Bear World

While in Yellowstone we didn't see any bears. We though we had but when we stopped and really looked closely---it was a buffalo. Kind of disapointing but oh well. So on the way home we stopped and went to Bear World. I was mostly a bear zoo with a few other things. They had some elk, we fed the fish and pet the other small animals like a goat, pig and deer. Not much to the place actually. Then when we were all done with that we got to play on their rides. The ride attendant looked to be about 12 or 13 so I wasn't so sure about how safe it would be. First we went on the small train. Safe enough. We went around a few times and Jaxon and Wyatt loved it. Next we went to the roller coaster. I was pretty sure Wyatt was going to fall out because it went faster than I though and the lap bar didn't even come close to touching him. Luckily Kayla was sitting with him and he didn't seem to mind. Then Wyatt and Jaxon rode on the cars. They looked to be pretty safe but when they came around in front of us the car started to buck like a horse. Wyat was oblivious to the danger and Jaxon "wanted off". If was funny to watch them. My overall thought of Bear World...The poor bears that have to be in there are so accustomed to humans it they would probably be more like a dog licking you to death if they ever got loose. It was fun for the kids but way to expensive.

Big Creek and Mesa Falls

So Yellowstone was quite an eventful day. A lot of driving so we decided to do some things by Island Park rather than driving back to Yellowstone. We went to Big Creek and fed the fish and seaguls. I brought a loaf of bread for the family. Wyatt decided he wanted to eat his piece rather than feed it to the fish and birds. Afterward we went to Mesa Falls. It was a nice little hike down a wooden trail and you ended up right on top of where the water started falling over the edge. It was so cool. It is amazing how we have seen so many beautiful things from mother nature this past week.

jellystone

To save a bit of money on gas - we thought it best to carpool so we teamed up with Brian & Natalie, we hadn't even made it out of weber county before Wyatt & Jaxon started whining. " Wyatt scratched me! WYATT SCRATCHED ME AGAIN!" While Trevor is here we thought it would be fun to get the family together for a vacation. We rented a Cabin in Island Park for a few days. Lots of fun, but after a few days of irregular napping & lots of buddies to play with - all adds up to not one but seven crabby kids!

Jaxon and Jeffrey were playing hide-and-seek. Well the object of the game is not to be found and that is exactly what they did. We all were outside looking for them then come to find out they were under the beds in one of the rooms. They are so innocent and had no idea of what not coming out when a person calls your name can do to a family. To finish out the first night we went fishing at the kids pond. Lauren was the only successful one. She caught a 6 incher. After fishing we came back to the cabin, the kids played Yellowstone bingo then went to bed, ½ the adults played hearts and the other ½ played the wii. It was just really nice to relax and not have to worry.

Yellowstone is a fun place to visit every few years ESPECIALLY if your lucky enough to spot the exotic hard to spot Buffalo... psych! They're everywhere! It was a long drive for most of the day. I was glad we decided to take Brian's Expedition. We saw Old Faithful, Lower Falls, Gibson Falls and Mamouth Hot Springs. Neither of us have been there for quite some time so it was good to see all of the tourist traps and take a few photos. We had fun spending time with Kayla's family and it was nice to have a "family vacation" while Trevor was here.

Island Park Cabin

So while Kayla's brother Trevor came to visit from Korea we decided to go on vacation to Yellowstone. Unfortunately everything in West Yellowstone was booked on that short of a notice so I found a cabin in Island Park. The cabin was awesome. After much deliberation and talking with the rest of the family I booked this cabin and I think everybody was pleased with what we got for the money. $105 for each family was a steal of a deal. It was perfect for the entire family and it was way cheaper than all of us renting our own hotel rooms. This way we were able to be together and make our own food so we wouldn't have to eat out every meal. It got a little hectic with all of the kids playing all the time but overall it was such a great layout so I think most everybody was comfortable. I took some video footage of the cabin so when i have a cabin one day I can make something similar. There were a few things I would change but it was actually really new, clean and well layed out to accommodate the entire family. It was just a really neat place and it could be that I have cabin fever and would love to own something like this for my family. Watch the video if you want but it was a nice place for a family vacation.

