{the run-down}
Tuesday: We were able to leave Idaho Falls at about one o'clock, and made it as far as Barstow, California that night, at 2:30 in the morning...Tanner and Taylor both had their naps in the car, then woke up and 'played'. We stopped at Cove Fort and did a little tour at seven, then let the boys stretch out for about an hour. By eight o'clock we put them in pj's and got back into the car and headed towards the coast...but only got as far as Barstow. On a side note, the canyon after St. George was way too windy for me...and Vegas looked amazing at midnight!!! I'm just glad we didn't have to stop...talk about mass chaos!! Barstow greeted us...and all the hotels we would have stayed in were 'closed' for the night and so we drove around and finally found a Motel 8. Lets just say we got what we paid for.
Wednesday: We got up and dressed as fast as we could without touching the carpet, and then headed onto San Diego...We drove and drove until we got to Carlsbad (where Ryan served his mission) and stopped at the mall there for potty breaks and to stretch our legs. We then coasted down the coast to Delmar where we met up with my family, Keith and Tricia and her brothers, and we played our hearts out in the Golden Waters of Southern California! Tanner loved the sand and was timid of the water, but eventually he got in - long enough for the waves to chase him! Taylor was pretty good, too, and Ryan spent the three hours we were there boogie-boarding. Ryan was in HEAVEN! I got in the water, but honestly, I prefer my murky chlorine water in the local pool - I'm terrified of fish, sharks, and anything floating...like sea weed! But all in all, I had fun, too. Ryan got me to go out to boogie board, and if we were planning on spending more time at the beach, I might have suggested we go and buy two. After that fun, we headed to our hotel in San Diego, and we all hurried to get showered and cleaned up. We went with Keith and Tricia to the Temple where Tricia recieved her endowments. It was such a neat experience! The San Diego Temple is beautiful! We went out to eat at a really fun pizza/salad place - the name excapes me - but we had a wonderful time. Thank you, Stephanie, Katelyn, Clay and Deseret, for watching the boys!
Thursday: We went to Sea World...and had a pretty good time...I think we all had a good day, Tanner loved running, and the shows were awesome! But in hindsight, Ryan and I think we might have had more fun on the beach... We managed to escape the park without any souveniers - except a Shamu bucket full of cotton candy. After that full day, we went to the Marriott, and had a good night's sleep - something we all needed!
Friday: {the BIG DAY} Keith and Tricia were married in the San Diego Temple, and once again, my younger sisters and brother had the daunting task of watching the boys. THANK YOU! After a beautiful sealing, we all awaited the bride and groom outside the temple...for PICTURES! We then had a fun and fabulous luncheon at the Marriott, where we saw the cutest video that Tricia's Grandpa Calder made of Tricia and Keith growing up...and Keith played a beautiful tribute to Tricia on the piano(Chicago's "You're the Inspiration"). The best part was that we were able to get a sitter in our hotel room for the boys so we could enjoy the meal - Thank you Becky for arranging that! We then got ready for the reception, which was absolutely stunning! By this time Ryan and I were a little frazzled, despite all the sitters for the boys, but we got through, again with the help of Aunt Camille and Natalie. The reception took place at the Neuenswander Residence, with the line in front of the pool, then a full course meal/buffet (extremely nice compared to the Idaho/Utah nut cup and brownie), and Golden Spoon Ice Cream. They even had a dance floor, which was so much fun! Tanner and I danced the night away!
Saturday: While my family went to Lego Land, we headed back to the sea wall and beach in Carlsbad, and onto Claim Jumpers...Ryan's been wanting to go back and eat there for years! We made it! Because we didn't take our swimsuits to the beach (I just planned on taking Tanner to play in the sand, but Ryan insisted on gettin wet, so therefore, we were all wet!) we went to the resturant wet...and tad bit emberrassing, but worth the food! Tanner stabbed me in the eyelid with his straw, and Taylor downed a whole dish of mac and cheese and fries. Ryan and I settled on 1/2 rack ribs and 'Idaho Potatos' with yummy strawberry lemonades. We left Carlsbad atound one, and arrived in St. George by about 10, after stopping at a mall in Vegas, to stretch our legs...and once again, managed to leave without spending a dime! (a huge deal for both of us!) Saturday night's stay at Best Western's Abbey Inn was probably the least expensive and biggest room stay of the week! I only wish we could have taken advantage of their nice outdoor pool, but it was too late when we arrived.
