The Leg - Skiing Day 3 & 4

Wednesday morning was a bit more exciting as the kids had been asleep when their cousins Jacob and Sarah arrived, so they were pleasantly surprised to see them when they woke up. There were hugs all around and the playing commenced quickly. Coloring, crafts (Auntie Kari came very well prepared), slot cars, and snacks. It was a grandkid heaven. The adults went out skiing first again, and then came back for the kids. Max and Jacob were excited at the prospect of skiing with each other, so we had high hopes. But Jacob was none too impressed when he got separated from Max, and his skiing adventure ended pretty quickly after that. He was more content to stay at the cabin and watch Backyardigans.
Lucy, however, was improving quite quickly, and came back to the cabin (in tears) with quite a story to tell. She had been skiing down the hill with Papa close behind when her ski caught on a tuft of snow and she tripped, split and fell over her skis. Papa had to move quickly and do a quick somersault overtop of Lucy to avoid running over her. She caught a ski in the eye and was a little worse for the wear after that trip. Dad carried her home in tears and it was straight to the couch. She complained that her left leg was hurting and she couldn't stand up. Oh boy!
She spent the afternoon icing it and watching Backyardigans as well. A co-worker of Tyler's happened to be staying in the cabin across from us. He came over and took a look and told us to keep icing it and if she couldn't weight bear by dinner, we should take her to the hospital in Pincher Creek. So this is what we did.
She was a little upset at the prospect of having a broken leg (as was I, but I put on a brave face for my girl) but when we got to the hospital she had a grand time playing in a wheel chair and having mom and dad's attention all to herself. We passed the time by playing the ABC animal game...one of her favorites. I'm sure the nurses thought she was perfectly fine, since she was so pleasant, but a view of the x-ray showed that her leg was definitely broken.
Clean through the Tibia right above her ski-boot. The nurses found her a pair of hospital pants to put on so we didn't have to ruin the pants she was wearing and then it was time for a cast. We had told her there was a chance she would get a cool color of cast, but unfortunately, Pincher Creek only had white, which she was a bit disappointed in. I photographed almost every second of the process, because one day she'll feel really cool to look back at it, even if she's a bit nervous now. We stopped at Tim Horton's on the way home to get her some timbits to share with her family. We got home about 9pm and fed Lucy some late lasagna and got the kids into bed. She woke shortly after 11pm in a lot of pain, so we decided to move her into the bed Tyler and I were sleeping in so we could easily attend to her through the night. It was pretty restless until about 2am when she was finally able to get into some deep sleep. Needless to say I didn't get much rest that night either. Lucy likes to punch and kick in her sleep, whether she's well or not.
She insisted on keeping her broken leg a secret from people because she wanted to surprise them in person. Sarah and Tyson arrived at about 1am and Lucy made us promise not to tell them what had happened. In the morning, she was pleased to let everyone take a gander and take their turn signing the cast. That white cast was filled with color fairly quickly!

We decided to cut our trip short and packed up that morning to leave for home. Lucy's leg was a bit achy and we thought a night in our own beds before the craze of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day hit us, would be a good idea.
Some people have wondered and questioned why this would happen. I am sure that there will be life lessons learned from this experience. Some for Lucy, although in the long run, she may not remember the details of the experience very long. Hopefully it will teach her things like patience and endurance and will help her to appreciate a physical body that isn't in pain. It is helping Max to be the big-boy helper, since Lucy is no longer able to assist me in the many ways she usually does. And for me, well, I have been praying for weeks now to know how I can find opportunities to 'mother' my big-girl. So much of my time is spent mothering her little brothers who need more of my time and attention, and she has become the girl that assists me in doing those things. So I felt like I was missing the opportunity to mother her, but was struggling to find where she would need it, since she is so capable of doing a lot of things on her own. As soon as she was brought home with a hurt leg, the thought popped into my mind that I had been searching for ways to mother her. Now I have my opportunity, and I will take advantage of it. You could say to be careful what you pray for, but I prefer to be thankful that prayers are answered. So even though it is a struggle to have to carry her around, and assist her in going to the bathroom, or scratching an itch, or having to lay in bed with her some nights when the pain is more than she can handle...I just remind myself every time that this is an opportunity and it too will pass quickly, so take advantage of the moments I have while I have them.

