Mayne family

Since we were unable to go to Lego Land (it was closed Tues, and Wed, and we had to be in L.A. Wed so we couldn’t fit it in),  we decided to spend three days at Disneyland instead, and boy were we glad we made that decision. Disneyland was so much fun. We arrived in Disneyland about 1 in the afternoon, and when we got into the park we immediately saw Mickey and his friends!

After we took some pictures, we didn’t take a lot because the lines got insanely long, and Jack didn’t care too much, and Eli refused to get his picture taken with any character, we headed into the park. We immediately started riding the rides in Fantasyland. I think we got to ride most of them without any waits.

Then we headed over to Tomorrowland, and Paul and Jackson went on the Star Tours ride. While they were on the ride, Eli and I discovered a show where the Jedi trained young Padawons.  Complete with Darth Vador and Darth Maul, and Storm Troopers. Eli was so excited to see Troopers, he loves them for some strange reason. So we told Paul and Jack about it, and decided to catch the next show. Well Jackson got picked along with about 16 other kids to be the young Padawons. Jackson was so excited. After learning to fight with a light saber, he got to try his skills out against Darth Maul. Talk about cool! After the show was done, he got a certificate saying he was officially a Jedi Padawon. Needless so say that will be going on the wall.

The rest of the night was spend riding rides, and seeing more characters including Tigger.

this is the closest Eli got to any of the characters.

Thursday we spend most of the day touring Disney California. It was a lot of fun. Jack and Paul got to go on some of the older, taller rides while Eli and I would go on the younger rides. We took the kids to see the Playhouse Disney Live show which they loved! Eli was especially excited to see the Little Einstein characters which are his favorite.

we saw some 3-D shows

That night we saw the water show Fantasmic, which was cool. They enjoyed seeing even more disney characters. Jack at one point said to Paul, ” Dad I thought the real Buzz would be bigger” So cute.

Friday we spent most of the time in Toon Town. Jackson especially loved Goofy’s house. At one point in the afternoon it started to rain, so we went back to the hotel for some downtime. We went back for the parade after the rain stopped, but found out they had canceled it due to the weather. So we rode our favorite rides a few more times, Pirates, It’s a Small World, we went on Autopia, and a few others. Then we decided we were done. It had been an action packed 3 days.

Saturday and Sunday we spent driving home. We had such a wonderful time, and can’t wait to go back in a few years!! I don’t think there were hardly any rides in the park we didn’t go on. It was the perfect time of the year to go. The boys loved it, and we did too!

for a few more photos check out: Photo set on Flickr

After we arrived in San Diego our plan was to go to Lego Land on Monday and Sea World on Tuesday. However, mother nature had other plans for us. Monday we had horrible weather. It was rainy with 40 mile an hour winds. Obviously we weren’t going to be able to make it to Lego Land. So we spent our time driving around San Diego, and when it did stop raining, we took the boys to see the ocean. After the ocean, we ate some yummy tacos, and then went swimming at the hotel.

yes it was a little chilly but worth it

Tuesday we woke up to a wonderful day! It was 65 and sunny and warm. We arrived at Sea World right as it was opening. We immediately took the boys to ride some of the kid rides that they had in the Sesame Street World part of the park.

Getting ready for rides at Sesame Street World

Jackson got his picture taken with Elmo and Abby

Paul was a trooper for going on this ride with the boys. Those rides make me sick!

After checking out the rides, we went and watched the dolphin show. We did sit in the soak zone, and sure enough Eli got splashed directly in the face. He was the only one of the 4 of us to really get wet, and probably the one person who cared the most to not get wet. But we sure enjoyed the dolphin show. We then checked out the Shamu show, which had Eli saying, “Shamu, Shamu” for the good next 20 minutes. Those whales are amazing. It was fun to see all of the sea life that they had in the park.

flamingos

the family at the end of the day. We left the park when it closed, and you can tell from Jack’s face, he was ready to be done

Paul and I decided last year that we wanted to take the boys to Disneyland while they were young and would enjoy the novelty of Disneyland. So these past 9 days we have done just that. It was a wonderful family vacation. We decided to break up the driving by spending a night in Vegas on the way there, and on the way back. We stayed in the Excalibur Hotel. The first night we were there, we took the kids over to Circus Circus and let them play games, games, and more games. They had loads of fun, and both managed to win some stuffed animals.

Playing games at Circus Circus

Sponge Bob and light sabers

The boys had some fun eating at Carls Junior on the drive to San Diego

This is what the boys looked like the majority of the time in the car.

