Trip to California

I am finally posting pictures of our trip to California over President's Day in February. It's taken me too long, but here goes!

The boys always brush up on the Flight Information and Safety cards.

Our kids are so used to long flights (they only ever really fly to see Grandma on the East Coast) so this flight to Long Beach, CA felt short and sweet to all of us. Plus, it was extra exotic to have the Cannon cousins on the same flight!
A successful landing. Kids waiting patiently during the rental car process and car seat shuffle. (Some of our kids rode with Poppy and Grandma so we didn't have to get a minivan.) Off to the beach . . .

Spencer's outfit

Another great park in the new neighborhood

Another sunny spring Saturday meant it was time for another exploration of our new neighborhood. Spencer was fully recovered so we were back to full strength.

The pond park we went to last week was a few minutes down the hill from our house. This week we went up the hill to a park mom scouted out earlier in the week. Its elevation means you can have great views when you practice your parallel bars routines.
It seems like it's brand new. And the bball court has 8-foot rims! Just crying out to be dunked on over my brother John!
The playground complex is the biggest we've seen - three stories high. The kids named each part of it after a ride at Disneyland. This was their favorite, called "California Screamin,'" after the wildest roller coaster.

This was "Funder Mountain."
David and I went for a little hike to watch the digger.

There is a trail behind the park that goes further into the mountains, so sometime our outing will be a hike up there.
At the end of our outing we swung on the swing at the very top of the park and talked about what it would be like to fly over the valley, like on the ride "Soaring Over California." We would love to have some picnics or BBQs with you up there!

Spencer's doings

Spencer was talking about leprachauns who could pinch you so hard you could die, which was concerning Emma, who asked me if that could happen. I said, "There's no such thing as leprachauns, so it couldn't happen." He looked totally dumbfounded and said. "There's not?"

Turns out his teacher had been talking them up all week. He said, "Why did they make them not real?" We talked about how we can still have fun with imaginary creatures. He pondered this for a minute, then said, "They should delete this holiday."

The next morning Mom worked some magic and somehow the milk was green and there was a box of Lucky Charms on the counter. Spencer said, "Leprechauns must be real because you NEVER buy good cereal, Mom!"

Here's one of the projects from his class.

In case you can't read it, it says, ". . .I would give my mom it."

One day, after jumping on the tramp in bare feet in the snow, he was cold. So he made himself this little shelter out of the kitchen cabinet.
Yesterday he threw up in the morning, but then wanted to eat what the other kids were eating. I told him no, because he threw up, and he said, "I have a huge appetite, you know."

First outing of the spring

Even though Amy has cut back on her hours at the quilt store, we are still trying to have Saturday outings with dad to give her some time to work on her projects. Last weekend was really rainy, so we took our soccer ball to the mall and played there.

This weekend was beautiful, so we set out to explore a "lake" that neighbors had told us was somewhere behind the high school about a mile away. Catherine was playing with a friend from the old neighborhood and Spencer threw up in the morning, so that left David and Emma.

First we parked on a road on the top of a ridge.

Then we hiked to the top of a trail that appeared to lead down to the "lake."
And then we found it!
We saw a guy catch a rainbow trout, pet some big dogs, and crossed a little stream. We walked further past it and found a great playground.

Emma has been taking gymnastics lessons on Mondays and appreciated the opportunity to work on her "bar straddle."
David found this dinosaur fossil on the back of the playground's climbing wall.
We explored some of the trails around the park and saw the road that we could have used to drive all the way to the pond :) Oh well, it was fun hiking in. We walked back around the other side of the lake to see the ducks. It was the first of what will be many great outings to this spot.

Exploring our new canyon

Last November on an unseasonably warm day the boys and I explored American Fork Canyon, five minutes from our house. We found lots of pretty spots and rocks to throw.

Assorted phone camera photos

Michael here, still pulling photos off of my phone that I never posted.

At Bridal Veil falls:
Spencer gave a "talk" in the kids' part of church:
Spencer often chooses french toast sticks at Carl's Jr. for his "breakfast with Dad."
You often see what goes on INSIDE the piano recital hall. Here's what is going on outside:
I took Spencer for a quick trip to the mall just to get him out of the house. We played on the playground there, looked at his favorite stores, and ran everywhere we went. When we got home he said, "Mom, we got pretzels and cold water!"

I brought hot chocolate on a sledding outing while mom was on a well-deserved trip. The sledding was too intense to remember to photograph it.
Dinnertime can be tough, but big sisters can make it easier.
Catherine got to practice playing in the chapel once after church.

Apologies

Sorry that virtually everything I post is related to BYU sports. This tells you two things:

1) Amy manages the photos for every other activity, and when I only post once every six months this is what happens.

2) My kids are wonderful to indulge their overscheduled and undercultured father in his one and only hobby.

(Tonight Emma looked up from the sports section and yelled, "Number-one Syracuse lost to Lewis-ville, and they're not even ranked!" I never even dreamed of having kids like this.)

Family trip to BYU football

Back in the fall the three older kids and I enjoyed attending BYU's blowout of Colorado State. David gets to be in the picture this year; next year he can go to the game.

Spencer wanted to wear a hat like me, but the only one I could find was too small and plain. He was really concerned that it wasn't a BYU hat, so he took matters into his own hands with the help of a post-it note.

Spencer colored his whole post-it blue. Emma was less concerned about her gear.

Spencer shot this himself while he was bored in the second half:
Amy joined me for Utah State on a Friday night.

The boys meet BYU athletes

Every fall the BYU athletics department has a night families can come meet athletes from the different sports. Almost everyone gets in a long line to meet the football players, so we go to all the other booths. (Back when the team wasn't as popular, Spencer got a photo with John Beck, and Austin Collie's brother told Emma that his wife's name is Emma).

David was afraid of Cosmo, but Spencer isn't anymore.

Cheered on by members of BYU's nationally ranked women's cross-country team.

This time Spencer ran with his brother.

In retrospect, the coolest thing turned out to be the basketball booth. Because this was in August, nobody cared about basketball, and the only three players at the booth were walk-on Brock Zylestra, JC-transfer Lamont Morgan Jr., and, coming off a redshirt year, third-string guard Michael Loyd Jr. So there were no fans at that booth at all. The boys chatted with Michael and got his autograph. And now he has emerged as one of the stars of this year's 14th-ranked team, the winningest in school history.

Michael visits an aircraft carrier

In honor of John, I visited an aircraft carrier when I was in San Diego after Amy went home.

From the cockpit of an F-4. You can't see the switch that toggled between "nuclear" and "conventional," but it was there.
They didn't say so, but I bet this is the F-14 that Maverick flew.