Kiersten’s Blog

We’ve been having so much fun lately that I haven’t had time to blog!  Now I feel like I’m so far behind I don’t know where to start.  I’ll give a brief synopsis of what we’ve been up to and you can go check out more details over at sandiegoforfamilies.wordpress.com.  But don’t expect much to be up tonight.  I’m still in recovery mode.

Anyway, last Friday was dress-like-a-cow-day at Chick-fil-A.  By doing so, they hook you up with a free meal.

We found out about this day last year and London thinks it’s a national holiday.  She asks me probably monthly when the next dress-like-a-cow-day will be.  When I found out about it this year, I knew we had to go.  The kids thought it was great and I’m not one to ever turn down free food, especially from Chick-fil-A so I’ll say the evening was a success.  It was followed by a nice evening with the Porters/Orlandos/Bakers where we celebrated Derek and Courtney’s engagement!  Again, a successful evening.  On Saturday we were able to be in the temple with Holli as she received her endowments.  What a wonderful experience!  I love the temple.

On Monday we took our first post-broken elbow beach trip.  London still wore her splint, but that didn’t keep her out of the water or the sand.  She’s healing nicely and hopefully in a week she’ll be back to normal.  For now, she has to take the splint off every day and move her elbow around.  Then she sleeps without the splint.  So we’re making progress.  But back to the beach.  I’m excited that we can actually start going again.  London had a great time playing in the sand, even with our sad, sad collection of sand toys (which included a shovel and a pail and a watering can).

"Look, Mom! I have a mermaid tail!"

Ashton wanted nothing to do with the sand, but everything to do with the water.

We even saw a nasty looking beached jelly fish.  Yuk.

Tuesday was our preparation day for Disneyland on Wednesday.  We had a great time!  Taylor’s whole family (minus Denver who’s in India on a mission) was there.

I told London that we would spend time seeing the characters rather than riding rides since, at the time, I didn’t really know what her elbow situation would be.  She was fine with that.  Sure, we went on a few rides, but the lines we stood in the longest were for the characters.

Ashton was so excited to see Micky and Flynn Rider.  FYI, the Rapunzel/Flynn Rider line was 90 minutes.  And we stood in it.  I think we deserve a medal.

Please don't tell Ashton to smile in a picture. This is what you get.

Anyway, we left around 10 (after World of Color) and stayed in a hotel in Anaheim (thanks to a good friend and a hook-up).  What a fun little trip!

Today I took the kids on our weekly zoo trip.  In case you’re wondering, I’m pretty tired.  We’ve had a great week!

This Memorial Day, I thought it would be a good idea to teach the kids what the holiday is actually about.  Taylor had a rehearsal this morning so we couldn’t leave until after lunch.  We spent the morning hanging out and reading books.  I love it when my kids get along so well.  London loves reading and Ashton loves being read to.  Once Taylor got home, we headed out to Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.  Living in a military town, I’m often reminded how many people really give up so much so that the rest of us can have freedom.  I feel so blessed to live in a country that honors that freedom.  Since my kids are still quite young, it was hard to explain to them the reasons behind Memorial Day, but I think going to the cemetery helped.

It was awesome to see each grave marker with a flag in front of it (but don’t tell anybody that Ashton kept stealing flags.  Don’t worry, I put them back).  I also think this particular cemetery is just incredible.  One side overlooks the San Diego bay and the other side looks over the Pacific Ocean.  It’s quite a sight.  I think these service men and women deserve to be honored in such a beautiful way.

After we left the cemetery, we drove downtown and spent a couple of hours at the New Children’s Museum.

We haven’t been for a while and things have changed a bit.  We had a great time!

Ashton wasn't so sure about the chariot

The place wasn’t busy at all so the kids were able to really enjoy themselves.  I’m pretty sure everybody else in the city was at the beach.  It looked like that’s where all the traffic was headed.

When the museum closed, we had a couple of hours to kill before my appointment at the Apple Store (my iPod was having charging issues) so we went to El Torito for dinner.

