Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Alice in Wonderland...

I had been wondering for days where to start and Lewis Carroll said it much better than I could. "Start at the beginning...and go till you come to the end; then stop!" Sooo I'll start at the beginning and stop when I'm done--this could be a long one!
Riding in the airborn tram from one end of the zoo to the other--walking was no longer desired :)
my "monkey" Jason and his friend Isaac hanging out at the gorilla exhibit
This is as close as we got to this beautiful temple. We were told ever since prop 8 took place, the church has had to lock the gates after hours and on Sunday/Monday when no one is there--too much vandalism risk. So sad!
Seaport Village is a great little place downtown to grab food, shop, see the harbor, visit a fantastic fudge shop, let the kids play etc.
I love this photo. This is taken at Balboa Park--some amazing Spanish & Mexican architecture, beautiful gardens, museums, fountains. So much fun to get away from the masses and take in a little culture.

Just another example of the amazing buildings there. They were all completed around 1918. That sounds to recent to reflect the design--I kept expecting to hear 1600's based on how ornate they were but had to remember, we haven't been around that long!
Kate, Isaac & Jason "Everybody was KungFo Fighting..."

I can never get enought of the huge whales. I'm am always blown away at their size and then how close they let us get, especially the trainers during the shows.
Completely describes Ryan's experience last weekend--he got sick and spent the "fun" four days conked out in his stroller.

We've had a busy few weeks. Chocolate Apron Catering just finished our latest wedding reception in Las Vegas. It was fantastic--brown and ivory with pink flowers everywhere, my favorite were the dogwood and cherry blossoms! The bride chose a "vintage romance" type theme and everything was very antique french; mini cream puffs, tarts, chocolate dipped shortbread cookies, gourmet cheeses, grapes, crostini etc. We did a pretty great job if I do say so myself.

Next, the Jenkins family met us in Vegas and then drove with us too Kingman to stay for several days. They had quite the driving experience--drove from Idaho to Utah, went to the temple with Summer (Dave's fiance)on Friday, drove to Saint George to stay the night, found out it was spring break and everything was booked, ended up sleeping in the truck for about 5 restless, long hours and then drove on to Vegas. We couldn't figure out why they had arrived at 7 am until we heard the whole story. The boys had a blast playing with their Papa, getting spoiled by Grandma and teased and tickled by Aunt Mimi (Missy). We visited every touristy place Kingman had to offer and then hit up the boat rides in Bullhead and the Keepers of the Wild (a wild life refuge full of tigers, lions, wolves and much more). Jason had some great lines during their stay but my favorite was when I was changing Ryan's diaper so we could head to the store because there was only ONE diaper left--the one I was putting on him (the vicious diaper cycle)and Ryan chose that opportune moment to URINATE all over the family room floor. Mom and I froze, not wanting to waste the last diaper and in total shock we simply stared at the stream. Jason watched the liquid rainbow flow through the air and then ran to my dad yelling "Papa, Papa, Ryan peeped. He peeped on the carpet, look!" We officially have adopted the word peeped now for all things bathroom related!

They hit the road Thursday and on Friday we jetted off for a weekend in SAN DIEGO. We met up with some great Vegas friends and one of Scott's brothers and his family, went to the zoo and Sea World and loved every minute. The kids couldn't get enough of the animals, shows, rides and friends and I loved all the great park treats. In the words of one of my favorite romantic comedies, "I only come for the food." We had a nice sit down dinner with our friends one evening, right on the San Diego harbor, and stuffed ourselves on fresh Ahi, Halibut, Lobster and Crab. It couldn't get much better than that. Each night when we would crash, absolutely exhausted, we would marvel at how our parents had so much energy and how they hid it so well, always taking our families for fun outings, vacations, sporting events etc. Scott reminisced about riding in the back seat with his two brothers, who forced him to lay on the floor boards, putting their feet on him, while they sprawled out on the seat (you boys know who you are :) Our kids don't realize how lucky they are riding around in the Pilot with their dvd player and cushy car seats! We watched the California sunset as we drove home Monday night and felt very blessed to be able to afford such a nice memory. While unpacking the car at 10pm I just kept thinking I need a vacation from our vacation!

And now that all this is over and done with, we just have to get through Scott's parent's visit, Jason's birthday, my brother's wedding and anything else we might be crazy enough to attempt--did I mention it is strawberry season and I need to make jam and you can't have fresh jam without baking homemade bread right? I am nuts. What was I thinking, I AM NOT one of those crazy multi tasking super women that I see all the time (Tina Upson:). I think I'll just go eat the rest of my strawberry shortcake from last night and drink some hot chocolate and call it a day :)

4 comments:

Hillary said...

How FUN!! You look great too! A girl who loves great food and has a catering business isn't supposed to look that good!

Tams Family said...

So fun! Sounds like you guys are having fun! We love San Diego - all of those pictures made me want to go back.

The Read Blend said...

I love your stories. It so nice that you are so close to Nevada and California. We are excited to see you at David's weeding.

Morgan said...

Hey Natalie, I found your blog through the good ole google search!! Fun pictures! Can't wait to read more. Looks like you guys need to give us the tour of Kingman and all the exciting things to do around here! :)