Star Struck

Okay, so laugh all you want, but I am a huge fan of the Kardashians :) We were pretty close to Calabasas so I decided to go check out Dash. Unfortunately I knew it was closed when we went, but it was a day that we didn't have anything else going on. But let me rephrase that... fortunately for Russ and our checking account, they were closed. Regardless, I wanted to go see the store. Much smaller than it appears on t.v. but fun still the same. The funny part, there were 3 others cars doing the same thing :) apparently I'm not the only crazy person with a "great idea."

I have been to California MANY times in my life, but I've never been to Hollywood Boulevard. We were only staying about 2 miles away so my mom, B, and I headed out for a day with the stars. I had so much fun. I am a self proclaimed celebrity nerd. My first request was for none other than Britney herself... her star is pictured down below. It's easy to be a crazy fan on this street because it's packed with them!!! That's what it's for :) It was virtually impossible to get a picture with Michael Jackson's star so I didn't even bother. I got a picture by Dr. Seuss's star for my classroom. I was also excited to see Bob Barker's... I LOVE the (old) Price is Right. (Beth- good times :) Here we are with Cameron Diaz's.
Here's a curve ball for you- I didn't do so hot at organizing these pictures.

We also went to a Wax Museum. Included with our ticket was a free entrance to the Guiness World Records Museum. Here I am pictured with the tallest man in the world. And people say I'm tall...
Back to Hollywood Boulevard... here's the one and only Marilyn Monroe
We walked past Kodak Theatre
And for any Hills fans- the Roosevelt Hotel. I had a picture of the entire hotel but I'm being a little blog challenged tonight so I guess that one won't be pictured :(
Miss Britney Spears... woo woo
The wax museum was fun. They were all wax figures from movies. Pretty much self explanatory :)

Swingin' yeah baby

To be continued...

DiSnEyLaNd

I forgot to add this picture earlier... so this is a preview of our Disney adventure. Baylor loved Tink... he gave her a HUG! He loved all the characters who were "human" but was still pretty unsure of the others :)

For those of you that don't know, my nephew Braxton was in an acting camp in Hollywood for the entire month of July. I will post more about that later. Needless to say... my sister and her kids, along with my mom were living it up in Cali and I was really missing them. From the time Braxton was invited to attend the camp back in March, I wanted to go visit but was never sure if it was going to be a possibility. I tried everything I could but flights were super expensive last minute and I was going to have to rent a car so I gave up the idea. UNTIL I decided that I could take a ROAD TRIP!!! My mom had came up for the stampede and was flying back on that Tuesday, so I asked if she would take Baylor with her on the fight and I drove to L.A. BY MYSELF! That is how bad I wanted to go :) The trip to Disneyland was planned for Wednesday, so with that in mind, I threw in my favorite cds (entertaining people along the way with my singing) and cruised to Hollywood. We ended up going to Disneyland 3 days. This is another picture overload, but how do you narrow down the happiest place on earth???

Baylor LOVES baby Cruz

Another picture for the Wall of Fame

We were super lucky to get this because after our hour wait for the princess room, Cinderella wasn't there :( We luckily caught her after the princess show.

Aspen was so excited to see Tink in Pixie Hollow. This is where the pic with B and Tink was supposed to go.

They had this cool dancing wall in California Adventure at night. You would dance in front of these cameras and then be projected onto the wall. If you look close, We are the 4 on the right side. B is the farthest on the right, then me, Aspen, and Braxton. It was really cool.

The newest Toy Story Characters... I would definitely buy them :)

When we were there in May, we had the HARDEST time finding characters so this trip we were on a mission... and the characters delivered. Baylor still thought most of them were crazy but it was still fun.

WOODY! He was doing everything he could to get Baylor to laugh. If you look in his holster, you can see Baylor's Woody doll. B wasn't amused :)

The carousel is always a hit with my little guy. Plus we got to ride a nemo. It doesn't get any better.

