Fall Break

We had a full week + Monday and Tuesday for Fall Break this year.  So long!  We had plans so it was nice to have the longer break so we could have some sleep in days and some fun days.

Monday: We worked all day and finished up our siding.  Molly went to work and the other kids had to entertain themselves.  Brynn and Ivy spent the majority of the day out with us.

Tuesday: Brynn and Ivy have been going to Renee Anderson's to learn how to sew.  It's pretty sporadic when they actually go but they really enjoy it when they do. They have made some clothes for their dolls.  She sent me this picture.

I also taught some piano in the morning and Brynn had cheer in the afternoon.  I spent the day packing for the next few days that we would be out of town.  We drove to Sandy when Justin got home from work.  The kids were having a few days with Gene and April while Justin and I were going off to have some fun.

Wednesday:  Early start for Justin and I.  Gene drove us to the airport at 6 that morning so we could meet up with my family and catch our flight to Burbank, California.  We had planned a grown-up only vacation for my parents 50th anniversary which was earlier this year and which we had celebrated with everyone at the cabin in May.  We just decided to extend it and do this vacation as adults only.  We were in the air as the kids were waking up back at Grandma and Grandpa's.  They must have decided to all get in bed...even Stockton who is the most non-snuggly kid I know.  I wonder how long he actually stayed there-I would guess only long enough for the picture to be taken.

Grandpa, Ruby, Brynn, Ivy, Grandma, Stockton

The rest of us (minus Bryce and Erin who were coming the next day) arrived in CA and picked up our 8-seat Suburban that I had rented.  We decided to spent the day in the LA area before driving to our VRBO an hour away that night.  Our first stop was the Walk of Fame.  Fun to read the different names.  My mom and dad liked the older names that the rest of us didn't recognize.  While cool to see, this was in a slummy part of the city so we were happy to leave.

Justin, me, Jeff, Erin, Christopher, Ali, Dad (my mom is back there too, behind Erin)

Johnny Cash

We grabbed some snacks from a Trader Joes and drove to our next activity...scooters!  Ali found this and you're probably thinking regular, stand-up scooters (that was what I thought) but these were not your traditional scooters-rather, they were two-seater sit-in scooters.  They were so funny!  We had a blast with our tour guide, driving around the streets in LA, and seeing some sites.

Mom, Dad, me, Justin, Erin, Christopher, Ali, Jeff

We had some lunch at Big Boys.  Ali had researched and this was a place that came up a lot.  My mom and dad especially loved it here because when they were in high school and dating, there was one of these restaurants in Ogden and it was a popular hang-out after sporting events.  They walked in and said it looked exactly the same as they remember.  Some fun nostalgia for them and for us to hear them talk about it.  Plus, it was delicious diner food and we were all very hungry!

Jeff, Erin, Dad, Mom, Christopher, Justin, me

When we were sufficiently full, we drove over to the LA Temple to walk around the grounds.  We oohed and awed over the different varieties of flowers and visited the visitor's center as well.

Christopher, Erin, Dad, Mom, me, Justin, Jeff, Ali

Dad, Mom, Ali, Jeff, Justin, me, Erin, Christopher

We hadn't really planning anything for that night and figured we would drive to where we were staying and find some dinner.  We had looked at baseball games in the area a few weeks before but it was play-off season so schedules were to be determined and we shelved that idea.  As were were talking at lunch, we checked the Dodgers schedule and saw that they were playing that night in LA.  My dad has been a Dodgers fan his whole life, Bryce and Ben too, and Jeff's boys have adopted them as their team as well.  Justin is a Dodgers-hater but he loves major league baseball and had never been to Dodger Stadium.  It was kind of a no-brainer to get tickets and go, so that's what we did.  The beauty of traveling without kids!

It's always so awesome to be in a MLB stadium.  My dad has been to plenty of baseball stadiums and lots of Dodgers games but he has never been to a playoff game.  His excitement was worth it, for sure.  We bought the cheapest seats we could and that put us pretty high up but the stadium is built so you can see well from any vantage point.  We cheered on the Dodgers (or booed them silently in Justin's case), ate Dodger dogs, and had a great time.  (Dodgers lost that night to the Padres and went on to lose the series and get knocked out of the playoffs later that weekend.  Same thing happened to the Braves the same weekend.)

Christopher, Dad, Justin, Jeff

Ali, Erin, Mom, me

#44...Hammerin' Hank Aaron

Justin, me, Christopher, Erin, Mom, Jeff (Gavin on FaceTime), Ali

proud of my photo bomb with Christopher and Erin

That day the kids just hung out at G & G's house.  Molly took grandma's car to the library and they went to see a house decked out for Halloween that night.

