USS Midway Museum

On the second day of vacation we went to the USS Midway Museum.

www.midway.org

It was raining most of the time we were there. Luckily, much of the museum is indoors.

This was so interesting. As you can see by the headphones, we did a self-guided tour.

These beds were in pretty tight quarters. It made me thankful for the big bed I get to stretch out in every night.

There were several planes and helicopters that the kids could play in. I would be frightened to have any of these people pilot my aircraft.

By the time we got up to the flight deck the skies had really cleared up.

The structure in the background is the "island".

All the navigating and decision making for the ship is made here.

These four are hanging off the very back of the ship.

After our tour we went to the mall and had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen.

Where to?

In San Diego we rented a 12 passenger van. When we got back to the hotel our first night Brad pulled up to the front door and I got out and unloaded all the girls. I noticed two men standing on the curb. As I was closing the door they walked over to the van and reached out to open the door. Suddenly I knew what they were thinking. "Sorry," I said. "This is our rental, not the hotel shuttle bus." They seemed a little embarassed and made some jokes about our "sweet ride". I thought it was hilarious. If I had thought quicker I would have let them get in. I would have loved to see Brad's reaction to that.

Thanksgiving in San Diego - Day 1

We can't seem to have a group picture without a pouter.

The Saturday before Thanksgiving we loaded up and flew to San Diego for a week of fun in the sun. The only problem was we didn't see much sun. It was mostly chilly and rainy. We were lucky though because most of the rain (the hardest rain I have ever seen except in Hawaii) came on the first two days and we timed our outside adventures between storms.

We landed in the early afternoon. After picking up our 12 passenger van, we headed to In-N-Out for lunch. Yum. That place makes me happy. After settling in at our hotel we decided to drive out to Mission Bay and have a look around. We got there between storms and were able to walk up and down the pathway next to the beach for about an hour. We enjoyed the sound of the waves and the beachy smells. We also decided which beach house we will buy when we hit it big. We called it an early night and headed back to the hotel.

Christmas Programs

Paige started playing the cello this year.

I love this picture. If you look at all their feet, it looks like the perfect elementary school orchestra.

Lizzie's holiday program. I am not sure why she is the only one not singing.

Meeting her public (Kerrie and Grandma Jean) after the performance.

4th grade Christmas Program. Paige is one happy girl. She loves to sing.

Leaves

With such a nice Fall, we didn't get many leaves on the ground until well into November.

The girls begged to go out and rake them up.

Strangely, the same amount of leaves were still out there after they had "worked" for an hour.

Some good old competitive raking.

The hardest working girl in the group.

Everyone hard at work.

Six

Susanna's sixth birthday was November 8. It was on a Monday, so we had her cake (chocolate eclair) the night before when all the family was together.

The next morning she woke up to the traditional display of gifts on the kitchen counter.

She chose eggs, rice and sausage for her breakfast. She also opened her breakfast gift which was a pack of Silly Bands.

Kerrie and Mom brought in Krispie Kreme doughnuts to her kindergarten class. Susanna sat in the front of the class and was interviewed by her friends.

She then led the class in "follow the leader" back to their seats.

Kerrie joined right in with the big kids.

After school Susanna had some of her friends over for lunch and a movie. They ate Happy Meals and watched How to Train Your Dragon.

Later that night Susanna opened gifts from her family. She was very excited to get this Nintendo DS. Now she is just like the big girls.

Happy Birthday Susanna!!!

SYTYCD

On November 4, I took Kiley and Hannah to the So You Think You Can Dance tour stop in Salt Lake City.

We met up with my niece Melissa for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and then the show.

We had great seats. It was an amazing show.

I love watching talented people. Kiley and Hannah said it was one of their favorite nights ever.

The next day we drove up to Park City to go shopping at the outlet mall. Those girls can shop!

Instead of coming back down the canyon to Salt Lake, we went down Provo Canyon and surprised my niece Lauren working at Goodwood BBQ in Orem.

What a great couple of days. We will have to do more girls' trips in the future.