Sunny San Diego for Spring Break

For Spring break this year we decided to go to San Diego. It was a very needed get away and a great reminder of how much fun we have together. We decided to leave as soon as Tyler woke up, and in true Tyler fashion, he was up before 4 am, so we headed off to our adventure very early. The kids and I slept until about Cedar City, so half of our drive was already done. 

We stopped for Starbies and since Makayla needs driving hours before she turns 16, Tyler thought it would be a great idea to have her drive... through Vegas. I did not think that was the smartest idea, but I got out voted. Makayla ended up doing great and drove for about 3 hours. 

The kids slept in the back, played games and watched movies. Then we finally made it to our hotel. We stayed at Bahia Resort. This was the perfect place to stay because they have their own private beach, and we were just a short walk to Mission Beach. We ended the night with swimming at the hotel pool and then headed to bed for a full day in San Diego. 

The next morning we played pickleball and spent some time at the private beach. 

Then we ventured downtown for dinner and explored SeaPort. 

Fun fact, we were at this same carousel when we came here a few years ago before our Disney cruise, but none of the kids remembered going on it. Look how much they have grown up in just a few years. 

Then we were off to our next adventure which was our very first MLB game!! We got to see the Padres vs. Giants. The baseball field was so cool and was right in the middle of down town. 

The Padres were losing the whole game and were down by 3 until the last inning. The Padres were last at bat and one of the players hit a home run, so they were only down by 1. It was so exciting! Caden was taking a video at the perfect time and got the home run on his phone!! Unfortunately the next at bat got out, so they lost, but we had fun watching them. 

The next day we spent at Sea World. The last time we were here, Brynnli was only 3, so she didn't remember anything. We were so glad we could go back again so she could experience Sea World. The kids loved the doctor fish that eat all the dead skin off your hands. 

We got to see sea lions and the kids were imitating them. 

Check out this cool picture!

You're never to old for a piggy back ride from dad!!

Kids and their phones these days. Even when we are on vacation they have to keep checking their phones. 

I have a weird fascination with Orcas. I think they are amazing, so I was so excited for the orca show. I told the kids all about the documentary Blackfish and how the Orca show at SeaWorld had to change because of the orca that ate the trainer. They were grossed out, and I promised them we would watch the documentary when we got home. Luckily no trainers were eaten during our viewing of the orca show and the kids thought the tricks were pretty cool. 

Sea turtles are my other favorite sea animal. I find it weird that I like so many sea animals even though I am totally grossed out by them. 

No pictures of this, but we liked the rides at Sea World, even though some of them had really long waits. We really liked Manta and Electric Eel. We didn't think we were going to have time to ride "Journey to Atlantis" but Brynnli insisted we go on it and I'm glad we listed to her because it was a really fun ride, especially at night. We all got wet on it, but it was our last ride, so it was fine. Lesson learned: listen to Brynnli. 

Day 3 in San Diego we rented paddle boards and spent the whole afternoon at the beach. It was amazing and we had really great weather. The kids were so good at the paddle boards and spent hours on them. 

That night we ventured back to Seaport Village. We had an amazing view of the sunset by the Midway aircraft carriers. We went shopping for our souvis, and got some dessert. 

The next morning some of us were ready for more fun, and others wanted to hang out on their phones. 

We decided to go to Cornado Beach and stopped for gas in Old Town. Inflation is crazy right now, but can you believe gas is almost $7 a gallon!?

Coronado was super cold, so we didn't spend too much time here. We did find time for my favorite beach past time: writing in the sand. 

We had lunch at the cutest pizza place then headed to see the movie "Hail Mary". On our way back to the hotel we asked Chat GPT for a recommendation of a local place and we ended up at this cute place. The food was amazing! I wish I could remember the name of this place. 

We wanted to spend one last night at Mission Beach and got some great photos. 

Our last morning Brynnli woke up early with me and Tyler and we went on a long walk. I think Brynnli just wanted to come along to get hot chocolate with us. 

We spent a few hours at the private beach and then headed back home. 

 This was one of my favorite trips and I would totally come back here again! I love spending time with my family and experiencing new adventures together. 

Springing into March

Spring is almost here and we are ready to March into all the fun. See what I did there? Here's a few of the fun things we have been up to lately. Since we have late church the kids are usually ready to go, but we have to wait. This particular day Brynnli convinced Caden to have a little tea party with her. Caden is the best brother!