Ivy, Brett, Brynn

Thursday: When we started planning this trip, the idea of going to Disneyland for one day came up.  Some were feeling guilty about going without kids (I was not in that category) but we ultimately decided to channel our inner child and spend a day in Disneyland.  I was excited but was surprised when I woke up that morning at how excited I really was.  It had been way too long since we'd been so I was really looking forward to this day.  And I had never been during the Halloween season...it was decked out and looking so good!

I jotted down how our day went so I will list everything we did and recap if needed.

1st:  Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  This was closed the last two times I have been so I haven't been on this ride since I went in high school and I barely remember it.  The upgrade is so cute and fun!

Justin, me, Jeff, Ali

2nd:  Splash Mountain.  No one wanted to get too wet but this is my mom's favorite and a classic so we couldn't miss it.  We went in two groups, Justin and I went with my parents.  I sat in the front and got completely soaked.  It was cooler than what my weather app had said it would be and it took forever for my clothes to dry in the more humid California climate.  My dad eventually gave me his dry jacket for a while and that was nice.  My hair was a disaster the rest of the day.

me, Justin, Mom, Dad

me and Mom

3rd: Pirates of the Caribbean

Justin, me, Erin, Christopher, Dad, Mom (can't see her again but she is behind Justin's head), Ali, Jeff

4th: Haunted Mansion.  They turn this into "The Nightmare Before Christmas" for Halloween and it is amazing!   

5th:  Jungle Cruise

6th: Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters.  Justin's score beat everybody else's by far.

 

**Took a break here for Mickey Mouse beignets.  Yum!

Dad, Erin, Christopher, Justin, Jeff, Ali, Mom

7th:  Space Mountain.  Man, I forgot how much I loved this ride.  Top three of the day for sure.

Christopher, Erin, Mom, Dad, me, Justin

8th:  Star Tours.

**Finally met up with Bryce and Erin after this.  They had landed earlier that morning and drove straight to Disneyland.  We also took a lunch break here.

 

We walked over to Star Wars land next.  This was new for us, being built since the last time we were there.  It was incredible!  It's like walking into a whole new world.  Justin has never been a big Star Wars guy but we've seen enough of the movies to know that everything was spot-on, like Disney always is. I loved walking around and taking it all in.

 Bryce, Erin, Christopher, Erin, Mom, Dad, Justin, me, Jeff, Ali

9th:  Rise of the Resistance.  Oh man, this was amazing.  I loved the entire experience.  Totally worth the wait and my favorite of the whole day.  The set and props and everything about this ride was unreal. 

10th:  Smugglers Run.  This was so fun!  Justin and I were assigned to be pilots and we drove the "Millennial Falcon" while others in our group were shooters and engineers.  We were laughing hysterically by the time we were finished.

 

**Photo break.  Since we had purchased the Genie+ feature, we got all these photos that the employees took.

Jeff, Ali, Dad, Mom, Bryce, Erin, Erin, Christopher, me, Justin

Jeff, Ali, Dad, Mom, Bryce, Erin, Erin, Christopher, me, Justin

11th:  It's a Small World.  We did this for my dad.  It's always been his favorite ride.

**Break for some pictures and treats.  Churro for me, Dole whip for Justin.  A stroll down Main Street.

 

12th:  Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.  We threw in two kid rides, just for the fun of it.  The line was short for this one and we had some time to kill while we were waiting for Bryce and Erin to finish something.

13th:  Pirates, round 2.  Did this with Bryce and Erin who hadn't done it earlier with us.

14th:  Winnie the Pooh. Kid ride #2. Once upon a time, this was Stockton's favorite ride so we did it for him.

**Dinner break.  

We looked at our list and decided that we had done all the rides that we wanted to (plus a couple extra) and the consensus was to go back to Space Mountain so Bryce and Erin could ride it.  This was our only snag of the day.  We stood in line for an hour and the ride kept stopping and starting.  We eventually got out of line and walked back to Star Wars land.  It was every bit, and maybe even more, impressive lit up in the dark.

 

15th:  Smugglers Run, round 2.  This was our last ride of the night.  It was past 11 and we walked right on.  

**We were disappointed that we never got to ride Indiana Jones because we all love that one.  The line was long all day and so we had it reserved on our genie+ pass but it shut down before our time became available.  We held out hope but when it got to be 11:30 and it still wasn't open, we called it a night.  It had been a magical day! Until next time, Disney! (Our kids, especially Ivy who has never been, were bummed that we were going without them but we have promised them a trip before Molly graduates.  I have no doubt they'll hold us to it!)

