Good Times

Since my last post, we have been playing a lot. I've also kept up on my resolutions: read the January Ensign, got all caught up on my scrapbooking, joined a book club to strengthen friendships, made a trip to the temple, and in all the FUN, I have spent some great quality time with my family.

So I thought I would document some of the fun we've been having. A few weekends ago, we headed to Laramie for a weekend. Because I spent nearly 6 years in Laramie, made great friends, got my education, had my testimony strengthened, met Tony, and had my first child there, Laramie holds a special place in my heart, and I always LOVE going back there. This weekend was no different. We stayed with Tony's brother and his wife in their college apartment, which was so much fun! I love college apartments--they bring back so many great memories! On Saturday, Tony took the kids swimming, to Burger King, and on a little campus tour while while I stayed at the apartment to have a baby shower for Michelle, my sister-in-law. Five of the eight kids in Tony's family were there for the weekend with their families, plus Tony's mom, so the kids had lots of cousins to play with and we had a good crowd for the shower. In the afternoon, we headed to the Arena Auditorium to watch the Cowboys beat CSU. The Cowboys are really good this year, and it was such a fun game to watch. The kids sat down in the first three rows right by the tunnel where they were able to give high-fives to the players as they ran in and out and even got a few autographs after the game. That night we ate at Corona Village, one of our favorite Laramie restaurants.

The kids with a few of their cousins that were there, getting ready for the game to start.

Getting autographs from the star of the game.Not EVERYBODY loved the game. In fact, this picture sums up the way Mariah felt about it.
Back in August, on our way home from AK, we had a rough time getting home--a cancelled flight, all night in the airport, a day at a hotel, a red-eye flight from Anchorage to Long Beach followed by a 12-hour layover there, etc. And all without Tony--just me and the three kids. Needless to say, it wasn't an ideal trip home. But JetBlue gave me a little compensation in the form of a $100 credit per traveler for future trips. I didn't really plan on using the credit since I figured that even if we got $100 off per person, we would still have to pay the difference, plus Tony's ticket. They had to be used in a year as well, and after that trip, I really didn't feel like flying anytime in the near future.

But . . . the first part of January I found out that JetBlue was a having a sale on flights between Salt Lake City and Long Beach for just $49 each way on selected dates. So, since we had enough credit to pay for a round trip flight, I went ahead and planned a trip. We couldn't make it work for Tony to come, and taking Mariah didn't sound like much of a vacation for me, so I just got three tickets and decided to surprise Mylie and Connor with a short trip. So last Wednesday afternoon, I picked them up from school and drove to the airport. I didn't tell them where we were going until we were actually at the airport, and they were going crazy guessing! It was so much fun, and we had a great trip!

We got into LB Wednesday night around 7 and took a bus to our hotel, which was a dump but just 3 blocks from the beach! (I love riding public transportation--you can't beat the $1.25 fare, compared to the almost $30 it would have cost to take a taxi, and the people-watching is fantastic!) We ordered pizza and watched TV until we went to sleep that night. The next day was our one full day there, so we made the most of it. The weather was GORGEOUS, probably my favorite part of the trip. We walked about half an hour to get downtown, but nobody complained. We were too busy enjoying the sun in our shorts and t-shirts as well as looking at the beach, buildings, and interesting trees and plants. Once we got to our desination, we spent the morning at a great aquarium, which featured sealife from all different parts of the Pacific Ocean. I am fascinated with ocean life, so I absolutely love aquariums! The kids' favorite part was probably the area called the Shark Lagoon.

Mylie posing with some massive shark jaws. They didn't have any sharks this size there!

Touching a huge sting ray in the touch pool.

Touching a bamboo shark. Connor and I loved this! Mylie, not so much.

Some beautiful black-tipped sharks.

The lorikeet forest was next to the shark lagoon. These little birds, which are native to Australia, were so colorful! Connor thought it was pretty cool having one eat out of his hand.

After viewing all the sealife, we decided to enjoy it in a different way by eating lunch at Bubba Gump's Shrimp across the street. After lunch, we rented a surry and rode up and down the fantastic bike path they have right on the beach there. Then we walked back up the hotel to get our beach clothes and spent the rest of the day at the beach. I though it was just a little too chilly for swimsuits, and for sure the water was too cold, but Connor and Mylie disagreed and had a fantastic time on the beach and in the water (although they only waded out to their knees) while I enjoyed reading my book and feeling the sand beneath my toes.

Connor photographed the surry. Not the best pic of me perhaps, but you get the idea. This was lots of fun, and there was some begging the next morning to do it again!

Wading out into the cold, cold water.

Rolling down a sand dune on the beach.

The next morning, we spent a little more time at the beach, got ice cream cones, and since I knew the Carnival cruise that ports there would be in port that day, we bussed over to the terminal so the kids could see the ship (and I could wish I was on it!) We had to get back on the bus to the airport a little after noon, so that was all we did that day.

Connor and Mylie felt pretty lucky to get to fly again so soon! After our Alaska trip I told them they wouldn't be flying again for a really long time. We really probably could have just flown to Long Beach and flown right back and they would have been thrilled! But I'm glad we did all the other stuff, since we had so much fun together. And, as always, coming home was great! I sure missed my Mariah-buddy, but was grateful for the time with my school kids.

Me and my buddy the night we got home.

Finally, since we hadn't had enough fun yet, yesterday, Tony, Connor, Mylie, and I went skiing. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time! (But I didn't take my camera, so no pics this time. Oh well, they'd probably look a lot like the other skiing pictures, but with Tony in them too. I suppose you can imagine.) And now back to our regular schedule, and back to work on those resolutions I've made. Life is so good.