What a Trip - Skiing Day 1 & 2

So as per tradition, the Williamson family set out on a family vacation the week before Christmas. Last year it was the week after Christmas, but the tradition still remains. A little R&R and fun away from the city to help us reconnect and unwind. Personally I find it easier to wind down the week AFTER Christmas, but hey, skiing prices go WAY up that week, and my pocketbook rules. So we loaded up our gear and made the trek down to Castle Mountain just outside of Pincher Creek. We had never been there before, so we didn't know what to expect, or even how long the trip would take. When you're driving with a 10-month old who hates driving, the trip is always too long. We got there just as mom and baby were on the brink of a meltdown, and loaded ourselves into our cozy cabin at the base of the mountain. What a beautiful view. This will be easy to look at for a few days. The rest of the family joined us in shortly after that...Kari and Barrett within an hour, Scott, Janie and Janeen a few after that. Jason and Ali the next night (Tuesday) and Sarah and Tyson on Wednesday night. Monday evening was spent getting settled in and playing a few games. On Tuesday morning, the skiing would start. (For those who ski).
I, of course, was nervous about how well our kids (mostly Logan) would sleep in these new accommodations, so that first night was a bit of a toss-and-turn session for me as I listened to all the little noises the house made and each cough my son made. "Is he waking up?" Fortunately, he made it through. Breakfast was had, and stretchy skiing pants were put on.
Tyler, Scott and Janeen went out for the morning and checked out the hill, organized rentals and just got to know the area...after lunch it was time for the kids to have a try...something Max had been waiting for for a LONG time, and Lucy was a bit nervous to venture out on. But they did awesome!

Max came scooting down the bunny hill with Papa, waving to me the whole way (which caused him to loose his balance, but he did pretty great for a first run). "Mom, see that green thing?! (the chair lift) That's my favorite part! I'm going to do the blue one next!"
Me: "Maybe you should stick to the bunny hill for a bit." And they did. Racing down the hill with squeals and laughter. Lucy was a bit more timid and wanted to stop after her first try, but we convinced her to go again and she got the hang of it and really enjoyed it.

Her squeals came shortly after. Logan wasn't too keen on being outside, so he spent most of his time in the cabin with mom and Grandma.
The kids came home for some warm-up Apple Cider while the big kids went back out for the last few runs of the day. It was a great way to start the ski week.
We spent the evening doing crafts with the kids, watching TV, playing games, and hanging out. Uncle Barrett was brilliant enough to bring his slot cars with him, which Max REALLY loved. (I could feel an "I told you so" coming from Tyler, since this is what he wanted to get Max for Christmas - but to his credit it never came).
After the kids were settled into bed, the grown-ups settled in to watch Ocean's 11, a movie Janie had never seen. (I know, I can't believe it either!) Just after 11pm, there was a quiet tap at our door and we were pleasantly surprised to see Jason and Ali and their kids. We quietly helped them unload and get settled in, without disturbing anyone else, and then it was time to finish the movie and head to bed. I was so exhausted from my not-so-great previous night's sleep, that I slept quite soundly.

