San Diego

We just got back from a quick trip to San Diego, where we met up with Nathan's parents. We had the perfect tour guides since that's where Nathan grew up. We had lots of fun--perhaps too much! We tried to cram everything into our short 3 days and we are all exhausted. I think next time we might spend a day relaxing at the beach. I've included photos and pictures that the kids made of their favorite parts of the trip.

The kids were really good in the car! Usually they start getting really sick of the ride with 3-4 hours still to drive in to Utah. But the trip to San Diego is shorter, so by the time Caleb was starting to complain, we were nearly there. Along the way Daniel looked out his window at some patchwork-looking fields with fog behind them and said, "Look at that... it's beautiful! It looks like it is ready for a great big picnic!" What a fun observation. As we drove into San Diego, Nathan pointed out all of the Navy and Marine jets, helicopters, and ships. He also showed the boys the Chinooks (the helicopters with two rotor blades for transporting). Liam's comments was, "Look, Mom it has two windmills!" I thought it was a perfect explanation. It was really awesome to drive in and see the huge, gorgeous San Diego Temple appear out of nowhere, from the view of the freeway. We all sang a family rendition of "I Love to See the Temple".

As soon as we arrived, Nathan took Caleb to the airport to pick of Grandma and Grandpa Brady and I went with Daniel and Liam to the pool and hot tub. (They deserved some wiggle time after the long drive.) Then we all went to Old Town San Diego. There were some fun shops. Mom and I would have liked to have had more time in the tin shop....we were both dreaming up beautiful new Christmas tree decorations. All of the boys (regardless of age) liked the rock and fossil shop.

This is a picture that Daniel drew of the elephants. I love it.

This is a picture Daniel drew of the colorful Macaws that he saw.

The first full day we took our wild ones to the wild animal park. Liam loved the carousel and the rhino. Daniel's favorite parts were the elephants (including a new baby elephant born on Valentines), a talking bird in the bird show, and the brightly colored Macaws. Caleb was excited (squealing and pointing at) about all of the animals. Grandpa said he liked watching the crowd stare at me instead of all of the elephants when I made elephant sounds. All of us had fun on the tram that took us all around the park to see lots of animals out in the open. Grandma and Grandpa know lots about the exotic plants and birds. (I hope my kids inherit their memory capacity--I can't keep my own kids' names straight.) Later that day we took the kids to the pool again. That night we went to Sea Port Village to look at the shops and grab a bite to eat. The boys loved watching the planes fly over.

This is Liam's picture of the wild animal park including a black bird from the bird show (with an orange beak) and a rhino (top right corner) with a sharp horn.

This is one of my favorite pictures by Daniel of a fish he saw at the aquarium. He also drew a picture of the currents they made with a boat racing (the boat is at the bottom).

The second day we checked out Nathan's old house. I think a neighbor was a little wary of the van that drove by multiple times and took pictures and video. In this day and age who wouldn't be a little worried? Nathan retraced part of his old paper route and neighborhood along with his high school. It was fun to hear Grandma and Grandpa reminisce about their time living there. Most of the rest of the day was spent at Scripps Aquarium. Daniel decided he was the photographer. He took pictures of nearly all of the aquarium exhibits. He actually used up his entire battery. The boys all had fun making their own currents to race boats down (Caleb just liked the break to splash in the water). Liam was brave enough to touch a huge scary looking decorator crab, which he told us just felt like a rock. Caleb eventually let me stick his hand in to touch as well. Daniel--well Daniel makes a good supervisor--from a distance. The shark tank was definitely a favorite (Daniel insisted on sticking his tongue out the side of his mouth, to look dead, in most of his shark pictures--like they'd already attacked him.). The sea horses and cuddle fish were also really amazing. For all of you junior explorers we also saw "Nemo and Dori" fish. (I think the names clown fish and tang have been replaced by 90% of the population.) Once again, Grandma and Grandpa were right in their element. They've had who knows how many aquariums and spent lots of time exploring tide pools. They could point out all that was in the aquariums without using the name plates. Very impressive! We decided on lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. YUM! It was the first time I'd gone--but sure not to be the last. I loved the food and also location. Right across the street was the Temple. Beautiful! (I wonder if having a mall across the street from the temple makes people more honest, chaste and benevolent in their shopping decisions?) Afterward, we went back to our hotel room so some could sleep (Nathan and Caleb) and others could play in the pool. That night Grandma and Grandpa went out to dinner with some old friends, so our little family decided to stroll along Mission Beach. Daniel had to check out the Surf Shop. (He is set on getting a board, even though he can't even swim yet. He even found a pink one for me. Look out beach goers!...Don't worry, I think I'll just stick to soaking my feet, building sandcastles, and reading on the beach! I don't really like swimming in salt water--the ocean is COLD.) The boys didn't want to leave the beach even though it was dark. We really needed another day just to play there.

This is a picture by Liam of Grandpa making smoke rings.

Here is the actual picture of Grandpa making smoke rings.

This is a picture of the marble run that Daniel and Nathan really got into building.

These are picture of the train tracks, trains and a dolphin according to Liam.

