LP

Kael had a backpoke first thing Monday morning. Things didn't go so well during the procedure. He started throwing up while he was completely sedated. He has never had this reaction in the 3 years he has had them. The Dr. was very concerned and stayed with us for a while just to make sure he was okay. He continued to throw up the whole ride home and complained of his arms hurting. When we got home I called back down to see if I could get some anti-nausea meds for the night. When the Dr. heard he was still not feeling well she told us to take him in to the ER. They gave him some anti-nausea meds, x-rays, blood cultures/labs, and started him on IV fluids. He perked up a little so we came home. His white counts were elevated and this concerned the ER Dr. I talked with Primary's again and they want more labs done this week. They think the high white counts were from all the throwing up. Hope so!!

Matti earned herself 50 AR points ( I know, its the end of the year and she only has 50 . . . her teacher doesn't require it, therefore, mom doesn't push the issue. She is a great reader and always seems to be reading but never takes the tests). She has begged to get her ears pierced the past few months so I told her she had to get at least 50 points before I would let her. She hopes we have time this week to go get it done!!

It's shaping up to be a busy week around here. Parent Teacher conferences are tomorrow so we will see how Kael tested and how behind he is for his two month absence. Keeping our fingers crossed!!

. . . I almost forgot!! I became a chicken farmer this week. We went to see Aunt Merr at work and Trey talked me into getting chicks. I wanted to try raising some this year, just don't have a place built to put them. Anyway, we left with 5 chicks. Trey has named two of them. Pumpkin and Duck. They all look the same so don't know which is which but he claims he does. So far I have managed to keep them all alive. The dog seems extremely interested so I hope we can keep them all around:)

Day #6

We spent our final day at Universal Studios. AWESOME! This was my favorite stop. We didn't get to do a lot of things because again, there were lines! The first thing we did was go on the "studio tour". AWESOME!! It was cool to see how they do all the special effects and different movie/show sets.

Sweet!

Matt wanted to go to Beverly Hills while we were so close. I warned him I would not go into any of those store . . . way to out-of-place, but it was cool to see it all! . . . and we even had a celebrity sighting!!

If you can't tell it is Simon Cowell. Everyone else saw him about the same time and started to crowd around him before I could get the camera out. (For the record he is my favorite judge on American Idol!!)

As we continued down the street we noticed this awesome car. We found out later it was Simon's car, a Bugatti Veyron. It cost $1.8 million. YiKeS!!

We got to mom's about 2:30 Sunday morning and enjoyed visiting with family again!! So glad we were able to spend such a GREAT week together. The kids were great and even the drive wasn't to bad:) Can't wait to do it again!!

Day #5

Got up bright and early and got to the park before it opened.

One happy family waiting in line to wait in line:)

The first 30 minutes or so we didn't have to stand in any lines so we ran on to Splash Mountain . . . twice!! Matt got this sweet picture of me making sure my heart, lungs, ect were still in place. Kael is in the very front, then Matti, and me and Trey in the back). The kids absolutely LOVED IT!! We ended up going again two more times that night. If you ask them, this was their favorite ride.

Here is Kase showing how tall he isn't!! He missed going on most of the
rides by. . oh . . i don't know . . . 2 feet!! He was a great sport though.

I thought posing under this sign was perfect for our family!

Buzz, Mickey, Donald, Pluto, Jessie, & Woody.

That was about all the characters we were able to see.

We stayed in the park until noon and then headed back to our hotel for cheap lunch, a swim, a small nap, and dinner. We headed back to the Park around 8:30 pm and found smaller lines (which was our hope) and a few less people. We got back to our hotel around 12:30. The kids were worn out by the time we got back (expected) but never complained or whined about how late it was. I have GREAT kids!!

Day #4

California Adventure . . . so true!! Stood in line for and hour to ride Soarin' over California. I wasn't sure Trey would like it (he was barely big enough to ride it) but I think he ended up having the best time. We soon decided there were just way to many people for us!

We walked around Disneyland itself for a few hours and basically familiarized ourselves with the place. We split up and Matt took the older kids to ride a few rides and I took the little ones. The little one's and I went and checked out Toon Town with 1/2 a million other people. Stuck in a small house with sweaty 250lb + men, little kids climbing everywhere, and a crying Kase is not my idea of a good time. So we left as soon as the opportunity presented itself:)

My STRONG Trey-Man!
And the favorite event of the day . . .

the Angels game!!

