mormon battalion

In January we took a ride down to San Diego to visit Old Towne and see the newly renovated Mormon Battalion Visitors Center (I would highly recommend this outing - lots to see and do & way fun for the kids)

Here's a quick summary of our day...

Lots of sliding down rails - we all did this (yes, even me) 

Modeling the clothes and supplies that the Mormon Battalion soldiers used.  The boys were so excited to be chosen to do this.

Panning for gold.

Actually got my boys to wash some clothes :)  Maybe I just need to install a hand pump in the backyard to get them to help more with laundry.

Got to check out the beautiful San Diego area from an observation tower at the visitors center.

 

Explored all of Old Towne.

Emily's nickname is Pie - hence the photo.

Megan has a slight obsession with boots.

Way to ruin the adorable picture of Emily.  Chalk me up another good mom point.

out at sea

We headed out for a fun adventure one beautiful Saturday afternoon in January to Dana Point for a whale watching excursion.  

While we waited to board the boat these two thought it would be a good time to work their modeling skills.  Umm, yeah...must be Derek's kids :)

The kids also took turns with my camera taking some photos of their own.  Love this shot Megan got of Emily.

Then it was onto the boat and out on the ocean.  What a beautiful day we had although it was a bit cold. And yes I realize all you folks residing in the frozen parts of the US are rolling your eyes as you read this but for us Californians the ocean air combined with the wind whipping us from the speed of the boat made us a little chilly (sun shining or not)

The last half hour of our 2 hour trip we finally spotted a whale and enjoyed watching it the rest of the trip.  I wont bore you with all the pictures (that are mostly water with a small glimpse of whale body) but here is on of the little guys back end.

this is....american idol

 Last week as I lay confined to my bed with vertigo I got an email on my phone letting me know my name came up on the wait list for the final performance show of American Idol (cue teenage daughters giddy with excitement)  We made plans to go - the girls and me along with am American Idol loving cousin who was going to come in from St George.  Without going into a big long story...cousin couldn't make it, it was becoming clear that there was no way I was going to make it (the vertigo kicked my behind) and since the person whose name is on the ticket must be present Megan and Emily were not going either.  

I decided to call the ticketing place just to see if they would take pity on a woman suffering with vertigo with two teenagers that really wanted to see Lee and Crystal.  They did!  They let me transfer the tickets to Megan as long as the girls came with an adult.  To avoid any friend favoritism I decided to find two adults willing to take my girls so we wouldn't have to choose any of the girls friends and their mom.

Big thanks to these two that stepped up to make the long drive to LA and were willing to endure long lines and hours in the sun...

The girls in their outfits adhering to the must follow dress code

Live from the Nokia Theater

Big Mike 

Remember him?

Does this picture help? 

How about this one?  Norman Gentle.

Hello Blake Lewis, you are one of my favorites and I'm not the least bit embarrassed to tell the world I own your album and that I love to run with your beat boxing melodies playing from my ipod.  Blake lovers of the world stand up and be proud!

Could Brooke White be any prettier?  We saw a rehearsal show the year she was on - she is gorgeous in person.  And look who is with her...curly haired Justin from Season 1 - I'm glad Kelly won that year.

Little David Archuleta was busy with the press so this was as close as the girls got.

Before heading in to the theater the girls had to lose the camera, phones, etc so no more photos of the night.  The had 5th row seats after the pit so they got to see the show from amazing seats.  They got their fill of star sightings and even got to sit near Mr Blind Side as well as some old American Idol alum.

They finished the night at LA Farmers Market for dinner and then headed home to do homework, study for a seminary test and pack for a trip.  They had a long night!

we interrupt the trip photos

to bring you Megan's trip to LA. 

A few weeks ago a group of youth from church along with a couple of moms headed out on the train to LA.  Their first stop was Olvera Street for some shopping and lunch.  You have to try the taquitos if you are ever in town - seriously so good!

After wards the group hit the subway and took in the sights in Hollywood.  They visited a few of the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The King of Pop.  This trip was after his death as evidenced by the make shift memorial by hi s star.

