Summer Fun & Band Camp

Between summer camps, vacations and visiting family, we've snuck in a few fun family activities.

Chris was gone for 2 weeks for annual training, so I had a lot of single parenting this summer.  

One day I took the kids to see "Inside Out 2".  We all really loved it. I may or may not have cried during the movie. It felt all too real as my kids continue to grow up and we enter these new stage of teenager and puberty. 

We also spent about 30 minutes to an hour each day doing Lego. We called it our "creative time" and we were able to rebuild a bunch of the kids Lego sets that had been broken over the past year.

Tucker and I worked really hard to rebuild one of his Lego houses. It took so many hours but it was worth it.  

After Chris got home from annual training, we were able to go to the temple together. It's so nice to be able to leave our kids and just take off to the temple whenever we want. With Chris not working right now, it's been so easy. 

We also took the kids to the library to get lunch multiple times. We also would check out books and we tried hard to encourage reading this summer. 

One day after getting a lunch from the library, we took the kids to get sno-cones. This is a summer tradition and the kids look forward to it so much. 

We also had lots of swimdates with friends. 
We would meet up with the Lowdens, Hendersons and Quales so the kids could play. 
The kids really loved the Quale's neighborhood pool. They had a great time playing and us moms were able to just sit and chat. It was so nice. 

We also met up at the aquatic center multiple times. We tried to have weekly playdates, but it didn't always work out. 

We ended our summer with Band Camp. At this point we had come back from our trips and school was only a couple weeks away. 
Tanner started High School Band this summer and went to frequent practices over the summer. But during the last two weeks of July, Band camp started and it was intense. 

It was every day from 7:30 am to 7 pm. They worked hard, sweated like crazy and he came home so tired everyday. But he did it and I'm proud of the kid. 

Now we are getting ready for school to start and I can hardly believe it. I'm not ready. I love summer and I'm not ready for the early mornings. Tanner starts seminary this year so its going to be extra early every day from here on out. I'M NOT READY!!

But here we go! Stay tuned for the first day of school. 

 

Disneyland Day 3- Disneyland

Our last day was spent at Disneyland. We took some pictures in front of the park before riding any rides. We slept in a little bit since we didn't feel the need to rope drop. 
Day three was mostly just us trying to make sure we got to the rides we hadn't ridden the first day. 

 

We also got pictures in front of the castle. 

I love these pictures of Sarah and I. I am so happy that Sarah and I got to take our families to Disney together. 

 

Then we headed over to ride our first ride of the day. We rode "Finding Nemo- Submarine Voyage" and it was pretty cute. It was actually really cool and realistic. 

 

Then we rode the Indiana Jones ride and it was so fun. This was Uncle Johnny's favorite ride and we were all excited to experience it. While we were in line the ride actually shut down, but it didn't last long. We all loved it. 

 

Then we went to ride "The Matterhorn". 

This was another fun ride

Then it was time for lunch. We decided to get some clam chowder in bread bowls. Even though it was hot, the kids were so excited. We love clam chowder. 

Then we rode a few more different rides and then decided to go meet Mickey Mouse. 

Then we rode the train back to the front of the park and walked back to the hotel. 
The Allreds stayed because they had an appointment at the droid depot for Grant. 

We went back to the hotel and the kids went swimming while Chris and I laid out at the pool and relaxed. We were exhausted at this point but we grabbed some dinner and then went back to the park to watch the fireworks. 

We found a spot close to the castle and settled in to wait. 
I went and bought some treats for everyone and that helped with the wait. 

While having to watch the entire firework show standing up, because they made us smoosh in like sardines, was not ideal, the firework show was unreal. We loved it.

There was a show projected onto the castle and that was so cool, but then there were fireworks too. 

It was so cool. We all enjoyed it. 

Then we made our way our of the park with the rest of the people and because we were all so tired, it felt like a very long walk. But eventually we made it back and stumbled into bed. 

We had such an amazing trip to Disney. We got to see and ride everything we wanted. We played hard and loved our time with our cousins. I don't know if we will ever go back to Disney, but we made the most of this trip and I have no regrets.  

The trip wasn't over yet though, stay tuned for the rest of our time with the Allreds. 

