Crazy Coen

We're packing up and getting ready for the big move. There are boxes everywhere and it's basically a madhouse until we go. Coen was so funny jumping on this box this afternoon.

California Vacation!!! Warning: Mega Picture Overload!!!

This had to be the best vacation possibly ever!!! But I think I say that about each vacation I've ever been on. It was wonderful to return to California and I truly wish I could move there instead of... well, that's a whole other post. Anyway, it was great to see my grandparents, crazy as they may be. Their house is like home to me since I spent so much time there when I was little. It still smells the same, I love it! The trip couldn't have gone better though, really! I am so happy we went, I think we really, really needed it!!! Here's our travel log, mostly for my records but if you're interested go ahead...

Saturday

Our plan was to wake up early and leave at 6:30 - ha! It's me we're talking about!! I was up half the night packing for not only myself but Coen and Marshall too. I looked at the forecast and it was supposed to be sunny the first half of the week and rainy the last half, so I had to be prepared for the kids for either kind of weather. So we didn't leave until 10:30, but hey! at least we had enough. My dad should have warned John when we got married - she doesn't pack light and she's never on time, get used to it! Which reminds me of this picture... I brought a duffel bag 2 duffel bags of stuff over to my stepmom's to have her and my dad help me pack for my fifth year girls camp backpack trip. The picture shows my dad smirking at what I think I will need and what will realistically fit in the backpack while I sit, frustrated, wondering how I'll survive! They teach boy scouts to "Be Prepared," why not the Young Women?!

Anyway, I would have had a picture of my beautifully packed trunk to show off my talent of trunk-stuffing (skills I inherited from my father!) but alas those were the ones deleted on my card :( I also had a picture of my new found use for the Medela baby bottles Coen never took - travel size shampoo and conditioner containers, genius!!

Anyway, we made good time and made it to my grandparents' house at about 9:30 or maybe it was 10:30, I can't remember. We hit a lot of traffic after Bakersfield so it slowed us down a bit. The boys were pretty good on the way there. Marshall got motion sickness and threw up right before St. George. He took a little nap and was really quiet and chill the whole way. Coen was entertained by the best $2 I've ever spent! I bought him a sugar shaker and some pipe cleaners at the dollar store and he loved putting the pipe cleaners in the holes of the shaker. I had a really cute picture, but again it was one of the ones that got deleted. Bummer :(

Sunday

On Sunday we went to church with my grandparents where they introduced us to half the ward and showed off their adorable great-grandsons. They are well loved among the ward members.

The boys were restless after the long drive the day before, so we took off after sacrament and went to the beach! Unfortunately I accidentally deleted a lot of the pictures but as you'll see I am in no way lacking in that department from the rest of the trip. Imagine if it was rolls of film! And this isn't even a third of what I took. Haha! But what is a vacation without a million pictures to remember it by?

DISNEYLAND!!! - Monday

We made it!!! We couldn't wait to take Marshall to Disneyland! Neither John nor I had been since we were little kids so we were super excited to share the magic with Marshall for the first time. It was the perfect day, warm and sunny! There were tons and tons of people and the lines were each like an hour long so we didn't get to do as many rides as we had hoped. But I'm not complaining! It was perfect! We were able to see and do enough to enjoy it but not go into Disney overload. By the end of the day we were all exhausted and I personally had total sensory overload and a ginormous headache. It was so fun and I can't wait to go back...when it's not spring break!

Entering the park

Marshall's first ride was Indiana Jones. He thought it was scary!

Coen and I chilled outside the ride while we waited, and waited, and waited.
(Annalisa, if you're reading this I saw your parents coming out of this ride!)

