The One Where we All Went on a Cruise

For Spring Break this year we decided to book a cruise to Ensenada and Catalina Island. 

Although it can sometimes be a pain, we decided to drive to California where our ship would depart. It is so much cheaper to drive than to fly 5 people. So here we are at 4:36 am ready to leave on our adventure. 

The kids did great and slept until about 7:30. We have done this so many times our kids are pros at sleeping in the car and then entertaining themselves for our long 9 hour drive. 

We made it to California, ate some dinner at a cute little pizza place, then headed to Manhattan Beach to explore. 

You would think being in California the weather would be nice, but the weather is so weird this year and it was surprisingly cold. The kids still had fun playing in the water

Check out Makayla's amazing trick. It looks like she is flying upside down as she is doing her aerial. 

I have passed down my love of writing in the sand to my kids. Caden was here. 

We got some dessert at a cute little shop, watched the sunset, then headed back to our hotel. 

The next morning we were up and ready for a fun day. 

We booked tickets for the Warner Brothers back lot tour where you get to see where a whole bunch of tv and movies are filmed. 

The kids found some cool Harry Potter stuff

The tour took us around to where they film different shows. It was crazy to see because it looks like real buildings, but its just the front. You can't actually go into the buildings. 

There are some buildings that you can walk into where they would film an inside scene. Everything was smaller than a normal size kitchen and stairs in the house didn't lead to other areas of the house.

One of my favorite shows when I was a teenager was Friends. I think I have seen every episode and even still quote one liners from the show. The show was set in New York, but they filmed in L.A at the Warner Brothers studio. In the show the characters would always meet for coffee at a place called Central Perk. I was so excited to see the set they used for the show. 

When you would watch the show, the coffee shop seemed big, but when we were on the set, it was so small. This is the set and couch where all the actors sat. We felt so famous. 

We even got to go see the famous opening credits where they dance in front of the fountain. A lot of people think this fountain is in New York, but it is actually just on the lot in L.A. Seeing all this stuff was so cool.

Caden found Michael Jordan's uniform from the movie Space Jam. 

This is the set from the show Big Bang Theory, which is a popular show that was on tv just a few years ago. 

Then we got to walk around and learn about how they can make things appear different for t.v. and movies. Take this for example, in one of the kids' favorite movies, Harry Potter, there is a giant. In order to make the character look big, they use different angles with the camera. Tyler is sitting closer and I am sitting far away. It makes it look like Tyler is giant. 

Tyler and I loved the show Game of Thrones. They had so  many cool things from the show like clothing the characters wore. 

The kids' favorite part was the Harry Potter stuff. This is from the movie where Harry Potter's room is in a small room under the stairs. 

One of the workers showed us how you can manipulate the camera to make it look like the letters are flying all around. This is a part from the movie too. I think our kids would be great actors in the Harry Potter films. 

We all got to sit at the sorting hat and find out what house we belonged to. Caden is in the Slytherin house. 

The kids look like we stuffed them into a suitcase. 

At the end of our tour we could look at the actual Golden Globe Awards. 

Tyler and I would like to thank the academy...

The award was actually a lot heavier than I thought. 

After our tour we got lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe (remind me not to go here again. The service is not great, the food is overpriced, and it takes forever). 

Then we walked along the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 

We ended our night with swimming and McDonalds ice cream. 

We were so excited for the next part of our fun vacation... Our cruise!!!

Let the Shenanigans Begin

Guys, do you know what is sad? Makayla is officially taller than me! And she just keeps growing. 

It makes it really hard to yell at her when she's taller than me. Any suggestions?

Nice outfit choice there to wear to church, Makayla. 

Do you want to know a weird fact about me that I probably shouldn't mention? I am obsessed with snow pack totals... like weirdly obsessed. I get really worried when snow pack totals are not in the average range because I kind of like to drink water in the summer. I check the snow pack totals almost daily during this time of the year... good news for me, the snow pack is doing really well this year because of the massive snow storms we had last month. 

So the girls need something to hang their costumes on when we are at competitions and instead of buying something, Tyler was like, I can make you something that will be better and will fit in the small changing tent we have. Makayla and Tyler worked for a few days to make a perfect costume rack. 

Bella looks like she's having a bad hair day. 

I saw this picture of my Grandma and Grandpa Draper and I just wanted to post it here to always remember them. This picture was taken on their 50th wedding anniversary. I love the strong love, compassion, and strength I see in this picture. I love and miss my grandparents so much. 

Lucky the Leprechaun came to our house again this year to cause some trouble. He left the kids a note and some candy and played a lot of tricks on them.  

"I'm a tricky little bugger to catch, I know how to make my own escape hatch. Your trap was cleaver; it gave me quite the endeavor. But I escaped and I didn't even get scraped. For your efforts I give you praise because it's the thought that definitely pays."

He forgot to flush... again and turned our milk green. 

But the grossest thing was that the kids tried to catch him by using gum, but he somehow managed to get out of it and left a huge mess of gum on our fireplace. Guess who had to clean it up? Me!!

One of our dance competitions had a really long wait between dances so Daddy, Caden, and Brynnli got to go bowling. They had so much fun and it helped to pass the time in our long dance day. 

One last game for the Lady Utes at the Huntsman Center. This was a really important game because if they won this game they would go on to the Sweet Sixteen. 

Utes football star Cam Rising was even there and the boys got a picture with him. 

Guess what!? The Utes won!!! Can't wait to watch them play in the sweet sixteen. 

Go Utes. 

Life is Better When You Dance

7 Costumes... check

Red lipstick... check

Fake eyelashes... check. 

Hours and hours of watching our girls do what they love? Check.

Dance competitions are here and I absolutely love watching our girls dance. They have improved so much these last few years and really shine on the dance floor. This year Makayla is doing a solo to a song called, "Salvation." Doing a solo can be intimidating, but she goes onstage with such confidence and dances beautifully. 

Makayla is on a winning streak and has earned 1st place, high gold in her first 3 competitions!!

This is her choreographer and teacher, Haiden. Haiden has given Makayla a level of confidence that I just love and am so grateful for. 

Makayla's jazz dance this year is called 2020. It makes fun of the weird covid year, like masks, gloves, soap, scrub..The girls costumes are business on top and party on the bottom, with bright pink gloves. 

Makayla's lyrical dance is called "Breathe" and I love this dance because Makayla has a few solo parts where she is showcased. 

This was the first year for our girls doing hip hop and they loved it! Makayla's dance is called "Track Stars". 

Brynnli's jazz dance is "Glitter". Brynnli has a few parts in this dance where she is showcased by being lifted. 

Her lyrical dance is called "Journey to the past" and their costumes are absolutely stunning. 

My favorite dance of Brynnli's is her Hip Hop dance called "Carmen Sandiego" Brynnli really knows how to do the facials and sass it up... if you can ever find her in the dance... there are over 30 dancers in this dance.

But the MVP of our family has to go to this kid, who being the amazing brother that he is goes to every dance competition and cheers on his sisters... even when we are there for 10-12 hours. I would definitely award him "1st place, high gold, higher than high gold, platinum gold, and Parent's Choice Award" (Just a little dance humor if you get what I mean). Caden is definitely the best dance brother around. 

Life really is better when you dance!