Belated Birthday Bash!!

With so much happening during the month of April we had to move Madi's friend party to the end of the month. Well, a celebration is fun anytime - right? Madi didn't seem to mind and neither did her friends.  We headed off to NickelCity for a grand time. I couldn't believe how quickly 100 nickels per girl could be spent.

Luckily, tickets were coming out almost as fast as nickels were being put in.  Too bad the prizes require enormous amounts of tickets.

The party continued at our house with pizza, ice cream, and a cookie(s) birthday cake...Madi's request.

 A few more friends joined in later...

Happy Birthday Wonderful Madi! You are so loved!

Post Finals BBQ

Finals are done! Kayli has moved home! Suddenly it feels like summer! Well, for some of us.

Great high school friends who have all attended
BYU-Hawaii together and apart.  Now, they have new adventures ahead...one is going on a mission, one got accepted into the BYU dietetics program, one is getting married in 3 weeks, one is going on study abroad...

...good times

Girls Break after Spring Break

We had a girls trip planned for the Friday following spring break. Lucky for me, I had a buddy pass (swa ticket) from my brother and I flew to Southern Cal for a few days. The weather was a little cloudy especially at Newport Coast (where we stayed), but we still had a fantastic time. My three sisters and my Mom all met there.  We got to go out to eat, walk along the beach, play games, shop and sit by the pool in overcast weather - still very relaxing and fun! It's definitely a trip I look forward to every year!

Breakfast at the Beachcomber Cafe. Macadamia Nut Pancakes with coconut syrup - So delicious! 

Shopping at the new Irvine Spectrum

Vintage swimsuits.  Maybe from the 40's and 50's?

Dinner at Pita Jungle...

While the Mom's are away...we become kids and play!

Tetherball - loved this in 6th grade - couldn't resist playing again.

Hang gliders ~ paragliding ~ and glider planes ~

Derek, Jake and I spent a few hours observing at Torrey Pines Gliderport.  These pictures don't show depth, but these cliffs are extremely high and the wind conditions are ideal for flying. People come from all over the world just to fly here. A great afternoon for my guys and now they have discovered yet another sport they are wanting to try.

More GOOD days together...

Surfer Guys!

Skimming Girls

 Alli was one happy girl when her turn came up to go surfing with Dad.

Sara thinks eating corn dogs on the beach is just about as good as it gets!

Madi loved warming up after being in the 58 degree ocean water.

 Reminds us of Kayli - one of her favorite things...
 we missed you KayKay!

The last day we drove over to La Jolla Cove.  The sand is completely different here. So much more thick and course. The winds were speeding up to 35 miles an hour - no one was even in the water. Running from the waves was quite fun for these three and the other three of us were simply entertained by watching them.

a very windy shopping day

Always so nice to have a great big brother!

Greatest Zoo Adventure

The San Diego Zoo is by far the BEST zoo we have ever been to. We all were amazed with the size of the exhibits and how they were presented.

This little friend had more personality than most people! He would come as close to us as he possibly could smile and raise his eyebrows up and down.

What a flirt! 

A stare off between Alli and this king cobra.  Thank goodness for the thick glass in between. We watched him for about 5 minutes while each one of the kids took a turn trying to get him to move.

 

The gorillas are fed as lots of cabbage magically falls from the sky...

We ran through pouring rain to the other end of the Zoo just to see the Polar Bear exhibit and the wonderful Giant Pandas.  So worth it!

 This panda in the background is thoroughly enjoying his bamboo...

 Sara mimics the face of the hippo...

Madi takes a ride on the back of a gorilla...

Our weather was justified when I found this sign in the rain forest section where the monkeys live.  Who would have known that rain makes the zoo experience that much more real!

sand, water, sunset

Because of significant sunburns, we took the next day off from the beach.  Although, we couldn't resist going out and playing while the sun was going down...

Adventure to Old Town!

During the day we went and checked out Old Town and the Mormon Battalion Visitor Center. Everyone loved panning for GOLD!

We liked shopping at all the santa fe-like shops and eating warm fresh tortillas right off the stove.