We went through the Tarzan Treehouse, which I remembered as the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse

At the top of our Disney must-do list was the Jedi Training Academy for Marshall. So we headed over to wait for the next show after lunch. Notice how I had him wear his Darth Vader shirt? Haha. I was really really worried that they wouldn't pick him to go up and he would be really disappointed and have a complete meltdown and we would have to stick around for the next show to try again, so I helped his chances by showing them what a fan he was. 15 minutes before the show I started prepping him, "Jump up and down and wave your arms and yell "pick me! pick me!" As the audience started packing in we somehow got scooted back away from the front where we had been. The kids were all sitting down with their legs crossed and there was no room for Marshall. As they asked all the children to stand up, I nudged him forward to be visible in the first row, haha! He got picked without having to do much, but thank goodness for the Vader shirt, they call you by what you're wearing which means they take notice of your clothes and having that shirt sure helped! Woohoo!

Here we are waiting

The highlight of the trip for Marshall was fighting Darth Vader

Darth Maul was pretty serious!

Marshall practicing his new Jedi skills on Darth

After that we headed to the Nemo ride

Coen has to do everything big brother does

Keeping him entertained was tricky

but he loved looking at all the "ish"

He was so exhausted and fell asleep almost as soon as we put him in the stroller. I found a quiet little stairwell to park him on while John took Marshall to Captain EO and the Star Wars ride

Then we all went on the Buzz Lightyear Astro-Blast ride, another must-do

I loved the way his was poking out his lips!!

Teacups!!

Me and my boys!!

Coen absolutely loved this ride!! He leaned against John the whole time laughing and trying to twist the wheel to make us go faster. It made John sick :/

Such a goofball!!

Outside Mickey's House

Marshall was stoked to finally meet Mickey!!

Meeting Mickey! I was trying to get Marshall to look at the camera when the guy snapped the photo. Oh well! I'll try photoshop ;)

Toontown - we met Mickey and toured his house and Marshall was brave enough to ride the roller coaster with me!

We stayed until the fireworks were over. It wasn't as impressive as I thought it would be, but at least we saw them! I heard they aren't going to do them anymore.

Hugs!

These brothers just love each other so much!

Watching the fireworks display

Meeting Vanessa - Tuesday morning

I met my youngest cousin (on my mom's side) when her mom and dad flew me out to visit them in San Francisco for my graduation present in 2002. She was Coen's age then! Since then her parents have moved to Anaheim Hills and are much closer to my grandparents. They watch her a lot since both my aunt and uncles' jobs require that they travel. Lucky for us she was dropped off Monday night while we were at Disneyland. She is now 9 and I'm so glad I got to see her! I woke up to her and Marshall giggling in the living room Tuesday morning. They just loved each other and got along so well. When Coen woke up she was all over him and surprisingly he just loved her! If you've been around Coen lately you know this is quite a feat since he is going through a stranger anxiety phase.

The boys meet their second cousin, Vanessa

Newport Beach - Tuesday

At 1:00 we met up with Mel, our sister-in-law, and her sons, Sam and Simon on Newport Beach. They let us stay with them in Irvine Tuesday and Thursday night. The boys had fun playing in the water, looking at starfish on the rocks, digging in their construction site, boogie boarding, building drip castles, and having FUN!!!

We even had a scare when no one could find Marshall. He was down at the rocks, looking at starfish with John, Mel, and her boys while I was up on the beach with Coen. Marshall came up and asked where dad was. I told him he was down by the rocks and he took off. A few minutes later John and Mel came back up and asked where Marshall was. I told them I thought he was with them! The beach wasn't crowded, so as we looked around and didn't see him in either direction. Mel and her boys headed southward on the beach to look between the next section of beach, broken up by rock jetties, and John and I headed northward to look at that section. I was carrying Coen and having a complete panic attack and could barely breathe so I told John to run ahead, time was of the essence. I felt like collapsing on the beach and bawling, I was so sure that he had been swept away by the waves and we would never find him. I stopped and turned around to look in the water we had just come from, thinking that if he had gone back to where John had been and gone out to far in the water, that is where he would be. I couldn't see him anywhere. Right then a group walked past and I asked if I could borrow their cell phone and I called 911. They told me they were sending helicopters, police, and lifeguards while I answered questions like how long had it been since I last saw him (5-10 minutes at that point), what he was wearing, where on the beach were we, etc. Right as the helicopter came along the water's edge, I looked back south to where Mel had gone to look for him and I saw him and his cousin running back to our stuff on the beach. I told the emergency response guy on the phone that he had been found then ran, crying, to hug him and hold him tight. I gave a wave of thanks to the helicopter just as the police car came. That was probably the scariest mom-moment of my life!!! I was so relieved, I really thought we would be coming home without him and it would all be my fault! Phew. Luckily the rest of the afternoon was pure fun.