Cabin over the 4th

We decided to go to my uncle’s cabin for the fourth of July this year. Just like last year it was a “family reunion” but with no scheduled activities. We went up on Thursday came home on Saturday. We rode the 4-wheelers, watched some movies, played cards, and Kayla was re-taught how to crochet. Last year my Aunt Deana taught her how to do it so she has meddled in it for about a year, now this year she re-taught her because she had semi-forgotten. Anyway she is pretty much “old lady pro” now. When we originally decide to go we were only going to stay until Friday afternoon because we were going to come home and watch the fireworks. But we stayed until Saturday night instead. It was actually really nice to have a carefree schedule to allow us to stay if we wanted. One night me and Wyatt ate S’mores and it was fun to watch him try and roast marshmallows. While there my Cousin Brandon’s daughter, Loralie (not sure about the spelling), was blessed by my Grandpa. A cabin is kind of an unusual place for a blessing but it was still very nice. Maybe we can tell her she is one of the “pioneers”. I am sure that is where they did them. So no fireworks this Fourth of July but come this Sunday we’ll be sure to make it up to Weber State for theirs.

Baltimore

My cousin Michelle lives near Baltimore. Since I was so close I thought it would be nice to visit her and her family. It has been about 10 or 12 years since I had seen her so it was good to catch up and get to know her family. I didn't get to meet her husband because of his work schedule but her kids were fun. After we walked around DC all day we went to her house and talked until about midnight. The next morning she made us breakfast and we went to the Baltimore harbor. It was really nice. We ate lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. The pictures are at the harbor in front of the boats. You can pay to go on them but we didn't have enough time...Maybe next time!

Sam and Abby

Washington DC Weekend

We went to Washington DC to see all the historical sites. On Friday afternoon after class we went to Arlington Cemetery. We decided to do this on Friday because it is a little out of the way and we were able to drive right there. It was really cool. We went to see the Kennedy’s Gravesite then to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This was pretty cool. We saw the changing of the guard. They are very professional and serious when they do it. After the ceremony somebody touched or knocked over the chain surrounding the tomb and the solider stopped marching and began to yell at him. It was interesting because the only thing they do is march and to see this guy yell was totally out of the ordinary. I was glad we went and saw this on Friday because Saturday was such a long day of walking and we were so tired.

Saturday we jumped on the Metro (DC’s subway system) and went to the National Archives. We saw the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights. In the building you can’t use your flash on the camera so all of the pictures were so dark. This was about a 20 minute wait to get in but it was totally worth it because you don’t get to see all that stuff in real life (just copies).

Next we went to the Museum of Natural History. This is where we saw all the dinosaur skeletons, the big elephant and lots of other prehistoric skeletons. It was really neat but we were just really rushed and that place was packed with people. It was cool though.

Next we ate lunch in the Ronald Reagan building. It is a joke to get into any Federal Building because the security is so crazy. It is like going through the airport to get into any of the buildings. Anyway to each lunch we had to go through security and show our IDs.

We then walked to the White House. It really wasn’t too intriguing since it looks like a mansion with a big fence around it. However, there was a tour guide there giving a brief speech and there is a woman that live across the street from the White House. She lives under a tarp and has been there since 1982. She is protesting Nuclear stuff. So if she ever leaves to go to the bathroom or something like that she has to get somebody to take her post or it will become illegal to protest in front of the White House.

Finally toward the end of the day we went and walked to the Lincoln Memorial. On the way we caught the Washington Monument and the WWII memorial. Afterwards we saw the Vietnam Wall. There was an excellent speech from a forest serviceman that explained all of the significance. It was super informative and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We rested on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial then walked, what seemed like 1000 miles to the train station. We made it back to the Metro Station then we were off to Baltimore to see my cousin Michelle and her family.

Back to Reality

So i know it has been a few weeks since I have posted but relax I finally updated with all the fun things we have done the last month. A lot of our pictures are posted below of the cruise and all the fun stops. The reason I labeled this back to reality is because since we are back I have to cook my own food, make my own bed, find my own entertainment and work. I don't mind doing all of that stuff but when you are pampered it is hard to let it go.

