Picnic!

I went to Costco while the kids were at school for their first day to get some much needed groceries. I got a box of individual sized chips and some stuff for a picnic so we could go to the oak for a picnic that night. I made everyone some chicken salad sandwiches and had them all pick a bag of chips to take. Ryker opened his bag and this is what we found inside...

Thanks Costco! Hahaha!

We went to Fuller Park over by Rylee's elementary school and after we ate our meal we played some frisbee while Ryker and Rylee wandered around the pond. I saw the shoes come off and the wading begin pretty quickly after they took off. After a while we went over to the playground so the kids could play a bit. This park has the coolest play structure that i have ever seen! It is a magnificent three story structure and looks like so much fun. We have not really been to this park before because we have two that are a lot closer but I think this one will be first choice from here on out!

I tried to take pictures of my loved ones while we were eating and as you can see most were not cooperative. Stinkers.

First Day of School Part 2

I planned my trip the way I did so that I could go to the Adele concert, be home for Rylee's first day of school and also be home for the others kids first day of school. I got home at 9:00 on Saturday night and Kenedy was the first to leave for school at 6:15 am Monday morning. She has early morning seminary this year because she was taking a full schedule with a lot of college prep and AP classes and was not able to fit in Seminary. I am proud of her for making the decision to do early morning without us telling her she has no choice. She enjoys seminary and knows how important it is for her to have. She also loves her teacher and that helps a lot. I got up early right before she was being picked up so I could get a couple of pictures. She was not thrilled with it because she couldn't wear a cute first day of school outfit. As a Jr she is part of the link crew which means she and a partner take freshman around on the first day of school for a tour. She was partners with her good friends Katie and Mckoi and they had to dress the same. They chose batman shirts and I thought she looked cute. Luckily I don't have to get up this early with her every day, she gets a ride with another girl in our ward who also takes early morning.

Avynlea and Ryker had to leave about an hour later for middle school. Oh the joy of three different school times. This is Ryker's last year in Middle School and Avynleas first year. They looked so cute and were ready to start their first days. 

After school I was waiting for them to come out and as I watched Avynlea coming out I thought how tiny she looked and how huge her binder looked. The poor thing has to carry a binder that is almost half her size! She decided to start carrying a backpack from then on out and I think it has made life a bit easier for her. Ryker and Avy are both signed up to be lunch helpers. At this point it is not even an option for them, they have to do it, free lunch and they get paid!? It's a no brainer. After school Avy told me she hated being a lunch helper because by the time she was done all of her friends had eaten and left and she had no one to eat with. I worried about that but the next day she said she just ate with about 4 or 5 other helpers all of whom are boys and all of whom she has known throughout the years from Chaparral. I am glad she was able to work it out and that she has some good guy friends to hang out with. 

Ryker is really enjoying being an 8th grader and loved that in the science lab they have a boom day for the first day. Boom day means lots of things get blown up and he thought that was cool. 

After I dropped Rylee off at school I drove to Parma to help Taylor decorate Talons classroom again. School for him started the next day and I only had a couple of hours because I had a house meeting later that afternoon I had to be at. We decided to go a little more math neutral this year and we got so much done and it all looked so cute! We did an amazing job! I did the Smores door and I liked how the fire and marshmallows turned out. On the marshmallows I had written different math terms. Taylor hand drew the Pi sign and I was really impressed! We put up the background paper on all the signs together and Talon cut all the letters out for us, that saved so much time.  I got the idea for the "We are Mathematicians" board from Heather. She is long term sub teaching a middle school science class and she is putting up on the wall letters that say "We are Scientists". I thought it was pretty clever of me to steal the idea and make it work for Talons room. When I had to leave about noon we had everything done and it looked pretty fantastic! Big pats on the back for us!

Fun Times in California

On Sunday JayLynn came to church with her hair straightened. I have never seen it straight before and it looked so cute and it was so long! While we were waiting for church to start I think I was looking on Pinterest and I found a cute braid that I told JayLynn we should try on her hair. She very excitedly agreed and later that evening I did the basket weave braid in her hair and it looked so pretty.!

