Summer Vacations

The problem with waiting so long to get back into blogging, is that there is now a lot of ground to cover.

Let's start with 4th of July.

We went up to Idaho to spend the holiday with Allen's parents and brothers and their families. My niece Jessie was in the parade. It was a hot day, but it was so much fun. We had a picnic and the cousins played baseball. Then when the evening came we went to a fun park with a big Tank for the kids to play on

before we watched the fireworks. We all had a good time.

When we got back I went with the YW in our ward to Girls Camp. They have girls camp up at a campground that is owned by the stake, at Mt. Charleston, (a 30 minute drive). Although it is that close to Las Vegas, it is a complete different climate. The evenings were so cold, I don't remember ever being that cold while camping before. Also it rained and hailed so much that alot of our things never dried out. Some of the wards had tents float away in the rain, and many girls sleeping bags had to be replaced after the first few days. Aside from the weather, it was great to be with the girls and get to know them better. Our stake president always says how great the youth are in our stake, and he is right, they're great.

A few weeks later, Calvin went to the Priest's "scout camp". Actually they called it a super activity, because there wasn't really any scout stuff to do anymore. There were 16 Priests that went, and most of them already have their eagles. At the super activity they went deep sea fishing, golfing, had surfing lessons, took a bike hike, played volleyball with the Laurels from a local ward (and a few mia maids that snuck in). They rode the train to Oceanside and the spent an evening at the San Diego Temple and had their testimony meeting there. All the boys agreed that the temple was the best part. Calvin came back with an awesome tan!!!

August 11th, we decided that we needed to take a family fun vacation with Brady before he leaves us for a mission. We went to Six Flags Magic Mountain in the Los Angeles mountains. The boys rode every scary roller coaster that they could.... except Zachary. He wasn't tall enough for some of the roller coasters, so first thing we went on 2 that he could go on... after that he decided that he didn't like roller coasters anymore. Zach and I rode some fun kids rides while the others rode the big coasters. After a few hours of kid stuff, Zach decided he liked roller coasters again, and made me ride them with him. Zach went on the "Revolution" at least 6 times.

By this time it was evening and getting dark, but the new ride X2 was opened (it had been closed in the morning when we first got there.) Well we decided that since Zach liked roller coasters again, and we still had plenty of time until the park closed, that we would go on this ride. This sign said that it was a 150 minute wait in line. I didn't believe it because thats what it said on the roaring rapids ride, but it wasn't anywhere near that long of a wait. So we stood in line, but couldn't see the actual ride. 1 hour later we were in another waiting section of the ride. At this point we could actually see the ride, and Zach was starting to get scared, (and I was talking myself out of being scared). But we'd waited too long to back out now.... another hour later and we were getting tired and anxious... And Zach was now terrified. I told him not to worry, he didn't have to go if he didn't want to, but I hoped he'd change his mind. When we got up to our turn to get on, I tried to get Zach to go, but he was clinging onto the bars dividing the lines, with all of his strength and practically crying. I didn't make him go. In fact Ethan didn't want to go either, so we took turns on the ride, while those not riding watched the little kids. Okay, so it was finally my turn to get on this ride. It started out nice, with us facing up toward the night sky with beautiful Harry Connick Jr. music playing in the speakers attached to each head rest. Then a sudden horrible sound of too many harsh songs combined in one with other horrible harsh crashing sounds, and we are turned individually face to the ground in a huge free-fall. I was scared to death. I choose to close my eyes. I felt nothing but normal mellow movement. I decided I shouldn't miss the ride and opened my eyes again to.... a backwards loop with real flames all around. According to Darian, my ride partner, I screamed my head off. That ride truly tramatized me, and I was soooooo glad that Zach and Ethan had skipped it. I guess I really am the Mom and no longer a fun teenager. Yikes!

Apparently the kids in California went back to school that day, so there were hardly any lines to the most of the rides, only 4-5 most popular rides. It was a perfect day at Magic Mountain. Oh, and Brady, Calvin, and I (mom) got soaked--completely-- on the roaring rapids ride.

The next day we went to the beach at Santa Monica. We were just up the beach from the roller coaster and ferris wheel. The water was nice and warm, and again there were very few people there. I reminded myself of how much fun it was to ride the surf in the ocean. I showed Ethan how to body surf, and even got Brady to get in and have a good time. Once Zach saw us having fun, he wanted to go in deeper, and insisted on holding my hand, as I showed him how to tackle the waves when they come your way. We had so much fun, I can't believe I didn't get in ocean with my kids sooner than this. We just never did this as a family until about 2 years ago. I think we'll make trips to the ocean alot more now. I may even learn to surf.

Next we really wanted Panda Express. I remembered that the Young Women taught us about "cha cha" at a technolgy night. We tried it. It worked. They told us where to find a Panda Express next to the Santa Monica beach, and with the help of the map from the hotel, it was no problem finding it. Then we were on our way home again. Brady said it was probably his most favorite vacation.