Everyone's favorite movie stars...the Munchkins.  Do you not love that they have a star?!?!  My question about this picture is why are Megan's two shortest friends in this picture?  Offensive :)

After the stars it was all about the footprints (or wand prints as the case may be) at Grauman's Chinese Theater (info here and here)

Are we at all surprised by the next picture?  

Megan gave the trip "two enthusiastic thumbs up"  A personal thumbs up to the person that can tell me where that quote is from and no, it is not Epert and Roper or whatever their names are.

idol gives back(aches)

Oh, you should all be jealous of our night at American Idol - Idol Gives Back.

For those who are not caught up...a couple days ago I got an email letting me know that I could get tickets to AI (see post below) and now the story begins...

There was a bit of preparation involved in going to the show.  There is a strict dress code stated on the Internet tickets  

DRESS CODE IN EFFECT! Make sure to read and follow the dress code noted below. YOUR ADMITTANCE DEPENDS ON IT.

Dress Code:
DRESS CODE IS STRICTLY ENFORCED FOR OUR INTERNET TICKET HOLDERS! UPSCALE ATTIRE ONLY. DARKER COLORS OR BLACK. ABSOLUTELY no apparel with logos of any kind on the front or back are allowed in the studio audience. ABSOLUTELY no t-shirts, sweatshirts, white clothing, shorts, or flip flops! We also prefer that you do not wear jeans. Please dress hip and upscale or as if going to a nice dinner. You will be on camera so it is very important that you dress nicely! When you look great, the show looks great! IF YOU DO NOT DRESS ACCORDING TO THE DRESS CODE YOU WILL NOT BE ADMITTED

Since we basically live in jeans, t-shirts and flip flops it was off to the mall Tuesday night to find some "hip AND upscale" attire for the girls (I actually had something in my closet thanks to a few Oakley Christmas parties)

Wednesday afternoon we picked up my friend Rona and made a quick stop at Oakley to drop of the boys with Derek (the boys had a blast hanging out at his office for part of the day) The ride to LA was easy - no traffic and we got to the studio at 2 pm - the tickets state you have to be in line by 3:30 pm so we were glad to be early (we have missed a few Hannah Montana tapings in the past because we have gotten in line just 2 minutes too late) I left Rona and Emily in line while Megan and I found a parking spot (like the drive up, this proved to easy - it was turning into a great day)

I should have knocked on wood.  Megan and I left the parking structure and proceeded to take a walking tour around the area.  We parked in the parking structure of The Grove - big outdoor shopping center, which is right next store to CBS studios.  The problem is that both The Grove and the studio are big and the studio is fenced in so we ended up walking a lot, and I do mean a lot.  The best part was that I was wearing my heeled boots that aren't really all that comfortable anyway.  By the time we got to Rona and Em my feet were in some serious pain. Luckily at this point we knew we only had about an hour more to stand in line - I could work through the pain.

Let it be noted that as we waited in line it became very obvious that not everyone followed the dress code.  One of my favorite outfits was seen on an older woman...short jean mini, white tshirt, oversized long sleeve flannel shirt, white tube socks, and tennis shoes - I want to know what hip, upscale club she goes to.  If you ever want to people watch, the line for American Idol is where you should be.  We thought perhaps that those not in accordance with the dress code would not get in - we were wrong.  

The line moved slowly.  About every 20 to 30 minutes they would let in groups of around 30 people.  We kept inching our way to the front although at this point it was past 3:30.  No worries though - taping didn't begin until 4:30 pm so it could go live on the East coast.

Well long (very long) story short...we finally made it to the group of 30 or so at the front of the line around 5:00 pm (so what if we missed the first little bit of the show) and finally at 5:45 pm were told that the studio was full and that we should head on out.  What?!?!? Remember my feet that were killing me at the beginning of this story?  Well you can only imagine how they felt after nearly 4 hours of standing in line.  