That night we had dinner at Michael & Mel's and hung out with them after the kids went to sleep. We haven't visited with them like that in years since they've been in Hawaii and New York for medical school and residency. We really loved getting to sit and chat! Thanks guys!!

Simon, Sam, and Marshall playing in the surf

Simon and Marshall

Marshall and Sam

Marshall tries his new Jedi Force Push on the waves

So cute!!!

Can you tell he's having the time of his life?

John buried Marshall in the sand

all covered!!

"I'm golden!!" he said when he saw this picture

burying daddy's shoe in sand

Running to the water as fast as his little legs will carry him!

Can you tell he's trying to run farther out into the water?!

gotta love baby feet in the sand!!

the boys playing construction site in the sand

Sam and Marshall

the cousinsMarshall tried boogie boarding, and loved it! Though apparently he had a hard time holding onto the board

Coen running toward the water, we couldn't keep him away!

He would hold onto our hands then lean his body back to feel the tide. He thought it was hilarious!

building a drip castle

Coen loved chasing the birds

Sand Castle fun!

patterns in the sand

Coen loved sitting in the hole the boys used to get the sand out of for the drip castles

lending a helping hand one minute

smashing daddy's sea turtle the next minute

Coen kept climbing up on to everything they were building

my boys playing in the sand

John's sea turtle sculpture finally unharmed by destructobaby

Exploring Dike Rock Tide Pools in La Jolla - Wednesday

After spending the morning chillaxing with Mel and her boys, we headed down to San Diego to stay with John's best bud, Nate, who is working on his PhD in Philosophy at UCSD and his wife Lu and their two boys, Calvin and Grayden. After discussing some possible activities we decided on visiting the Dike Rock Tide Pools by Scripps Institute of Oceanography on Wednesday afternoon during low tide. We had fun exploring all the little pools left when the water receded.

Marshall and John looking for life

an anemone

more anemone, they were everywhere

John and the boys

John poking the anemone to see the squish

the whole side of the rock was covered with anemone, as you can see the bottom anemone, still in water, remained open while the top part, out of water, were closed

John pulled up a rock to look for hermit crabs but instead we found a bunch of wormy things

a clam

ah ha! a hermit crab!!

big anemone

do you see the crab down there?

a hermit crab haven

see the pincer?

more shells

Marshall

a starfish!

the view!

a look out at the ocean, and watching the birds on the rocks

more birds, it must be dinner time

Marshall, John and Coen, Calvin, and Nate

The Geisel Library on the UCSD Campus - Wednesday

After the tide pools Nate drove us around campus and we decided to get out and see the library. It was renamed in 1995 after Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, and his wife Audrey for the generous contributions they have made to the library and their devotion to improving literacy. The library houses some of his original sketches and writings for The Cat and the Hat book.

Coen has his face stuffed with a granola bar, some of which made it into John's hair.

The trees in some of the Seuss books were inspired by the Eucalyptus trees found around San Diego, Dr. Seuss's home town

Isn't the architecture amazing!!

Marshall poses by the statue of the Cat in the Hat, which happens to be one of his favorite books

Legoland - Thursday

The forecast predicted rain the later half of the week, so I was prepared to have to skip Legoland. Fortunately the rain came the night before and by morning there was nothing but clear skies! It stayed cool all day but we didn't mind. The day before, as we were headed from Irvine to San Diego, we stopped at Wendy's for lunch and saw a sign advertising a free child's combo pass to Legoland and the Sea Life Aquarium when you bought any combo meal and an adult's combo pass. We used that for John and Marshall, making John's ticket $10 more than a regular ticket, but Marshall's was free. Then for mine we had an $8 off coupon, so if you combine the two deals we basically got Marshall in for only $2, SCORE!!!

