planning for years AND we got to see so many special family members......so this is very long. My apologies, but I do keep this blog for us and we want all these memories! :)
The flight went great and I'm sure you can't tell that the kids are excited by the look on Peyton's face.
Once we landed in California, we met up with Grandma Hayes (Carol) and got our car.
The kids were super excited to see Grandma an d I just love this picture of Morgan and Carol having fun in the back seat.
It was Mother's Day, and we had made reservations at Bucca di Beppo for dinner. Happy Mother's Day to Carol and I!

Love this little darling!
People tell me ALL the time that Morgan looks like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (from Full House) and in this picture, you can really see it!
We hit Downtown Disney Sunday night and Deaven picked up a Bionicle that he had been saving his money for. He would have been happy in the hotel room for awhile after that.
Peyton displaying a lovely wig!
In the morning, we headed into Disneyland. Disney just never disappoints! It's so clean, classy, efficient, fun and HAPPY! Love it!
Peyton is a crazy ride girl! She'll do anything, often with no hands! Will caught this pick of her heading UP the log ride. Too funny!
Whoops...not sure how this got duplicated!
It's so great that there is so much to do for the little ones at Disneyland. Morgan had a great time too and was a really good girl!
Just some random pics through out our day. The weather was perfect!

Nothing makes me more happy than seeing my children together......and happy.
Love Deaven's face in this one. Too much princess!
Ok. So this is where Will and I transformed into crazy people and had out of body experiences to make sure our kids got picked for the Jedi Training. Deaven is a HUGE fan of Star Wars and always has been. In this show, they pick 20 kids to actually participate and they get to fight Darth Vadar or Darth Maul. Deaven would have DIED to not get picked (Peyton too probably) and there were at least 50 kids there. We asked for pointers on how to get picked and they said, "Scream, yell, jump up and down and go crazy". I said, "Well, my son is very respectful and usually calmly raises his hand" to which they replied, "Than you better do it for him".
Say no more. Will and I went into CRAZY mode, begging and pleading, like ridiculous "pageant" parents or something.......but it worked and they BOTH got picked.....and we cried. Seriously. It was funny.
After training for awhile, they brought out the "bad guys" and some of the kids actually got a little freaked. Peyton fought against Darth Maul.
And Deaven fought Darth Vadar. All the actors and the music were so spot on that you couldn't help but really get into it.
Probably the kids favorite part of Disneyland. So much fun!
Back to Morgan speed..........
We spent 2 days in Disneyland and 1 day in California Adventure. Both fun, but Disney takes the cake.

So.......we have been telling Peyton we would go to Disneyland once she hit 40 inches (which is when you can go on most of the rides). So for countless dinners for YEARS, we have talked about her eating so we could go to Disneyland. Well, last summer she hit it, but we couldn't pull it off yet. So she was just about 42 inches by the time we went, which put her on a few extra rides. This ride, the California Adventure log ride, she just slid in for. She was so excited. Then halfway through the ride, when she was getting SOAKED, she yelled, "I'm not 42 inches! Someone get me off this ride!".

This was while we were hanging out waiting for the Parade to start.
Morgan always looking to get into trouble.........
Wil and Carol enjoying our trip!
This was while the parade was going on and Morgan just LOVED it! We all did! It's just magical!
After the parade, we spotted Mickey and Minnie and were first in line for some pictures!

Love this picture of Morgan, who was just having the time of her life!
And this is what Disneyland can do for your children! Who wouldn't want that!?
We did lots of swimming too!
Morgan is having some kind of emotional moment here, and I love seeing Peyton work her through it. I bet I'll be seeing this "sister" moment happen many more times over the years.
On the train going around the park.
Okay, this is craziness. There is a new area called Innovations, where lots of the lastest technology is display. One of the computers could age your face 30 years!! It was crazy!
I'm sure Peyton crossing her eyes didn't help the overall effect!
I prefer these two handsome men!
Here we are waiting for the Tiki Lodge show, Carol's favorite.
Peyton didn't care.......as long as she got some cotton candy!

Just a cute picture of Morgan and Grandma playing in the hotel room.
Morgan about died in the Playhouse Disney show. She was SO entranced!
We also had dinner at Red Robin and even got to meet Red!

Can't tell these kids are having fun, huh?


And of course, Grandma had to get everyone hats!
Goodbye Disneyland.......until Morgan is 40 iches......which might take awhile! We are projecting 2013!

On Thursday, we met my cousin and her husband (Rachael and Rob) in Irvine for lunch. They also own a Vet office and we had a fun tour of the place.

Then we drove over to Laguna Beach. Carol's Uncle, Bob Hatch, who just passed away, lived there. Carol had a few more things to take care of at the house. Then we hit the beach........
Lovin' the warm sand!!
The kids started just barely touching the water......but that turned into FULL BLOWN body surfing in a matter of minutes. We weren't really prepared for that, but they were having the BEST time!
Grandma came to the rescue and bought a few cheap towels to help.
Then we drove the rest of the way to Carlsbad, CA, where Legoland is. I had randomly found this incredible deal of a Resort. I paid $129 of a $300+ room. The place was amazing. Super yuppy! But everyone was very nice.