Edmonton Day 4 - Shopping and Fairwell

Today was our last day in Edmonton. The kids weren't ready to come home yet, but most everyone else was ready to sleep in their own beds once again. Unfortunately, throughout the night, some sort of bug or motion sickness hit the men in the family, and Tyler, Jason and Barrett were down for the count a bit. Barrett got the worst of it, spending most of the night in the bathroom and most of the morning as well. Tyler felt pretty sick first thing in the morning, and has slowly felt better as the day has progressed, and Jason was dealt with some queasiness, but has been able to avoid too much bathroom time. Because of all the sickness floating around though, it left the rest of us in a quick pinch to try and get ready, eat breakfast and be packed up in time for check-out. We managed to scrape by. Jason and Ali were on the road first thing as Jacob travels best in the morning, and Scott, Janie, Barrett and Kari weren't too far behind. Barrett wasn't feeling up for much more than sleep and home. The girls and their boys headed to the mall and since Tyler didn't want to be too far away from a bathroom quite yet, we decided to head there as well. Our first stop was at the toy store, where the kids spent some time looking at trains, puppets, dolls, puzzles and pretty much anything they could hope for. I bought them each a magnetic book for sacrament meeting - Mr. Potato Head for Max, and My Little Pony for Lucy. Tyler had a few stops in the mall he wanted to make as well, so while he shopped, the kids and I busied ourselves looking at the aquariums, and playing games in the stores he was interested in. Max's new game right now is to say to me, "I don't like you!" to which I respond with an major tickle-torture session. It's gotten to the point where he can't even get the sentence out without laughing, because he knows what's coming. The kids also enjoyed a stop in the Disney Store, where we saw tons of Princess and the Frog merchandise, as well as their old-time favorites: Cars, Wall-e, Cinderella and Pooh Bear. Lucy saw a set of Cinderella dress-up clothes and said to me, "Mom, this is exactly what I wanted for Christmas! Why didn't you get it for me?" I looked at the price tag and replied, "Because it's 100 bucks!" She doesn't have a good concept of money, but she knows $100 is a lot, so she was pretty quiet after that. We also spotted a GIANT aristocats "Marie" stuffy, which I thought we were going to hear a lot of begging for, but she just gave it a hug, and then moved on. Max was pretty fascinated with the Buzz Lightyear boxing gloves and the character cell phones. We moved on to a few more dad stores and then headed to the foodcourt for some lunch. The kids had their typical A&W (can I just say I'm looking forward to being home, so my kids can eat something other than a burger and fries for every meal?). Tyler and I each got a Thai wrap from our favorite place, Westcoast Wraps and Smoothies. I had been looking forward to this all week, and it didn't disappoint. We met up with Sarah and Janeen and they suggested we check out a place called Urban Behavior which was just off the foodcourt. Being pregnant, shopping is not much of a thrill to me at this point. It's exhausting, for one, and not much fun to look at clothes that don't fit, and won't for a while. We did manage to find a totally cute ivory pea-coat for me though, for only $30. Totally excited. Lucy had moved on to shopping with her aunties, so while we waited for them to finish up in their last stores, Tyler, Max and I sat on a bench and relaxed. I could tell Max was getting tired, because he wasn't really saying much anymore. He sat and ate his SpongeBob fruit snacks and then pretended to paint pictures for us. By about 4:15 we were headed out to the vehicles to head home. Max fell asleep in about 90 seconds (no exaggeration) and we let him sleep just a few minutes before we turned on the kids DVD player with some 'kid-shows'. A 4:30pm nap is not my idea of a good plan. The kids watched their new Backyardigans pretty much all the way home, except for a quick potty stop in Red Deer, where they also got a few treats - cheezies, smarties and gummie bears...did I complain about burgers and fries earlier? This is a much better meal, I'm sure. We got home just before 8pm and the kids ran wild around the house with their dad for nearly an hour, playing with Max's guns. They paused for a brief fuel-up of fettuccine alfredo, that I insisted they eat. We were happy to be home safe, and that our house still existed. When I went to turn on the tub, however, we got another surprise...no water. Not really all that surprising actually. It's been pretty cold this week, and we haven't used the water, so it's not shocking to have some ice. The surprising part was that when we warmed it up, the unfrozen water didn't not flow nicely out of the tap, but rather through the crack in the pipe under the tub all over the floor. Tyler jumped up like a shot and ran out to the well to turn the water-supply off before we had an even bigger problem on our hands. At this point, there has been no solution, except that we know what needs to be done. Hopefully something will be open tomorrow (New Years Day) so we can get some pipe to fix it. We took a few deep breaths and consigned ourselves to a night without water (again...does that sound dejected and frustrated? I'm trying to look on the bright side), and hopes for a quick fix tomorrow. The good news is, this is pretty much the absolute last piece of pipe that hasn't been replaced yet, so hopefully after this...we'll be done. I really need some good news like that. Chant with me: "I love my house. I love my house. I love my house." It's easier to love in July than it is in January. So, with that, we're too exhausted to wait for midnight, so at 11:13pm, I will wish the world a Happy New Year. It's been a great year. 2010 should be awesome too...I mean, when you've got the best family that ever existed, it's not hard. That's speaking of my immediate and extended families. Love you all...and I'm sure glad I'm moving into a New Year with such wonderful people in my life. I have THE best husband in the world who is not only handy...he's handsome too - and my Best Friend - and check out our kids. Seriously, they're awesome. That scripture sure rings true in my mind often: 'becometh as a little child..." Tonight, when my kids found out there was no water, they didn't complain, or even get discouraged...in fact, all the did was say, "Hey dad, we can't have a tubbie cuz there's no water. Can I help you fix it?" As I helped Max say the prayer for Family Prayers tonight, I felt rushed and tired and wanted to get the kids to bed. But as I prompted him with the words to say, my mind thought about how this was the last time we'd say prayers for 2009. The year played through my mind quickly and I realized we have so much to be grateful for. We've had a few bumps, but our family is healthy, happy, and whole at the end of this year, and any other bumps really don't measure up compared to those things. In Max's simple language, I prompted him to say thank you for the blessings of 2009 and to pray that we will remember to be grateful in 2010. Goodnight.

