August was our vacation month. Two days after the girls and I got home from our “Aladdin” trip, our family packed up and left for California! Brennan won a trip from his work, so most of it was paid for! Thank you Bell Co.!!! Everything’s more fun when it’s on someone else’s dime, right? Anyway, Sunday morning after Sacrament meeting, we jumped into the car and drove, drove, drove. We stayed in Vegas that night. My kids have heard all kinds of things about Las Vegas and were very hesitant to go. Brennan grew up there though and was excited to show the kids some of cover the good stuff there. We got there in the early evening and herded our wide-eyed kids through the smoky casino. We got our reservation last minute and once we were there realized it wasn’t one of the more family friendly places. You should have seen the stares we got. Honestly, I feel like 5 kids is a pretty average family, maybe on the big side, but from the looks we got you’d have thought we were the Duggars. We got lots of double takes and people counting as we walked by. I’m sure we made even more of a spectacle as Brennan or I would cover their eyes or tell them to close them as we walked by huge signs of ridiculously scantily clad women. Once we got out of the smoke and away from the signs, we found a nice little place to eat and then made our way to the Bellagio to see the beautiful flowers and watch the incredible fountain show. The kids loved it.
At the beautiful Bellagio in our finest road trip clothes 
After a good nights’ sleep, we woke up, loaded up and got back on the road. We arrived in Anaheim early afternoon on Monday and were so happy to unpack for a while. We had a great set up with two bedrooms and a little family room and kitchenette.
That afternoon we went straight to the ocean. The kids were not getting why we were so excited to go to the ocean. Once we got there, they got it. It had been a long time since they’d been but they were very quickly lured into the water and waves. It was a perfect night.
The next day was Disneyland! The big event. It had been about 10 years since we’d been, so it was definitely time. We had a blast. The kids were much braver than we thought they’d be. Joshy was a trouper and even took a decent nap in the stroller. He loved Mickey. It’s just a fantastic place. I love how clean and family oriented it all is. I love how you don’t just ride a ride, every ride is a total experience. Whether it’s a little kiddie ride or a terrifying rollercoaster. They loved Space Mountain and Star Tours and Indiana Jones. It was a very hot day, but it wasn’t crowded at all because most people had already started school. We never had to wait more than 20 minutes and only used a fast pass twice.
Cars Land
The guy driving the tram back to the parking lot said that most people walk an average of 7 miles on a day in one of the parks. I believe it, our feet were killing us, but we had so much fun. It was truly a happy, happy day at the happiest place on earth!
In the middle of the night that night, poor Nate woke up completely delirious and so, so sick. He was in rough shape. We called our doctor who told us he was probably suffering from heat stroke, so we kept him at the hotel and tried to keep fluids in him. In the mean time, I took Anna, Abby and Ben to the American Girl Place at The Groves in L.A. I’m kind of impressed with myself for navigating L.A. traffic and freeways by myself (well, with the help of my phone’s gps). Anyway, the girls were so thrilled to finally get to go to a store. They each found something little to buy, but mostly loved seeing all the beautiful dolls and clothes. Ben was a great sport and happily tagged along. I was standing waiting for the girls to browse when someone behind me said, “Excuse me, Ma’am.” Without even turning all the way around, I quickly apologized and moved out the way, while in the back of my head I started to register that the voice sounded vaguely familiar. As the woman walked by my, I looked up to see Jennifer Garner. She’s kind of a big deal of a movie star. It was so weird to see this very normal looking woman with her cute daughter at a normal place but realize that she is completely famous. What was even weirder was to feel this strange thrill to see this perfect stranger. Celebrity is so weird! I immediately texted my family. Davis wrote back, “Did you talk to her? Did you bring me up?” LOL. He cracks me up. Anyway, it was kind of crazy.
Anna would want me to tell you that she really never plays with her dolls anymore, but couldn’t pass this opportunity up
Joshy kickin’ it at the hotel with his Disneyland souvenir. I begged him to get a cute little Mickey doll, but he insisted on this weird green football. Sigh.
The next day, we kept hoping Nate would snap back and we could all go back to the ocean, but he so didn’t. He was so sick, we felt so bad for him to miss out and to be sick away from home on our vacation. I took the other kids to lunch and then Brennan took them all, except Nate, to the beach. Friday morning we packed up, dragged poor sick Nate into the car and drove to John and Jamie’s. It was so good to be in a home and have a delicious home-cooked meal. Nate even started to perked up a little. The next day Jamie and Brennan took the everyone but Nate to Peach Days and got to spend some much needed time with Brennan’s grandma.
We also visited our favorite spots, the water feature downtown and the old-fashioned candy store. The next morning we drove our last leg of our journey home! Poor Nate took a turn for the worse in the car. Brennan and I debated whether or not to take him to the hospital, but decided to get home and have my Dad come over and help Brennan give him a blessing.
We have never been so happy to be home. My Dad came right over and Brennan asked him to bless Nate. He gave him a beautiful, power, tender blessing in which he was healed. This sweet, miserable boy, felt miraculously better. Brennan and I were so relieved, we’d worried about him so much and felt so bad for him. What a blessing! We are so grateful for the Priesthood and for Brennan and my Dad for willingly using it.
We’ll wrap this up with a few quotes I wrote down from our journey.
On the 7 hour drive to Vegas, Joshy didn’t stop talking or singing the ENTIRE time. He never fell asleep, it was exhausting.
Brennan: “Josh, you need to be quiet.”
Josh: “Ok – I am shutting up” (Not sure where he got that, we’re not allowed to say “shut up” at our house.
I gave the girls a little planner and as Abby was filling out the section for emergency contact info, after emergency contact it asked for “relationship”
Abby: “What should I put under ‘relationship’? Single?”
Josh loves this ipad game that has a kitty repeat whatever you say to it. He would yell something and the kitty would repeat him and then Josh would yell something else, you get the picture. One such exchange went like this:
Josh: “You’re mean!”
Kitty: “You’re mean!”
Josh: “Did you just call me I’m mean?!”
Abby: Did they really film “Muppets” in L.A.?
Me: I don’t know, I think so."
Abby: So, I could be standing where Kermit the frog once stood?
Brennan: There’s stories of bumper to bumper traffic all the way from L.A. to Vegas on Labor Day Weekend. Everyone heads to Vegas for opening weekend of College Football to be on games.
Me: (eye roll) How depressing!
Brennan: What? I can’t think of anything more exciting!
Ben: Mom, you’re messing with my nerves!
What a trip! We loved spending time with our sweet little family. Nate was such a good sport about feeling miserable and missing out, he was so sweet. The other kids were so supportive and good sports about being flexible for Nate’s sake. They are good kids and we love them so much. We are so grateful we got to spend a whole week together. Thanks again, Bell Co!