We were told to turn in our tickets and we would be given priority tickets for a future show this season.  Tons of people were outraged and took it out on the workers.  It was unbelievable how people acted.  Whenever you get these type of tickets admittance is never guaranteed.  The workers are just doing their job - they can only do so much, people.  We were disappointed too but it is what it is.

We made the most of it and tried to salvage the night.  Our first stop was the first store we saw that had flip flops.  It turned out to be The Gap.  Rona and I stumbled in there as fast as our aching feet would let us and bought flip flops.  I didn't care that they were $25 or that they would look silly with my" hip and upscale" outfit.  Even after putting on the flips it was painful to walk - I'm not sure my feet have ever hurt that bad.

Next we went to the American Girl store.  What a cute place.  We also ended up at a great Farmers Market and ate some delicious Mexican Food.  About the time we were sitting down to eat dinner my back was hurting as much as my feet.  I was having a difficult time at this point.  We kept at it a bit longer - visiting a few more little shops and stopping at Pinkberry (I'm definitely a Golden Spoon kinda gal)  By now I just wanted to be in the car heading home so we loaded up and hit the freeway.

The ride home was fine, traffic wise but my back was a whole different story.  When I got home I took some strong medication and got comfy (as comfy as I could get with the pain) to watch Idol Gives Back.  Watching the show I realized we didn't miss anything.  All the performances at the Kodak theater had happened on Sunday.  We were in line to sit in the studio audience to watch the contestants answer phones.  I guess the contestants performed but I don't remember that (I told you it was strong medicine) because I was asleep.

So for all of you that thought we would be having a star studded fabulous time at American Idol - think again.  The weird thing is I'm still glad we went.  We still had fun (minus the foot and back pain) and now we get tickets to actually see the contestants perform.  I'm sure that when we go to that taping the night will be star studded and fabulous.  And on that night I'm wearing jeans and flip flops!

spring break idea

For those in the LA or OC area needing an idea for Spring Break check this out.  We have gone before and found it really interesting and fun.  Make a day of it...take the train, visit the exhibit (won't take you long), go to the California Science Center (the body exhibit looks interesting) or find another of the many wonders of LA.  If I am not spent from the drive to LA tomorrow for AI I may take my kids to do this on Friday.

score

About 3 weeks ago I got an email stating that my name had come up on the wait list for American Idol.  I declined the tickets - it is hard to get out to LA in the middle of the afternoon while trying to make arrangements for all the kids - how will they get home after school, where will they go, etc.

Well last night I happened to get another email - it must be my lucky season...I got 4 tickets to tomorrows Idol Gives Back show.  I'm taking Megan and Emily (we are on Spring Break this week) and my friend/neighbor Rona who is an American Idol fan and it is her birthday today (I thought this would be a fun birthday present) The best part about going to tomorrows show is that the 4 of us will get tickets to a future full dress rehearsal. At the dress rehearsal Ryan does his bit and all the contestants perform.  I'll get to hear some of my favorites...David Cook, Carly, Australian boy (whose name escapes me at the moment), and Brooke.  

Look for us in the audience!

missing some summer fun

I haven't been the best about posting our summer activities. The plan is to spend the next few days going through photos of what we've done this summer and post them but somehow my best plans always fall to the wayside so don't hold your breath.

A few weeks ago the kids and I went to the Sawdust Festival. I used to go as a child with my mom so a couple years ago we started taking the kids. Local artists showcase their work and it is fun to see what they create.

Everyone's favorite part of the festival is making your own pottery. The last time we went the girls and Nathan (Luke was too young) made vases. During the firing process Nate's vase broke :( Here is what the girls created..I have these displayed in our front room and have been anxious to get back to the festival to have the kids make more pottery to add to the collection. Here are pictures of this years creations...

Nate creating his vase
Emily and her bowl
Luke making his first vase - he is so happy to be old enough
Megan creating a bowl
the kids work before the glazing and firing process

We haven't picked up their pieces yet but we all can't wait to see them. I love this summer activity!