Disneyland Day 2- California Adventures

Day 2 of our Disney Trip was spent at California Adventures. Again we got to the park in time to gate drop. It was very busy and the only ride in the park we didn't have a fast pass for was the Car's ride, so we headed there first. Apparently everyone else in the park did too so we waited about an hour. Of course, when we came off the ride the wait time was even longer. So we were grateful to have that wait done. Thank goodness for cousins that make long wait times tolerable. 

It was such a fun ride and we all enjoyed it. The ride itself was so cute and made to look just like radiator springs. We all agreed it was worth the wait. 

Sadly, our California Adventures day didn't go as smoothly as our previous day. We went to get on our next ride and it had shut down. So we scrambled to make a new fast pass reservation. 
We did get to see Loki though so that was fun. 

We tried to run back towards Cars Land to ride "Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters" and as soon as we got in line for that one, it shut down. 

So we decided to walk over to ride a different ride on our way we watched the "Pixar Play Parade" and enjoyed the "Green soldiers" march and play their drums. 

We also got some pictures taken at Pixar Pier. 

Then we rode the "Silly Symphony Swings". I thought I could handle it, but I did feel a little nauseous afterwards. 

 

Then we rode the "Inside Out" ride and that one was nice and calm. 
I love this shot of Aunt Sarah and Tanner. 

We had to get a picture of Bailey with the "Disgust" emotion from "Inside Out"- she is Bailey's spirit animal. 

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After that we rode "Goofy's Sky School" and I hated it. The kids absolutely loved it but it felt like we were going to tip off the edge of the track. Ugh. While the kids laughed and screamed, I just pinched my eyes closed the whole time. 

 

Then we went to meet up with Aunt Sarah's friend, Brittyne Perry. Brittyne's husband works for Disney and so they get in for free. We met them at "Mickey's Philharmagic" and watched the show together. 
This is always a favorite for me and it's such a nice place to cool off and relax. The kids really loved it too. 

Then we walked back over to Cars land.  We decided to get a group picture too because our group was so massive that we were cracking up. 

     

Then we went to ride "Mater's Junkyard Jamboree". This was a fun ride and we all loved it. The tractors swing you around and it feels like you are going to hit the trailer next to you, but obviously you never do. It was really fun. 

When we got off the ride we saw that the "Incredicoaster" had finally opened. It had closed early in the day and hadn't reopened. We had been checking obsessively all day and it was finally open. So we ran to get in line and happily only ended up waiting about 20 minutes. 
This ride was by far the most intense ride at the park and while I was good to only ride it once, the kids would have rode it over and over. 

After the "Incredicoaster" we finally got to ride "Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters". It was a fun ride. I love this picture of Max and Tuck in their cute little blue car. 

At this point, we were all hungry. So we decided to leave the park and we ate dinner at Downtown Disney. We ate at a sandwich place called "Earl of Sandwich" and it was yummy and quick. 

Then we went back into the park. 

We decided to go get in line for "Pixar Pal-a-round" and while the wait time was pretty long, we decided to wait anyway. But then while we were walking in together, one of the cast members saw our shirts and he said he loved them so much. Chris told them that I had made them and he said that he was so impressed that he wanted to "make some magic happen". 
Basically he walked us all to the very front of the line and got us on the very next ferris wheel car. It was amazing. We said a huge thank you and got on. All the kids, except Hazel, rode in one car and the adults and Hazel rode in the other. 

From there we had a fastpass reservation for "Soarin'" and this was probably my favorite ride of the whole park. It was Johnny's first time on the ride and his commentary made it all the more awesome. I couldn't stop laughing at this reactions to the ride. We all loved it. 

Then we ran across the park to get to our "Guardians of the Galaxy" fastpass reservation. Chris decided he didn't want to ride this one- he hates that falling sensation. The rest of us rode together and laughed and screamed together. 

Our last ride of the night was Monster's Inc ride. It was cute and super low-key after riding "Guardians". The younger kids really loved it. 

Then we said our goodbyes to Brittyne and her family and called it a night. 

Chris and Johnny walked the kids home while Sarah and I stayed to look for Christmas ornaments. 

We just wanted to have a chance to look at souvenirs without kids for a bit. It was nice but our feet were killing us. Being at the park after dark did give us a chance to see the park lit up at night. 

We eventually walked back to the hotel and we all fell asleep very quickly!

After two days at the park, we were all tired but we had one day to go still, so stay tuned.