San Diego (and Halloween pics)

I know I’ve gotten out of the habit of blogging, and the longer I put it off, the more difficult it is to start again since I feel so behind. I’ll just say we had a wonderful summer and are enjoying a great fall and leave it at that. Now I can start fresh from today. Possibly someday I’ll have the time and energy to go back and get caught up on the months I’ve missed…

We just got back from a fun week in San Diego. I’ve had many people ask why a family vacation in November? Don’t the kids have school? Between parent teacher conference days, minimum days, late starts, Veterans Day, fall recess, and then the whole week of Thanksgiving they’re off, no, they don’t have school. At least it feels that way. They did miss a few days, but over the summer we had too much fun just doing local things that Barr and I were the only ones who really went away for a vacation so I promised the kids we would do a family trip. With San Diego only being about an hour drive away, we thought that would be a good place to go.

We left Saturday evening, after Brooke and I got back from her dental procedure at the hospital. It's only taken 7 months to finally get that done! It went well though it wasn't easy. When they woke her up after anesthesia, she was pretty miserable and nauseous. Within a few hours though she was ready to hit the road. She loved our condo and getting to share a room with Brittany although I don't think Brittany appreciated her waking her up every morning at 5:00!

Brittany posed her for the picture.

Sunday after church we drove to Old Town and enjoyed the church’s new Mormon Battalion exhibit. It is so well done, like Disneyland quality complete with talking portraits, real thunderstorms, vibrating boulders and rooms that look so realistic you really believe you are camping out on the plains of the Old West. Besides the entertainment value, it’s a great story of how faith and sacrifice bring about wonderful blessings.

No more complaining about how heavy their school backpacks are!

Panning for "gold"

We then headed over to tour the USS Midway aircraft carrier. I knew it was big, but I had no idea what being the largest floating naval aviation museum meant. After over an hour of meandering through bunkers, galleys, engine rooms, jails, etc. I honestly was relieved to resurface and think we were done when Barr laughed and said that was only part of the tour. There was over half of the ship left! My pregnant body was done touring for the day, so Brooke and I rested while the others finished exploring. Thinking of all those who served aboard that ship again brought the feelings of gratitude for people willing to sacrifice to bless the lives of others.

The next 4 days we enjoyed Sea World, the San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park. Two great things about going in November is the weather and the crowds. We enjoyed the cool temperatures and up until Thursday, no crowds at all. We really felt fortunate that so many animals put on such a fun show for us. We all enjoyed watching the hippos swimming, the polar bears playing ball in the water, the giraffes “necking” (fighting), the baby elephants eating and the hundreds of other amazing creatures we got to experience.

Brittany's favorite part was feeding the sting rays.

Friday we hung out around the condo. The girls and I enjoyed some of the scheduled activities the resort offered like cookie decorating, games, and the pools while the boys went golfing.

Ben and Brigham got 3rd place in the water balloon toss.

That's the end of our family vacation, but since Halloween pictures are fun, here are some from last month...

Minnie Mouse, the Bride of Dracula, Napoleon Dynamite, and an army guy

Neighborhood Halloween party


"Baby's First Halloween". Some people thought it was cute, others (like Ben) thought it morbid.


The night before while watching Regis and Kelly, Will Ferrell came out dressed as a bed bug. Barr stole the idea for his costume.

The kids wanted to do something different this year for the trunk-or-treat so we did a spooky Candy Land theme. I think next year I'll just buy a smog machine!