Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Petting Zoo

We went to Thanksgiving Point Petting Zoo with some friends of ours. Gavin always loves going to see all the animals.

Petting the Shetland pony colt.

While we were their they brought the mama and her baby out for a walk. Sooo Cute!

And what's a trip to the petting zoo with out a ride on a pony?

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Swim Lessons


Gavin did great in swim lessons this year. He's a little fish and loves being in the water.

Girls Trip

The plan was to go to sunny California, lay out at the pool/beach and read all day. I guess it wasn't in the cards because the sun came out for probably an hour the whole time we were there. But we didn't let the lack of sun stop us from having a good time. We decided to go to Disneyland. That right, four grown women, no kids, perfect amusement park weather, and tons of fun. It was seriously the best time ever. We were all giddy and excited like little kids. We got to go on all the rides we wanted. We didn't have to worry about whinny kids, crying (except for Tabitha on the Tower of Terror), or potty breaks (except when it was time for Tabitha to pump). Ok, I guess I might have needed a few potty breaks too and I guess I might have cried just a little on the Tower of Terror.

We had a blast! I love these girls!! We pigged out, had girl talk and lots of belly laughs. The best part of the trip was we did what we wanted to do when we wanted to do it. We didn't have any kids or husbands to answer to. It was sweet!

At the airport waiting for our free flight. Thanks Tab!

Disneyland


And when I say pigged out, I mean PIGGED OUT! I don't think I've ever eaten so much before in my life.


Our one visit to the beach. It was so cold and windy! We walked out on the pier snapped a picture and went back to the car.

The view from our hotel room. Thank you Amy for finding us such a sweet deal!
Thanks girls for such an awesome time. Can't wait for the next trip! And thanks to Steve and my parents for taking such good care of my boy while I was gone.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Hawaii

Get ready for a picture overload! And this isn't even 1/4th of the pictures we took. So here it goes and it's a long one...

We met my parents in Hawaii on their way home from their mission in Australia. It was a perfect opportunity for a little family reunion and we had an amazing time.

Our first eight days in Hawaii we stayed on the North Shore in a beach house. The first day we got there we went for a walk on the beach. Everyone was in their clothes, so we told the kids to stay out of the water. You can see from the pictures that they listened really well. But can you blame them? Just look at that beautiful ocean.

We spent a ton of time at the beach right in front of our house. It was like having our own private beach. Shawn apparently loves digging holes and kept trying to get the kids to join in, but he pretty much ended up playing in the sand by himself. Poor Shawn!

This is the result of one of Shawn's digging expeditions.
Sand Angel
We chose to go to the island of Oahu because my mom's brother and his family live there. They moved to Oahu over 15 years ago and we have only seen them once in those fifteen years. And for some of my family (including my mom) this was the first time they've seen them since they moved. It was so nice to be able to see all of them again and spend time with them. I wish I would have taken pictures with everyone. What was I thinking? Love you all and miss you.

The water right in front of our house was perfect for snorkeling. Gavin even joined in. He was like a little fish out there. It was so much fun to watch.
The view from our house was beautiful! Theirs nothing better than sleeping to the sound of the ocean and waking up to this amazing view.

Everyone except for Steve and I went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Steve and I had been there before, so we just sent Gavin with his Grandma and Grandpa. He loved it! Thanks for taking him mom and dad.
While everyone was at the PCC Steve and I spent the day driving along the coast on the North Shore visiting all the great beaches. It was such a beautiful day!
My sweet great aunt Betty sent a cute card with some money it with my Grandma. She wanted us all to use the money to do something fun while we were in Hawaii. We all decided to got to Matsumoto's for shaved ice. Matsumoto's shaved ice is a must have if you're ever on Oahu. It has the best shaved ice ever! And you have to get it with ice cream and condensed milk. Yummy!
On the way home from Matsumoto's we stopped at Pipeline Beach to check out the surfers.

We spent an afternoon visiting Pearl Harbor. Before you take the boat out to the USS Arizona they show a clip about the day Pearl Harbor was attacked. When we were walking out Gavin said, "Mom, that was sad." I said, "It was, wasn't it?" He said, "Ya, tons of sad!" I think he summed it up pretty well.

One night all the adults went to Ola's Restaurant at Turtle bay. It was so good! I had the best braised beef short ribs ever! And it was so great to get out without the the little munchkins.

One of our favorite activities was kayaking. Steve and I loved it! If we lived next to the ocean we'd kayak all the time.

The last four days of our trip we spent in Waikiki. It was just the Quinn's and us who stayed longer. It was nice to experience both sides of the Island, but I'm definitely a North Shore girl. We went from basically having our own private beach to having to share a beach with thousands of people. Our hotel was right by the International Market Place and a couple blocks from the beach. So we spent a lot of time just walking around and taking in all the craziness.

Steve and Shawn's attempt at Surfing. My battery died on my camera just a few minutes after they started. I was so bummed. They actually got up quite a bit.

Sea Life Park

Waikiki Aquarium

Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay

Favorite quote from the trip:

We were walking to dinner and Keely wouldn't hold Gavin's hand, so he asked, "How can someone sooo beautiful be sooo mean?"

Get use to it buddy. The younger you learn the better.

I had to put this picture in just cause it's so stinking cute. Aren't my boys sweet?

We flew home on the red eye. Gavin feel asleep at take off and woke up when we landed. But that was still only about 6 hours. So here he is recovering from his jet lag in the middle of a BBQ with our friends. On the left is his little buddy Lincoln, sooo cute!

It was an amazing vacation and I hope it's one that Gavin will always remember. Thanks to my family for an amazing trip!

Neglect

Neglect: disregard: lack of attention and due care

If my blog was a child, Child Services would have taken it away from me. My goal this summer is to stop neglecting my poor blog. This is the only journal I keep and I really what to do a blurb book every year. I've also missed catching up on friends blogs.

So this is me recommitting. I have a ton to catch up on. so hopefully I can do that over the next week or so and then just work on maintaining. Wish me luck.