Visiting Friends

This is about all the cooperation you can expect from a one and two year old!

Molly and David

We visited our friends the Van Tienderens. It was a fabulous night. Sussie made dinner. We ate and chatted and our boys loved playing with new toys. I love relaxed nights like this and I enjoy visiting. Another moment brought to you by we picked up right where we left off!

Home

Up early. Anxious to get back. The drive always seems short. GPS took us on a lovely canyon detour out of Orange Country.

Good to see those little faces. Spent the afternoon with Grandma Noelene and the kids.

David can't stop talking about NateJer--two separate cousins.

Contrary to my fears leaving Will helped him to like other people a whole lot better.

How can I properly thank Grandparents and Aunt Amy and Uncle Mike for taking such good care of our boys?

Wrapping Up the Magical Trip

Thankfully today was easy going. We finished up some things we missed the other two days: animation studio, splash mountain, and of course all the really fun rides one more time.

I was jealous but Brad says I just need to be more "flexible"

Brad is just a goof!

It was fun to listen to some of the entertainment--something we would not have done if we'd only gone for a day!

Someday he'll be a dentist...

But for now it's school. Thankfully not the one upstairs!

We left early and ate a leisurely dinner at Mimi's Cafe, a place we sorely miss in Boston. Then it was off to Uncle Don and Aunt Cindy's for a great second visit, catching up with some of the cousins we'd missed the night before.

I enjoyed the trip but by the end I had the feeling that we should have done something more productive than running around an amusement park for three days. I'm not sure what is wrong with me--I don't know if I'm a glass half empty person, or too uptight, but I kept feeling like we should have been doing a temple session or reading books or doing something else! I think next time we'll vary up the agenda a little. Maybe I need to lighten up. In any case we were ready to get back to David and Will.

A Day of Rest

Newport Beach Temple

Laguna Beach

Visiting with Cousins

This photo was taken Monday night but we visited on Sunday too! Fun to catch up, talk politics (men), and persuade them all to visit Boston. We only missed Natalie, Robert and baby John at BYU.

Mostly California Adventure

Oh David, we met Lightening and Mater!

Toy Story Mania was one of the best rides there--and I don't even like video games.

Apparently, the Disney character most like me.

Brad became a villain when he decided he'd rather eat nice people for lunch than eat lunch with nice people.

Third in a series of photos with goofy, each about ten years apart.

We liked the Just Married ears.

Dinner at Downtown Disney. Did I mention we love Lara and Alan?

Leaving after another magical day.

Grown Up California Trip

*Warning* Extreme lack of cute photos due to fact that children were not present. Blog will resume regularly scheduled David and William posts shortly.

Brad's parents gave us the Christmas gift of a lifetime. Tickets to Disneyland AND watching our kids while we went. Did we feel guilty leaving our two little boys? Yes. Did we miss them? Yes, especially at the happiest place on earth! Would we leave them again for another short trip? Yes.

We had a minor change of plans as Phoenix got some leftovers from the nasty storms that hit California. Spent last night in a local hotel. Listened to the wind and became agitated when CSI was interrupted ad naseum for tornado warnings. Really, a tornado here? Couldn't sleep in...strange not be awoken earlier than it is possible to function...so we took off, hoping for a day at the park in spite of the rain.

In true Cammack form (my husbands thoughts on cars are still a mystery to me) Brad was very disappointed with our rental car. A PT Cruiser was "similar" to a Ford Fusion. He was near furious when he found the car didn't have cruise control. Add that to horrible windshield wipers when we hit the California rain...good thing Brad is a safe driver and tried to keep his frustration to a minimum.

Obligatory road trip photo

Snow on some SoCal mountains. Strange.

Tram ride into the park

Almost no one at Disney in the rain.

Sporting a very hot rain poncho. Rarr.

Restored and better than ever. Brad had never been. He and his brothers ran from big ride to big ride and didn't think Mr. Lincoln was worth it. I'm glad he changed his mind.

Disneyland was virtually empty. We got on everything we were interested in except for Splash Mountain. AND the park closed 3 hours early. Who knew the rain wouldn't be such a downer?

To achieve this hairdo: style as normal. Sit in a car for six hours and then walk around in the rain for seven hours. Lovely, isn't it?

Can you guess what we decided to buy for David?

By the end we were exhausted. I'm not sure I would have left feeling anything but crabby and tired if it weren't for the jokes on the tram as we headed back to the parking garage. Nice touch.

Then it was to Lara and Alan's. Love those special friends where you can pick up right where you left off--even if it has been years.

Scottsdale Train Park

We took advantage of perfect weather and having Brad around by visiting the McCormick-Stillman Railroad park this Saturday. It seemed like summer. We saw all the birthday parties there and I was sad I didn't book a park for Will's special day. I know from my Parks and Rec desk job that winter is the busiest time for renting park ramadas.

Getting ready to ride the train

Ending one of many trips down the slide--he had to stop and point at the train with a "choo-choo" each time it went by.

Climbing

Merry-go-round

Will is more cautious than David--about carousel rides and everything. They will make an interesting pair.

Riding the pint size train

Who knew the LDS Church brough the first telegraph to Arizona?

Getting ready to leave!

It was such a lovely outing. We laughed at all the people in jackets knowing that used to be us shivering and whining in 70 degree temperatures. I really liked this place because it was inexpensive and suited David's age but also would be good to go back to as the kids get older. It was one of those truly blissful mornings that I hope I will look back to on not-so-perfect days...