Matt was so excited to take us to a Major-League Baseball Game! (Secretly, I was excited to go too!!) We had a great time and it was such a relaxing way to end the day.

Matt cheered for the Twins and the rest of us cheered for the Angels. He must have cheered much louder because the Twins won 10-2.

Day #3

We spent the morning at the State Beach in Carlsbad. It wasn't as nice as the previous two beaches we checked out but it worked for the time we spent there. The breeze blew and the water was still cold so we were only there for a few hours.

However, we managed to have a lot of action in our short time there. Here the kids are waiting for the wave to come . . .

. . . and here they are running from it! Trey wasn't quite fast enough and was swept under. I was able to grab him on his second rise to the surface but not before he got a mouthful of water. He spent the rest of the time spitting (and you just hoped you weren't downwind from his attempt!!). Kase wanted nothing to do with it so I was attempting to put his water shoes on when a big wave got us both. So he, Trey, and I spent our time on the blanket pouting:( We had an entertaining time watching the surfers though! AWESOME!

We then made our way to Aneheim (after lunch and a little ColdStone Icecream . . . mmmmm)!

Day #2

This morning we recieved word that a fellow cancer patient has passed away. Not a great way to start the day but we made the most of it anyway . . .

We let the kids feed the dolphins. It was a neat experience but they

were all a little to shy to touch them!

Posing with a few of the trainers. The guy on the right was a trainer in Florida. He knew/worked with the lady that was killed a few months back. Good thing Matti wasn't listening when he was telling the people next to us about it:)

This walrus was a hit with the boys. He was spitting his food out against the glass and then sucking it back in. Quite sick to watch but they were mesmerized by it!

Our last stop of the day was at the Sea Lion Show. I wanted the kids to see them but wasn't sure about taking time for the show . . . . and then . . . it hit me! (my siblings will appreciate this!!) "Sammy the Seal" popped into my head. Does anyone remember reading "Sammy the Seal"? I told Matt that I all the sudden wanted to go. He rolled his eyes at me and agreed to go. It was the highlight of the day for most of us! The show was much more interactive than Shamu and the Seals are really amazing! Loved it!

Ended the day at Mission Beach. Our GPS seemed to be off a bit on the location but we weren't the only people following our misguided GPS. There was at least one other car we watched back out of the narrow dead-end street:) Kase fell asleep again but we managed to wake him up for a photo op. He was to intrigued by the water to look at me. The kids kept begging today to go to the beach so they could swim. Still not warm enough to get in our bathing suits, much less swim, but we are not complaining. Heard we had four inches of snow today in the Cache Valley!

Things I learned today: #1 -When you are having a bad hair/outfit day and leave the house so discouraged, go to your local carnival, county fair, Sea World, ect. It will make everything better:) #2 - When you think you are ripping the dryer off at the hotel by shorting it a quarter . . . it will have the last laugh!

It's 1:30 a.m. Second day of vacation has passed and I just finished with three loads of laundry. What??? I would feel sorry for myself but there were three other ladies ahead of me using the washer and dryer . . . at least I'm not alone!!

Day #1

SAN DIEGO - What a way to start VACATION!! We began our day at the Wild Animal Park and then the Zoo. We had just enough time to get across the bridge and down to the ocean (Coronado) before the sun went down. It rained most of the day and the breeze was cold so we could only enjoy it for a bit but so far this has been the highlight of the trip! WOW!! What a hottie!! and poor Kase finally took his nap about 7:30 p.m.

I almost didn't bring my big camera (I didn't want it ruined or stolen and I thought it would just be in the way) but I am soooo glad I did. It has been worth the headache (more like backache)!!!

The kids have done well so far and not complained about all the walking. After I scared myself silly over a stupid fake snake, we all were laughing a joking. Next thing I knew Kael was on the ground giving Matti a boost up so I could take her pic. So funny!!

Stupid snake!! and yes he has to pose by it just to rub it in:)

This is at the Wild Animal Park. I won't bore you with pics of all the animals but this was especially interesting. The rhino's would fight for a bit and then they would chase the giraffes. They did this a few times and then the ranger had to come and run the rhino's off with his truck. We were trying to make it to the top of the hill so we could get closer pics when Kase fell head first on the asphalt. This was as close as I ended up getting before the ranger spoiled everything.

Matt, looking for his cell phone and computer:)
Actually, I have to say I am impressed with his ability to cut back on the amount of work he is doing!!

This one is just for my sister. They have plenty of these, Merr. Think I could stick one in my suitcase so you could decorate your yard with the real thing?!?!?!