I just finished my second to last class for my Masters degree yesterday so come May I will be finished with school and i will be able to post more often. So don't worry we are alive and well just busy with everyday life and trying not to let our tans fade too much before summer hits.

If you get tired of hearing my song then go to the Cozumel post and click the speaker in the bottom left corner!

What we did while aboard the Carnival Liberty

For the last 3 years we have been on a cruise with Kayla's work. They are very generous in taking us places and rewarding their employees. It is very nice of them and we are glad they take us with. I would have to say this is the best cruise we have been on as far as the boat but last years stops were better. See the pictures below about our stops. As far as the boat we enjoyed the food, entertainment, and actives much more this time than in the previous two years. We were on the Carnival Liberty. It is only two years old, the length of 3 football fields and taller than the statue of liberty. I enjoyed going down the water slide and Kayla really liked the Karaoke Bar. She did even get up to sing Walk Like and Egyptian. We went to a few of the different Las Vegas style shows and one of Kayla's co-workers performed as James Brown in the Carnival Legends show. The ship puts on a production of famous music artist like James Brown, Madonna, Garth Brooks ... It was pretty good. We went to the Midnight buffet which was really cool. The chefs on board are culinary geniuses. They have some amazing talent. I wish I could prepare food like they do. Flowers out of vegetables, amazing cakes, and squash shaped like birds. I think because we involved ourselves more with what the boat had to offer, and not play cards for hours like we did the last two times, we enjoyed it a lot better. One night we even stayed up late and danced. It was so fun because you would go from bar to bar then they ended up on the Lido deck, (top floor) and danced some more in the Mardi Gras celebration. It was a BLAST! Kayla participated in some group called "Ocean of Gratitude" when the lunar eclipse came they got out some drums and chanted to the moon. I thought it was really weird but she said it was actually quite fun! Anyway we had an awesome time on the cruise but reality hit us like a ton of bricks on Monday when we got home so I took an extra day off. Now that I am back I will be more frequent with the posts.

Panama

The last stop of the cruise was in Panama. We of course went to see the Panama Canal. It was only a 2 hour bus ride, one way, to get there but it was worth it. We did however, start off with some trouble. Our group of 40 went out to find the tour guide a little early. If you have ever been on a Cruise you know that the locals swarm you when you get off the Pier because that is how they make a living. Well our tour guide was not there so we asked for some help. BIG MISTAKE. The company that helped us tried to sabotage the other company that we actually went with because i am sure they wanted our business. Needless to say we sat in our bus for about 45 minutes waiting for them to negotiate with the Panamanian police and the other company. Well, we finally got to the Panama Canal and it is very Americanized because it was part of the US until December 1999. The locks though are really not that big. I was thinking huge but a cruise ship could never fit in it. But it really does save time for the cargo haulers. The toll is really expensive but they save time and gasoline by using it. After we saw the canal we went to the capital city and saw their version of the White House. What a dump and the city surround it is the same way. We also saw the set of the new James Bond movie that is coming out this year. It was also a dump but they had tried to clean it up a little for that. That is all we had time to do in Panama because of the length of time it took to get back to the ship. We arrived back right on time but the ship did leave two hours late because of one of the ship tours was delayed. Overall it was really cool to see the Panama Canal but everywhere else was very dirty and i don't think i would want to just fly there for a vacation.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica was the second stop on our cruise. Here we had booked a tour with the majority of Kayla's office. It started off on a river boat tour where we saw some monkeys, sloths and caiman (small crocodiles). Then we went to Cahuita National Park where we got to walk on the beach again. Here we saw the Howler monkeys much closer and even heard them howl. SCARY because when they howl then throw thier poo at you. We ate some lunch and saw many different parts of the country. We spent a lot of time driving but as we did our tour guide kept us informed about the culture and animals. As an FYI a male snake has two penises and a female bat gives birth to her young while upside down so she has little catcher thingies to help out. Our guide was actually really smart but she could have been a little more tactful and not so racist against the Nicaraguans. The first thing she did tell us though was to watch out for the little kids because they are the ones that will rob you. So we were nervous from the get go but overall we had an enjoyable time and did our souviner shoping inside the port.

