Horrible Horrible Mother!

Don't ever ask me to rub sunscreen on your back. Our first day of vacation, we stopped at the beach and I squoze out some sunscreen and rubbed it on Parker's neck and shoulders. I got another load on my hands and started from his waist line and went up. I obviously got distracted and this is what happened...

John said, "Well, I guess sunscreen REALLY does work!"

Parker has the complexion of an albino. He does NOT tan, only BURNS.. FRIES, BURNING FLESH! His only color are all his freckles (thank you John!) The poor kid would burn during recess in elementary school, so we are very good about the sunscreen! I feel horrible! He was already peeling by the end of our vacation. I'm sorry Parker!

He did, however, have some fun in Grandpas' pool!

Here's another one of Parker's proud moments. Building a house out of drink coasters on the table at Chili's Restaurant.

A Universal Quickie!

The whole reason we decided on California again for a vacation this year was that we got a great deal on "City Passes" from Costco. For $217 each they included: 3 Day Hopper to Disney/California Adventure ($189), 1 day at SeaWorld ($59), 1 Day at Universal ($65) and 1 day at either San Diego Zoo or Wild Animal Park ($34). That is a $131 savings!

A few years ago we had a year pass to Universal so we weren't too worried about spending loads of time at Universal again this year. The only thing we HAD to do was ride the brand new Simpson's ride. Yes, I have to live with Simpson's Fanatics! So after sleeping in, going to the beach and TARGET to buy some flip flops for the growing boys, we finally arrived at Universal at 5pm...they closed at 7pm (not to worry). We got to do everything we wanted!
We ran to the Simpson's Ride (awesome! much better than the Back to the Future Ride, Simpson's replaced) then down, down, down the escalators to Revenge of the Mummy ride (my favorite ride at Universal) and back up, up, up the escalators to get

Pictures with Bart and Homer (by this time it is 6:30 pm)


a quick stop to the Kwik-E-Mart
Moe's Bar

and on the way out we noticed they were still showing Shrek 4-D so we ran for the last show. (always great!)
The 3 Little Pigs in Shrek 4-D (It is really cute!)

My favorite part of Universal is actually the Universal Citywalk. You walk through this to get to Universal Park.
There are tons of shops and restaurants and tons of people. They have fountains and a stage where bands play. I wish SLC had something like this, I think the closest thing we have is Gateway, but maybe Universal is a novelty to me because I don't live there.


By the time we left it was after 8 pm. We hadn't eaten dinner yet and were starving. We didn't want to wait for another hour until we got to Palm Springs so we stopped at a Chili's which took FOREVER!! It was around 9pm before we were served and then we didn't get to Grandpas Ray & Rey until after 11pm.


The next morning we woke up, Grandpas made their famous and favorite breakfast, Parker swam and we went to Johnny's house. He has a beautiful home and an awesome pool that we all relaxed in. I, of course, forgot to take pictures, DANG IT! Then we all went to see Get Smart at the Mary Pickford Theatre (Mary and I share a birthday). Then it was off to the Casino for a delicious dinner.


Since I forgot to take pictures with my Dads, here's one from 2005 when we were together at Universal. We ate at Buca De Beppo.


We were back on the road again by 9pm and headed back to Anaheim. The boys were pooped (we all were!) and begging to sleep in...so we did until 10 am!!! What??? It is our Disney day we need to get going!!!

Parker Beach Doin' the Beach Thang!

It was time to go and Parker didn't want to leave. He was a little spaztic. You don't have to watch the whole thing but he cracked me up. Especially when he tried to jump on his castle and fell on his butt. He looks over to see if the girls next to us saw him "biff" it!

Beaches at the Beach

That's alotta beaches! We stopped at different beaches on our travels down to San Diego and back. We visited Newport Beach, Oceanside and Long Beach.






Newport Beach

Long Beach
Some friends we made at the beach. They just live a few blocks away from here. The one that is standing is 14 years old today. I told them to enjoy this time at the beach because I know, being my age, I don't ever want that much sand touching my body EVER AGAIN!

I have memories of my Dad teaching me how to make drip castles on the beach, so I taught Parker and he had a blast...a little too much fun with the kelp & seaweed! Eeewww!

The aftermath of the sand fight!

I realized after seeing this picture that I don't like this new swim suit at all. That gold strip on the bottoms looks like my white belly...Gross! I hope I haven't burned your eyes out!

JUST KIDDING! Here I really am, walking past Dexter on the Beach!

SeaWorld-San Diego

June 18 - SeaWorld

The next morning we woke up and drove down to SeaWorld. The last time I've been to SeaWorld was in 1996 in Orlando. It was fun sharing this with the boys and seeing their amazement at the cool things the sea animals did.

Dolphin Discovery Can you see the dolphin on the other side of the yellow rope?Shamu's Believe ShowCirque De La Mer

Dex and I rode the Journey to Atlantis water ride...we're the only ones that dared but I didn't want to get too wet that late at night so I bought a poncho (wimp!)

We enjoyed lots and lots at SeaWorld, I'm not going to bore you with all the pictures. Most of this is for my own memory because I know I will never remember everything. We also saw the Pets Rule! show (John's fav) and Clyde & Seamore's Risky Rescue. We got to pet sting rays and star fish, play in the Sesame Street Bay of Play (Parker's fav! Yes we got our 13 yr old to pose with Grover), cooled off in the Penguin Encounter, Wild Artic and Shark Encounter. On the way out we saw the Budweiser Clydesdales...they are HUGE!This picture does not do their size justice at all.

Beach Family Vacation June 2008

We had such a fun trip! It went by fast! We played hard and are completely exhausted! It's hard to get back to reality!

The plane trip was relaxing. Usually flying stand-by can be a real downer (as was the trip home) but it was a breeze and I was pleasantly surprised.

We stayed at the Portofino Inn and Suites, just 2 blocks away from Disney. We booked the Kids' Suite and it was totally awesome! A king size bed for me and the hubby, and a separate room with a bunk bed for the boys! At night we could just close the sliding doors and they could watch their own TV shows while John and I watched whatever we wanted! It was wonderful!

June 18 - Medieval Times
Our first night in California we went to Medieval Times. Our knight was the Blue Knight. He did really well and won a few of the events. We were served tomato bisque, garlic bread, roasted chicken, spare ribs and potatoes! We had to eat it all with our hands NO utensils and only one napkin! It was a challenge and was really fun!

The knights jousted and fought with swords and killed each other...it was great fun!Dexter is such a sport...he loved letting me take pictures. This pose was all Dexter's idea. This is how he wants to be buried, with his Blue Knight shield he bought from Medieval Times and the sword he bought from Disney!

Look Who Got Braces!

B E F O R E

A F T E R

New Addition

John and I put in a new fence on Saturday afternoon. It took about 4 1/2 hours. I love it and think it looks beautiful!