 

The kids carved pumpkins that morning.

(I guess we never got the pictures of Stockton or Molly's pumpkins.)

 

Then Gene and April took the kids to Gardner's Village that night.  I had warned them that it would be crazy crowded but they went in the evening so I think it was manageable.  They found the witches and visited the petting zoo.  They got McDonald's to take home for dinner.

these girls want bunnies so bad

I want some too!

with Grandma and Grandpa

with Grandpa

with Grandma

Friday: We drove to Newport Beach for the day.  We had a whale watching trip scheduled so after we got checked in, we walked around the harbor for a bit before getting on the boat.

The boat trip was about 2 hours total and we had hoped to see a whale but had no luck in that area.  We did get the amazing chance to watch a pod of dolphins for about 20 minutes.  They were incredible and so neat to see! We figured there had to be 100 or more out there.  So, no whale, but an awesome trip anyway!

Christopher, Erin, Dad, Justin

Lunch was next.  We wanted to find some good fish 'n chips and got a great local recommendation.  They were yummy and so were the brisket fries that we ordered as well.  I went back to a souvenir shop and bought a jacket that I had seen before the tour.  The weather had deceived me-I had only packed one sweater and was tired of wearing it.  I had been on the hunt for a zip up hoodie and found one I liked and was happy to swap the old one out for the new one!

We wanted to explore a little.  There was a ferry running over to Balboa Island and it was only $2/person.  That sounded like a good deal to us so we hopped on and went over to explore the island.  I loved walking around this little island and seeing all the beach houses/cottages.  We read that the average home price was 5 million dollars (!!) and it's always fun for me to see how other people live and imagine what it would be like (I did the same thing while walking along the west side of Central Park in New York...what different lives people live from one coast to another).  I took pictures of some of my favorite houses.  We also tasted a Balboa bar and found those very yummy.

if you look close, you can see Jeff photo-bombing in the back

and then I returned the favor

We rode the ferry back then walked out on the pier.  There were tons of local fishermen so we watched them for a while, put our feet in the ocean, and headed back to the car and back to our house.

Justin, me, Bryce, Erin, Mom, Dad, Ali, Jeff, Christopher, Erin

Christopher, Justin, Jeff

It took us a while to get back to our house and by that time we were hungry for dinner.  We didn't really have plans but Erin was looking for a birthday present for Josie so we decided to go walk around Downtown Disney. This is another place I had never been.  The Lego store was awesome!  This is where we got our kids a souvenir...a Lego set of Main Street at Christmastime.  I picture them putting it together each year and having it out during the Christmas season.  They were excited and wanted to put it together right away but I told them they had to wait.

We found some delicious pizza, explored the huge Disney store (got a jump start on Christmas shopping), ate Salt and Straw ice cream, watched them make their magical caramel apples, and wandered around the Star Wars store.  It's a fun place.  That was the end of our night and the end of our trip.

I think the kids just stayed home that day.  I got a picture of Stockton eating corn on the cob and that's it.

Saturday: We had an early flight so our morning was filled with travel.  We got back to Salt Lake at 1:00 in the afternoon.  Gene picked us up.  Molly had to work that morning so they had driven her back home so she could make it there.  We got the rest of the kids and made it home that afternoon.  Such a great vacation but always best to make it home.

Sunday: Don't remember anything special.  Church.  Meetings.  Come, Follow Me family study.

Monday:  I taught piano in the morning and took the kids to the dentist in the afternoon.  Molly drove all the way there and did great.  Molly had a cavity that Jeff needed to fill and Stockton had a cleaning since he had missed our appointment in the summer when he was in Cooperstown.  Brynn and Ivy just came along for the ride.  It was a quick appointment and we didn't stay since the Plain City cousins were in school and Molly had to get back to work that night.  Made bibimbap for dinner which is everybody's hands-down favorite.

Tuesday:  We try to get the kids to the temple every three months and the last time they had been was in July in Manhattan.  Stockton went earlier in the month with the deacons and he would have loved to go again but I told Molly to invite some friends instead.  They came over in the morning for a crepe buffet (crepes, buttermilk syrup, berries, bananas, nutella, whipped cream) and then I drove them down to do baptisms.  A lady in our ward had given me some of her family names so they were able to get all of those done for her.

Molly, Regan Heywood, Jackie and Callie Bingham

We drove home, Molly went to play soccer, I taught piano, and that was the end of our break.  We went back for a short week the very next day.  None of us were ready to go back so I told them we could count down until Thanksgiving break, then Christmas, then Spring Break, then summer.  It's easier to swallow when you take it in pieces, ha!