Around the Country in Ten Days - Destination 3

The third leg of my trip found me in Orlando again... with my family! Jessica and Kevin gave their kids a trip to Disney World for Christmas. It was really hard to keep it a secret. :) On Thursday we started out at Animal Kingdom. The boys loved Expedition Everest. I think we went on it at least three times. It is pretty cool when you get to go backwards.
Audrey was so excited to go on Dinosaurs, because she wasn't tall enough last time they were there. I can't believe the kids didn't get scared. It is pretty intense. We ended out the night by seeing Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios. It was really, really crowded... but I managed to find us some seats. Shhh! Don't tell anyone that we sat in the handicapped section.
We spent the next day in EPCOT. This is Preston and Mom on Living with the Land. They have all these innovative, interesting ways to grow plants.

Our Disney Visa cards got us into an exclusive character greeting. Hello Minnie and Goofy! We are a Disney family.Dinner at the Biergarten restaurant in Germany was a blast. I danced the polka with the kids and even rocked out to the bird dance. The food was... interesting. I prefer Italian.

Here is what the future holds for Audrey and I:

Saturday was Jessica and Kevin's 12th Anniversary! He surprised Jess with a night in the Contemporary Resort... and she thought she'd never get to stay there. That morning we enjoyed breakfast at Chef Mickey's and met the whole gang.

We rode the train over to Magic Kingdom and started with a trip to the barber shop. Preston and Ethan got cuts then lots of gel, glitter and Mickey heads in the back. Audrey and Julian got complimentary Pixie Dust in their hair.Look who we found outside of Pirates of the Carribean!

After Jess and Kevin took off, I ended up with three of the kids on my own at one point. It is tough! Especially when little Julian is crying because he has to go to the bathroom so badly, but there is a huge line to go. All the kisses and loves make up for it though. :)

We started out the next day in Magic Kingdom. Little Julian is very particular. He didn't like the popsicle that we got for him.We had dinner in the 50's Prime Time Cafe in Hollywood Studios. "Uncle George" fed us, introduced us to our cousins at the next table, and warned us that if we didn't eat our vegetables then we wouldn't get any dessert. He even made the kids help set the table. It was entertaining. We watched old black and white T.V. shows and the dessert menu was on this old toy. Does anyone remember what these are called?The next day I only spent the morning with my family before I had to jump on a plane. We saw this airplane writing in the sky on my last day:

I love my family! It just fills me up when I get to see them. I'm glad I was able to have a fun vacation with them.

Around the Country in Ten Days - Destination 2

I arrived in warm San Diego Sunday evening. Aaah... so warm. I had to take my socks off on the ride home. :) The first thing I told Kim was that we had to spend as much time as possible outside. She was so sweet to let me visit when she had just gotten home from Texas the night before.

Monday, we started out by going to the Tide Pools at Cabrillo National Park, the western side of Point Loma. We climbed down to the shore and looked for creatures.

We found some little crabs hiding out... ... and saw plenty of beautifully colorful anemones. This was the first time I ever touched one. It was a weird feeling... sticky, but not in a wet candy way, but in a grabbed on and not going to let go kind of way.

We climbed over a ledge so as not to get wet and access another part of the beach. We visited the old lighthouse that has been there since 1855. It was only used until 1891, when they started using a lighthouse at the tip of the point.

I love this quote.The windy staircase inside.

It was such a beautiful, sunny, perfect weather day that we decided to go layout at the beach. Kim took me to the beach behind the Del Coronado hotel. The hotel is gorgeous, and it felt like we'd stepped back in time a little... or onto a movie set. We had a little ice cream and stayed for the amazing sunset. There was a couple getting married on the beach there. So cute.That evening we headed into Old Town, where there is a little Mexican village. We had fun looking through the shops and such. We met some of Kim's friends for dinner. It was so nice to have good Mexican food. There is a serious deficiency in Boston. On Tuesday, we went to La Jolla for breakfast, and to see the sea lions.
Kim showed me her favorite beach, then to this one to look for sand dollars. Um... we only found a few little broken ones... but I did find a real-live clam!Next, we headed inland to go to Redlands. We passed orange groves......and vineyards... all the highlights of Cali.We attended the Redlands California Temple. This was number 36 for me. For some reason I thought it was the cookie cutter mini-temple, but the outside was different and, of course, beautiful. Kim's boyfriend (now fiance!), Dan, treated us to a nice Italian dinner after the session. It was some great food, and great conversation. He is a really nice guy. I am very happy for Kim. Wednesday was my last day in beatiful, warm San Diego and we went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. I have always wanted to go to the zoo since I was little. I remember seeing on t.v. that you got to drive through the park and lions would come up and walk next to your car. Well... they don't do that anymore. We went on a safari, sitting in their jeep and the lions don't come up to the car. It was still pretty cool. They have so much land and so many resources.

I learned that flamingos are born white and turn pinker the older they get and the more pink fish they eat... so you can tell a flamingo's age by its color.

I miss cute Kim since she lives so far away, but I loved San Diego. I can see why she enjoys living there. I was ready to pack up in Boston and move there... warm weather, sunshine, ocean, amazing scenery everywhere... even a few mountains. Thanks Kim! I just love ya!

Around the Country in Ten Days - Destination 1

There is no better way to beat the winter blues than to get away from it for a while. I was able to take a little week and a half trip and pretty much cover every side of the U.S. of A. My first destination was Minneapolis, MN for my cousin Ted's wedding. I know, I know... not the best place to escape the winter since it was colder there than in Boston. Luckily, though, it was only negative 8 (F) when I landed and not in the negative forties that I heard about the week before I arrived.Ted's fiance, Jenny's family had a dinner at their home Friday night. They were a fun bunch, and very kind. Ted loves Superman, so the ice cream toppers were Superman and Wonder Woman. (Jenny also showed us a fun little Superman gift she got at her bridal shower.) The next morning I woke up early to do a session before the wedding at the St. Paul Temple. This was number thirty-five for me (currently more than half-way there).
They were brave, good sports to get married in the middle of winter in Minnesota, that's all I'm saying. It started snowing just as we were leaving the temple.They did most of the pictures inside, before the reception. The church was lovely, and all of the decorations and food were very meaningful to represent things they had experienced in life. Ted also composed and played a song for Jenny on the piano. Very sweet. I am so happy for Ted and Jenny. They really seem to fit well together.
Yes, I caught the bouquet. I didn't try very hard. I held my arm up, and it hit me... slid down my arm and scratched me, (It hurt!) then it fell on the ground and no one else picked it up... I even hesitated before I finally picked it up. In case anyone is counting... this is the fourth bouquet I have caught, including my sister Jessica's when I was 18 (ha!), and a friend's bouquet a week before I went on my mission.
After shaking it on the dance floor and watching them open presents (they were leaving the next day and had to get everything to Alaska somehow), we went to the Mall of America. Yes, it is ginormous! It has a theme park in the middle of it. We decided to go on one ride and chose this beauty, Rock Bottom Plunge. The first leg goes straight up, then straight down. It was a little strange to be staring at a glass ceiling covered with snow instead of the sky, but still cool.The next day, we explored a little bit around the city after church. There was this yummy sculpture garden. We walked along the frozen Mississippi near an old mill. It turned much colder at this point. Brrrr!
It was really fun to be with the Simpers. They are lots of fun, always laughing, and really care about people. It was good to spend time with them. Thanks for letting me come!