Edmonton Day 3 - Galaxy Land!

Today we woke up and got ourselves ready fairly quickly, but then headed down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast and ended up lounging for a bit. It was a pretty decent breakfast, so we figured, why rush? Once everyone was satisfied, we headed out to the mall full of energy ready to blow it off at Galaxy Land for the day. Being prego, I couldn't really go on any rides, but I was content to be the picture taker anyway. We started out with a nice quiet turn on the carousel, which the kids really enjoyed. Then the big boys wanted a turn on a ride, and headed over to the bumper cars to jar their brains a bit. As we sat outside watching, we each voted on who would win. Lucy said Jason, Max was loyal to his Dad, Janie said Papa, Sarah voted Tyson, and so I voted Barrett, so he would have a cheering squad. Of course, we didn't know what constituted winning, but it always has to be a competition. While Lucy and Jacob headed to the train, Tyler took Max on a ride, that I believe ended up being his favorite. It went up and down repeatedly, like a kids version of the space shot. His first reaction was unsure, but then there was no question whether he liked it. All the kids had a ride on the balloon ride, but it ended up being pretty anti-climactic. Then it was over to the airplanes. Max wanted to ride in the front, simply because that's where the gun was for shooting. He was also the one that controlled the up and down of the ride, but he was so busy shooting, that they basically rode in one position the entire time. We also took the kids on a kiddie roller coaster that looked like a dragon. The pictures are blurry because the things was in constant motion, but Lucy kept yelling to us from the ride, "I don't like this one! It's too fast!" Max disagreed.

