LEGO LAND!!!!

We had the chance to go to Lego Land with Colt's cousin. They were in town for their vacation and asked if we wanted to meet them there. We haven't seen them in almost 10 years, and it was LEGO LAND, so that was an easy YES!!
It was fun to see our family and for the kids to meet their 2nd cousins. We had a great time and it was fun to catch up.
Now a quick review of Lego Land, CA....It was over all a good time. You don't really need more that 2 days there. We did 2 days and that is all we even wanted to do. The water park if fun but over rated. It was no fun for our 5 or 6 year old. The pools and playgrounds are made for young kids (our 2 year old loved it). The slides are made for older kids and adults. Our 5 year old wanted to try everything but she was too short, she is a great swimmer and I would have been fine letting her go on the slides but the rules said no. We were finished with the water park in half a day. The aqurium was cool. The kids had fun in there but we walked through the whole thing in about 40 min. We spent the rest of the time in the park. We ran into the same issue for the rides as we did for the slides, she was just too short. After long lines, expensive food, sad little ones, dropping way to much at the gift shop, I think Disney Land is way better. Although a 2 day ticket to Lego Land doesn't even cover a one day pass to Disney. We wont be returning to Lego Land until our youngest are big enough and by then our oldest maybe too big.

NYC out of Legos!!!

Picture Update

Hula lessons (pearly shells)

Hula lessons (baby dolly)

Friend's pool party

Friends pool party

Our Mona Lisas
Mom,
Malayna, Bobby, CJ, Eva

Homeschool art lesson

Colt and Julia at the temple

Kite Flying at Crown Point Mission Beach

Eye Surgery

When we got to San Diego I had been think about the kids' eyes. They were past due for an eye exam. We found and amazing eye doctor. She was very helpful and kind. We always knew Eva had a turned in eye. We had no idea that CJ did as well. We always thought he was just making fun of Eva. Anyways, the doctor referred us to a specialist. Turns out the specialist was one of the best in the country. So began eye appointment after eye appointment. I think in one month we had 14 eye appointments. Finally the decision was made to have eye muscle surgery (strabismus surgery) for Eva and CJ. I was very nervous just because I had no idea what to expect. I was worried about the recovery. In all my research I couldn't find any first hand experience with this surgery in children. That is when I decided to document CJ and Eva on the journey, in hopes that I can help inform the next parent. We spent the week before the surgery talking to the kids about what to expect (as far as we knew). Finally the big day came. We were all a little anxious, but for the most part the pre ops stuff was a breeze. Then the waiting game began. Eva went first then CJ. They were the first two surgeries of the day. Eva Came out of surgery then CJ went in. Eva had a hard time after she woke up from the anesthesia. She was screaming and yelling for her mom even though I was right next to her. She was scared because she couldn't open her eyes. We put Doterra essential oils (serenity) on her feet. It was starting to work as her screams turned to a loud cry but the nurses didn't like her noise so they gave her something in her IV to calm her down. The next thing we know her body went limp, her lips turned blue, and the monitors went crazy. Nurses came  running in, they placed her on her back and pulled her head back to open her airway. They started yelling at her to wake up and breathe. She was in and out of it for a while. We asked why that happened, they said they don't know because it was a smaller amount than what they gave her before her surgery. Then we realized it was the oils plus the medication that relaxed her body so much that she forgot to breath and lost consciousness. After a couple of hours with Eva in recovery, CJ came out of surgery. Thankfully his recovery time was so easy. He woke up looked around and feel back asleep. 

We got home and took it easy for a few days. I kept video record of their recovery. See below. We were very lucky that for 2 weeks Julia our oldest niece was able to come and stay with us. She was such a huge help with the other kids and with the CJ and Eva when I needed a break. We continued to use essential oils during their recovery and they healed so much fasted than the doctor said they would.

Below is the first video we took. If you want to watch their recovery go on to the next video and so on.

Independence Day

Independence day is my second favorite holiday!!! Every year I dress our family in red, white and blue. Every year we take family photos. This year we are in San Diego as you know. We took these cute photos in the parking lot at our hometel. Then we headed down town. We spent the afternoon at the USS mid way. We went a few weeks earlier but never got to finish our tour. So after we finished looking around we got off the ship then stood in line for 2 hours to get back on!!! We had the best time hanging out on the flight deck. They had a band with a dance floor. They also had all kinds of activities for the kids, like face painting, jump houses and games. While we were there, Colt, Malayna, and Bobby all won tickets to the Del Mar fair!!! That will be the next post. Here are the photos we took, we also took some videos, and a ton of pictures of the fireworks. Hope you enjoy.

Surfing USA!

  So about a month ago, I had my first and hopefully not my last surfing lesson. My sweet friend Jessica use to be a surf instructor in Hawaii and she was willing to try and teach me here in San Diego. 

  I usually take to new sports really well, I am not an instant pro but I can at least get the basics down pretty quickly. Surfing on the other hand was a lot harder than it looks. I had a lot of factors keeping me from feeling very confident. First my biggest fear is to drown. Second I hate to be cold. Third I am kind of afraid to go very far out in the ocean. The closer I drove to the beach the more anxiety I felt.  

  The lesson began with practicing position, paddling and foot placement in the sand. Ok that was easy. Next we moved to the water, ummm yeah my foot hit the water and immediately I wanted to turn around and say forget it. That water was freezing!!!! I didn't quit and we paddled out. My first try was actually a success!!! Jess was watching the waves, turned me around, pushed me off, told me to paddle, then yelled at me to STAND UP!!!! Guess what I was SURFING!!! It wasn't a huge wave, more like a little baby one but I did it!!! Turns out it was beginners luck. I wiped out every time after that. I swallowed so much salt water that eventually my dinner became fish food. I took a break after that to recompose myself. It was getting dark and almost time to pack up and go so I decided to try one more time. Couldn't have my last attempt be awful. My last ride was awesome!!! I was so confident and so excited....until I didn't realize how close to the shore I was and the board bottomed out on the sand and my face ate the ground. It hurt like crazy!!! I was kind of out of it  so I ended up being tossed around the a few incoming waves. I looked like a beached whale being rolled in by the tide. The pictures are worth way more than the words I wrote. I hope you get a good laugh even if its at my expense.

   To my kids: Just try. It may be scary, it may be hard, it may take a few tries, but don't give up.