Downtown Disney

 Over Labor Day weekend we decided to surprise the boys with a trip to California. We decided to go to the beach and Downtown Disney. The boys had no idea where we were going until we got there and they were super excited.

We were disappointed with downtown Disney. We only got to go inside 2 stores and the rest of the time we just stood around outside because the waits to get inside stores were ridiculous. They had waiting lines to get on the waiting list to get in the line to go in the store. Otherwise everyone is just milling around outside in the heat. At least we got some pins :) and the second half of our surprise was much more successful :)

going to the beach

 The second part of our surprise for the boys was a trip to the beach. We originally planned to go to a beach in Newport but their was lots of traffic so we headed to Huntington Beach instead. It was a nice beach. The weather was perfect. It was in the 80's with a little breeze and sunny. It was a beautiful day and the water was a very pretty blue even if it was freezing. We got there at high tide and even though I would have preferred low tide, it was still a lot of fun. Daniel loved playing in the ocean! He never wanted to leave the water. Liam only put his feet in twice but otherwise he and I stayed on the beach together. Liam and I went on a hunt for shells and built sandcastles and I laid out and relaxed. It was so much fun!

winnie the pooh birthday

 This year Winnie the Pooh turned 99! We marked the occasion with a little party. We had lots of balloons and we watched a lot of Pooh bear movies and had cake!

Daniel starts school

 The school year looks very different this year. We moved Daniel to a charter school after a rough year in kindergarten. Daniel now goes to Signature Prep. So on August 17, 2020 Daniel started 1st grade. He started the year virtually. He has a very nice teacher, Mrs. Totten. He was very excited to start school even if he wasn't actually leaving the house. 

Everyday he gets to wear his uniform and he gets to have meetings with his teacher. He and I also gets lots of time to work together. We got him a desk and set him up with a school zone in his room.

Summer trip- day 9: heading home

Sunday morning we were up around 7am to pack up and head back home to Vegas. I think by this point we were all ready to be home in our own beds. We got breakfast again and headed out around 8am. We planned to make a couple stops on the way home just to break up the trip.

The first stop was the Manti Temple. Grandma Kate and Papa J got married here. The boys were sad they couldn't play on the big hill. They did have fun at the flower garden though because they saw 4 butterflies that they had fun chasing.

The next stop was St George. This was a much needed stop because it had been a rough drive. First we stopped to see how the temple is coming along. The boys loved seeing all the construction trucks at the temple. Then we got subway again for lunch and a special treat. We went to Iceberg and got huge milkshakes! Mike got raspberry, Kate got peach, I got cheesecake and Dan got chocolate. They were huge and delicious! Dan only ate about a 4th of his and Mike and I couldn't finish it after we finished ours. We will definitely be making another trip up for these! By the way, these pictures were after we had all eaten some of the ice cream and we got Liam a chocolate chip cookie because he isn't an ice cream fan.

It was nice to get home. We had a great time on our trip!