Dad decided to go on a 'big-boy' ride and tried out the Space shot with Sarah, Papa and Jason. The best was hearing the audible "UGH!" as they went up. Then Max wanted to show that he was brave too, so it was back to his favorite, and a first for Lucy. The ride broke down partway through - and Max wasn't too impressed, but they gave us another free turn, so that appeased him. The best part was the fact that while the ride was running, you couldn't see Max at all, except his feet, so the only way to gauge his reaction was by how those little black shoes moved. Every time the ride dropped, you'd see his left foot flex in a little as he was obviously bracing himself. So cute.We went on the kiddie train and then decided it was about time for a break and some lunch. The kids weren't keen on stopping, but they were happy to fill their bellies when the food arrived. We promised them a turn in the play place, so we headed back to galaxy land for some free-time. The place was so huge and had so many kids, that it was a bit intimidating to keep track, but we managed. I, gratefully, was able to watch the entrance, so I knew no one was leaving with our children, and Tyler, Jason and Ali chased the kids around. Lucy spent most of her time in the ball pit, because she's not much of an adventure girl. Jacob was EVERYWHERE as quickly as he could get there, and Max was no where to be seen for quite some time. Lucy discovered the rope course, and really enjoyed that, and then spent some time in the bounce house. After about an hour there, we decided to go and see the sea-lion show. Lucy liked the fact that they sang and clapped. Then it was time for the perfect cap-off to a pretty perfect day...The Build-a-Bear shop. Grandma Bourne had given each of the kids a gift-card, so we decided to cash them in. I said to a number of people that if I had gone into the store by myself to choose items out for my kids, I would have chosen exactly what they did...because what else could a little Lucy girl choose besides a purple kitty-cat with a pink dress? And of course, a little boy Max would choose a monkey with 'strong-man' clothes on. The kids got to help stuff their animals, and then they picked out a heart for them. They hugged them, rubbed them on their cheeks, cuddled them up to their ears (so their stuffies would be good listeners) and then gave them a kiss. Then it was over to the washing station, to get them fluffed up before they got dressed. We got to use the computers to fill out their information and choose a name. Lucy's kitty is called Princess and Max's monkey is called Kong. It was a pretty great experience and the kids are excited to show their completed stuffies to Grandma Bourne. After such a full day, the kids and I headed back to the hotel for some dinner and some down-time playing in the hotel with their toys. Dad and a lot of the other more energetic people stayed at the mall to watch Avatar and the tired moms, kids and grandma decided to relax at the hotel. A perfect evening in my mind. Plus, I got to catch up on my blogging, and also 'catch' Max before he messed his diaper. Two days in a row we've gone poo on the potty. Hooray! I'm especially grateful since we've been eating out a lot, which makes for not the nicest diapers. Day 3 is coming to a close, and I'm looking forward to relaxing and having a good night's sleep. We're headed home tomorrow, but not before a few stops, I'm sure.

Edmonton Day 2 - World Water Park

Today was a fun, full day of waterpark adventures. We woke up after a fairly warm night in our hotel room and had some quick breakfast and headed out to West-Ed. The kids were pretty excited about going swimming and were pretty amazed to see how big the pool was. We spent a lot of the morning in the kiddie pool and hot-tub while the dads went watersliding. We all attempted to go on the tube slide at one point and Lucy had a bit of a mishap and flipped on her tube, scaring her greatly (and me as well) as well as scraping up her back a bit. She was not impressed and was quick to tell everyone about it. We did enjoy Carribean Cove - a kids splash park. After some fuel-up lunch, the kids enjoyed some more sliding and playing around with aunties and uncles - mom took some time to sit and relax. Lucy was finally convinced to try another slide and even went down all by herself. What a brave girl. I thought we'd be done and out of there by 3pm, but the kids had enough stamina to last them until 5. We showered up and headed into the mall to check a few things out and go for dinner at 6pm at Old Spaghetti Factory. Grandma was helpful in passing the time by suggesting we play the animal alphabet game. It lasted through dinner and helped the kids wait for their food and enjoy a pleasant meal. As we were preparing to leave, Max asked Uncle Barrett for some money to throw in the fountain. Kari told him he needed to make a wish first before he threw it. He said he wished that he wouldn't drop the money on the floor. Pretty classic. We're all pretty exhausted, but glad we had such a fun day. Tomorrow the plan is to head to Galaxy Land for some rides and to do some West-Ed shopping. Hopefully we'll get to see the Sea Lion show as well.