We had a nice dinner at the resort, though we were under attack by some little birds. Deaven, who you see reading above by the fire, read 2 complete books while we were gone. He loves to read!
This was the courtyard behind our room, complete with hammock and hot tub that seats 20! It was very peaceful.
Though the kids normally are most excited about jumping between beds in a hotel room, tic-tac-toe on the shower wall was a hit at this place.
Carol nicely modeling the awesome robes we used while we were there.
In the main swimming area, there were 3 pools, a couple of hot tubes and water slides. We went for an evening swim around 7pm AND WERE THE ONLY ONES in the whole area. Nice! Peyton actually made some huge progress in swimming at the pool. (video at the bottom)
Then off we went in the morning to Legoland. Deaven has been begging forever to go. He is a lego fanatic. It was a good day, but after Disneyland....um, I think anyone would feel slightly let down.
Fun Lego pirate to great us at the gates.
And of course, there are statues everywhere that were made totally out of legos.
The high light of the whole park was the Miniland USA. It showcased several US towns, all made in legos. It was pretty incredible and the pictures do not do it justice.

It was pretty quiet though, so we didn't have to wait in many lines. These kids were just awesome the whole trip. I'm kind of lovin' having slightly older children.
On a boat ride through some of the displays.
This one was very impressive. The faces were all done in legos.!
The kids highlight was driving these cars in a huge area made just like a few city blocks. You had to be 6 (which Peyton turns in 5 weeks) so we decided to slide her in. This might cause us a few thousand in counseling dollars for Deaven in the years to come, but she did great. Of course, the kids are instructed to WALK out to their cars. Every single kid ran, every single session, UNTIL Deaven got up. He walked. Love my little rule follower!

It wasn't the warmest of days for a waterpark, but Morgan didn't mind. She loves the water!
We had dinner at El Tolrido (or something like that). Nothing like good old Mexican food!

The next morning, we headed to Pamona to visit my Nana and my Dad's side of the family.
My Nana is a pretty special lady and was part of my life all growing up. I learned to swim in her pool, I learned how to play duets on the piano with her, and she made me first fall in love with a good chocolate chip cookie.
It was great to see her. I got to feed her lunch and visit for awhile with her. She is such an angel.
Afterwards, we went out to lunch with my Aunt Diane and two other of my cousins, Aaron and Sean and Aaron's fiancee, Mary. Lots of fun and we wished we had more time to spend with them.
The kids particularly love Sean. We hope to see them all at the lake this summer!
Then we drove over to Thousand Oaks, where all my Mom's side of the family is. Here we are with my Grandparents, Bob and Dorcille Cusworth. They, too, were are HUGE part of my life growing up. I still talk to my Grandma once a week. They are rock solid and very dear to me.
We actually slept at my Aunt Nellie and Uncle Harvey's house, with a few of my cousins as well. This is Leah, who is a brand new Mama!! Morgan loved baby Sam.

So the story on the Taurantula is long, but the short version is that this little lady slept just feet away from us the whole time. Everyone kept saying, "In 5 years, she has never gotten out" and I kept saying, "Yes, by Morgan has never been here". It all worked out okay.
We went to church with my Grandparents which was a treat. My favorite memory of this will always be sitting next to my Grandpa, who can no longer see the words in the hymn book. During the verses, he would sing loudly is his amazing barbershop voice, "La-La-La" and then when we would hit the chorus, he would passionately sing, "I need Thee, oh I need Thee". Here, this 88 year old man, was paying his devotions to the Lord the best he could and it moved me to tears several times.
We had to say goodbye to Carol on this day after church........so sad. We love you Carol!
After church, we spent some time at my Grandparents house. I use to play on this organ growing up all the time.
Morgan managed to get into everything, including my Grandpa's magnifying glasses.
These guys are such buds. We love hanging out with them!!
On the last day, I figured how to shoot in B/W and Sepia (new camera, remember?). Little late, but I caught a few good ones.
Leah, Hank and baby Sam. Love this picture!
My cousins Leah and Bethany and their new fan.....Peyton.
Morgan was a doll and loved on all the famiy members!
We had our last dinner in the park. Beautiful evening!
I love my Grandparents so much! I don't think I'll be able to wait until Morgan is 40 inches to go see them again.
Most of the family, minus my cousin Anna and her husband (who we saw the next day) and my cousin Sarah and Mike who live up by us, and Daniel, who is on a mission in Brazil.
Got a cute little family picture too!
This is my aunt and uncle, Harvey and Nellie. They were so good to us and so much fun to be with. My Uncle is an amazing artist too.
Saying goodbye to my grandparents.

Then we came back to the house and the kids enjoyed a little more Rock Band Wii.
Deaven working on his homework still. We did pretty good working a little each day.
Our last night we played "Farkle". It was a great game!! We will be teaching all our friends in Olympia! In the morning, Anna and Mike came to see us before we left. They had just gotten in from a family wedding the night before. On the bottom are our two favorite camera video's we took...Dark Vadar and Peyton learning to swim. We had such a great trip and we feel VERY blessed to have been able to go and spend so much time with family!