Last Day at SeaWorld

Today our season passes to SeaWorld expired.  There have been rumblings that they're going to do away with the Shamu show, so even though the kids and I went to SeaWorld two weeks ago, we felt that we needed to go see the Shamu show as a family to give it a formal farewell.  It's crazy how much Parker and Kate have grown this year!

TODAY: 

LAST FEBRUARY:

 (This is a really weird picture of Kate, but I wanted to use it for reference.)

TODAY:

LAST FEBRUARY:

When we first got our passes, we had some trouble redeeming Parker's preschool pass (kids two and under are always free, but in order for three- to five-year-olds to get free passes, you have to register them online for a preschool pass at the beginning of the year) and so the lady who was helping us gave us four vouchers for complimentary trays of fish to feed to the sea lions.  We redeemed the vouchers today and fed the sea lions.  We learned that you have to be fast or else the birds will swoop down and steal the fish right out of your hands!

We have LOVED visiting SeaWorld this year!  Parker will miss the sharks the most, for sure.  It's his number one request when we go, and we often went through the exhibit multiple times.  I'll miss the Sea Lion and Otter Show and Paul will miss the churros.  Kate is just happy to be along for the ride and will probably miss getting out of her naps for a full day of fun. 

Scooter Reunion

Paul let his poor dental student friend borrow his scooter for the last two years.  Unfortunately for all parties, the scooter stopped working shortly after the scooter traded hands.  Paul's friend didn't want to spend the money to get it fixed and Paul didn't either.  Paul's pretty handy when it comes to cars and he wanted to see if he could fix it himself.  Well, after ho-humming about the issue for months and months, Paul rented a truck and drove to LA to pick up the scooter.  What followed was six stressful Saturdays and too many trips to the Pep Boys (a 35 minute drive there and back), but hallelujah, last Saturday he fixed the dang thing.  There were celebratory chest bumpings and high-fives all around.

The Happiest Place On Earth

Last month the stars aligned and we met up with the Fjeldsted clan for some memory making at Disneyland. Neither Parker nor Kate had ever been before and it was so exciting to introduce them to the magic that is Disneyland.  As excited as they were, though, I think I may have been more excited.  I love Disneyland.  I love the thrill of the roller coasters, I love how nostalgic I feel when I'm there- remembering past visits and how enchanted Disneyland felt when I was young, and I love that everyone is just so happy there.
Two days before The Day: We met up at the beach.  The cousins played in the sand while the adults chatted. We got lunch at a local taco joint and then headed our separate ways.  John and Trudy rode the train from Oceanside (where they had been with Peter and Amber) to San Diego.  Paul picked them up from the train station downtown and they stayed the night with us.

Kate surprised us all by loving this Mexican style corn. 

Look how popular Grandma and Grandpa became with all these churros in front of them!

The day before The Day: Paul went to work while John, Trudy, Parker, Kate and I caught the train downtown and rode it to Anaheim.  We picked up Chloe, Mae and Simon on the way.  That evening we walked through Downtown Disney and had dinner at Goofy's Kitchen, which is an awesome buffet-style restaurant in the Disneyland Hotel where various Disney characters come say hi to you while you eat. It took a few minutes, but Parker really warmed up to the characters.  Kate, not so much.

The Day(!!!): We got to the park just a few minutes after it opened and we hit the ground running.  And so it can be recorded: the very first ride that Parker and Kate ever went on at Disneyland was Snow White.  We filled the day with kiddie rides, and threw in a few adult rides here and there while grandma and/or grandpa watched the grandkids. The "scariest" ride Parker and Kate went on was Pirates of the Caribbean.  We took the kids back to the hotel after dinner and had Paul's cousins who live in the area watch them so the adults could Disney 'til they dropped (we dropped just before midnight).  Of course I love our kids and was so excited to share in their magical first experience of Disneyland, but I'm SOOOO glad we got to ditch them and ride the roller coasters to our heart's content!  Honestly, it would have been a sad day if we had only been able to ride Dumbo and the like all day.

So to sum up, we went to Disneyland and it was the most awesome thing ever.

Halloween

In our ward, the Primary presidency is in charge of planning the Trunk-or-Treat.  I'm sure planning any ward activity is stressful, but it was especially so for us since we're all newbies and it was only two days after the Sacrament Meeting Primary Program.  All our hard work paid off and it was a hit!  We had a chili dog potluck, followed by the actual trunk-or-treating, and then everyone came back inside for carnival games.  We had a bingo table, a cake walk, a bean bag toss, a witch hat ring toss, pumpkin bowling, donuts on a string, pin the face on the jack-o-lantern, face painting, a photo booth, fishing for toys, a coloring station for the little kids, a raffle and a "guess how many candies are in the jar" table.  We had some of the youth man the stations and they did such a great job.  And I was so impressed at how many people stayed until the bitter end to help us clean up.  I love our ward!

On Halloween night we went to our friends' house for a party.  We all went trick-or-treating then came back to their house for dinner and games for the kids.

Pumpkin Patch With Friends