Anita doesn't usually come to Mom's house for dinner on Sunday nights though her kids are there every week. This Sunday she came so we could spend some time together and I am so glad she did. I love this girl so much and am so happy she is my sister! She sent me this picture that she took of us at  Ashleigh's wedding.

I got to spend a lot of time with my Mom this week. Most of my sisters were already back to school teaching, Erin was the only one whose school hadn't started yet so she came over off and on for a couple of days. She brought some of her stamps and markers and we made a lot of cute cards together. On Tuesday Mom and I went and did a session at the Redlands Temple. It is a really pretty Temple and I always love being at any Temple with members of my family! I made sure to get a couple of pictures of us after we were done.

I sure do love Palm Trees! I only wish we could grow them in Idaho.

On Wednesday I got together with my friend Iris. Iris was my best friend all through middle school and high school. The last time we had seen each other was at our ten year reunion ten years ago. It was so nice to catch up and visit for a couple of hours. We went to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory where she paid and then we walked around the mall for a while laughing and chatting. We got our eyebrows threaded and it hurt a lot more then I hope I let on. I did love how my eyebrows looked afterward so I would most likely do it again sometime. After a while we headed back to the Cheesecake Factory where I treated both of us to some delicious cheesecake. It was a good afternoon visiting with my childhood friend. It felt like we were 16 all over again and that time had not passed at all. 

threaded eyebrows

On Thursday Mom and I drove to Moreno Valley to visit Stephanie and hang out in her classroom. Ashleigh was subbing at her school that day and was only doing a half day so she got to come and hang with us also. At lunch time we went to Taco Bell to get some food to bring back. Mom had to leave to go to a Drs appointment so she dropped us off with our food and left. After we ate Stephanie dragged me over to the dance room to see my former dance teacher who now taught at that school, Mrs McQuain. It was pretty surreal to see her, in high school I always thought she was a bit weird and Stephanie says she has not changed a bit. It was fun to tell her that I am a dance teacher as well.

Stephanie has Alyssa in her last class and it was fun to see her and take some pictures. Stephanie's last class is a free period and we spent the time talking and watching The Office.

Ashleigh, Stephanie and Elizabeth

Saturday was my flight home. My flight did not leave until 4 so I was able to go and watch my Nephew Alec scrimmage for football. I have never been able to watch him play and it was so nice to be able to actually see him do his thing. We cheered loudly for him and I know he liked it even though he said it was embarrassing. I just told him that is what Aunties do. I wish we lived closer so I could go to his games to watch and cheer. Oh the hardships of living far away. I wasn't able to get pictures of him while he was playing so I made sure to take a couple after. 

I had such a nice trip and although I missed my Husband and kids I was sad about leaving my family. I don't get to go down often at all and it makes it hard leaving not knowing when I will be back. I did pretty good keeping my emotions in check all day and then I came home and climbed into bed and bawled my eyes out. My kids were pretty excited to see me and visited with me while I unpacked. It is good to be home. 

Harry Potter World

A little while back Heather asked me if I wanted to go to Harry Potter World while I was in town. Pretty sure that was a no brainer and I excitedly said "YES"! Because a couple of my sisters had already started teaching school we could only go on the Saturday after the Adele concert. We were worried we would be really tired but decided we could suck it up for Harry Potter. Stephanie was not able to go this day so it was Me, Heather, Mom, Ashleigh and Erin. 

We bought our tickets at Costco and all they had were season pass tickets but the season pass tickets at Costco were cheaper then a one day pass at the gate, weird. 

I put on my Harry Potter shirt and hair bow and I was ready to go!!!

It was a bit of a walk from the parking lot to the main gates. Along the way I saw these beautiful palm trees and stopped to take a picture. California is on the coast but it is still really Desert and hot and though full of palm trees the palms that I was seeing were looking a little bit sickly. I was happy to see these palms because they looked really pretty and are the palms that I think of when I think of home. 

