Celebrity Sightings

I’ve never been particularly popular, but every time we go to UT, I feel like a celebrity.  We have more things to do and people to see than time to do it.  Every spare minute was filled with summer activities and excitement. Even a last minute sick cancellation got filled up pretty fast. Without nap time, we wouldn’t have had any down time at all.

We were lucky enough to be booted from a stay in the condo on the drive up and had to make alternative arrangements----this meant an overnight stay with the Reynolds in Vegas! I love how months can go by and we’re still friends like it’s been no time at all.

Our first few hours in Utah were filled with Kemp family fun. We had a Pioneer day potluck and firework show.

Every single member of my immediate family was there (and also a few cousins, too), with the exception of Elder John in Costa Rica.  With 25 of us, this was no small feat.

 Unfortunately, none of the pictures from that evening turned out well, but trust me, we had a blast.

But it may have been too much fun.  Liam had a hard time sleeping that night and seemed like he had a fever.  He would cry unless I was holding him.  Since this was the middle of the night and we were both tired, he ended up in our bed (something that hadn’t happened since our trip last summer). I was finally able to sneak away around 7 or 8 am and took this gem of my two boys:

Gotta love the belly on that little guy. I LOVE how cuddly and sweet my toddler is. Even still, he likes to cuddle after he wakes, sometimes we’ll just sit in the rocking chair for an hour.

Between the BAR and other activities, the next few days were totally packed.

My little brother Peter and I ran the Deseret 10K together. The last time we raced together, it was a mile fun run at his elementary school when he was in Kindergarten and I was 14. We won (it was around an 8-9 minute mile from what I remember).

Peter stayed with me for all but the last mile, and finished only a minute behind me.  He beat out his cross-country team members he was supposed to run with (guess it’s good we ran together, then). We were able to visit my old cross-country coach as well---apparently, Peter and I do the same head tilt when we get tired.

My brother Arthur and I took Liam to the park while Steven was busy studying. Liam headed straight for some other kid’s bike. Surprise, surprise.  It’s no wonder it’s his favorite word.  We have to go on a bike ride nearly every day.

No trip to UT is complete without a Man Basket activity.  We took the babies swimming in the morning, and met for an evening frozen yogurt and Jordan Landing exploration.

 

While Steven was taking the BAR, we used our time in Utah to visit friends and family. One of my good friends from middle/high school, Laura, took the opportunity to take our children to Wheeler Farm.  It was a big hit. Our next item of business will to be to take Liam to the LA Zoo with our new season pass. Gotta love Groupon---it cost us less than $30.

Liam was particularly fond of being able to celebrate Traci and Abby’s birthday. Normally, he’s an awesome eater, but for some reason, he really only ate junk food on this trip.

We saw almost everyone we wanted to, and to those we missed (i.e. Betsy, Angie, Anna, etc.), we are deeply sorry. One day, we hope to move back here and can see you all the time.

The way home from the cabin (post coming soon) had to be a 3-day trip. Oh joy.  I had run out of blood thinners and wasn’t allowed to be in the car for more than 4-5 hours. It was especially hard since Steven had sprained his ankle so Liam and I had to switch off driving so I could prop up my legs.

This lucky break gave us extra time in SLC to see my family, and an impromptu morning with Donovan, Cortney, Elanor, and Stella. We almost convinced them to come back to CA with us, but Donovan figured that he had better go to work instead. Bummer.

My brother Philip and his family stayed at our place in CA while we were at the cabin. Steve had borrowed a watch from my mom and we met up for lunch in Vegas to get it back to her. We had to miss Abby’s baptism that weekend since Steve was taking the MPRE in LA the next day. Liam ate his entire Happy Meal and spent the rest of the time pointing out all the “bikes”.

I probably say this every time, but visiting makes me want to move back to Utah. It would be nice to get to see you guys up there anytime we want instead of cramming it all in a few days of craziness. And being able to afford a house and having family to watch William once and awhile would be a nice perk, too. There are lots of things I love about SoCal, but it’s never really felt like home.  Hopefully one day, we’ll be there.