Sunday: After leaving the comfort of our cool hotel room, we went over to the St. George temple to walk around. It's just as beautiful as I remember it! We then strapped ourselved in for the 'long' ride home! We had to stop about four times - between bathrooms and filling up with gas! We made a stop at what used to be ValTec in Springville, to feed the ducks and eat our lunch, and back on the road again! We arrived in Idaho Falls after 2060 miles in the car, and 83 gallons of fuel. Phew! We're home! The best part, is Ryan went gung-ho on getting the car cleaned out, and so our car was completely unloaded, and everything put away before we went to bed!!! WAHOO! Now I just have to fold a few loads of laundry, and put the snacks away...
Potty Training here we come!
I'll post pictures later today, hopefully! I've yet to go through them!
Here's a link to my Auntie Cathy's post - she also has some fun pictures!!!
12 comments:
Your trip sounds way fun! I am glad you all survived!
it does sound like you had a lot of fun. i'm kinda jealous!
isn't the beach great? that is one reason i don't think i could leave virginia beach.
i can't believe keith is married. that is so exciting!
Glad you made it home safe and sound! We waited all day in the airport for our late departure flight...sounds like you had more fun at the beach. We arrived home at 6:00 p.m. Saturday evening. We probably could have driven in that amount of time! And with grandpa in tow....oh well...he was a trooper for sure and I'll bet he's glad to be back out in Wyoming with his 4-wheeler, cows, and Ringo!
Sounds like you had a great trip! Glad you are home safe & sound. I had to laugh out loud when you talked about trying not to touch the carpet in the motel...LOL...we've had an experience like that.
Sounds like your trip went really smoothly! Yeah! Thanks for the camping tips, I think I am okay on food ideas. However, I am sure Lily would love to have a playdate sometime with Tanner! We'll have to figure out a time. While I am leaving a comment, I am going to ask you a question. Do you know if there is a way to take your digital scrapbook stuff done in Microsoft Word and post it on your blog? I haven't figured out how.
~Jewelle
What a fun trip!! I love all your pictures, they look great. It's so good to see pics of your cute family! it has been too long since we have seen all of you guys!! I can't believe how big the younger ones are getting...I swear they are supposed to stay little if I haven't seen them. The happy couple looked gorgeous!! They are so cute together!
First of all Keith isn't old enough to get married and secondly your siblings aren't old enough to babysit either ;) Like Chelsie said, if we haven't seen them it is impossible for them to have grown! Sounds like you had a good trip. You are an amazing mom - I don't think things would have gone so smoothly for our family and we have one kid and the drive is shorter.
The wedding looks gorgeous and so does everyone there. Congrats to the newlyweds.
Fun, fun! I LOVE San Diego! I hear ya about the long car rides, but it sounds like it went fairly well! I like Sea World, but I'm with ya. I think our boys are still too young to enjoy it. After Florida, we decided we won't do more things like that for a couple of years until they can appreciate it more!
I want to go now!!!! So fun to read all of this, I could picture everything. I loved it. Thanks for taking me on a vacation!! Glad you had fun and there were no major mishaps.
Cute pics, sounds like a fun trip. You look beautiful in that blue dress! Thanks for sharing
Your pics make me want to run away for a few days. I can't believe keith is married either. Crazy!! Glad you guys had fun. I laughed as well at you not wanting to touch the carpet. I always take slippers with me when i know here staying somewhere, even if its nice.
Sounds like you had fun! Be glad she didn't get married a week later. We went to the San Diego temple on 08/08/08 without realizing how crazy it would be. We went through a session and though there weren't many people in the session itself, there were TONS of people in and around the temple. There were at least 9 sealings while we were there and there were 5 brides on the lawn at once! Talk about crazy.
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