Ellie's Spring Program

Well Ellie's Spring Program has come and gone. Just like her Winter Program, I was worried I wasn't going to be able to make it. However, due to some fortunate circumstances I was able to attend her program, and I will be in town for my graduation which Ellie will get to go. Yes... I love to torture 4-year olds, but that is obvious with all the driving I have put her through.

Anyway, the program was loads of fun, as it always is. Ellie didn't have a speaking part last time, but she certainly had a fun time dancing and singing. She is just like Kim in that they can both hear a song once or twice and know most, if not all, of the words. This is a trait I do not possess, even if I have heard the song a bazillion times. I have decided there are two things that Ellie loves about the program. First is the snacks that are provided (i.e. juice and cookies), and that she can run around with friends. Her best friend is this cute little blond girl named Annie. I love watching the two of them run around together.  Hopefully they can go to kindergarten together next year.

The second thing she loves about the program is that she knows that she gets to spend time with Mom and Dad at the same.

So after the program, Ellie and I had a ton of things to do before we went to the airport and flew to Portland, where we will be staying for the next 12 days. It will be me, Ellie, and her cousins for most of it (There will most definitely be updates about that insanity). We went to school so I could get my thesis bound, did some Mother's Day shopping, some post office stuff, ate lunch, visit Tom and Lois, go to Knott's Berry Farm, have Chipotle for dinner, before flying to Portland.

All in all, it was a busy, but fun day. We shall see if I am saying that in a week.

Vegas and the Drive Home

The last two days of the trip were spent mostly driving. We woke-up Thursday morning, ate breakfast, went running, and then jumped into the car to drive to Vegas, where we spent the night. I had promised Ellie that the next time she and I were in Vegas that we would spend the night in the castle aka the Excalibur. So we drove the 3+ hours to Vegas, stopping at the outlet malls on the way.

Once we got there, and got checked into our room, and then went to the Mirage to have dinner at CPK. Dinner was great, but the service was even better. The bartender spotted us waiting in line and he told us we could eat the bar. He was crazy fast with everything and so we were in and out of there in less than 45 minutes. After that we went to the Bellagio so we could show the girls the fountains, and walk around. Ellie was not excited when we waited for the fountains, but her eyes lit up, once they started. So I think she was happy we saw them. After we finished walking around the Bellagio, we went back to our hotel, where we tried to explain the reason that gambling is not a good thing, and went to bed.

The next morning we woke-up, grabbed breakfast (Krispy Kreme for the girls and Starbucks for the adults), and drove back to Orem. The drive went well, and we were home by 3:30. The week went by extremely fast, but we had a lot of fun, and I am glad the four of us were able to spend the week together. It is safe to say that Ellie and I will be able combine with Michelle and Aeryn quite well, which is a great thing.

On that note, this blog will be ending in the next few weeks, and I think Michelle and I will be starting a new blog about our new family. However, that won't be happening for a little while, so there will be a few more adventures that Ellie and I share together, including a potential Lord of the Flies situtation when she and I go up to Portland for a week, while I watch Ben and Kristi's kids and dog. Seriously, I don't know what I was thinking- 4 kids under the age of 7 and a dog versus me. That right there, probably deserves its own blog.

The 2 best things of Orange County...

Okay, so we may not have done the 2 best things in Orange County, but we definitely did two very fun things. The morning started off with the four of us going to get breakfast. Then we headed off to CSU-Fullerton so we could buy discount passes for Knott's Berry Farm. I had a couple things to do, so I ran off and did them while the three girls wandered around campus. Apparently while I was gone, Ellie and Aeryn tried to break a computer that we almost had to paid for. Once we averted disaster it was off to Knott's Berry Farm for a couple hours. I found it very enjoyable since I didn't have to contort my body to get into some of the smaller rides, due to the fact Aeryn could go on the rides with Ellie. Anyway we stayed there until lunchtime before heading back to the hotel, because I had to run back up to school.


Once I got back from school, the four of us dressed in our Angels gear and drove to the Big A. The Angels won the game 4-3. That was nice. Unfortunately it took 12 innings and we only stayed for 9. If it had just been me and Michelle, I imagine we would have stayed for the full thing, but the girls had been out in the sun all day, and they were tired. Plus they were very anxious to get the surprise we had promised them. So we finished the night off at Baskin Robbins. Needless to say, we are all very tired, but it was a fantastic day. I can't believe we are starting the drive back to Utah tomorrow. The trip has been a lot of fun, but it has gone by way too fast. However, the exciting thing is I have Ellie girl for the next several weeks, so that is great!

The last 3 days...

 So the last three days have been awesome, but what else would one expect? Ellie and I are together, not to mention the fact that Michelle and Aeryn are with us, and the fact that we have spent most of the last three days with the Tolentinos. Life would have to be awesome...

Sunday was spent at church, and then hanging outside while waiting for grilled hamburgers for Sunday dinner (I am so excited that grilling season is upon us). Then I played with Ellie, Aeryn and Tyler and showed them how to play some basketball. They learned how to shoot a bank shot, proper form of a jump shot, and the old give-and-go. Coach Carson would be so proud of me.

Yesterday was spent doing a few little errands. However, the day started with us going to the a stretch of the hundreds of miles of interconnected walkways that are in Santa Clarita. Michelle went running and the girls and I walked, as I had already been running. We made dinner for our gracious guests last night, so we had to go buy the food for said dinner. This meant a trip to Trader Joes. We also had lunch at Chipotle where Ellie destroyed her kid's meal. She is clearly a Davis from the way she eats. Then we went bowling and had an absolute blast. It must be mentioned that I bowled a personal best of 174! Anyway, Michelle and I want to take the girls to a place in Provo that is a little more kid friendly, so they could have more fun. However they had a lot of fun, so I can't complain. Anyway, we came home and we all went swimming in the frigid cold that is the Tolentino's pool. However, Ellie loved it until she realized she was freezing. Thankfully that took a good 30 minutes. Ellie also managed to slip and get a goose egg on her head, which has gone away for the most part. The evening ended with Ellie helped me make dinner for a little while, eating dinner and the kids falling asleep to a movie.

