Mt. Rushmore

Note: The next few posts are all from Spring Break, but not necessarily in order.

After spending a few days in Provo, we managed to convince Mark that a daytrip out to Mt. Rushmore was a great idea. (Turns out he didn't need much convincing!) So, as spoiled as they come, we got to fly out to South Dakota for the day and visit one of the most patriotic sites in the nation. It was a dream come true! I loved every second of it!

Our fearless pilot and his co-pilot. Private planes are the coolest! We had a perfect flight and were totally amazed at the whole experience - no wonder Mark loves it so much!
Once we landed, we drove about an hour through a national park on our way to the monument. We got to see buffalo a-plenty and fell in love with the Black Hills of South Dakota - it was gorgeous there!

The coolest part of the drive was that your very first time seeing the monument is driving through a tunnel that was cut out just perfectly to form a picture frame for the monument. It was breath-taking! Pictues, as always, don't do it justice!

We've arrived! Zane got to join us for the day and we were so glad he did - it was a blast!

Now if that doesn't make you feel proud to be an American, I don't know what will! ;)

A pretty cool family picture, if you ask me! Pregnant belly and all!

We hiked the short trail that takes you closer to the base of the monument and got some cool shots from a different perspective. Here are the boys looking almost as fantastic as the Presidents!

One of my favorite parts of the whole experience were all of the state flags lining the entrance up to the monument. It looked really cool and Libby thought the flags were all wonderful - I think she liked those more than the sculpture itself!

After spending the day in South Dakota, we flew home and arrived back in less time than it would have taken to drive there one-way. Wow! Are we spoiled or what?! We can't thank Mark enough for the amazing day and for letting us experience his plane. Libby won't stop talking about "airplane, fly, white airplane" and we are so glad! A day for the record books, that's for sure!

Bath Time

See if you can guess which parent was in charge of bath time on this night...

Hint #1: The sweet 'do!
Hint #2: Note that the shower curtain was pulled to contain the excessive splashing.
What's your guess?
Yep, it was definitely DADDY!

3D Fun

Our most recent Disneyland trip we actually spent the whole time in California Adventure. We had a great time on all the kid and pregnancy friendly rides before finishing up the night on the Toy Story ride. The wait time said 40 minutes (which for Season Pass holders is outrageous!) but we decided to do it anyway. An hour later, we got our glasses and loaded on for a wild ride.

Looking good!
The self-portrait versions is even better!
We had a ton of fun and have definitely converted the Changs to the Toy Story experience. They were quite skeptical after the forever-long wait, but ended up loving it! Success! ;)

Grandma is Amazing!

Libby is one spoiled girl! Diann sent her this amazing kyoko that she made. Libby was so excited to get to wear it to church and thought it was so cool that her doll got a matching one. Thanks for sharing your incredible talents with us, Grandma!

Two Great Presents!

I was incredibly spoiled for my birthday again this year - as always - but one of my presents really stood out! Brad got me an area rug for our family room! After we re-did our floors 6 months ago, we've been in need of an area rug but just hadn't made it happen yet. So, leave it to my amazing husband to take matters into his own hands! I love it!

Do they look thrilled, or what?!
I don't know who loves it more, me or Libby? She loves to lay, sit, play, etc all over it! Hooray!

Libby also has some spoils to share. Grammy got her her very own scooter to ride! It comes complete with a horn, blinkers, and Beach Boys music to ensure she rides in style. What fun!

We are two very spoiled and lucky girls, that's for sure!

My Birthday

I had a great birthday last Wednesday and really lived it up all day long. After a full day at work, we headed to Disneyland for the afternoon and evening and didn't get home till 11:00pm. It was wonderful, but you can bet I sure felt my age the next morning! Whew! Exciting birthdays really take it out of you! ;)

Both my dad and Brad met up with us at the park. They got there a little earlier and got to enjoy some "real" rides before the pregnant ladies and kiddos arrived! This was our first ride together on Pirates. Cute picture if Libby's eyes would have been open - that bum!
Turns out you don't even need rides to have fun at Disneyland - you just need Daddy and Pops! She got the ultimate swing just walking with them. I love that you can barely see her since she's completely horizontal in the picture!

Family photo time.

This was supposed to be a picture of the famous "back-side of water" on the Jungle Cruise, but all you get is Brad and Libby. I'm not complaining! I love those two!

The gang in front of the castle. Our friends the Fenns and the Changs spent the evening with us and helped me celebrate a great day. We closed out the park and then went to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. Yep, looks like 31 is gonna be a good year!

Bike Ride to the Beach

Last Saturday was a beautiful day so we decided to ride our bikes to the beach. We got a late start after deciding to finally tackle the 3-yrs-overdue garage cleaning, but still had a wonderful time!

Libby loves bikes and thinks her trailer is the greatest thing ever made! She was in heaven!
We hung out on baby beach for awhile and Libby had lots of fun with Daddy, as always!

It was also the DAna Point Festival of Whales that weekend, so we caught the tail end of it. They had a giant sand sculpture of a whale that was pretty cool.

Here are the artists putting the finishing touches on the placard - 41st annual, in case you can't read it.

Sand is grand!

We took a pit stop at a park on the way home and Libby got to enjoy the slide with Grammy - what a treat!

We're loving this amazing weather and are taking full advantage of every bit of sunshine we can! We can't wait to do more bike rides this summer!