We loved Legoland and would highly recommend it!!! It was a lot less crowded and the lines were shorter than Disneyland. It was so kid-friendly and fun! John said if we lived there that's the place he would get season passes to. I agree! If you go to southern California, Legoland is a must!

Here we are!!

Marshall was excited to see this Bob the Builder guy made from Legos

I have no idea who this is, but it's so amazing how they can build all this stuff out of Legos!

I tried to blast them with water while they rode the Aquazone Wave Racers

I love this picture of John, you can tell he's having fun!

Marshall wanted to pose by all of these...are they Bionicles?

all built from Legos

Marshall and I enjoyed The Lost Kingdom Adventure

Beetle Bounce took them up and down repeatedly

He told me he had to joust a lion but he wasn't afraid!

Marshall enjoying the Royal Joust contest

"Look, no hands!" While they were standing in line I thought for sure Marshall wouldn't go on this after watching the arm twist and turn people upside down and all around. But he did and he loved it! They set it to a level 4, preventing it from turning them all the way upside down and thus ensuring Marshall wouldn't fall out. They even have life jackets for kids under Marshall's height. Next time he told me he would go all the way upside down.

Being twisted in the air!

Upside down

Marshall was so brave to go on this!

Lego Dragon - Marshall loved this!

King John takes his role seriously

Van Gogh's Starry Starry Night made from Legos!!

Elvis Presley

Winston Churchill

Lincoln's bust, in Legos

The White House

The flags were made out of Legos, too!

The White House, complete with a marching band

row houses in San Francisco

John and the boys in front of Miniland, USA

Mini-Excalibur

Marshall picked out a Star Wars Lego set and posed with a Darth Vader made out of Legos in The Big Shop

John and Marshall went on a Safari Trek

Coen and Daddy in the Fairy Tale Brook boat

Coen enjoyed his scenic perch from John's shoulders

Playing in the fountains in Water Works

Growl!!

John and Marshall enjoying Captain Cranky's Challenge

Shark Attack!!

John and Marshall put out a fire in a burning building at the Fun Town Fire Academy

Marshall earned his driver's license at the Volvo Jr. Driving School

John taught Coen "bones" as Marshall and I rode the Coastersaurus

Marshall hatches out of a dinosaur egg as a baby T-Rex

Orange County Great Park- Friday

On Friday morning as we were packing up Mel asked what our plans were before we left. We didn't really have any so she suggested we go see this giant helium balloon that takes passengers up 400' in the air, tethered by a steel cable rope. The balloon is made by a French company and cost $1.2 million dollars!! What was more surprising to me is that they don't charge anything to go up in it! They top it off with helium twice a year. The park has plans for other free attractions that are slowly being added. It is built on the old El Toro Marine Corps Base.

Marshall and his cousin, Sam

Simon, Marshall, and Sam playing Tag while we wait for our turn

Coen was mesmerized by the giant balloon

Sam and Marshall are just dots on the ground compared to the giant balloon in the air

more Tag

John and the boys

Up we go!!!

The view from 200'

The view from 400'

Coen holding Marshall's hand

Sam, Marshall, and Simon playing on the big orange bike

Cousin sandwich! Saying goodbye to Sam and Simon


My Grandparents - Friday

On our way out of California we swung by my Grandparents' house one more time to say our final goodbyes. They are "eccentric" as John put it, but I love them! My Grandma watched me the first two years of my life while my mom worked part time and ever since then we've had a special bond, much like my mom has with Marshall. My mom and dad moved to Utah with me and Brandon when I was 2. I still miss her and wish we could live near her to see her and help take care of her and my Grandpa as they get older.

The drive out of L.A. was crazy! I think we hit a lot of holiday weekend traffic. Marshall kept throwing up and eventually fell asleep. Coen also slept for most of the drive home, I think he was so exhausted from only having short naps usually in the car or stroller. We got home at 3 am, making the drive a whole 12 hours long!! I speak for all of us when I say we were glad to be home in our own beds for the night.