Our third day we went to Balboa Park. First we went to the Kids' Science Museum. Honestly, we could have spent a whole day in there. It is so much fun. Nathan and I actually went there without the kids a few years ago when our cruise stopped in San Diego, so we knew we wanted to bring the kids back. Daniel and Liam were fascinated right from the start with a display that made a "tomato" funnel cloud (tornado). Nathan, Daniel, and Liam had lots of fun building with blocks and creating a marble racing game. Caleb liked everything he could reach especially if it had buttons. Grandpa turned out to be the best at making smoke rings. Caleb finally fell asleep in Grandma's arms. Grandma told me she had brought her boys to the museum a lot too. It is definitely one of the places I'd have a year pass to if we lived there. We had promised Liam that we'd go to the model train museum too, so finally we left. The train museum was OK, but I've seen a lot of trains with my boys, so it wasn't my highlight of the trip. Of course the boys thought it was fun. We strolled through the Botanical Gardens before we were totally exhausted. Once again Daniel used up his complete battery taking pictures. On the walk out we saw huge tree roots that we couldn't resist playing on for just a minute. There were so many other places that will just have to wait for our next visit. Balboa Park could fill a week or more itself. While out grabbing a bite to eat Nathan and his Dad also found Girl Scout Cookies (Thin Mints). They couldn't resist. So with a few boxes each, we went back to our hotel for a little rest and (you guessed it) more swimming. We were all tired, but Caleb was totally exhausted and even getting sick (that night he threw up, thankfully we were leaving the next morning). That night he insisted on sleeping with his brothers in the big bed. Actually, he only slept till 12, then he kept waking up saying things like, "funny, ha, ha", "Daniel", and "Puppy? Puppy? Bankie? (puppy blanket). Finally I set up a bed for him with me on the floor, so he'd stop crawling on his brothers and hopefully let Nathan sleep for a couple of hours before we had to pack the car and leave to take Grandma and Grandpa to the airport (around 4:30 AM). He didn't sleep much and neither did I, but we did sleep a little in the car.

I think we all need to curl up and sleep for a week. But we had a great time. We made some really fun memories with Grandma and Grandpa. What a great family I belong to. I know we wore Grandma and Grandpa out as well, but they were such great sports, to go wherever wanted. Thanks! We love you.

My Birthday Wish

The night before my birthday, Nathan and I read from The Book of Mormon in Alma 56 about the army of Helaman. Of course, as the mother of three sons, it struck a chord with me. This time I felt even more strongly about it than any other time I've read it. "...they had been taught by their mothers that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it. ...behold to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength of God..." Wow!
Things in the world are so topsy turvy right now. With recent and ongoing natural disasters and reports of wickedness on the news (often not reported as anything wrong), it is a little scary to think about the battles that my children will be faced with. And yet, there is so much strength and protection available to my children--but only if I can demonstrate that kind of faith so that my boys will never question it. It's a pretty daunting responsibility. So with another birthday comes a birthday wish. I want to become a mother like those I read of. I want to attend the temple, read my scriptures, pray and live by the Spirit so that my boys will know and not doubt. That not one will fall. I've got to do better and work harder. I think that our children come to us clean and pure and it's our responsibility to offer them the armor of God. They are preserved for this day for a reason. There is a big work to do.
I'm writing these thoughts down just as a reminder to myself. I also hope to strengthen my committment by putting it in writing. I've got a lot to do this year. Thankfully, I too have a mother who is a great example.

Not Cut Out to be Rock Stars!

This week was a week of haircuts for our family. I gave all three boys their haircuts early on in the week. Although, he's improved a lot, Daniel still hates haircuts. He must have been having a bad day, because it took forever to calm him down about it. Finally, he said, "I want to be a rock star!" A strange thing to yell out when you're trying to avoid the scissors. So I asked him why. He explained that rock stars didn't have to get haircuts, they grow their hair out long. --I owe this moment to many of Nathan's CDs (Bon Jovi, Dokken, Ratt, Night Ranger, Poison... no wonder!). A glimpse of any of those old CD covers is hilarious, not only the hair but more makeup than I wear. So now my son aspires to be a rock star. Funny, the motivations of kids! Maybe I should take advantage of his frame of mind to introduce him to an instrument.

Nathan and I also got haircuts. Mine is cut short right to my jaw line. I like the change--Nathan prefers mine long though. Don't worry, Nathan, it seems to grow out long before I get back in to get it redone. I guess none of us is 'cut' out to be a rock star!

Sunshine in the Soul

Today was Daniel's 100th day of school party (I think the actual 100th day was last week). I had fun going in to help with some of the festivities. Daniel made us some matching 100 glasses and I think we both look spectacular in them. I totally scared Caleb, at first, when I came up to him with them on. Then he kept coming back close to me giggling nervously and when I'd reach out to him he'd collapse giggling and trying to hide and get away from me.

Once we got home we decided to take advantage of the break in the clouds and rain to go outside for a picnic of sandwiches and homemade smoothies. (I love freezing leftover fruit salad for smoothies!) We played in the front yard and ate some leftover snacks from school.

While we were outside the boys noticed each time the clouds covered up the sun. They yelled to the sun to come back out. I told Daniel to smile and ask the sun nicely. Sure enough, after a big Daniel smile, it appeared. I'm not surprised, my boys' smiles make everything warmer and brighter.

We watched a jet fly through the clouds and Daniel said he wished he could go through the clouds too. I told him he could if wanted to become a pilot. He answered that he would become a Japanese pilot and shoot down all the bad guys. What a crack up! Evidently, Daniel picks up a lot from the old plane and war shows on the history channel that Nathan loves to watch! Like father like son.

Caleb played ball in the front yard, played with the phone (sorry if he pranked you), and took advantage of Daniel's extra snacks. Liam made me a "cake" with mud, using a stick to spread it on a board. Delicious!
They are such sillies. This past week Liam has been talking about Chicken Little, but he can't get the name right. It always comes out Chicken Noodle. Those little moments are sunshine in my soul.