After a long wait in line just to get through the front gates at Universal Studios we made our way over to Harry Potter world and let the fun begin. We were all pretty giddy walking through the entrance to this magical world. We are all huge HP fans and it was so thrilling to see the town of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts castle right before our very eyes!  

Elizabeth, Erin, Heather and Mom marching in :)

Overall it was a really great replica of the town and castle. It was a lot smaller then I thought it would be but since it was a small part of a bigger amusement park that made sense. It was a really hot day and seeing the fake snow on all of the buildings was kind of funny to me.

I felt like I was going off to school on the Hogwarts Express with my backpack on. It would have been so cool to take a tour of the train but it was only a replica and not a complete one. Just there for the thrill and picture taking experience.

The first thing we did, and something we were so excited about, was to buy ourselves some butterbeer.  The drinks were being sold at an outdoor kiosk and we lined up so we could get some. They also had Pumpkin Juice for sale and I wanted to try some of that also but I decided to wait on it and just get the butterbeer. The pumpkin juice was a bit more spendy and I am glad I decided to wait, later on in the day I saw a man drinking some and I asked him what it tasted like. It sounds to me like it would be a more fruity drink which is pretty appealing but he said it tasted like pumpkin with spice. That did not sound good and I opted out of buying any at all. Mom did and the next day she poured everyone out a little and we all got to try some. That tiny amount was enough for me to know that I did not like it and am glad I did not buy an entire bottle for me to drink. I would have never finished it.

I was the first to get the Butterbeer and we decided we would all wait until everyone had one then we would take the first sip together. We were so excited to try it and it smelled so good! Just like a butterscotch. It was a fizzy drink with whipped cream on top.

Cheers!

Oh yum was that drink good! It tasted just how I expected it to taste, like a butterscotch cream soda. I really liked it and would have bought more if they were cheaper. I think the cream was the best part, it was so good, tasted like butterscotch cream, yum yum!

After we bought our drinks we decided to get in line for the "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" ride. It was saying it was a two hour wait so we wanted to get that long wait over with. The line wove in and out through trees and things that made me think it was supposed to be kind of like the forbidden forrest. At one point we walked by the Weasley's car and that was fun to see. 

We also saw different views of Hogwarts as we went around and around in the line. It was such a magnificent replica and I loved being able to see it!

In the top right picture above you can see the fan misters. They had these set out to spray over the line at different spots on our walk through the line. It was so hot outside that it was a nice relief when we were able to get in front of one of these. Unfortunately because of the moving line we could not stay in front of those misters for very long so that was a bummer. 

Once we got to the entrance of the castle is when things got really annoying. We were not allowed to take any bags or backpacks on the ride with us and so as we headed inside they directed us over to the right into a room filled with lockers to put our stuff into while we went on the ride. It was a madhouse inside that room, we did not have any direction and it was a free for all with getting lockers. People were all over the place packed inside this room trying to store their things. Mom and I handed our bags to the others and they braved the mob to get lockers. Once that was done you could go left out of the room to get to the ride or right out of the room and go through a shop. When I saw that I thought what was to stop people from skipping the long and hot line and just come through the shop, through the locker room and onto the ride? It was not organized at all and we were happy to finally be out of the locker room heading to the ride. Going through the castle was fun because we got to see so many things form the books and movies.

We  walked through Professor Sprouts Atriums and saw some Mandrakes

Inside the castle we walked by the jars holding the jewels keeping track of house points. Gryffindor is in the lead!

We had Harry, Ron and Hermione talking to us in the great hall and Dumbledore in his Headmasters Office. this is the gist of what was going on...

To enter the ride, guests walk through the gates of Hogwarts and begin their journey in the dungeons where they see items featured in the movies and books. Passengers enter through the castle doors, go to the lockers, queue outside in the green house and then enter the back castle doors. Objects recognizable from the series include the Mirror of Erised, the Hogwarts House Jewels and talking portraits. As guests proceed throughout the hallways, they encounter replicas of the rooms of Hogwarts castle, including the Headmaster's office, the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and the Gryffindor common room. In the Headmaster's office, Professor Dumbledore extends a warm welcome to all Muggles, informing them that Professor Binns is hosting a lecture on the history of the school. In the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, Harry, Ron, and Hermione appear from under the Invisibility Cloak, urging guests to meet them in the Room of Requirement in order to sneak everyone down to a Quidditchmatch. Ron tries to perform a magic trick which goes wrong, and one of several special effects, such as falling snow, is triggered. Before continuing on, visitors receive a safety reminder from the Sorting Hat and several paintings in the next two rooms.^[10]

The ride, once we got on, was fun but a bit extreme. This is how it is described online...

