SAN DIEGO FUN

My first post about vacation was kind of rushed and was more of a travel log than anything else so here are all of the fun thoughts and stories I wanted to remember.

Since we were in the money-saving mode for this trip, we decided to drive instead of flying. Definitely not as easy and convenient but it actually wasn't too bad. I was especially impressed with how well Bauer did. It's hard for a kid his age to sit still for even a couple of seconds, let alone 10 hours. And yeah, he got restless and by the end of the drive was more than ready to get out of the car but he really did so well. On the way to California, Bauer was talking to Matt & Ange about what sounds animals make. Bauer would say "what animal makes this sound...moo?" And then Matt & Angela had to answer. He went through a few of the usuals and then said "what animal makes this sound...'I have a long neck'?" (giraffe). We laughed so hard. Cute little stinker. Then we got just over the hill to where you could see all the lights of Las Vegas and it was dark outside so you could see millions of lights all over. Bauer's face lit up and he said "I can see the whole world down there."

The first night we arrived in San Diego, we settled into our rooms at the condo and Bauer picked where he wanted to sleep. Any guesses where that was? Yeah, that's right...in the closet. That was his choice. And the funniest part of it was that he slept there every night. I thought that it would just be a novelty and that after the first night he would be done. Nope. Every night he stayed there.

And then there was Disneyland (or Disnleyland as Bauer calls it). That's always a fun day but at the same time, it's always exhausting. Especially when you only have one day there so you feel like you have to cram everything in. But I thought we worked it out pretty well. Sure, we rushed from place to place, but we did most of the things we wanted to and had our incredible lunch at Club 33 and Bauer was a trooper the whole day. He never complained about not being able to go on rides, he didn't throw tantrums, and he didn't ask us to buy him anything.

Torrey Pines was a fun experience. It's one of those courses that a true golfer really needs to play so I was glad that Brian got a chance to. It was really pretty along the ocean at sunset.

We love the beach. I am sure most people do. It's just so pretty and relaxing. Bauer of course hated getting sand all over him though. The poor kid is just too particular. But he had such a great time there. The first time we went, we all took our swimsuits in case we wanted to get in the ocean. Once we got there and felt how cold the air was, we decided not to but Bauer, of course, wanted to get in. So we put his suit on and he ran and played in the water and found sea shells. Every time he found one his eyes would light up and he would get so excited but after finding the first 10 or so, I started telling him that we couldn't keep all the ones he found. I told him to only keep the ones that weren't broken which turned out to be a really good idea because there really weren't many. Matt found him a couple of sand dollars too so that was cool. Oh yeah, so funny...while we were waiting for the tee time at Torrey Pines, Ange and I took Bauer to the beach to hang out for a while. We took our shoes off at the car and just left them there. We got about two steps into the sand and Bauer said "but what are we gonna do about my pants?" Oh Bauer.

And speaking of the beach, here are our family pictures there...

Okay, so the San Diego Temple is absolutely gorgeous! It is my new favorite temple. I love the spires and the detail in the windows and just the overall look of it.

SAN DIEGO

Brian's parents have a timeshare and have a couple of weeks saved up that were going to be lost if they weren't used by the end of the year so they let Brian and me use one wherever we wanted. There were lots of fun places we could have gone but we decided to make it a lower budget trip and drive to San Diego with Matt & Angela. Originally, the boys were planning on golfing quite a bit but they ended up only going once but they got to play Torrey Pines, a course that Brian has wanted to play for a long time. Angela and I decided to bring Bauer and tag along on the course and just take pictures while the boys played. It was a beautiful course and was gorgeous with the beach behind it at sunset. They played the twilight so they only ended up making it through 13 holes but they had a great time. Check out this gorgeous HDR picture Matt took of the course. It's my favorite.


Now, it's no secret that I love Disneyland. And it just didn't feel right to be going to California and not go to Disneyland. The boys weren't so thrilled about going but Matt's friend was able to get us into Club 33 so they agreed to go. Club 33 is a private club within Disneyland that Walt created to entertain dignitaries. It's hidden in the corner of New Orleans Square and is marked by a "33" on the side of the door. The only way to get in is to have a reservation (which can only be made by members) and at your reservation time, you ring a bell in the door and they let you in. A Club 33 worker opens the door for you, takes your coats and bags, and lets them know at the restaurant that you are there. While we were being checked in, a lady tried to come in and see what it was all about. The worker bolted to the door and almost pushed the lady out the door while explaining that it was a private club and she could not be there. "Can I just come in and see what the restaurant looks like?" Nope! Not happening. It's a totally secretive thing and members (or guests in our case) are treated almost like royalty. The restaurant inside is a 5-star restaurant and was absolutely wonderful. They have a buffet of salads, meat and cheese, sea food, and dessert, and then you order a main dish of either chicken, steak, or a couple of different fish dishes. Brian and I got Fillet Mignon and Matt and Angela got chicken and both were awesome! Bauer got his own kids menu and ordered mac & cheese and the noodles were shaped like Mickey. So cute (and also really yummy). When you pay for a meal at Club 33, you also get a day pass to Disneyland and California Adventure so we got to go to Disneyland for the day. It made me realize just how short of time a day is at Disneyland. We got to do all of the big rides (thanks to parent passes) but there was a lot we didn't get to do. But we had so much fun and I was so glad we got to go (thanks boys!). Plus, lunch at Club 33 was amazing.


