Newport Beach: Part 1

We went on our first family road trip! 

Destination: Newport Beach

Distance: 707 miles

Driving Time: 11 hours

We left Friday night after dinner and stopped in St. George for the night. When we pulled into St. George, we noticed that our AC fan was making grinding noises. We decided to have it looked at first thing in the morning. We spent the night at the Red Lion Hotel. We got a good deal on the hotel through Priceline Express Deals, but we were a little disappointed in the quality of the hotel. We had 2 queen beds, so P1 and I shared a bed, and P2 and dad shared a bed. We kept the kids up during the drive, so they would crash when we got to the hotel. But alas, they hardly slept. P2 kicked dad all night, and P1 would randomly give me kisses and hugs. Silly kids!

First thing in the morning, I took the car into a repair shop. They replaced the blower motor for a couple hundred dollars. More than we wanted to pay, but we were still feeling good that we were able to get it fixed so quickly (under an hour).

We left around 10 am for Las Vegas. We stopped at Memphis Championship BBQ for a delicious lunch. Then we stopped at Duck Creek Park for the kids to play. It was a nice park with a splash pad.

It was very hot! So we got back in the car, ready to drive the rest of the way! Well, about 45 minutes outside of Baker, California, our AC completely died. It was hot and miserable. Baker is the only town close by, and they have 1 auto repair shop. So we made the stop, and learned our AC compressor was busted. And they could fix it that same day for a mere $1300. Yikes!!!

Well, we got the kids inside the air conditioned gas station, and got some drinks to cool down. We considered driving to Barstow (an hour away) to get it fixed for cheaper. We made some calls, and learned it would cost about the same. And did I mention it was 110 degrees outside? An hour ride would have been miserable.

We decided to have them fix it, but turns out they had to send someone to Barstow to get the parts. We were stuck in Baker for 7 hours, with 2 toddlers. What a nightmare!!! I kept wishing that I would wake up!

The kids really did pretty well. We watched a lot of shows on my kindle. At one point, P2 was throwing a fit, and I was trying to hold her. She just kept screaming and crying. One of the ladies that was working at the Subway in the gas station came over and gave the kids Zootopia stickers. It was so nice of her, and I may or may not have started crying.

At one point, I cried out in my mind for Heavenly Father to let me see His hand, and know He was aware of us. Instantly, my phone received a text message from a friend asking how the trip was going. I was able to vent to her, and feel better about things. It is easier to go through trials when we know that Heavenly Father is watching over us.

We survived the ordeal and were back on the road at 8:30 pm. We pulled into the beach house at 11:30 pm, tired and exhausted!

Note to self: Next time rent a car!!!! (If there ever is a next time...)

Somersaults

My kids learned to do somersaults! P1 accidentally did one after falling off a little rocking chair. The rocking chair gave him the right momentum to do it.  P2 picked it up quickly, without the rocking chair. After much practice, P1 could finally do it without the rocking chair too.

After perfecting normal somersaults, they decided to do somersaults on dad.

The Zoo

Our friends invited us to the zoo one day, and we were excited to go! P1 enjoyed climbing on all the animal statues.

We got to see the elephants do tricks! 

We even got to ride the train this time, which the kids enjoyed. And their favorite animal was the giraffe! They have a baby giraffe at the zoo, and they also have some cute lion cubs.

Odds and Ends: May

P2 found her brother's kimono, and decided she wanted to wear it. She was pretty adorable in it!

 Sleeping beauty:

We found a fun Thomas hat for P1 at the store. So we pulled out another hat for P2. It's a hat that P1 has never liked. But of course, as soon as we let P2 have it, he threw a fit!

P2 always puts her hats on backwards. Just cool like that I guess.

P1 was assigned his first primary talk. So we have been practicing this week. We built a podium for him, and he really likes it. All day long he will pretend he is in primary. He likes to pretend to be the adults in primary and give announcements, etc.

Funny story. So P1 likes to chew on his shirts a lot. One day I kept telling him to stop, to no avail. Finally I told him that if he didn't stop then I would put hot sauce on his shirt! He said "No mom, that would be a bad example. That would be making a bad choice." Isn't it fun to have little parrots in the house? 

Our Very Own Park

We love having our very own park. Well....sometimes we do.

This is P2 pouting...at the park. A frequent occurrence. The park provides us with lots of happy moments, but also many sad ones. P2 gets mad when I stop going down the slides with her, or stop swinging with her on my lap. P1 has been such a good brother, and tries to get her to play with him. Sometimes it works....sometimes.

We've made lots of friends at the park. And P2 loves to tell everybody all about the park. She gets so excited about it. When we walk over to park, she runs and screams "PARK...PARK...PARK" at the top of her lungs.

P2 finally learned to climb this green ladder by herself. I used to have to lift her leg up to get her started. One time, I was chatting with another mom, and I noticed her by the green ladder. She was standing there tugging on her pants because she was trying to lift up her leg. It was pretty funny.

 

I always count when we go down the slide. In this video you can hear P2 counting. However, she will only ever say "3, 4, 3, 4" no matter how many times I try to get her to start with 1 and 2.

Anniversary: Celebrating 8 Years

We celebrated 8 years of marriage in style! With crazy socks and matching t-shirts, we went to PE's first work party (at his new job) that was on the night of our anniversary. We figured we ought to go, and meet all the families of PE's new coworkers. 

The party was a fundraiser for well-loved man in the office that was diagnosed with cancer. It was a "Sock It to Cancer" fundraiser, hence the crazy socks. The event was at TopGolf, a brand new golfing experience in Utah. This was a soft opening, and it officially opens May 20. It was a lot of fun, and family friendly. It's like bowling, but with golf.

It was fun night, not to mention free! We really like the people at PE's new work, and I love that they do family friendly work parties.

PE also brought me beautiful flowers! 

We have been very blessed in our marriage. I am so grateful to have a wonderful husband by my side!

Wedding

We went to my cousin's wedding on Saturday. We are very happy for him and his new wife! It was great to see extended family. P1 and P2 really enjoyed the water features, blowing bubbles, and eating treats.