"I'm baaack!"

So today was one of the most tiring, frustrating days that I have had in a long time. However, somewhere between the early wake-up, the toilet flowing over, the multiple wet sheets (by one child), the clean kitchen floor suddenly covered in something sticky (which of course nobody knows anything about), the phone call telling me that my husband would be out of town all next week as well, the therapies, appointments, and hour long session with Bryce's case manager where I had to explain over and over again the fact that no, Bryce is not going to get better, No, he is not going to be able to eat by mouth, walk, talk, etc. again (yes, even if we set a goal for that), yes, it really does take over an hour to get him (just him) ready for the day,  and everything else that happened today, something really cool happened.   After Annalise's useless appointment at CRS this afternoon, we walked across the street to visit the staff at  The Ryan House and to pick something up from there that we had left during our last visit.  Annalise was in her walker and as we went through the front doors, she looked around and suddenly threw her arms up in the air and said loud and clear, "I'm baaack!"  (She is 2.  Where does she come up with these things?)  She then proceeded to walk right in and all around the place like she owned it. It was so funny.  I wish I had had a video camera.  There were two staff members there who we have worked with before who had just come up to welcome us.  The one said that this had to be the best entrance she had ever seen.

The other cool thing was that while we were at Ryan House, we got to meet Ryan, yes, THE Ryan of the Ryan House.  He is a really sweet 10 year old boy with SMA.  He was in a wheelchair and instantly began playing and racing with Annalise.  Him in his chair and her running in her walker beside him.  He would then race up to her like he was going to run into her and stop just in time.  She laughed and laughed.  SO CUTE!  It was like they were instant friends.  There really is something special about these kids!  I didn't get any pictures, so hopefully we will get to meet Ryan again some day.  I did sign us up for a couple more visits for later this year though.  I LOVE that place!

Beware of the Jumbo Margarita Cupcake!

Have you been to Serrano's lately?  We haven't been there for quite a while, but Friday night John and I were able to get away for a few hours so we met my parents at Serrano's for dinner.  When we went in, the people working in the front told us to be sure to save room for the new Jumbo Margarita cupcake.  We all kind of smiled and went on to our table.  Multiple times throughout the meal our waiter asked us if we were saving room for their new jumbo margarita cupcake!  We let him know that we would most likely be getting dessert, but it would not be the margarita cupcake.  So, when we were finishing up our dinner, he came by and again ask us if we were about ready for that margarita cupcake.  We told him we didn't want the cupcake, but that we were thinking about something else for dessert.  After assuring us that we would not get drunk from eating the cupcake (seriously, he said that), he left the table, only to come back a few minutes later with a (regular sized) Jumbo margarita cupcake!  He said that he just wanted to show it to us and be sure we didn't want one.  We told him again that we were sure that we did not want the cupcake, but that we would like some fried ice-cream.  He said OK and left.  I seriously expected him to come out with a cupcake for us, but when he returned he actually had our ice-cream for us and didn't mention the Jumbo Margarita Cupcake again!

So, if you want a Jumbo Margarita Cupcake, go to Serrano's.  They obviously want you to try one.  If you do not, be ready to turn it down multiple times!

Luckily the waiter was very nice and outside of the annoying cupcake incident, he did a very good job.  He even asked about the blue shirts we were wearing and when we told him that September is Leukodystrophy awareness month, he told us he would wear a blue shirt for our children.  Whether he will or not, I have no idea, but I'm pretty sure he will be trying to share a Margarita cupcake while he does it!

Day 6 - part 2 - Adventure City

Adventure City was one of those parks, listed on our pass, that we had never heard of.   It was the perfect park for the last day.  It is on the same street as Knott's Berry Farm, but it is much smaller.  Most everything was geared toward the younger kids and we were able to ride on just about everything in just a couple of hours.

Jacob and Spencer on the Wheel of Smiles, a little ferris wheel.

William, John, and Bryce

Annalise on the carousel.  Yes, it really was that hot out there that day.