We scored a great deal on food, as I had a coupon (0f course) and we shared meals.  Oh, and the food was taking a bit longer than normal so they brought us some free soup.  But more than the great deal, El Torito was the perfect place to go on an American holiday because the place was empty!  It was quiet (except for us) and we were able to enjoy our food without a lot of noise.  Maybe we’ll go Mexican for the 4th of July this year!

Next, we hit up the Apple Store where I got a new (probably refurbished) iPod and we went home.  My kids love the Apple Store since they get to sit on ball-like chairs and play on the computer while we have our gadgets worked on.  I was realizing today that even though we’re Apple people, I don’t think we’ve ever bought anything at their retail store.  Kind of strange.  Anyway, Ashton crashed in the car on our way home.  It was a long, but fun day.  It makes me excited for the summer!

While we were on our trip, we celebrated Taylor’s birthday.  We happened to be in Zion that day and I told him that I would do any hike he wanted to.  My parents were nice enough to watch the kids for us.  He wanted to take me on the Angel’s Landing hike.  If you are unfamiliar with Zion National Park, you wouldn’t know much about this hike, so let me tell you.  People die on it.  Taylor and his dad and brother hiked it two years ago.  They took a slew of pictures and even videos.  After watching the videos and seeing the pictures, I decided that that rock would never be one I would conquer.  In fact, I was mad at them for taking the pictures and videos because THEY COULD HAVE DIED!!!  It was that scary just looking at that stuff.  The hike itself is 2.4 miles each way.  That, I thought, was do-able.  The part that I didn’t think would be, was the rock climbing-holding-onto-the-chain-(or not)-with-a-1000-foot-drop-on-either-side part.  Not my idea of a good time.  But Taylor wanted to do it and I wanted to make him happy.  I was really nervous about the whole adventure for days beforehand.  Still, I persisted.  Friday morning rolled around and we hopped on the shuttle before the kids were up.  We wanted to be some of the first ones on the trail.  It was a strenuous hike, but I’m probably in the best shape I’ve ever been in, so I felt confident and good.  We made it to Scout Lookout without much trouble.  Then I looked ahead and got a bit worried.

But I had psyched myself up before hand and I couldn’t stop there.  I had to make it to the top!  So we went the last half mile.  I looked one step ahead the whole time and held on for dear life to that little chain.  And I made it!

I think I can do anything now.  The view was spectacular, although I didn’t enjoy it as much as I would have liked, just because I was a little freaked out.  Taylor showed me a spot where they had taken pictures when he climbed it with his dad and brother 2 years ago and I wouldn’t even let him get near it.  Those guys are CRAZY!  The whole thing was quite an adventure.

Do you see me?

I’m so glad I did it.  I’m proud to say that I conquered the rock.

Just a side note: On our way up we passed a couple climbing with their two kids.  They were on the switchbacks.

I thought they were crazy (and brave) then, but we passed them again on the way down and I thought they were even crazier.  They were going all the way to the top!  I was sure they would have stopped at Scout Lookout, but no.  They had to make it.  The dad was carrying a backpack with his probably 3 year old son, and the mom was carrying a probably 18 month old girl in a Moby Wrap on her front.  I can tell you I won’t be doing that anytime soon.

We spent Easter in Hemet again this year.  It seems to be the way it works out every year and I don’t mind.  We were on our way home from our vacation the day before and stopped in Northridge at Taylor’s aunt’s house where they were having a family party.  We had lots and lots of yummy food and the kids had a blast in the pool (but not Ashton.  I didn’t let him get in.).  We even had an Easter egg hunt.

I can NOT believe how many eggs were hidden in that yard.  I’m sure Paul and Kristi will still be finding them for months.

My kids came home with tons of candy.  It didn’t take long for Ashton to get right in there with the big kids and load his bag full.  What a fun time!

