cali day 2 and 3

the "hills"

on thursday jason was away taping the family feud show.

so i packed up the kids and drove to one of the cutest outdoor malls.

it's in beverly hills and its called the grove.

shops line the cobblestone streets and there's

a double decker trolley that transports you from one end to the other.

at one end is a huge farmers market where we stopped to have lunch.

we scarfed down some delicious greasy pizza

and then jack and ava had animal shaped donuts for dessert.

ava devoured a pink frosted kitty cat donut.

and jack ate a green dinosaur.

jack enjoying his trolley ride while still savoring some of his dino donut.

we finished our mall trip at barnes and nobel.

i was reading books to the kids, specifically wacky wednesday,

when i got a text from jason:

"went to sudden death and lost. it was fun though"

 

what! i had a list of wishful things i would have like to spent his winnings on.

i was a little disappointed, sad to say.

i just thought for some reason they would win like 5 times in a row and that we would be

instant thousandaires.

too bad life doesn't end up the way we picture it.

we still had a fabulous day of window shopping at the fancy beverly hills mall.

day 3

i made jason drive all over beverly hills looking for the famous cupcake shop "sprinkles".

after an hour we found it. 

just past rodeo drive on santa monica blvd. on the right hand side.

they have a unique assortment of yummy tasty cupcakes.

they even wrap them up to go in a cute brown box.

i ordered a milk chocolate, black and white, strawberry, and chocolate marshmallow.

i wouldn't let anybody eat them until after our lunch which happened to be

disgusting mcdonalds.

we arrived back at disneyland and i grabbed the box of cupcakes and sat them ont the stroller.

by the time we walked from the parking lot to the park, all that perfect frosting

had melted into a sugary mess.

it was kind of sad but they still tasted like heaven.

cali day 1 and 3

we woke up bright and early, 4:08 am to be exact, loaded sleeping kids into the car 

and headed west.

destination: DISNEYLAND

next up..... studio city, ca.

the storm

last night, we were having family home evening and learning about the brother jared and all of his magical clear stones that christ lit up so jared and his brother could find their way to the promise land, when a big gust of wind pushed our garage door open.

at first we were confused, thinking somebody was walking through our door, until we looked outside and saw the trees blowing. 

and they were blowing.

maybe one last summer monsoon. we have had a pretty lousy season of rainstorms this year and a nice big thunderstorm would sure be nice. so we sat and watched the lightning strike all over the dark sky. it was quite a sight. and then a big a clap of thunder... and some rain. hooray it was finally raining. and then in 5.2 seconds it was over.

at least we get to leave for california in the morning and get the heck out of this heat. we are heading to hollywood where jason and his siblings are going to try to win us some money on the family feud. they will be taping on thursday and friday so wish us luck. 

a trip to hollywood, disneyland, and the beach is just what we need. (and some extra winnings wouldn't hurt.)

the reading treasure box

jack had his first big project of kindergarten.

it's called a reading treasure box.

it's kind of special since it will hold his first masterpieces of literature. 

throughout the school year, he will make and collect his own reading books.

i remember way back when i was maybe 5 or 6 years old

and i would make the same types of books and somehow i still have a few of them.

hopefully, he will be able to keep these books forever and get to show them to his kids.

the actual box turned out to be a little too foo foo.

at least that is what jason said.

dancing queen

today was ava's first day of dance.

ava practicing her twirl.

a lizard tale

i was running on the treadmill in the basement this morning... 

thinking to myself that running marathons really is crazy and i should just quit,

but then that would be totally worthless since i have already put in hundreds of miles,

including a 20 miler this past weekend.

and the weather was awful. humid, sticky, rainy, and windy. yuck.

so i would just be throwing that all away.

plus, i only have 6 weeks left til st. george, so i might as well stick it out.

while my feet are pounding away and my breathing is getting heavy, ava runs in 

from her bedroom to announce that there is a dead lizard in her room.

um. hmmm.

okay, go tell dad.

so she runs up the stairs to get him.

they come back down and it turns out that it is a real lizard. a real big lizard.

but not in her actual room.

just in the window well of her room.

meet the lizard living in ava's window well.

ava the explorer.

she couldn't stop checking him out.

her uniform: pink pj top, hello kitty undies, and zebra binoculars. 

then the curtains came crashing down.

jason was supposed to fix those last saturday.

i guess he never got around to it.

my little bff

this is ava.

a.k.a my little bff.

she is hilarious.

now that jack is gone all day, i get the privilege of hanging out with the coolest 

almost 3 year old ever.

why ava is so cool:

1. while she takes a shower she sings to bon jovi's living on prayer.

2. she helps me do my chores. (laundry, putting dishes away)

3. begs for her picture to be taken and then pretends not to look at the camera.

4. her favorite movie is home alone 2.

5. she is great at making conversation. (even if you don't feel like talking.)

6. she is always looking out for eden and lets me know if she has poop.

7. she can't help but make you smile even if she's mad and she is screaming

at you that you're not her friend.

8. she asks to go to bed at night.

9. she is girly and a tomboy at the same time.

10. she makes me laugh.