The Elusive Snow White

Throughout our trip to Disneyland, we had made an effort to meet and great every Disney character we possibly could. We waited in long line-ups, battled screaming kids, braved the hot hot sun, and forged through turnstile after turnstile in an effort to get a picture with each and every one. But by our last day, we still had not even caught a glimpse of Snow White...and with Lucy's costume being a delicate snow-white replica, it was getting a bit disappointing. On our second last day, we headed to the park in the evening to get a few more rides in, knowing that the next morning (Friday), we would be packing up and heading to the airport. The kids wanted another turn on Pirates, Small World, and Tarzan. As we entered the park, Tyler decided to head over to the town-hall to see if he could ask anyone about the possibility of meeting Snow White while the kids and I headed to Small World. Unfortunately we were hitting the park just moments before the parade started, so getting around was a bit more difficult. There were crowds of people (not unusual) not moving (very unusual) as they were all jockeying for their spot to see the parade. Plus there were roped off sections to keep people off the parade route. For those not stopping to watch the parade, it made it very difficult. We waited and waited and waited at the entrance to Small World for Tyler to link up with us, but our time kept getting short. We saw the start of the parade and then decided to just go ahead (which I'm sure Tyler was fine with since Small World was his least favorite). As we got off the ride, we saw Tyler waiting at the gate. He had missed us only by moments. He had made arrangements at the town hall to get a "Front of the Line" pass so we could go to the Fantasy Faire (where the princesses are) to meet Snow White first thing in the morning before our flight. We finished our rides in the park for the evening and then headed to bed excited for our opportunity to finally see our last Disney Princess the next day.
We awoke early on Friday, knowing it was going to be tight, and got a tired and grumpy Lucy dressed into our Snow White costume and loaded up the car for the airport. We trucked over to the park and headed to the Fantasy Faire (which is pretty much on the exact opposite side of the park from the entrance), needless to say, Tyler and I were sweating before we got there, at 9am. We approached the line-up (already longer than we had seen it the whole time we had been there), and were grateful to have our "front of the line" passes. We showed them to the person AT said front of the line, only to be told that those passes were for attractions (meaning rides) only, and not for entertainment, which included the meet and great with the princesses. We explained our quandary to a number of people, and explained that "Jody" at City Hall said we could use these passes for this purpose. A few parents who had made it through the meet and great told us that Snow White was in fact in there at that moment. Oh, we were so close! Kyle, who worked the meet and great (and was more managerial because he wore a suit instead of a costume) was trying everything he could to give us an opportunity, without taking away from all the other kids who were waiting in line. We explained that our time was short (to say the least!) and he was working miracles. He told us to hold tight for 10 minutes and when the new princess came to switch off with Snow White, he would set up a private meeting in a separate room for Lucy. We watched our watches, sweating even more than we had trucking it across the park carrying two kids. We were getting worried that it just wasn't going to happen. We had a flight to catch in a few hours, and an hour and a half drive from Anaheim to Los Angelas still ahead of us.
Finally, we were ushered into some strange elevator and emerged into some back 'princess' staging room. We waited, and all of a sudden, Snow White appeared!
She was sweet and wonderful and so excited to see Lucy and Max. She spoke in a tiny voice and told Lucy she looked just like her and asked if she had gone through her closet this morning. They exchanged hugs, Lucy got an autograph, and took a few pictures. (You can see that Lucy still has a bit of bedhead in these pictures...proof that we literally woke her up and dragged her out there!) There was a lot of build-up to this moment and I admit I was a bit teary seeing it finally come to fruition. Max got a chance to great Snow White as well, and was happy that he called her a handsome prince. They got a few pictures as well, and then it was time to say goodbye.
We rushed off as quickly as we had arrived, but made a quick stop to thank Kyle for everything he did. Disneyland truly was magical. Every moment was fun, and they really did everything to help all of our dreams come true.
And we didn't even miss our flight. Although it was a treat for me to be in a stall in the ladies washroom at LAX and hear, "Heather Williamson, please come to gate blah blah blah, your plane is leaving!" Nice.