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey uses KUKA robocoaster technology, which allows the seats to pivot while being held above the track by a robotic arm. However, the ride is not a roller coaster but a scenic dark ride. The experience includes a flight around Hogwarts castle, an encounter with the Whomping Willow and a horde of Dementors, and a Quidditch match. The ride drops, spins around, twists and turns, but does not turn upside down, though passengers sometimes lie flat on their backs. Over-the-shoulder bars are used to secure guests in their seats, and a single parabolic metal bar is used as a hand grip.

Once we were done we all felt a bit queasy, it is an intense ride. We needed a bit of time after that ride to get our bearings back and so we walked around the shop a little bit and then headed outside and looked at all of the wands for sale at the wand kiosk. After that we went to use the bathroom which was fun and looked like the bathrooms from the movie, we even heard moaning Myrtle making mischief the there. We decided to go get something to eat and headed over to the Three Broomsticks for lunch.

What we found when we got their was another line. Ugh, too many lines. We had to wait in a line outside just to get into the restaurant so Heather and I stood in line, Mom sat down in the shade to wait because she was struggling after the crazy ride and Ashleigh and Erin looked in more shops. Finally we got to go inside only to find we had another line to get through. It went pretty quick though and Mom was able to come inside the air conditioned restaurant and Erin and Ashleigh joined us shortly thereafter. Once we got our food we were told their was not any more seating inside and we could wait at least a half hour to be inside or we could just go outside and sit out there. I was not wanting to sit out in that heat but we also did not want to wait any longer for a table so we chose the outside option. It was actually quite nice eating outside, it was shaded and we had an enjoyable time. All of the food was English food, I got the roasted chicken with fried potatoes and corn on the cob. It was so delicious and I got incredibly full eating it. 

After we ate we sat and rested a little bit more and then got up to wander around the shops. I was not thrilled with the layout of the shops, they were small and quite crowded. It was fun to see the different HP items they had for sale but it would have been a nicer experience with less people. After a while we decided to go on the other ride in Harry Potter world, "The Flight of the Hippogriff". Mom opts out since she was still not feeling well from the last ride. The ride was not as long which was nice and we got to see Hagrid's hut and his motorbike while we waited. We also spied Buckbeak the Hippogriff while we were on the ride.

Before...

After

This ride was a fun one. It was a roller coaster and although it was shorter then I would have liked it, it was a good one. 

After the ride we decided to buy some wands. Initially Heather and Erin were the only ones wanting to buy wands. But after looking at them all I fell in love with Luna Lovegoods wand and even though I have no idea what I am going to do with it I decided to buy one. I think Luna was a cool character in the books and movies and her wand just called to me. Ashleigh and Heather also got that one, Erin bought Fleur Delacour's and Mom bought Molly Weasleys. The sales staff were surprised that she wanted Molly's and said nobody has ever bought her wand before, they were not even sure where it was located. Too funny! 

After we bought the souvenirs we wanted we decided to venture out of Harry Potter World and go over to take the Studio Tours. It was a little over an hour wait but it was mostly under a shaded pavilion so it wasn't too bad. The ride was an hour long and it wasn't as fun as those of us who have done it before remembered. They highlighted Jaws, Bates Motel, Jurassic World, a San Fransisco earthquake and The Fast and the Furious. The only pictures I took were of the cars from the Fast and the Furious movies for Kefford. Although it was not as great as we were hoping it to be it was nice to sit down for an hour. 

