Lentil Festival 2011 & Surgery

Due to the loss of our camera, I hardly got any pictures from the Lentil Festival. We did go to the Friday night street festival, but it wasn't that much fun. It's the same every year. What makes it great is being with some friends or it being someone's first time. That's how it's been the last 3 years.

The kids did enjoy themselves.

Brody would have played in the lentil and water buckets the whole time if we let him.

The parade was great for the kids. They got tons of candy and the boys loved looking at all the movement.

We forgot to get a picture of the big bowl of chili the night before, so here it is. We did partake of the chili, but I swear they make it more spicy each year. Brody got grumpy, so we headed home after the parade for a nap.

In other news, Braden has had a nasty ear infection (staff infection actually) for the past month. We finally have it under control, but not after 5 trips to his pediatrician and a final visit to his ENT. After doing a hearing test and having him fail it, the ENT decided he needed new tubes in his ears, as well as getting his tonsils and adenoids out. This will take place on Sep. 12th. Our boys LOVE us spending money on medical issues. We are so blessed. We do feel great about the surgery and look forward to having a new little boy. More updates to come once the surgery occurs.

As for now, we are headed to Oregon City for Labor Day weekend. My whole family (minus the missionary) will be here this weekend. Braden has been excited about seeing Grandma and Grandpa for over a week now. He asks everyday if today is the day we leave. Now he's asking if dad is home yet so we can leave. More posts to come on our trip. We bought a new camera, so expect tons of pictures.

San Diego: Legoland

Our final day was spent in Legoland. So far this has been Braden's happiest place on earth (mine being Disneyland). I forgot to mention that Blake dropped our camera the day before at the beach. Sand and cameras don't work, so it broke. Kara let us borrow her camera for the day.

This is how Braden felt when we got into the park and saw what it had to offer.

We started off at the Safari ride. It was a long line, but the great thing about Legoland is that they have spots filled with Lego's for the kids to play while the adults wait. The thing we hated about Legoland is that you have to be 36 inches to ride just about everything, even with an adult. Brody was too small, so he was only able to ride a couple of things. It just didn't make sense. There was no reason Brody couldn't have gone on the safari with us.While we were waiting in line I heard someone call my name. It was Blake's cousin. We haven't seen her (Jennifer) for a good 2 years. She had flown out from Utah with her kids for a 2 day adventure at Legoland. It was so fun to see her.
Braden loved the ride and seeing the animals. Of course all the animals were made out of Lego's.

After the safari ride we went to the sand pit to play while Kara took her kids on the ride. Blake was getting ready to take a picture of Braden and I being eaten by a T-Rex when he dropped Kara's camera. Yep, he broke it. 2 cameras in 2 days. The rest of the pictures were taken by his phone (no, he didn't brake it).

Devin and Evelyn playing the musical instruments.

Next up, the only ride Brody could do. The farm train. Lego corn.

Brody and Evelyn enjoying the sights.

Blake even had to get in on this action.

They had a really fun area for the kids to run around and play. Braden threw me in jail.

There was also a fire station with a fire pole. Braden jumped on and slid right down. He's never done that before. Blake and I can't remember teaching him this.

Brody playing in a Lego area while the Braden goes on a ride.

Braden driving a Lego car (blue car). He did great. We were surprised. Some kids ran into the wall, but not our speed demon.

Brody driving his car. No, it didn't move.

This was another silly rule. There were weight and height requirements for this ride. Braden met all of them. They also had an age requirement. You had to be 4, why, we don't know. Yes, we did lie and yes, Braden did LOVE it.

The last picture before the phone ran out of memory, which is a bummer because I wish we could have taken pictures of Mini Legoland.

They had major cities built our of Lego's. New Orleans, New York City, Las Vegas, and a couple more. They were very detailed and all built out of Lego's. These had to of taken months, if not years to build. You can go to here to look at some of the cities. It was quite amazing.

