Poor matt

His girlfriend of 3 months broke up with him last night. Fortunately teenage hearts heal quickly. Looks like the snow is over for us. Kristen is going to a friends house to work on a project and matt wants to go to best buy. Other than that, more laundry etc. Kristen has been experimenting with the makeup. She wanted to know what the dog would look like with mascara. Fortunately she came to her senses before I had to take makeup away for a year.

Christmas Day at the Magic Kingdom

After checking out of the hotel, we headed to the beach one last time. Saw a herd of dolphins swimming up the coast. Totally cool. Next onto Disneyland-Kristen was waiting for this the entire week.

To begin, I hate crowds, Randy hates crowds, Matt did not want to be there because of his fear of rollercoasters. So what do we do, go to the place where dreams come true(only if those dreams do not include going on rides with out a 75 minute wait) on the busiest, most crowded day of the year! Make sense to you? The reason for doing this? Food. We could be guaranteed that we could get food. Anyway, after a 20 minute wait to get into the employee parking lot(Simba-long walk through downtown disney. Rode the monorail to tomorrow land. Did autotopia and a star wars type simulation there. Moved onto frontier land where we road the mark twain ship(only adult ride with no line). Did the thunder mountain railroad rollercoaster. It looked tame. Wrong. Matt looked extremely angry the whole time. Kristen was ecstatic. My neck hurt by the time we got off. Next off to Pirates of the Carribbean. Relatively short wait. They modified the ride to include things from the movies. Good changes. This was my favorite and Matt's. Next waited about an hour for Indiana Jones ride. They made changes too, but not for the better. Definitely not worth it. Ended up eating mediocre mexican food in California Adventure before leaving to head up to a hotel in Ontario to get a headstart on traffic for the trip home the next day.

Whale watching cruise II, California Adventure and what Californians do on Christmas Eve

Whale Watch: We dragged ourselves out of bed by 7am(this is harder than you would think) and tried the whale watch again with our handy dandy whale check vouchers. Please read prev blog entry if you do not know what I am talking about. This time we saw a pod of dolphins. They were having fun in the wake of the boat. I hopefully got one good picture. Beautiful day for it.D.L. Drove through Laguna Beach. This is a place I would like to come back to. For a family beach trip, I would want to stay in Dana Point. For a trip with just me and Kris or some other girls, Laguna Beach is the ticket. Much too artsy for the boys.

got to Disney land and survived the maze to the parking garage. Did California Adventure today. It was nice. Kris and I did a water ride, we all did the Ferris Wheel. Did the muppet 3-d show. Pretty good.

What Californians do for Christmas eve: They go to Denny's! Who would have thought it!

Seaworld

Yesterday was Seaworld and we are all tired of being together day. Randy was the most irritable but we all had our moments. The Shamu show was new. According to my friend karen, the previous one was 10 years old. Randy got some good footage and pictures. We pet a dolphin, so all the crucial shows, went into a few exhibits. Super crowded. Everyone in San Diego was there apparently. Stopped at the Fish Market for dinner. Randy's boss highly recommends this place. Matt got a huge bucket of clams. Randy got swordfish, Kris got a shrimp caesar salad, and I got mahi-mahi. Everyone had a good meal except me. The Mahi-mahi did not give up without a fight. We then went in search of laundry det. The dispenser in the hotel has none. I know they have it, but won't refill it. 7-11 comes through again. Did one load of laundry last night. Just enough to get by.

Whale watch and dinner

Yesterday we did a whale watch from Dana Point. Dana Point is where I wish we would have stayed. Next time. No whales or dolphins. Just sea lions sleeping on a buoy. Seas were really rough so I guess all the critters were down deep. R. says if we can get up early enough, we might try again tomorrow morning before California adventure. today is Seaworld. Last night we met my internet friend Karen in Santa Ana. Apparently we were all trying to meet at a restaurant that did not exist. Ended up eating at Pat and Oscars which is lower price Italian. Really good. None of the 4 kids had a good time. To be expected, but it is not always about them. Our kids were better behaved but they were older.

San Diego Wild Animal Park

Yesterday we travelled down to San Diego Wild Animal Park. Huge facility. Animals in more natural habitats. Lots of babies.They are a breeding facility so no major surprise there. Started out with a train ride out to all the large enclosures. Saw a silly baby elephant who was showing off. Lions, a sumatran tiger, lots of birds and monekeys, apes, all different kinds of African and asian hoofed species. Saw an elephant show and a bird show. Everyone liked this one better than the San Diego zoo except Matt. Kristen bought a stuffed lion. So now the count is up to three that she is sleeping with. The froggy pillow, the hardrock cafe bear and now the lion.

Today we are going on a whale watching cruise and then meeting my friend Karen at a Mexican restaurant in Santa Ana.

Huntingdon Beach and the Ducks

Randy felt he had to conduct some business, so Kris and I hung out at the pool. When he was finally done, we headed to Huntingdon Beach for some fun in the sand. Actually found some decent shells which I am sure the kids will fight over. Went to the Huntingdon Pier and had dinner at the end of it at a restaurant called Ruby's. Another 50's diner! This state is liviing in the past! After that we headed to the Honda Center previously known as Arrowhead pond to see the Anaheim Ducks crush the Dallas Stars. We were in the second highest row of the arena. Good view for the most part. Matt had a great time. Usual assortment of fights, annoying fans trying to convert LA King fans into Duck fans, etc,etc. Oh, I finally got to try an INN and Out burger. Former Californiaites claim these things are the best thing on the planet. Not so. McDonalds on a bad day is far better. Don't need to experience it again. Today we will be going to the San Diego Wiild Animal Park and walmart for things I forgot.