This is a little plane ride that Annalise and I went on while the others went on the roller coaster.  She loved this pink airplane until she saw the yellow one across from us and then cried for the rest of the ride because she wanted "the yellow one"

This ride was awful!  It takes you up in the air and spins around in a circle.  We were all feeling a bit ill after this one!

This was a favorite.  It was little rescue cars that went around a track.

Annalise's favorite ride was the train.  

My sweet girl.

These were kid powered trains that would move when the kids cranked the handles.  Spencer and Annalise were the only kids small enough to ride them.

Since Annalise wasn't able to run this on her own, Jacob and William took turns pulling/pushing her around the track.  She loved it.

Bryce always loves the costumed creatures.

It was quite warm the day we were here and by the end of the adventure we were all pretty thirsty.  On the way out, John bought the boys an ICEE to share.  It was hilarious watching them all try to dig into it at once. 

They did well with it until they all began getting a brain freeze!  

After leaving adventure city we drove just a bit to Riverside and decided to stay there for the night.  After dinner and getting everyone ready for bed, I ran to the Target around the corner and bought a few things for our return trip the next day.  

Sunday morning we got up and headed for home.  We stopped in to see our friends from our old Scottsdale ward, the Sunderman family, who had moved to Redlands, CA.  We haven't seen them in years, so it was great to catch up and see how much their children have grown.  They had prepared a wonderful breakfast for us.  Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures and we made them a bit late for church.  Other than that, it was a fantastic visit!  We then headed on home and made it home that evening happy, tired, and needing a vacation from our vacation! =)

Day 6 - part 1 - Seal Beach

Day 5 was spent driving back from Northern to Southern California.  We arrived Friday evening and decided to stay in a hotel near the beach.  We found one just off of Seal Beach and not far from Adventure City which was the final park we would visit this trip.  We checked in and the kids and I got ready to swim while John went out and got us some dinner.  When he returned, we ate and then went down to the pool for a short swim before bed.

There wasn't room for us to stay in this hotel for our final night, so we checked out of the hotel and walked down to the beach.  It was Annalise's first time to the ocean and Bryce has only been once when he was just a few months old. 

We first walked along the pier for a bit and watched the people fishing.  We stopped briefly for this picture, but Bryce was too interested in everything going on around him to actually look at the camera.  

Jacob and William went right into the water.

Bryce loved the ocean from the very first moment!  I LOVE these two pictures!

Spencer

William...not liking the taste of salt water,

but getting plenty of it!

Bryce and Jacob taking a little break on the beach.

Do these two look alike or what?!

Annalise didn't want anything to do with the water at first, but she sure enjoyed the sand.

My sweet princess throwing sand at me.

And thinking that was one of the funniest things ever!

Jacob and William teaching Annalise how to bury herself in the sand while Bryce watched everything going on around him while relaxing in the shade.  Getting that chair and Anna's stroller on and off the beach was no easy task!

This girl has many funny facial expressions...just like her big brother, Spencer always has.

Once she saw the boys enjoying the water, she decided to brave it with her dad.

She decided it wasn't so bad after all.  I wish you could hear her giggle through this picture.  It is one of my favorite sounds.  I love watching children discover things for the first time, especially when they are my children.

Jacob trying out a boogie board that a nice lady that we met on the beach loaned him.  

Building sand castles with Dad.

Knocking them down was the best part of all!

Annalise and I spent some time in the water and then she decided to join Bryce in the sand.

Spencer was a little nervous about going out in the big waves on his own (which I was very happy about!), so John took him out on his back to catch a few waves.  

Spencer was the only one who decided he actually liked the taste of the salt water.

They were all freezing after washing off in the showers.  The ocean water was fine, but that shower water was cold!

Seal beach was definitely a high light of the trip.  We would like to go back to California sometime just to spend a few days at the beach.  After leaving the beach we stopped at a little local restaurant for lunch, then headed over to Adventure City.