Beach Bums

The absolute best thing about living in SoCal is the beach. That alone, (and of course, Disneyland and “winter”) make SoCal livable.

I miss having a beach only 4-5 miles from home.  45 miles just isn’t quite the same.

Even if we spend the whole time in the sand or chasing the birds, every moment is sweet, magical bliss with a magnificent soundtrack of waves and gulls and laughter.

We’ve had to resort to coordinating playgroups at the beach, which conveniently give us the opportunity to visit UCLA friends. This week, we were lucky enough to see Karyna and Macy Bouslog and the Hodges (not pictured). It’s always fun to see these two together, since they are only 6 days apart.

Though we will be leaving for our yearly UT/Cabin trip later today, so hopefully we’ll get to have some more beach time at Hebgen Lake after the BAR. Not sure if I can wait that long, but I guess I’ll have to try.

Disneyland Days and other Recent Adventures

The worst thing about Disneyland, is that we can’t be there all the time. Our Disneyland annual pass expired this week. Due to the current state of limbo in our lives, we decided not to renew. It was a very sad, difficult decision. Luckily, we were able to spend lots of time at Disneyland the last few weeks.

Last Thursday, Steven didn’t have to work until 1, so I left the boys at home and went to Disneyland all by myself. It was an extremely interesting experience. I got to bypass the lines and use the single-rider option* (only available on certain rides) and could go at my own pace.

It was loads of fun. I would highly recommend it.

This week, Liam and I took advantage of the one day it didn’t rain to spend the day at Disneyland with Rebecca, Gwen, and Audrey Bode, and Rebecca’s brother Greg. It was crowded, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Gwen and Liam have really gotten to be good friends. Liam just loves to laugh and play with her, and Gwen is always very sweet to him.

The highlight of the trip was getting to see Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends. I’d never waited in line for the characters since I didn’t think Liam would be interested.

Gwen loves all things Pooh-bear, so we decided to brave the wait. It was worth it.

There were a few rough spots during the 30 minute wait, but Tigger and Eeyore thought Liam was so cute they came over to visit and cheered him up. Liam immediately gave Tigger a hug (unfortunately, we were unable to get the camera out fast enough) and the crowd let out a huge “awwww”.

When it was finally Liam’s turn, he went right up to Pooh and gave him the biggest hug.

Again, the crowd was awe-stricken. It was that cute.

Eeyore and Tigger were no exception to the love.

But none of them got quite the reception as our good friend Winnie, so I gave in and got Liam a souvenir of his choosing to commemorate our final Disney Days.

Gwen also ended up with a souvenier Minnie, which perfectly coordinated with Liam’s Mickey (from our first time to Disneyland).But the fun didn’t stop there---Rebecca had made cute little owl hats for all the kids. Trying to get a picture with all of them in it was complicated. And we weren’t successful. At least they enjoyed it.And of course, the obligatory matchy-matchy photo since Father and Son happened to dress alike that day.Wednesday was our last day at Disneyland. Even though it had been raining all week, the weather had been good that day, and we took a chance. It started pouring as soon as we pulled of the freeway about 4 pm and didn’t stop until we left the park around 8. We had fun anyway. No lines! Liam was even able to chase the ducks.

And get caged.The best part, however, was Toon Town. I had never really taken Liam to see it, and now that he’s walking, he had a blast. I regret not doing it sooner.

After too long, William got sick of posing for pictures and just wanted to play.

The real highlight of the day was getting to meet Mickey. Liam has loved his Mickey doll since he was 3 months old and seeing the real thing was a treat for everyone.

We will miss Disneyland. Hope to go back soon!

One nice thing about not having a Disneyland pass, is that we have more time. Our life is crazy busy right now. I’m busy as a personal trainer at Bally Total Fitness so Steve and William have to help out around the house more.

They do a pretty good job. Besides, I need all the help I can get some days. :)