Cozumel

Our first stop on the cruise was Cozumel Mexico. We decided to just go to the beach and then to some Mayan Ruins. It was a really fun stop. The beach could have been a little bigger and less rocky but the weather was excellent and the resort was actually really clean. After we went snorkeling we got our bus driver to take us to the Mayan Ruins. They were really cool and old. It was supposed to be some sort of temple where people would go to get married or pregnant. We did stand under the fertility arch but we are NOT going to have another baby. We shopped for a couple of hours before going back to the ship. It was fun just to hang out and be on vacation.

A quick trip to Idaho

February was a month of vacations. The 8th – 10th we drove up to Kuna Idaho (by Boise) to visit our friends Justin and Megan Patterson. The drive is sooooooo long but it was worth it. We watched movies, hung out, ate and found me some new shoes. Kayla and Megan have been friends for a long time and Justin and I have been friend for a long time too. In fact, it was them who set us up on our first blind date. And here we are married now for almost 4 years. It is good to have such fine friends. My other good friend Brady came with us. The pictures are mostly of Jaca, their dog who was named after the Brazilian fruit. It was a great weekend I just wish they didn’t live so far away.

Wyatt was certainly not a fan of riding Jaca

Brady is not much of a dog fan either but he seemed to like Jaca

HOLLYWOOD

So for the other half of our vacation in So Cal we went to Hollywood. YES! The traffic was horrible. We were hoping to be able to catch a movie down there before we had to get Kayla to LAX so she could go home but we spent over 2 hours waiting to go about 8 miles. It was horrible. But when we got down there we walked down the Walk of Fame. That was cool to see all those stars on the side walk that you only hear about on TV. We took a picture of a couple but mostly there were too many people to do anything like that. It reminded me of a mini version of the Las Vegas Strip. It only lasted for about 4 blocks but it was crazy.
They had entrepreneurs on the road dressed like characters (i.e. sponge Bob, and the Little Mermaid) that would take pictures for tips. The mermaid kept saying “I only take pictures for tips” So I didn’t want have her say anything to me because she looked scary. The Aladdin was caring a chi Wawa instead of a monkey. It was just weird. And most of them were dressed just enough that you could tell who they were and that was it. It wasn’t a very good costume. Anything to make a buck!
Then we walked inside the Kodak Theater where they do the finale of American Idol. That was cool, but again it is just like Vegas because it was a mall inside then the theater is at the top of the stairs. Also within the mall was a bridge to where you could take a picture of the Hollywood sign. That was really cool to see.
We also waked by the Chinese Theater. They usually hold lots of premiers here but they were doing anything like that when we were there. In front of the theater were cement pieces that had stars that had put their hand prints and wrote in the cement. It was cool too. We finished everything off by looking through the souvenir shops but that was just to see what they had.
We got Kayla to the airport on time but she called me when I was driving back to my hotel to tell me that her flight had been delayed an hour thanks to inclement weather in New York.

Traffic, MLB, and the Beach

Since I was going to be in California we decided to take advantage of the weekend and fly Kayla out. So when she flew in on Thursday night I went to get her and it took about 2.5 hours to get to LAX when it should have taken about just over an hour. LA traffic is HORRIBLE. It was fun because we got to go to a MLB game on Saturday (we ate a hot dog and everything). Of course the traffic was atrocious to get to the stadium but it was worth it. The Anaheim Angels played the Detroit Tigers. It was an afternoon game so pretty much the entire stadium was blasted by the sun. After about the 4th inning though, our seats finally got to be shaded and it was so much more bearable. It was fun to see it in real life. I don’t watch baseball at all but it was just fun to go in person. There were 43,122 people there so that made it better, especially when they hit a home run.





After the game we didn’t want to rush into traffic to get back to the hotel and sit so we went to Newport Beach and drove around that city and then parked and walked on Huntington Beach. Of course traffic was a “beach” getting out of there so we just took a short detour, ate some Asian food then worked our way back with fairly little traffic. That was a first. I am amazed at all the houses and glamour there is around this beach area. But I guess that is California for you.