crazy fun-very, very long

The plan... get all my errands done, finish laundry and packing, and have a nice calm Sunday. Thursday afternoon I get a call, Kathryn has lice. oh yeah!! after 40 loads of laundry 3 nights up til 1 or later. I got everything cleaned, washed, packed and put away.
We got on the road Monday morning only an hour and a half later than we wanted. but still felt good about our timing. The vacation had started. We arrived in Anaheim. We walked from the hotel to Downtown Disney, stopping to get dinner at a nice little restaurant with no customers. Perfect for our crowd. We then figured out why no one was there. The food wasn't very good, but the waitress was great. We walked and walked and finally arrived at Downtown Disney. My favorite store was the Lego store. If you didn't know it, I love legos and so does everyone in my family. They had a full size Darth Vader that talked to you. They also had a very tall giraffe and an R2D2. It was great.
We made it back to the hotel in time to watch a movie on the Disney channel. We don't have cable so this was a real treat.
Tuesday was spent with Mom and Heather at California Adventure. The only problem, Cori had gotten a cold. She felt miserable. I took her back to the Hotel, let the two little boys nap and I vegged on the bed. Then Austin got sick- all over his blankets and pillow. Into the bath he went, and down to the lobby for quarters I went. Of course Cori was watching Austin for me. I washed his stuff, and just as I was coming back from the laundry room, the rest of the family was bringing in dinner. Poor Logan went at least half the trip without dinner. We wore him out.
Wednesday and Thursday were spent at Disneyland. Wednesday with Mom and Heather, then joined by Jazz, Kathryn, Sam, Justus and Emry. We now had the group. It was fun and crazy to keep track. We saw the most spectacular fire works show I have ever seen. Disney doesn't hold back. That was a great day. The only problem was that as we were leaving the parking garage Jazz calls from the next floor up to say that somewhere in Disneyland she had lost the key to the car. So after some crazy driving we got up the next floor and sat with them while she went back to the park to see if it was found and Kathryn started calling home. We had the kids in our car to try and stay warm. We finally got the attention of the security guard and they got someone over to get into the car so we could get car seats and belongings out. Mom ended up giving them a ride home to Oxnard, she was already planning on leaving that night anyway. So after we crammed everyone into the car we drove to the hotel, put their stuff into Moms suburban and they left. I hope they were able to get the car back the next day. Thursday was by the far the calmest day in the park. We had fun just wondering around riding the things we missed the day before. We watched a very fun Jedi training show. A must see if you go to Disneyland. At one time 3 rides we wanted to go on had shut down. Then they all started working one right after another and we were able to get on without too much of a wait. Then Logan had an accident. Poor kid, with all the junk we ate all week, his poor tummy couldn't handle it anymore. We had to go find him some new pants and underwear. And Jared braved the clean up. But Logan didn't have any socks. And he wouldn't wear mine, so he went 3 hours without socks. Poor thing. Friday was spent doing a few things in CA Adventure that Cori and I missed, then off to find souvenirs. Disneyland was crazy!! Friday is not a good day to go. I didn't even want to try and get on any rides. Jared took the kids on the Disneyland railroad while I walked a sleeping Austin to the Tomorrowland station. I think it took us a good 2 hours to find souvenirs. We then headed to San Diego. Once there we got dinner, and did some showering and lice cleaning. Oh the joys!! Saturday morning we got up, headed down to breakfast at the hotel where we met, Mom, Heather and Grandpa Mann. We then headed to Rebekah and Sean's house. We decided against going to the San Diego Wild Animal park. Our kids needed out. So we went to the park. It was great. They ran around, played, got dirty. We then got lunch and headed over to the hotel pool for some swimming. and oh was it cold. We went back to Rebekah's for dinner. It was so nice to have a home cooked meal after 6 days of every meal out somewhere. We had crepes. It was so yummy. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the store to get some last minute things for Rebekah, then dropped them off at her house. We were about 5 minutes from the hotel and Tanner throws up on the floor of the back seat of the car. So we stopped at Target, Jared ran in to get trash bags and reolve and I proceeded to clean up the mess. We did laundry and car clean up that night. Before we actually got to sleep Cori sat up and said, Dad I can't breathe very good, and I am getting hot. He checked her out. Gave her a puff of inhaler and she was able to lay back down. Then she hopped up and ran to the bathroom. another sicky. Luckily it was only one bout of sicky. Then she was fine. We finally got to bed after midnight. Sunday was a crazy day all around. But the worst was right in the middle of sacrament meeting. The boys were out of control. I had been doing pretty good all week with their noise levels and crankiness, after all we had worn them out every day for a week. But by the end of the meeting I wanted to lock them all in the car, and walk away. But I didn't. The blessing of baby Brandon was wonderful. The spirit was strong. I felt blessed to be there. Afterwards we took some pictures, and then drove around for about 20 minutes to regain some sanity. We made it back in time to help with dinner and hang out with all the family. It was nice to meet and talk with Sean's family. We stayed about an hour or so after everyone else. It was nice to just hang out. The kids had a great time. They made a huge mess. But it was fun. Sunday night was an uneventful one. We picked out our clothes for the next day and gathered our belongings. I actually felt ready to go before midnight. Yea!! The drive home was great. It wasn't too hard. The kids watched movies. We stopped only 3 times. And we listened to a book on CD. If you want a good story to listen to while driving, try The Tennis Shoes among the Nephites series. It was fun and exciting. and really hits home and brings to life the lives and trials of the Nephites, even though it is purely fiction. We are enjoying it. We made excellent time 7 hours. We made it home in one piece and found all to be well at home. i am glad we are home, I am also grateful for the time we had to take the vacation. Our excitement didn't stop with the trip.
Once home the busyness of the kids activities started again. Cori had a band concert last night. She did great. We enjoyed it. Tonight is 2 concerts for Kathryn. She is learning to play the violin and has that concert tonight, and is also participating the Bobcat Choir and has the Christmas concert tonight as well. We also are trying to catch up on the work the kids have from missing so many days of school. Last night poor Austin his head on the floor of the gym at the concert, tried falling more than once off the bleachers, and then fell face first on the floor at the church with Tanner landing on him. He hasn't been the same since. He just cries and moans. His poor little nose bled, and is swollen. And now the cleaning, laundry and Christmas season begins. I am excited to take some time to reflect on our Saviors birth. and hopefully be able to teach the kids a little more of the importance of His life. and the meaning of Christmas.
Maybe next week will be calmer....