Sea World

On Monday we enjoyed our first full day in San Diego. It was a great experience. We headed over to Sea World first thing in the morning and hit the park full swing. We had all been pretty excited for this leg of our trip. We started out at the Dolphin show which was a good way to start. We got to watch the dolphins jump higher than I thought was possible and play lots of tricks on the audience...including soaking a good portion of the front rows. They had a family from the audience participate, but the mom was actually a sea world trainer. They had her do a lot of goofy things to make you believe she was just a regular audience member, and then she fell into the tank at one point and started screaming. The huge pilot whale swam toward her and she stood on his nose and road around the tank. It became clear that she was not just a regular mom, and she showed us a bunch more tricks. We also caught the sea lion show and visited some of the shops (I'm beginning to think this is Lucy's favorite part of all theme parks). The highlight of course was the Shamu show. It was amazing. It was short and sweet, but it was definitely amazing...and hot. We all got a little sunburned that day. San Diego is deceiving in that there is always a cool breeze, but the sun is HOT. Lucy felt the effects of that much sun the next day as she got sick at the zoo. More about that later.
We headed home for afternoon naps and then came back to the park for the last bit to be able to see all the exhibits we had missed while watching the shows. We went to the polar bear exhibit, the penguins and the shark tank. The shark tank was definitely my favorite as they had a tunnel that went right through the shark tank and you were able to look at sharks all around you. We've decided to go back on Wednesday to see a few more things. So we walked away with sunburns, memories and Lucy got a stuffed dolphin.
In the evening we drove around San Diego a bit and by pure luck fell upon this little shopping district right by the ocean front called Seaport Village. I had been there before, but had no clue what it was called or how to get there, so we were pleased that we had stumbled across it. We spent the evening checking out all the specialized shops. Lucy and Max each got some sea shells and we enjoyed looking in the stuffies shop, the surf shops, and the kids shop (where Lucy got some sunglasses). There was pretty much a shop for every theme you could think of...all centered around 'beach' fare. We got some late-night McD's for dinner, and then called it a night. Little did we know that the fun we had today which come back to haunt us the next day!

Happy Mother's Day

This morning we woke up early and got ourselves checked out of our hotel in Anaheim in preparation for leaving for San Diego. We headed off to the Anaheim 3rd ward for Sacrament Meeting. Part of the building was outside, and we truly felt like we were in California when we saw that. After church we took the quick trip to San Diego (about an hour) to check in to our new hotel. Max slept the entire way, which was nice, and we enjoyed seeing glimpses of the ocean as we drove. We checked in, got our stuff settled and then headed outside for a little pool time. It's a bit breezy today in San Diego, so the kids spent most of their time in the hot tub and playing cards with Tyler and I, poolside. When we got back to the hotel, we decided to take a quick drive to the San Diego Temple that we had passed on our way in. We were greeted there by Elder Nixon who talked to us a bit about the temple and showed us some beautiful pictures of the inside. He was also kind enough to take a family photo for us in front of the temple. The kids enjoyed walking around the grounds a looking at the beautiful flowers and landscaping. It's really quite an amazing structure right on the side of the freeway, and Elder Nixon said it draws a lot of people of different faiths to it because of it's beauty. Lucy wanted us to take a picture of her and Max in front of the temple 'pretending' to get married. Then she was also excited to take a picture of Tyler and I holding hands. I think she did a great job. Here is a picture of our shadow family. We're always competing with them. They're either right on our tails, or just a few steps in front of us ALL the time. The problem with staying in a hotel on vacation is a lack of food, so unfortunately we had to go out for dinner on the Sabbath. Across the freeway from the temple is a restaurant called Islands, which I have been to before and boasted to Tyler that they had the best burgers I had ever tasted. We decided to stop and see if my memory was as good as I thought. The whole restaurant is decorated like a large Tiki hut, which the kids really enjoyed. I had the Hawaiian burger which comes with teriyaki sauce and grilled pineapple slices (the same burger I got last time I was there) and it was even better than I remembered it. Tyler got a similar burger, only with chicken, and he really enjoyed it as well. We've decided to go back. As we walked back to the car, I told my kids that this was the best mother's day ever. Warm weather, San Diego Temple, and a delicious hamburger...I felt pretty spoilt.
Also a note to my moms...we miss you and love you a lot. I hope you have a fabulous Mother's Day too.