After the family party in the valley, we went to Hemet to spend the night.  Denver gave his last talk in church on Sunday before he leaves on his mission to India.  He did a great job.  I’m so excited for him!  He’ll be a fabulous missionary.  Taylor and London also sang in church.  I loved it, as did everybody else there.  I think I need to do a better job of teaching my children what Easter is all about.  We talk so much about the Savior at Christmas time, but for some reason, the build-up to Easter isn’t as Christ-focused as it should be.  Really, the resurrection of Christ is the most important event.  Ever.  We did have a family home evening about it the next day so I think that helped.  I’ll do better next year, I hope.

It was obviously not possible for me to get a good picture of both of my kids together in their Easter outfits. But they did look cute!

I spent the day at church with Ashton in the nursery.  I think he would have been okay, but somehow he hurt his foot and wouldn’t walk all day.  Poor guy.  And when that happens with him, it’s tough because he is not small at all.  Carrying that kid around is not easy to do.  It’s a good thing Papa was around to take the brunt of the work.  We had a nice time, but we’re so glad to be home.

We stayed two nights at the Grand Canyon, but really only spent part of one day there.  We woke up early (since that’s what my kids do) and drove into the park.  We stopped at a lot of look-out points along the road to the village.

It was incredible, but also very scary for me.

I think I would have enjoyed it more if my kids were older and I wasn’t so freaked out about them falling off the edge.  We stopped at one spot and started to hike down the canyon.

Ashton was in a backpack that Taylor was carrying and was throwing a fit saying, “WALK!  WALK!” the whole way, while London was whining because she wanted to ride.  Needless to say, we didn’t go far.  We found a nice big rock on the edge of a cliff and ate our sandwiches before heading back up.  At that point, we decided to drive down to Sedona (which I don’t have many pictures of because at this point my camera battery was almost dead).  It was a bit of a drive, but I’m glad we took it.  (I’m also glad my parents were nice enough to take our car with our kids so we could drive in peace.)  It was a beautiful place.  We didn’t do anything there, though, because we were getting hungry and wanted to make it back to the Grand Canyon before sunset.  We stopped in Flagstaff for dinner, then pulled into the parking lot at Grand Canyon Village just as the sun was going down.

We ran to the lookout point just after the sun had disappeared.  It was still quite spectacular, although I wish we would have made it just 5 minutes earlier.

Next up: Zion

We were lucky enough to have Taylor’s spring break fall on the same week as London’s (and my mom’s) so we could take a trip together!  When we realized that it would work out, we decided on the Grand Canyon and Zion.  We found out later that it was fee free week.  Bonus!  My aunt was kind enough to take care of my grandma for the week so we could spend the vacation with my parents.  They left on Saturday and hit a couple of other national and state parks in Utah before meeting up with us.  We left from Hemet on Tuesday and headed toward the south rim of the Grand Canyon, stopping in Lake Havasu for lunch.

We had a picnic under the London bridge.  London was quite excited to be there.

It was a nice break in the drive.

We didn’t stop long, and continued our drive toward the big hole.  We made it to the hotel before my parents and geared up for the prospect of a fun day the next day.

Yesterday I was freaked out by this:

Yes, folks, that is my 5-year-old standing on the edge of one of the biggest cliffs in the world.

Tomorrow I will be freaked out because I will be looking down from the top of one of these (I don’t know, maybe it’s not really one of these, but a similar one):

As mentioned in a previous post, we have been on music overload here, which means that we have been really, really busy.  Friday evening was our concert with Jenny Oaks Baker.  I really enjoyed working with her.  She seems so genuine.  Taylor’s parents came to listen to the performance.  They brought Denver with them, who took our kids back to Hemet and took care of them until we got there, which was quite late.  The next morning, Ashton was up at 5:30.  I had Taylor hand him to me and I snuggled with him for a little while until he wouldn’t anymore.  Then I took him out into the family room to let Taylor sleep a little longer.  By 6:30, London was awake so we went upstairs with her.  I went back downstairs for a minute to get my glasses since the kids wanted to read books.  When I came back up, they were both sitting on the trundle bed with their feet under the other bed, bouncing up and down while London read books to Ashton.

It was really cute.  Then when Taylor woke up, I made him take over so I could go back to bed . . . until 10:30!  I can’t remember the last time I slept that late.

