2008 Trip to California - San Diego

We went to San Diego for the last few days of our trip. The Fife family reunion (Heather's Dad's Family) took place at Mission Bay and we stayed in a hotel right on the bay. It was fun to play in the sand, swim, take a boat cruise around the bay and hang out with the family. We also went to visit Cabrillo National Monument - a really old lighthouse that is just South of Mission Bay.

2008 Trip to California - Disneyland

We had so much fun at Disneyland and California Adventure. It was an exhausting two days and our legs and feet hurt at the end. But we sure enjoyed it. We used ridemax and fast passes to help us plan our day and stand in lines as little as possible. We each had some favorite rides or activities - Caleb enjoyed Dumbo and Tea Cups, Collin loved Star Tours and got to be a Jedi Trainee and fight Darth Maul, Megan enjoyed Splash Mountain and got to meet some of the princesses including Aurora, Jazmine and Snow White. As for Ryan and I, we enjoyed most of the rides we remembered years ago - Pirates of the Carribean, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Matterhorn. Some of the new ones we liked were Splash Mountain and Indiana Jones. We both liked the Tower of Terror at California Adventure. Ryan and my Dad enjoyed the big rollercoaster at California Adventure as well.

Grandma and Grandpa Fife came with us for the two days. It was wonderful to have them with us. They will get to go back to Disneyland throughout the year as they purchased yearly passes. We hope to come back in a few years.

2008 Trip to California - Goofy's Kitchen

Monday evening we went to stay at our hotel near Disneyland in anticipation for our big adventure on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our kids had never been to Disneyland before and Ryan and I were so excited to take them. We figured that we would check out Downtown Disney and go to dinner at the Disneyland Hotel - at Goofy's Kitchen. The kids were so excited to meet Goofy, Pluto, Dale, Cruella DeVil, and Minnie Mouse.

2008 Trip to California - Seal Beach

Monday, June 23rd, we headed north to visit Great Grandma Moore in Westminster. We went with Grandma and Uncle Derik to the Fish Company for a yummy bowl of soup and shrimp for lunch. After our lunch we drove to Seal Beach where the kids had their chance to swim in the ocean. Thank goodness for Dad who helped them stand up when the undercurrent wanted to carry them away.

2008 Trip to California - La Jolla

We just took a trip to Southern California and enjoyed many fun things together - the beach, sand crabs, swimming, sand castles, a boat ride, eating out, visiting family, fun music, finding all but 4 state's license plates, and most of all DISNEYLAND. Here are a few pictures of our visit to La Jolla beach on Saturday, June 21st. We discovered many sand crabs among these tide pools. The weather when we got to California was very warm. We were staying with my Dad and Lily in San Marcos and the temperatures were above 100 degrees. We found it much more bearable at the beach.

Fishing

Ryan took the kids fishing in June to the Vivian Park area up Provo Canyon. Collin and his friend Jacen were practicing how to use their fishing rods in our front yard. This is one of their cub scout electives.

Dad wanted to take Collin to a river where it is easy for kids to fish. This little river is reserved just for kids under 12. Megan and Caleb had fun trying it out as well. No one caught any fish. But everyone had fun. Maybe we will catch something next time.

Violin Concert

Megan has been taking violin lessons now for one year. She has been working really hard and has learned all the songs in book one for the Suzuki Method of Violin. Her teacher is Andrea Taylor and does a very good job teaching young children to play violin. She does have a few teenager students, but most are as young as Megan or younger.

On June 7th, Megan's teacher held a violin concert for her students. Megan played two songs for her concert - "Tell me the Stories of Jesus" and "Minuet 1" by Bach. Megan and I played "Minuet 1" as a duet. Andrea helped us with our duet so we could make it sound OK. I have loved playing the violin with Megan. I used to play the violin years ago (when I was around 11). Ryan and his parents got me a violin for Christmas so that I could relearn how to play and learn how to do a duet with Megan. We had fun practicing together, and we hope to learn more duets in the future.