Independence Week

This year we went to California for the 4th of July!  We haven't been there for the 4th since Delilah was 18 months old.  Time flies.  It was so fun to be together.  We had all 11 grandkids this year and everyone had a blast.  Alice had fun hiding in this foot stool and bouncing like Tigger.  Adrian and Ryan went to Universal Studios so I was able to babysit Oliver for the day.  He is so sweet and smiley.  Alice told me a few times to "put that baby down"  I think she was a little jealous.  This year we went to the Lake Forrest parade in the morning, where we saw some really cool cars and some not so exciting floats.  The giant skateboard was our favorite.  The kids got sprayed by some float riders and waved their flags until it was time for some kickball and slip n slide.  Kickball was so fun, I totally could have played longer but we had to get home and prepare the shrimp boil and other dishes.    After dinner Cindy put together our US History lesson and let the kids earn money from the money grab by answering questions.  Then we had a marshmallow fight with poppers galore.  The backyard was a mess!  It was about that time that we left to see fireworks with Papa and Grammy.  We went to the school field with our glow sticks, necklaces and wands.  The fireworks were really great!  The finale had so many fireworks the sky was like day time.  It was a really fun 4th.  Much less depressing than last year. :(

The rest of the vacation was spent at the beach with family, hangin with Papa, eating Baja Fish Tacos and spending time with Jarond .  We went to Irvine Spectrum one day and rode the train for the first time.

We went to Papa and Grammy's for a BBQ, where we took silly pictures and Braedon learned to ride the Penny Farthing.  He did really great!  No brakes on that thing.  Gerrit and I tried to take a picture and I realized I had serious black stuff in my teeth.  True love flosses that out for you!  The kids just played in the neighborhood and I just can't get enough of miss Alice and her Pooh Bears.  I even got a candid of Karis scolding the girls for leaving others out.  Haha.  So serious.  Alice met a dog named Snowball which she loved soooo much!

Cindy put together a massive camp out sleep over in the backyard.  That thing just kept growing and growing.  She taught us all about some Suman family history and we went on a night "hike" which was basically up the street.  I was fine with that hike.  Then we made smore's and the kids finally fell asleep at 3am.  The next morning we all walked down to get donuts at the grocery store.  Then Cindy, Karis, Mom and I walked back up.  It was killer!

Delilah had a very wiggly tooth on this trip.  She was waiting for it to fall out on it's own but when I saw it laying on her bottom lip at Target I let "blankley" dry it off and pull it out!  She was a trooper and was excited to have it out.  She earned a magic wand for her bravery.  Unfortunately I lost the tooth while we were shopping.  Mom Fail.  So she wrote a note to the tooth fairy asking for forgiveness.  "I am sorry I lost my tooth, will you still bring me a present?"  It worked and she left 2$ and some fairy dust in her room that night. 

The highlight of the trip was when Chloë decided to whip her hair around while dancing.  We took so many pictures and got some really really good laughing out.  I was crying cuz it was so funny.  Gigi joined in the Headbangin fun and Jarond topped it off with a slow mo video of the girls.

The night before we hit the road, the women met up at Rose Canyon to eat.  It was a beautiful night and it was so nice to spend time with the ladies without littles with us.  The man that took our picture said he's never seen so many beautiful women and smiles in one group.  I would have to agree with him!

This time we went the long way home and hit up San Diego.  We have been wanting to see the temple and do some other things too.  So we bit the bullet and did it.  The temple was beautiful as always.  It was fun to show the kids where Gerrit and I got married. Then we went over to the RoadRunner shoe clearance center.  We loaded up on running shoes for more than half off.  We drove over to the Mormon Battalion which I had never done before.  It was a fun video interactive tour that taught you about the Mormon Battalion members.  We ended San Diego with 3 trips to the tortilla lady.  Man those things are addicting.  The ride home from there was pretty brutal. Alice screamed the whole time cuz she couldn't pee in her diaper and her tummy hurt.  I had a panic attack in the bathroom at Dateland Arizona and everyone finally got a break from the crying when Alice decided to pee 30 minutes from home.  How quickly you forget one of the worst nights of your life.  Love you Alice!