California

So I took off for California leaving Todd and Garrett at home being bachelors. It sounds like they had as much fun at home in the peace and quiet as the rest of us did in California. I twas Todd's birthday while we were gone so they went golfing to the movies and out to dinner. I don't think Todd's ever had that much fun on his birthday since I've known him. Okay I don't think Todd's ever had that much fun since I have known him. Usually when I talk to Todd on the phone when I am gone with the kids he is depressed and misses us soooo much. This time all he talked about was how much fun he and Garrett were having- long quiet talks, making dinner together, no chaos, doing whatever they want. They profess to have missed us but I'm not sure of how much. We had a great time while we were gone too. We crammed a lot into our visit. We would have stayed longer but Bridget's schedule kept us at a week. We normally would stay with Grandma and Grandpa Anderson but they had a full house and so we stayed with Grandma Roskelley. It was a different experience and it was fun. We got there on Saturday night and went to church with her on Sunday. Elijah went straight to nursery and loved it. Lydia, of course, was a little more apprehensive so we hung out together in primary. It was weird because I grew up, there had three children before I left there but I don't know very many people in the ward. Even the ones I do know didn't recognize me. Could it be because I'm fat? Maybe. Then that night we went to my brother Ron's in Auburn for a family dinner. It's always fun to see everyone and to see all the cousins play (the grandchildren and great grandchildren). Sadly I didn't get any pictures of that. But the kids had a great time. Suddenly they get to California and everyone they see is their cousin. Quite a change for us here. On Monday we went to the with my sister-in-law Sarah and cousins Jake, Eden and Noah. It looks like someone had a personal problem -probably the giraffe.

Elijah loved the Orangutans and the chimpanzees.Lydia loved the Anteater. This was pretty cool. It has a super long skinny tongue.

Grandma bought Jake and Elijah matching batman hats. They LOVED them. They were both reluctant to get out and get an up close look at anything for fear that they might lose their place in the stroller. So poor little Eden and Noah had to do most of the walking. Fortunately they didn't seem to mind. Especially since Bridget was just as much fun as a stroller.

It was so much fun hanging out with the cousins. Especially for the little ones. They just don't get that opportunity too often.

After the zoo we went to the park across the street for a picnic.

After that the cousins went home for a nap and we went to FairyTale Town.

It has all the fairy tales there. A castle with round table.

There was lots of slides like the one on the old woman who lives in a shoe. The huge shoe is a slide. They have live animals like the three little pigs, Eeyore and I can't remember the cows name and Peter rabbit and all his friends. Lydia insisted that Bridget be Cinderella and Eli the footman while she drove the carriage.On Tuesday we went to Sunsplash, a water park in Roseville. It was wet wild fun. Everyone enjoyed it. We spent as much time as possible in Grandma and Grandpa's pool. The kids loved it! They had fun swimming with cousins Riley, Hannah, David and Bryte. Elijah fell in LOVE with these "spiderman" goggles. (They are really power rangers but we're not telling) Riley was kind enough to give them to Eli who took them everywhere and slept with them after that.

Bridget really did do more than this. I have lots more great pics but Samantha has them on her memory card and she wont send them to me!

Dallin spent most of his time playing catch the Frisbee while jumping in the pool. It felt sort of like I had a dog but he loved it.

On Thursday we went to Six Flags Marine World. It was so much fun. There was so much for the little ones to do we never got see it all. And the big kids got to go have fun on all the big rides. Our favorites were the dolphins and whale shows.

And the treats that go with it.

Elijah loved the thrill rides. I thought the kid roller coaster would be to scary for a three year old but he just laughed the whole way through and then yelled again! Again! when it came to a stop. Lydia liked to keep her feet firmly planted on the ground. She loved the butterfly exhibit where all the butterflies fly all around you and the giraffes and elephants and pretty much any animal. They both loved the elephant ride and kept going as long as they could since no one was in line. Elijah loved making it go up and down.

By the end of the day Superman and Wonder Woman were tuckered out.

We spent the last two days shopping for school clothes and of course See's Candy our fav! I hated the feeling that someone was missing because Garrett wasn't with us. He is always my right hand man when Dad isn't around. It just made his soon to be departure all the more real and that was sad. But, Bridget got home in time for her to be a freshman mentor at freshman orientation. We got home about 10:30 pm on Sunday and Todd left at 4:3o am the next morning for a Young Women's white water rafting trip. Although he acted like he was dragging his feet to go, he had a great time. Bridget was sad to miss out but had other commitments. The next weekend Bridget went to a student leadership camp and had to miss out on the shopping trip to Portland that she was planning on with her friend. Choices, Choices. Anyway it was a fun trip and Grandma wasn't too sad to see us go because she got to keep Samantha.