October Randoms

Welcome to Utah!

Look who greeted us at the airport! Plus Chris and Grandpa Tom!  Yay!!!  The kids loved the yellow balloons.

so much that they let them go
Aunt Natalie is pretty concerned :)

Look what these little cuties had in store for us when we arrived!
Plus a bunch of yums (like saltine crackers, LIFE cereal, etc)

First look at OUR house...

view from the back deck

It was so fun listening to the kids call out to each other in amazement all the different colors they saw on trees.  "Red!  Orange!  Purple! Brown!"  Fall is beautiful here and I have missed it.

boys amazed they can see the clothes spinning

Geo's favorite purchase!

Most of the first couple weeks were spent shopping.  We had lots to buy.  Including a whole new fall and winter wardrobe for everyone.  Thanks to both mom's for the tending help as we shopped, shopped, shopped.

we also did some cleaning
Austin said he wants to make a "robot that is a helicopter
and will clean the fans".  Go for it!

And visited the Logan cousins!

Erik meets Lawson for the first time

Elise specifically came to find me to take this pic - pillow pet family
love the photo bomb by the boys

While visiting Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Ed, the kids noticed a giant parachute thing neighbor Doug uses to cover his garden.  And it became a big hit.  So fun!

And what could be better than jumping in a giant leaf pile created by grandpa Tom?!?

We spent the first month in our house on air mattresses, waiting for our stuff to come.  And spent a lot of time watching construction workers.

And here are some quotes by the kids.  None of them are by this darling boy, but this picture might bring a smile.  ***mwah!***

Austin calls me to "come out quick!"
He is huddled around a bunch of firebugs whose heads are all pointed inward.
Austin says, "Look, mom!  Those bugs are either eating... or praying.  Not sure which."

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Reading a book to Cole, Elise and Austin
Me:  "What does Baby see?"
Cole:  "Bay-Be-C-D-E-F-G..."
The three of us could not stop laughing

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Austin:  "DAD!!!  Why are we going into someone ELSE's garage?!?"
not quite used to the new house  :)

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Lucy:  "Mom!  My lips are scarred!"
All of us are trying to adjust to the humidity changes

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Lucy: "Mom, do you think there will be any Mormon kids in my new school?"
me:  "ummm....probably."
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Austin: "So me and Elise were playing with Kenny (our new neighbor... he's in Elise's school class) and we said, 'Why are you wearing a life jacket, Kenny?' and mom, you will never guess what he said.  He said, 'It's not a life jacket.  It's a coat without arms.'  Like a coat-vest.  Isn't that so funny?!?"

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different Kenny experience...
Elise:  "Erik and Cole like me to pick their nose.  hahahaha!"
Kenny:  "I don't even pick my nose."
Elise:  "I pick mine.  And I suck on my hair.  That's just how it is (with a shrug)."

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Took forgranted the ease of getting the kids out the door, "Just put on your slippers and go to the van!"  Now it is, "I can't find any socks.  Or shoes.  Or a coat.  Or a jacket.  Or gloves."  And after all that extra stuff, babies don't fit in carseats!

Disneyland Days

After saying goodbye to the things and people of HI, we headed off to the airport en route to our new home.  Austin met these two kids at the airport watching planes take-off.  They liked him so much they came and gave him a hug goodbye before their flight left.  Funny thing was that they didn't speak English, but somehow these boys had a special bond.  :)

Our van shipped to CA so we decided to make a stop at Disneyland.  The kids had never been there and it had been over 15 years for Geo and I. And I must say, the whole visit was quite magical.  Sure, we had our melt-downs, etc. but on the whole, it was really great.  It definitely exceeded George's expectations.  I loved seeing the looks on the kids faces as they saw different characters or had a blast riding certain rides (Cole would usually clap - so cute!).  It was a lot of fun to see Disneyland through the eyes of a kid.  I think part of the non-stress was actually that we didn't have an agenda.  We just kinda did whatever.  I'm guessing a lot of people have a plan for what they want to see and do, but with all the moving stress, we just didn't have the time to make one.  All we had was a map given to us by the AirForce and downloaded the Disney Wait Times ap.  And it turned out great!  We were there for 3 days... Liz and Natalie joining us for the last two days.  It was so fun to have them along!

loved all the Halloween-y decor

Reading Natalie's blog post got me motivated to post all this stuff, but I don't have enough ambition to put pictures in order.  Or write a whole ton.  But at least there are lots of photos that will hopefully trigger some memories for us.  

California Screamin'-
Lucy was so excited to go on this (kind of a shocker)
and Austin & Elise were ticked off they weren't tall
enough... until they saw the thing in real life.  Then
they were just fine about it.  :)
Lu is sitting by Geo here and I'm sure she's screaming!

Can't see Austin's head, but Splash Mountain was a
favorite for me.  I took him on the Matterhorn and that
was great too... but Austin didn't love either.  He said he
only loved the big splash at the end

One happy kid!

 

Princesses on parade-
kind of sad the girls missed this one

first ride - Peter Pan's adventure!

The first day was cold and rainy = less crowds.

Pull,Austin, pull!

Austin and Lu thought Autotopia was SO funny.
They laughed so hard at Lucy's crazy driving!

Not so happy moment

Lucy's favorite ride - Grizzly Bear River Run
She rode once each day and would have gone more if
she could have convinced more people it was fun to
be wet and cold.

 By the evening of the first day, Elise was done.  She hates to be cold.  But Austin and Lucy stayed with me for more fun at California Adventure.

New day...

Autographs!

I hate these drop-your-stomach rides... even the tiny ones.
They freak me out.

Loved Cole's faces on Mickey's Fun Wheel.
When we ask for "favorite rides", he says this one.

Elise was the only kid brave enough to ride the Tower of Terror.
And really, I wasn't brave enough.  I just pretended.  It was one of
those drop-your-stomach rides in disguise

lunch at New Orleans square -yum!
Liz was sweet enough to take the younger boys back to the hotel
for a much needed nap.

show those boys how it's done!

Haunted Mansion Halloween/Christmas style
(kinda missed the original)

Lu was kind of a surprise girl for me.  She was all gung-ho to go on the roller coasters, etc (I thought she'd be a chicken like I was) but hated the "theme-y" rides --- like Snow White.  Elise kept begging to go on that one just to bug her (and we did - but I had to stay outside with Lu).  Even seeing the shadow of Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty's castle freaked her out.  Austin kind of surprised me too.  He was willing to go on whatever ride we said we were going on (he's naturally a chicken too), but always analyzed it at the end, telling me which parts were "great!" and which were "not fun at all".  Elise missed the 42" cut off by less than 1/2".  Boo!  One lady even told me to buy some new shoes that were higher and maybe she'd pass.  Lame.  That meant she couldn't go on the Matterhorn and a couple more.  She was really sad about the Matterhorn, but a pretty good sport about the others.  Cole was great just to kind of go with the flow most of the time.  I love to watch him dance when he hears music.

Cars land was a definite hit for this boy!  He was in heaven!

As soon as the park opened, Geo got us Fast Passes for Radiator Springs racers.  We were supposed to come back 12 hours later!  Crazy!  But it was lots of fun.  Elise and Austin both said this was their favorite ride.  It ended up being a late night at the park, but a great ending to our Disney vacation!