Other than golf and Disneyland, we didn't really do anything huge. We hung out at the beach, went out to eat, and did a little sight-seeing. Oh, and family pictures. I know - I'm out of control. But this was actually Brian's idea. We haven't had family pictures taken for over a year now which is a really long time for us so we were due. Plus, I like to have a family picture to create Christmas cards so I wanted to do them anyways. The first night we went to the beach and watched the sunset, Brian said "we should have brought clothes to take family pictures here." We ended up buying a shirt for the boys (they needed new white dress shirts anyways) and I already had a white one packed. I'm sure that's not how Matt & Angela planned on spending their last night in San Diego but they were good sports. After pictures, we stopped at the San Diego temple to take some pictures of it. For anyone that hasn't seen that one, you should make it a point to because it is absolutely gorgeous!
So that was our trip. Tons of fun and I'm so glad we got to go.

WE HAVE TO THROW THIS ONE AWAY

"Mom, we have to throw this one away" says Bauer. Oh, my sweet, OCD boy. You see, earlier today he told Grandma Williams that he needed money for Disneyland because it costs $2 to watch the parade. So of course Grandma gave him money. So he counted and sorted it and then proceeded to tell me that we needed to throw this particular bill away because it is bent in too many places. I kept trying to tell him that you can spend money no matter how it looks but he still doesn't believe me. This one isn't any good. It is too crumbly. What am I going to do with my little perfectionist?

SCHOOL PICTURES

Today was picture day at Bauer's school. Of course I couldn't resist the opportunity to take pictures myself. He was dressed up nicely and prepped to take pictures so I figured I might as well snap a few in the basement before we left. He wasn't so thrilled about it though. So here is what I came up with...

This is Bauer's picture face...


And this is his trying so hard to smile face...


And here are some okay ones...

HALLOWEEN

So I didn't take any pictures on Halloween. I know - very out of character for me. Not sure what was wrong but anyways, I just wanted to post (for my sake more than anything) about it. On Friday night we had the Williams family party at Gayle and Lorna's. We had yummy fondu for dinner and then went to see 'This Is It.' I absolutely loved it. I have always loved Michael Jackson though. Bauer loved it too. He was dancing and singing and having a great time (until he fell asleep). In fact, at one point his dancing got so crazy that he head-butted Brian and I had to take him out crying. Saturday morning we woke up and went to see Hiett's last football game. It was really cold but we had fun and they won so it was great. After the game, Brian, Bauer, and I went to lunch at Kneaders and then went home to take a nap. We got up at about 3:45 and got Bauer dressed up in his costume and headed over to Trick-or-Treat at Gayle & Lorna's house. At 5:00 Brian left to go to the Utah game and Bauer and I headed out to West Valley. We stopped at Grandma Wright's house first to get some chili and see all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. Kai and Grandpa met us there and brought Bauer his treat so we wouldn't have to stop by there house too. Then we stopped at Matt & Tia's house and then Granny Bliss' for some Trick-or-Treating. After all of our visits we headed home to hand out candy. I tried and tried to convince Bauer to Trick-or-Treat around the neighborhood but he refused. He just didn't want to. I finally convinced him to go to Pete & Leslie's house (our neighbors that Bauer loves) but that is the only house he would go to. Matt & Tia came over just after that and watched Haunted Mansion with us. So Halloween was tons of fun but very busy. It's nice to have a day to rest and relax. Thank goodness for Sundays!

TRUNK OR TREAT

Our ward had their Trunk or Treat last night so we took Bauer over to do some trick-or-treating. He went to about 5 cars and then told me "okay, I'm done. I have enough candy." I am pretty sure he was done because he was so cold so we went back to our car, put his hoodie and gloves on, and he ate a doughnut while the other kids came trick-or-treating. Hopefully Halloween will be warmer.

ANDERSON HALLOWEEN PARTY

Yesterday morning, in preparation for the annual Anderson Haunted Garage pumpkin carving party, Bauer and I cleaned out the pumpkins that we picked out last week. Brian cut the tops off and then Bauer and I cleaned all of the seeds and crap out. Bauer wiped the outsides off with a rag and then I started in on the guts. Bauer was very intrigued but then when he touched it, he decided that maybe he didn't want to help because it made him dirty. So he watched a Halloween movie and sat by me while I cleaned them out. Cute little stinker.

That night we went to Rick's house and had some yummy soup and carved our pumpkins. Bauer asked Jared to help him with his pumpkin so they picked out a pattern and started in on his pumpkin. Heidi had brought Bauer a pumpkin to do too and had even cleaned it out for him and brought him cute little colored pegs for him to hammer into it. Bauer and Jared used the pegs on their pumpkin and Marti started carving the pumpkin Heidi had given Bauer and then Heidi ended up finishing it. After Jared finished with Bauer, he went home and Bauer came over by me and hammered some pegs into my pumpkin. I let him poke holes in it and play around too. He loved it. It was so cute to watch him. Then, at the end of the night, Suzzi gave her decorated pumpkin to Bauer too. So he ended up with 4 pumpkins! Brian took a pumpkin that I had painted white and carved it into Jack Skellington. I was surprised that nobody knew who he was. Seriously! Does nobody watch Nightmare Before Christmas?!?