After Legoland we headed straight to the airport. We were sad to go, but it was time. I am sure Kara and Doug wanted their house back. Our flight left at 7pm. Our goal was for the boys to sleep. They didn't until the last hour of the flight. I started to get a sinus infection, so my head hurt under the pressure. I was crying on our final descent into Spokane. That means something because I am not a crier. In good news, Braden and I looked out the window while leave the Orange County airport. They fly directly out to see and then turn around. Braden and I saw a whale. It was so cool to see. Worth it!

It was a great trip and we can't thank the Steffy's enough. It was busy, relaxing, and exciting all in one. We love you guys and look forward to visiting you in San Antonio in a couple of years.

San Diego: Kayak Tour, Beach & Girls Night

Kara decided the boys needed some guy time so that we could have some girl time. Boy was she right. Blake and Doug headed out for a Kayaking/Snorkeling adventure. They swam with leopard sharks (they don't bite), seals and went exploring through caves. Blake LOVED it. The girls headed down a little later and met up with them when they were done.

Doug buried Braden in the sand. Braden thought this was so cool.

He didn't last for long though. He's not one to completely let himself stay in dirt.

Evelyn built a cute little sandcastle.

And this boy.

What do I even say?

Just a quick note about the cousins (that's the easiest way to explain it to Braden. Aunt Kara, Uncle Doug and the cousins). Evelyn is so stinkin cute. Braden and Evelyn got along so well. She loves girly stuff, but mostly, she loves playing whatever. I did have some good quality my little pony time with her. She makes me excited to have a girl.

And then there's Devin. He's all boy, just like Braden. They also got along very well. We honestly thought they'd fight more than they did. They had minor spats, but nothing huge that lasted more than 2 seconds. I wish we lived closer because I know Braden would love spending more time with him. We've been home almost 2 weeks now and he still asks if we can play with Devin and Evelyn.

After several hours at the beach (I also swam with the sharks. They weren't that far out from the shoreline. It was very freaky, even though they didn't bite, they are still sharks) we headed home. The girls got all dolled up and headed out for dinner and a movie. We went to a place called Beaches and just talked for more than an hour. It was SO nice.

After dinner we went and watched "CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE." There are a couple of questionable parts, but it was so funny and very cute. We all fell in love with Ryan Gosling. How can you not? This is a definite see again movie. (I hope it doesn't offend anyone who sees it.) We came home to kids asleep and husbands relaxing. We stayed up way too long and visited even more. I sure love my family.

San Diego: Harbor & Mission Bay

Saturday was another jammed packed day. It started out by taking some good old fashion kickboxing in the morning, which was SO fun. We came home and got ready and then headed to San Diego Harbor. We explored the harbor for a little while until our boat was ready for the tour.

The kids making their own slide.
They did this for awhile.

There was a huge Air Craft Carrier. You could tour it, but we didn't have time. It was really cool to see. Blake really wanted to go on. Next time we go down, I promised him we'd make time.

They had statues everywhere. This was a favorite. You can tell we duplicated it. Braden and I did too.

Mallory and Brody playing on the Bob Hope statues.

Finally it was time for our harbor tour. We went on the north end. As you can tell, it was windy.

Kara & Devin

Blake got to enjoy the scenery most of the time thanks to me and Mallory.

Some hot spots.

Braden and Evelyn got sick of the wind on top, so Mallory took them downstairs for awhile. I took over after awhile.

The kids enjoyed dancing on the floor. Braden especially enjoyed hip hopping. (Thanks Zay)

Our cute little family.

After the boat tour we headed to Mission Bay. This may sound familiar because this is where Sea World is located. We could actually see the big arena from the beach we were on. There were huge fire pits. We roasted hot dogs, marshmallows and let the kids play. The great hostesses.

Loving the sand again.

Just enjoying ourselves.

We were all exhausted by the time we got home. The kids went to bed pretty easily. Thank goodness it was Sunday the next day. I think we all needed a good rest.