So funny story, I am the Primary President again... just for a few months... at least that's what my source in the bishopric assures me. Something about the old primary president needed to be released very soon, but there are rumors of big boundary changes happening in our ward any day now, so until then, they needed someone to be in the primary with the 3 kids we have in there. Ya, you read that right: 3 kids in our primary. So here I am Primary president again. When they sustained me in church, so many people were like "what!?" because I was just president a few years ago. I even made a joke about maybe I'll get it right this time around! Anyway, the stake primary set up this picture of Jesus and had all the kids stand by it for a picture. Brynnli was with me helping to set up one day and the stake lady was like, do you want a picture too? It turned out pretty cute. 

Tyler the gringo. Celebrating his birthday dinner. 

Caden's church basketball team made it all the way to the semi finals in the playoff games. 

Looks like that toy car doesn't fit you anymore, Brynn. Speaking of Brynn, she got her finger slammed in the door and it is all bruised. Looks like she is going to lose her fingernail. Poor girl!!

Yay, we spotted Haylie and Henry. They must lay their eggs close to our house because we always see them hanging around here. Thanks to Bella (who looks super cute with her new hair do) for scaring the ducks away. No animal is safe in our yard... Bella makes sure of that. 

Brynn's team all coordinated rainbow outfits for dance one day. 

The cheeseburger quest continues... This time at Ab's Drive in. This one was not Caden's favorite. He gave it a 6/10. Also, Caden is working on training Bella. She will do anything for a treatsie. 

Brynnli set a trap for Lucky again this year, but he still was able to get away. Luckily he still brought all the kids some treats. 

Caden's spring Choir concert was great. 

I love when Caden and Brynnli end up in our bed on Saturday mornings. Reminds me of when they were little. 

Fierce on the Floor

Dance comp season is in full swing which means we spend all of our weekends at dance comps. I got to see the girls do their solos for the first time onstage. This one was so fun because I went with Brynnli backstage and I got to see her dance from a  different view. Brynnli's dance is a sassy jazz titled, "Got that Look". Brynnli is now competing in the intermediate category. She has some tougher competition in the more advanced category, but she is doing great. 

Little dinner break between solos, then it was Makayla's turn. Makayla is doing a lyrical solo to the song "Thank You". I love her costume and she always dances so beautifully in lyrical numbers. 

Both girls are looking forward to more solo competitions. Then the following week the girls had another competition. We got to see the Makayla and Harper's duo onstage for the first time. They are doing a creepy contemporary dance titled, "Don't let me Catch you Sleeping". I love this dance and their evil faces are on point. 

Fun fact: Makayla gives us this same look when she is annoyed with us. 

Award time!

Makayla did her solo next and did so well. She was in the running for overalls, but got knocked out at the last minute. She placed 2nd in her category. 

Are you wondering why Brynnli didn't do her solo at this competition? That's because the night before competition, Brynnli woke us up at 11:00 at night and said her stomach hurt. We had her drink some water and sent her back to bed only for her to run to the bathroom a few minutes later and throw up. We were hoping this was a one and done throw up, but no. Brynnli ended up throwing up over 20 times in a 24 hour period. I felt so bad for her and she was so sad she couldn't compete her solo. 

I talked to the competition director and explained the situation and asked if she was feeling better the next day if she could compete her solo. They said yes, so we hoped she would be ok the next day. Brynnli slept the whole day, but was finally able to start holding food down. She decided she would try to compete her solo, and guess what? She did such a good job!! You would have had no idea she had the flu just the day before. I tell ya, kids are amazing!!

Then it was team competition. Brynnli was feeling pretty weak, but she powered through. I was so proud of her. I love watching our girls perform and all of their team dances did really well. Brynnli didn't have to pretend she didn't feel good in this picture. 

The next week we were at another competition and during one of our breaks Makayla and Caden walked to the gas station with Tyler. They were only supposed to get a slurpee, but somehow they walked out with hot dogs, donuts, and slurpees. Tyler is such a push over. 

Brynnli's team is so fun. They all had a team dinner together during the break. Then they went out and crushed all of their dances. Their hip hop dance ended up receiving 1st overall of all the dances in the beginning category. I absolutely love Brynn in her hip hop. She has so many great facials and is really good at hip hop for a white girl!! 

 I predict more dance in our future.