After that it was toward the end of the day and we were exhausted and ready to go home. I was so tired and slaphappy from the lack of sleep I had the past couple of days and Heather was telling us a story about something she did as a kid that made me laugh so hard I was crying. I later retold the story to my kids and none if us found it as funny as I did when I was so completely tired. I tend to get a bit hysterical when I am that tired and will manifest it with either uncontrollable laughter or tears. Luckily it does not happen that often.

It was a fun day and I am glad I got to experience it with my Mom and Sisters. I want to someday go back with Kefford and the kids but will have to save up quite a bit for it. I thought the experience was fun but did think things were a lot overpriced.

Adele!

A couple of days after Rylee had her first day of school I packed my bags and headed to California. Many, many months ago Heather asked me if I would be able to go online and try to get tickets to see Adele in concert. Heather has always been able to get all of our concert tickets before but this time she was going to be teaching and really couldn't stop that to try for tickets. We knew that Adele tickets were in high demand and selling out so fast and so I was pretty nervous about the pressure of being the one to try for tickets but I stepped up to the plate to give it my best shot. It was on a Thursday and I had my Adult dance class and then a Kinderstars dance class that I had to be at eventually. When I went to the ticket buying website it put me in a virtual waiting room after I put in the information it needed. Once I was in that waiting room it was just a matter of waiting, and waiting, and waiting. A good couple of hours of waiting. I was starting to get really nervous because I was still waiting and I had to leave for dance class. I had already sent a text to my friend and told her I was going to either be very late for adult class or miss it altogether but I would be there for Kinderstars. It was getting down to the wire and I had just sent a text to Heather saying I had to leave and I did not think it was going to happen. She wrote back that she understood and that so many people were trying to get tickets that it was more common for people not to get tickets then it was for them to be successful. I felt bad but what can you do? I was trying my best. I was just about to close up shop when my screen changed and I WAS IN! I could not believe it, I was so excited and in a bit of shock to be truthful. I hurriedly put in emails and credit card information and once I received confirmation that I had successfully bought four tickets I sent a pic of my screen to send to Heather. We were so excited! 

Last year I missed Kenedy and Rykers first day of school because my solo California trip fell during that time. I didn't want that to happen again so I booked my flight to fall between Rylee's first day of school and the other kids first day of school. After I booked my flights I found out that Kefford's little sister got engaged and her wedding was the day I fly home. The problem being I was not flying in until late saturday night, I was going to miss all of it, the sealing, family pictures and the reception. I considered changing my ticket to get back the day before but it would cost me $100 to make the change and so although I felt bad for not being there, it is what it is and sometimes you miss out on things. 

As I was waiting to get off the airplane in California I took a few selfies.

Friday night was the night of the concert and Mom, Heather, Ashleigh and I were the lucky ones to be able to go. I wish I could have bought more so more sisters could have come but I was only allowed four, booo. We ate dinner in LA at Smashburger which is so good and right down the street from the venue, The Staples Center. Once we got inside we went to get our Adele shirts and I really like the one I got. We went to find our seats and discovered we were at the very top of the nose bleeds. The very top, no one behind us, we were it, the furthest up you could go. 

I was trying to get  a picture of me and Heather but the lights were making weird shadows on my face. I thought it was funny but once I took that picture I wanted one without the crazy shadows. Ashleigh was nice to take a better picture of us then I took one of her and Mom and then we took one altogether.

One thing I liked about her concert was she did not have any warmup bands. I liked that we could sit and visit and not have to listen to bands we don't care about and usually playing music I don't like. Adele was a little late coming out but once she did it was amazing! She has such a beautiful voice and I loved listening to her English accent while she was talking. I could understand most of what she was saying while she was on the main stage but at one point she moved to the center stage and while she was talking over there none of us could understand any of it. This woman, when she talks, talks a lot. So while she was on the middle stage talking she was talking a lot, like going on and on for ten plus minutes with us up in the bleeds not understanding a bit of it. All I know was that what she was saying was really funny because those that could hear her were laughing quite a bit. I understood her songs though and really enjoyed her concert a lot. I was happy to be there and to be there with my Mom and sisters was quite the fun night!