Finally, today was more fun. While I am thinking about it. I have to mention the fact that there have been 5 children in the house. Four of these children have been getting up around 6:00 in the morning. This wouldn't be that big of a deal except for two things - 1) I have been sleeping on the couch in the family room; and 2) They are crazy loud. Anyway, after we all woke-up, Michelle and I packed things, got the girls ready and then we jumped into the car to go to Hermosa Beach. On the way we stopped at the outlet malls and got a few things. However the most important thing were the Angels t-shirts for Ellie and Michelle. Then we went to the beach and stayed there for a couple hours with Michelle's cousin Melissa and her two boys. Aeryn and Ellie didn't get into the water at first, because it was very cold. However, all of the sudden they warmed up to it (pun intended), and they ran into and away from the waves. This continued for about an hour, before the hypothermia set in. So we walked back to the car and I changed Ellie out of her swimsuit. While doing this I realized about half of the beach ended up in her swimming suit. No wonder she didn't want to walk. It must have been incredibly uncomfortable. So we got in the car, dealt with nasty rush hour traffic on the 91, and ended up in Anaheim Hills where we are staying for the next two nights.

This little vacation is going by far too quickly, but it has been a lot of fun. Thankfully Ellie will be coming to Utah with me for the next couple of weeks, so I can't really complain. Tomorrow is Knott's Berry Farm and the Angels game (The Rally Monkeys will be in full effect). Thursday is Vegas and Friday is the drive home. Pictures will be posted at some point, so I apologize in advance for that.

Back together at last!!!

 It is Spring Break for Ellie. Not only that, it is Spring Break for Michelle and Aeryn as well. So Michelle and I made the decision to spend our Spring Break in lovely Southern California. This decision was confirmed to us, when we woke up Friday morning to a cold, windy, snowy morning. Seriously... it is April. Shouldn't the snow be gone? Apparently not. Anyway... Michelle, Aeryn and I picked up Ellie yesterday afternoon from Kim's house and the four have since taken over the house of my good friends Mike and Jaimee. The picture of the sign was made by their son Tyler. All three of the girls are staying in his room. From now until Tuesday morning there will be 4 adults and 5 kids in their house. Needless to say it is not a quiet place.

The only events that happened after we got Ellie was to get everyone ready to go to a wedding reception and then we had a game night with some more great friends (Royce, Kristin, Ryan and Megan), while the kids watched a movie. The wedding reception was great because Ellie had a blast dancing with Aeryn and Kaylee. I think the three of them were the most popular people at the reception. :)

All in all, it was a great night, and a great way to start off 21 days o' fun with Ellie.

I'm a slacker...

So it has been a few days since I last wrote in this thing. Let's just chalk it up to the fact that Ellie and I have been keeping quite busy these days. So we are going to update the last several days in list form...

Friday

• Go-karts and miniature golf at Trafalga
• Took Grandma Debbi and Papa Jim to the airport
• Ate real Belgian waffles at Bruges
• Ate pizza with Michelle and Aeryn
• Fell asleep watching Cinderella

Saturday

• Waffles for breakfast
• My basketball game
• Lunch at Carls Junior
• Watching the BYU-TCU game (JIMMER!!!)
• Miniature golf at Trafalga

Sunday

• Church
• Curry for dinner
• Making chocolate chip cookies
• Toy Story 3
• Aeryn losing her tooth in the middle of the night, and then losing her tooth in the middle of the night again

Monday

• Krispy Kreme
• Shopping at the mall
• Grocery shopping
• Hanging at Michelle and Aeryn's
• Leftovers for dinner

Tuesday

• Burger King for breakfast
• Laidback morning watching cartoons
• Aeryn and Ellie playing for the afternoon while Michelle and I went to the temple
• Sausage, biscuits and gravy for dinner
• Ellie and I picking up Grandma Debbi and Papa Jim from the airport

I don't have any pics to upload at this time. I guess I could put a picture of Jimmer on the blog, but that would be more appropriate since Ellie and I are going to the BYU-Colorado State game tomorrow. Of course there could be a picture of Krispy Kreme, but we have one of those from the previous entry. Whatever goes in, I just know that I am currently up to date with regards to my blog. :)

Krispy Kreme, Pajama Party and Waffles

Today was a pretty simple day. We went to Krispy Kreme in the morning with Grandma Debbi. Ellie then went to Chuck E Cheese with her, while I stayed and napped... I mean worked on my thesis. Then we went to Saratoga Springs for the rest of the day.

Michelle is having one of those crazy days... where she won't get be home between the hours of 7:00 am and 8:30 pm. To help out Ellie, and I came over and hung out with Aeryn. Shortly after we got here, Aeryn and Ellie got to go to a pajama party at the church, where they helped put together school kits for an orphanage. After that was over, I picked the two of them up, helped Aeryn with her homework, while Ellie helped me with making dinner - our weekly dinner of waffles. Now the two girls are ending the day by watching an episode of Backyardigans.

All in all, a wonderful day, especially if you don't take into account Ellie choosing to play the Wii over tending to certain physiological functions that occur on a regular basis. :) Bedtime is looming, and we shall see what tomorrow brings.