These pictures show what we have been doing lately. Nothing special,  just playing the winter days away.

Posing for pictures

They are so cute! I am so lucky!

Playing a lot of Mario Kart. They both are getting quite good!

We made the most of a 42 degree sunny day

Playing Lego’s!

This past Saturday night, we were fortunate to be able to take our kids, and go with some family and friends, and tour the Draper Temple. Before a temple is dedicated, the LDS Church allows anyone to come and take a tour of the temple. After it is dedicated, only members of the LDS Church with a current temple recommend can go to the temple after that.

So Saturday night we went to the temple. It was fabulous. I loved being able to show our kids the inside of the temple. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, Eli has been obsessed with temples, and touching the door, so he sure was excited to be able to touch the temple door this time That was the first thing he did, with a huge smile on his face. All the rest of the tour he kept telling us, “hurry up, let’s go, I see the temple”. He was so cute. Jackson was quiet, but you could see him looking around taking in the pictures, the chandeliers, and the general spirit that was felt there. The temple is beautiful. I really love the colors they have chosen, and the chandeliers and light fixtures are gorgeous. It was wonderful to be able to go through the temple with Paul’s mom, and some of her friends and family. We also had my best friend’s family with us, and it was great to see her kids react to the temple also. After the tour Jackson told us he couldn’t wait to be baptized and go to the temple someday, and Eli said the temple was beautiful, which of course it was!

I realize this post is a little late in coming but we had a fantastic New Year! We spent the the first few hours of the evening over at our neighbor’s house with a bunch of friends and their kids. After a wonderful dinner, and getting the kids worn out, we returned home and had a baby sitter over to watch the boys while we went out with some friends. We met up with our friends for dessert, and then went and saw the movie Valkyrie. It was surprisingly good. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I love history, and I thought this movie was really good. It was great to be out without the kids for New Years for the first time I think since we had Jackson. So it has been a while.

Then on the 2nd, the Utah Utes destroyed Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. That was a fantastic game and was a good start to a new year. Paul and I have been planning these past few months on getting season tickets to the U games, I hope that we still can! So far 2009 has been good. Let’s hope it will continue to be.

Paul set up a computer in his office for the boys to play on last week, and Eli LOVES it! We are always finding him on the computer now.

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Grandma and Grandpa Lewis decided to spend Christmas with us, and we were so glad. We did so many wonderful things with them, and with Uncle Troy when we joined us. We made cookies, made a Gingerbread house, built Lego towers, and played games. Thanks Mom, Dad and Troy for a wonderful Christmas! Here are pictures from some of our fun activities.

This past Monday night found our family at temple square to see the lights. My parents were joining us this year for Christmas and on their drive here we decided to meet up and see the lights. Paul and I haven’t seen them in years and neither had my parents. We dressed up the boys in all of their snow clothes so that they wouldn’t be too cold. The boys sure had fun exploring temple square, and Eli was obsessed for some reason with touching doors. He stood in awe of the temple, and said, “mommy, I touch the door?” After I explained to him we couldn’t go touch the temple doors, he then wanted to touch the doors he could. He finally was able to touch the door at the Church Office Building.  I think the kid could feel the spirit of temple square and just wanted to be as close to heaven as he could. What a sweet spirit. Jackson had fun with his Grandma and Grandpa. He loved showing them everything.  After about an hour, we were frozen and headed home. What a fabulous family outing.

This past week, I took Jackson on our monthly date. We started this a few months ago when I realized that with Jackson going to preschool I get some alone time with Eli but I don’t with Jack. I think alone time is important with kids, so me and Jack go on a date. This month he really wanted to go bowling. So bowling we went. Jackson had a lot of fun. He bowled his first strike ever. Granted he did have bumpers, but who cares. He was so excited. After bowling, we went to dinner at McDonald’s of course. It was a fun night for us! Paul and Eli really enjoy their alone time also when Jack and I are gone.

So winter has finally hit. For the past week we have had one snow storm after another. It has been insane. Paul luckily has been able to work at home. The boys are finally old enough to enjoy playing out in the snow. There has been sledding, snowman making, and some snowball fights. I really don’t like being cold but I have managed to play out in the snow with the boys. I think I might need to finally invest in some snow boots. I don’t have a pair, I have been wearing Paul’s. But with kids, and winter stir craziness, I probably should get some. It sure has been fun to match the boys’ enthusiasm for the snow. I find myself wanting to attempt to make the snow forts and slides that my dad would make for us for them. However, my favorite part of going out in the cold is the hot chocolate that I make for everyone when we are done playing outside.