San Diego Zoo and Hard Rock Cafe

12/19/2006:
We went down to the San Diego zoo for the day. Lots of fun and walking. Kristen exhibited her non rule breaking traits by refusing to walk on the moving walkways. It said stand so she was going to stand. Randy taunted her by walking back and forth. Beautiful weather continues. Randy got some great shots of animals and some of the kids. After the zoo, we went to Hard Rock Cafe in downtown San Diego. Food was good and Kristen got another bear for her collection. Matt got a long sleeved tshirt and I got a lemon martini. Got back to the hotel and finished Christmas cards and postcards. Did a load of laundry much to the dismay of the staff. Virtually the entire hotel is a constuction zone.

The beach

Yesterday we went to the beach. But first there was breakfast. Went to a 50's diner called Tommy. Blue plastic furniture. Really cute. Expensive.$47. Started out going on the beach briefly at Screppy's restaurant just to take a family picture. We discovered the surfliner train that runs along the coast runs about every 20 minutes. Randy took one of many pictures of that. Since we had to pay .50 for every half hour, we moved onto to San Clemente State Park. There is a rock out in the distance that has sea lions. Randy got some pictures of that. My camera could not get close enough. Went down on the beach where Kris and I waded in the water while Matt and Randy walked up the coast. The storm from the other day cleaned up the beach pretty well from shells, so Matt found it boring. Moved onto the San Clemente pier, after a hellacious walk up a path. The walk was straight up a cliff. Did not make me happy. Randy and Matt had to race each other. Way too much testosterone there. I digress. back to the pier. Beautiful area of town. Nice family beach. Kristen and I spent more time on our new hobby watching surfer dudes. These guys make tremendous eye candy. Even Kristn was checking them out. Ate "lunch" at a restaurant on the pier. Since breakfast was huge, this was supposed to be a light lunch. Matt got fish tacos, Kris got a calimari sandwich and Randy and I got salads. Both of these salads came in the size of containers you see at Olive garden for an entire table. I ate a 4th of my spinach bacon salad and Randy ate 3/4 of his chicken casear salad. Kristen finished his. Did a little shopping. Bought a tshirt, mousepad with the San Cl. pier on it, lip balm and sunglasses for Kristen. Back to the hotel so Kris could swim and we could all veg out. Ordered in for dinner. That's about it. The S.D zoo and hardrock cafe today. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad.

Beaver, Utah to San Clemente, CA

We woke up to snow in Beaver and drove through an hour of varying stages of the white stuff. Road crews more concerned with plowing the shoulder than the actual road. Made good time after that. Randy hates Nevada and this trip reiterated that to him. He has vowed never to stop in Nevada again. A. No rest stops. B. crowded and poor traffic directions. We stopped in a McD. parking lot and ended up eating food we brought. Arrived in the Los Angeles Basin around 1:30 and got to the hotel at 3pm. No traffic at all on any road here. Almost surreal. Hotel is ok, not great, but ok. Matt says the pool is a ghetto pool. Kristen and I both have colds and she has a scraped foot and knee from the foggy pool in Utah. We drove up the coast to try to fin d a nice restaurant. Ended up at Denny's. It was an adobe building, but inside was a 50's diner motif! After that the fun began. We could only turn right out of the parking lot.(not the way we came). We ended up going into the innards of Dana Point and then into the innards of San Juan Capistrano(very quaint town) in search of Interstate 5. We never did find the ramp to 5 South, but did end up back on the Pacific Coast Highway and made our way back to the hotel. Kids went in the ghetto pool for a little and now we are all back in the hotel room for the night. It is 8:15 local time and I am ready for bed.

Beaver, Utah

We left the house at 8:03 am and arrived here at the Comfort suites at 5:15pm. We made great time. Very little traffic problems. Had Dinner at the timberline restaurant across the highway. Discovered that Utah does not like tomatoes and they consider salad dressing a side dish. Very nice room with free wireless. Kids are in the pool swimming. Off to San Clemente in the morning.

Well, we are off....

It is 10pm and we are pretty much ready to go in the morning. Some stuff is in the 'rango, but most of the big stuff still needs to go. We are leaving around 8am and hope to be clear of the state by noon. Everyone seems to be doing ok other than all the stress getting ready for a trip.

Graduation/California/Matt

Graduation: There is so much to say about this, but I still feel overwhelmed. The time flew by, despite all the worry, work and stress. Hard to believe it is over.

California: Why was I so stupid to think I could do Graduation, California and Christmas in the same two week time period! Wrapping last of the gifts tonight. Kristen and Matt had a blast playing with the Zacks gift. I actually managed to wrap at least one of them without setting it off. Have to ship them all off tomorrow.

Matt: This kid is going to be the death of me. Not taking notes in science so expected result is achieved on tests(expected by everyone except matt), slacking in English so grade dropping there also. I think I need to begin planning on summer school for him. Looks like Kristen will have the relatives all to herself.