Saturday night was also a late one.  We went to the temple with Denver for the first time.  I was glad that we could be there and be part of that special experience for him.  Again, it was late when we got back.  We had a babysitter so the kids weren’t with us, but we did have to get up early Sunday morning so that we could make it back home for our 9:00 church 100 miles away.  We made it with time to spare, but we were all quite tired.  I don’t think any of us have recovered fully yet.  With all of the sleeping on the floor that Ashton has been doing, he didn’t want to sleep in his bed last night.  He wanted to sleep on the floor.  So I let him.

Notice the train in his hand?

I put him in his crib once he was asleep.  I’m glad that he does so well on the floor, though.  That will definitely make our traveling this spring and summer much easier.  Maybe it’s time for a big boy bed?

Today was a successful day.  I don’t think I heard whining all day and I spent the whole day with my kids.  How does that happen?  First, we started off with homemade blueberry muffins.  Ashton was happy because he ate blueberries.  London was happy because instead of me putting blueberries in her muffins, I gave them to Ashton to eat and she got blueberry-less muffins.  After a successful breakfast and even happy baths, we set sail for our many adventures today.  We dropped Taylor off at his office and went to a birthday party.  I thought it might be raining and that would have been a shame because the party was at a park and the rain would have ruined the rest of our day plans as well.  We lucked out with a nice sunny day.  The party was a hit.  After we finished up there, we picked up Taylor and dropped him off at a rehearsal.  We killed time by hanging out with the toys at Ikea.  Once again, we picked up Taylor, but this time we got to keep him to ourselves and we all went to the harbor where we could visit the Maritime Museum.

The Maritime Museum is home to 8 or so ships.  For the price of admission, you can tour these ships.  The Star of India is their prized possession and is the world’s oldest active ship.

It was first launched in 1863 and now sits in the San Diego harbor.  It also sails about once a year.  We also toured a couple of other ships, an old yacht from the early 1900s, some replicas of old ships, and two submarines.

My goofy kids in the bathroom on the sub

The kids were really excited to be on the boats.  Ever since I mentioned it last week, I couldn’t even say the word “boat” or Ashton would go crazy.  I didn’t learn a whole lot about any of the ships so it’s good that I was given a pamphlet before hand so that I could read about them when we got home.  Mostly the kids just wanted to run around and look at everything, not caring much for the historic value of these “pirate ships” (that’s what London thought they were).  London was more than excited that there were cannons on board.

We stopped at McDonalds for dinner on the way home and Target to spend London’s allowance money on a new princess doll.  We came home with two very happy, very tired children.  What a fun day!

For more pictures, go here.

Last Saturday we spent the day at the Mormon Battalion celebration.  Every year there is a commemoration celebration in Old Town near where the museum is.  We went for the first time last year.  London loved it.  There were lots of fun things to do, food to eat, dolls, bricks and rope to make, and games to play.  She had a great time last year, but the thing we heard about most was how she just wanted to dress up.  Why couldn’t she have a pioneer costume like all these other people she saw walking around?  Well, if you recall , she was granted her wish and received a pioneer costume for Christmas (or maybe I failed to mention previously that Taylor’s mom made her a pioneer costume for Christmas).  She was really excited to wear it to the celebration this year.  Taylor and I both dressed up too, as we were performing with a group of musicians on stage.  Taylor was the bass player and I was the fiddler in a band, although I feel like I fail miserably every time I try to fiddle.  I’m so out of my element.  Taylor’s parents, Denver, and Denver’s girlfriend took care of the kids while Taylor and I did our stuff.  After we were done, Taylor took off to another rehearsal and I stayed with everybody else.  We ate some lunch and went on a tour of the museum, which we have done multiple times.

But for London, it never gets old.  She really loves it, and it was especially exciting for her to be dressed up this year.  And to top it all off, we rode the trolley home (Taylor’s family and our kids rode it there too).  A fun time was had by all, although an hour-long train ride with a 1-year-old is pushing the limits of fun.