Utah in May...brrrrr.

In May, we headed up to Utah to visit with the family. We had lots of fun things planned to fill our time there, and ended up doing most of them with jackets, sleeves and coats. What?! It was cold! But we didn't let it spoil our fun. My sisters, Kayla and Jen and their families were up for lots of busy playtime, so it was a blast. Corey and I went to the U2 concert that week, which was AMAZING (thanks again Josh for the killer parking spot next to the stadium...total VIP treatment!). No pics from that because I was a loser and didn't bring one.

My mom's 5th grade class set up some 'stores' and sold their wares on one day and we loved being able to see her with her schoolkids in action. She is such a great teacher, and her students and parents alike stopped to tell me. I felt like a proud parent myself! All the grandkids left with WAY too much loot....mostly the sugary kind, but they were all thrilled.

We were able to get in some time with my Grandpa and Grandma Pettit, which was really nice. It was great seeing and talking with them. They were good sports about my snapping lots of pictures.

Going fishing was something that Asher had been bugging us about for weeks, and when my Dad heard that, he wanted to make it happen. Everyone caught fish! Okay, so I need to come clean and admit that we went to a hatchery type of a place that sort of does everything for you (even gutting the fish!), but still....the kids all reeled in their own catches and loved every second of it. That evening my Grandma Haynie came along for the fishy fun, and was totally in her element. She loves to fish and enjoyed catching some as well! It was, again, great to get to see her!

While we were there we also hit Hoots, Thanksgiving Point, Trafalga (I was completely ambushed at the bumper boats...SO cold) , went swimming, and bowling...twice! Our kids have been wanting to go bowling for real ever since we bought our Wii, and they LOVED it. It was especially nice since the bowling alleys we went to were nice and new and not all smoked up. Adam and Kayla even hung out with us, which was a real treat.

A highlight for the boys was going to the 'Day Out with Thomas' up in Heber. They played with trains, rode the train, and loved seeing Thomas again. Jen, Josh and Mason, and my parents were with us and we all experienced the Thomas extravaganza together. Beck was really proud of his certificate they handed out. Too cute.

Phew! It was a busy, packed and totally worthwhile trip. We had a fantastic time and loved seeing everyone. Thanks for making our trip so memorable!

Grandma made the boys a special treat!

Corey's Baseball Birthday

Corey loves his birthday. His excitement for it all makes it lots more fun for the family to get into. This year was no different! And the boys were really looking forward to it because his one request was to go to an Isotopes Baseball game on his big day. Fun! Baseball has been THE game around our house this summer, so it was especially fitting. We celebrated at home with dinner and a chocolate cream cake (mmmm...), and presents then headed out to the game, each boy (and man) with mit in hand.

I had called the ballpark a few days earlier to see if I could get his name on the scoreboard for his birthday. Ta-da! They kindly granted me my request, and I could hardly wait for him to see his name in lights. It was the 'cherry on top' of the evening, or so it seemed. If only he'd seen it. Yes, it's a sad but true; Corey missed his name...TWICE! I couldn't believe it. Thankfully, I was ready and snapped a picture (as I was telling Corey to "look over there!"). He looked too late though, and then missed it when they ran them again after the 6th inning. What are the chances? Pretty good, apparently.

Look closely, and yep....that's Corey's name!

Oh, and one unexpected highlight of the evening was Asher and the birthday hat. The hat that he refused to take off. He wore that thing nearly the whole game. Way to get into the evening, Asher! He is still the one who insists that we get out some birthday hats for a party, and maybe we all should have worn them to show our birthday spirit!

It was a great night though, and the kids had a blast watching the game, posing with Orbit, and playing at the kid's area. And Corey is another year older. And wiser. And I sure do love that guy(even when he misses my surprise birthday wishes)! Happy Birthday!

How to speak Whale

We Heart San Diego

Over Spring Break, we tagged along on a biz trip with Corey and had a blast in San Diego. We happened to go last Spring too, and I would not be the least bit averse to doing it every year. That place is the best! I flew out with the boys and we met Corey at the airport when his flight arrived. The first couple of days we stayed in the Gaslamp Quarter and Corey attended a class for work, so me and the boys hit the city sans Daddy. I only got lost once while driving around. I tried to keep a calm facade, but I was FREAKING out inside, especially when I ended up on a road I couldn't get off of that was going directly to the freeway. I wanted to avoid the California freeway at all costs, because without a GPS or a good map, I was going to be in big trouble. Speaking of...maybe it's time to finally get a GPS, eh? We made it back to the hotel flustered, but alive and well. Phew!

My travel buddies(at the airport).

We went to the San Diego Zoo, and saw as much as we could possibly see in a day(next time we are totally doing the bus tour...I didn't figure that one out til after we left!) Everyone's favorite was the Panda, which we had been talking about to the kids for at least a month before the trip. A close second for me was a quail type bird that did this insane mating dance for us...coolest thing ever! I thought I had video of it, but was so caught up in watching it, I later realized I never hit the record button at all. Beckett took a nice long nap in his stroller in the afternoon while Ash and I hoofed it up and down all the steep hills and saw the animals. What a great zoo!

Yep, that's the panda's back end:)

This skyride had me panicking inside. I was so afraid one of the kids was going to fall out that I didn't enjoy it AT ALL. Ash loved every second.

Me and the boys also hit Balboa Park and went to the Science Museum. They dedicated half of the upper level to a children's area, and the kids absolutely loved it and played hard for a few hours. The park was beautiful to stroll around and I think next time we'll have to check out some more of that area. Gorgeous!

The Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center in Old Town came highly recommended by a few of our good friends, and it didn't disappoint. The tour was both entertaining and well done, and I actually learned a lot. Asher didn't want to leave his post as 'water boy'. He manned the pump as long as he could before we finally made him stop so we could go.

The remainder of our trip was spent in Carlsbad. We rented a little bungalow about a block up from the beach, making it easy for us to walk down with the kids. We went to Legoland, and the Sea Life aquarium with the boys and they had a great time. My favorite part was all the incredible things that were made of legos! Amazing! The kids loved all the rides, of course.

Lovin' me some Hagrid.

Ah, the beach...

We were a little worried we wouldn't get a good day at the beach because of a storm that passed through during our stay, but we did get one beautiful, warm-ish day at Carlsbad beach. Me and the boys played in the sand, and Corey helped the boys get really wet and sandy jumping waves. What a way to spend an afternoon.

Seriously, San Diego has fast become one of our fave destinations for our family. There's just so much to do...shop, eat, beach, zoo, theme parks...love it! And I think I've vanquished my fear of flying solo with the boys. Sitting between them, and being fully stocked with movies, treats and books, we made it without a glitch:)