Bug Land

Playing peek-a-boo with the stroller

Me and my Prince

Note to all: it gets VERY COLD in California, even in July. Take jackets, or you will learn the hard way and either freeze or fork over some serious cash to stay warm. If you notice, we came home with less green in our wallets.

Baylor liked Chip, but he was too busy looking at him to actually look at the camera

He thought Minnie was okay too

And he LOVED the "duck" but again, just wanted to stare at him

And much to my happiness we FOUND BUZZ!!!! Baylor was nervous, but loved him. He could not take his eyes of him. At the end Buzz put his hand out to give him five and B hurried and snuck him a five and then hid behind me again.

Baylor and Grandma Ju Ju riding Dumbo

Me and the Aspenator

The new Toy Story Mania was SO fun! It was worth the 45 minute wait, but by this point in the night Baylor was beyond tired. He was in such a daze for the wait and ride, and the minute we got off he crashed in the stroller.

Aspen got a great seat for the World of Color show

Thank you Russ, for letting us go even though you had to stay home. And for everyone else- there is much more California coming soon!!!!!

Yeehaaaaaaw

Since my last post, we have been BUSY, BUSY, BUSY! We have done so many things I didn't even know where to begin when it came to blogging, so I decided to just pick up where I left off. A few days after we got home from Bear Lake, we headed to Nephi for the annual UTE STAMPEDE!!! YeeHaw! It is something I look forward to every year and I'm proud to say I've only missed it once, and that was when I was at BYU Hawaii, impressive right :)

I must also worn you that there are A LOT of pictures and writing, because I love this weekend!

This year we stayed with my Grandma Zoma and Grandpa Jim in their Nephi home. The best feature of this house it the red shag carpet. It has been there my entire life. We used to have to RAKE it before we could vacuum it, because it's so long. I LOVE it. Baylor got to play with the toys that I used to play with. I loved this little people train growing up. They just aren't the same now.

The Mammoth Parade on Friday is our favorite parade. B kept waving at everybody and for weeks after when we would ask him what a horse says, he would wave.... lol. He was a huge fan of the candy and whenever any of the adults wanted candy they would just help Baylor get a piece and then snag some for themselves. It's the one time of year that taffy is just delicious.
We were sooooo hot during the parade. When I got in my car to leave after I understood why... it was 102 degrees! Good thing we had the mist sprayer and lots of water :)
We had a great way to cool off afterwards. My aunt Jana bought this fun swim house for her grandkids and they had it set up at my Grandpa's house. My cousin Jacey is living there right now, so we all got to go down and party in some nice, cool water.
Baylor had a blast with all of his cousins! Most of them are my cousins' kids, but our family is so close, we just think of them as cousins.
B also had a blast going down Ruger and Hunter's slides. We don't have any little slides so he just kept climbing up and going down. wahooooo
That night we hit up the carnival. I can't even begin to tell you how much I loved this growing up.
The carnival is never complete without a corndog...
Baylor also agrees.
He got to play his first game. He picked 2 ducks out and whatever size prize they had on the bottom, he got to choose. In other words- we payed 5 bucks and bought some stellar stuffed animals :) Lucky for him he chose the good size so he got a stuffed caterpillar and dog. He was in heaven. He would have been overjoyed to just keep the rubber duck though. He loves those things.
I got a kiss from prince charming on the carousel, and he was even riding a white horse.
Then it was time for my cousin Janelle and I to take a trip down memory lane and ride the legendary ZIPPER. One year we rode this thing 15 times, yes FIFTEEN. We coughed up the large sum of money that it takes to ride it now, and went for a spin- literally.
My 7 year old niece Allie is quite the little dare devil. She had been riding all the big rides and decided that she wanted to join us. We had all forgotten just how much this ride flings you around.... probably not such a good idea :(
She decided about half way through that she wanted OFF. During the entire ride Janelle and I were both strapping Allie down and not even holding on, so it was a wild and memorable ride for all of us. Allie's face was not so happy when we finally got off the ride. She was quite the trooper though.
Saturday morning my Grandma Zoma always does a luncheon for the girls in the family. This year's theme was Christmas in July. The little nativity to the side is something that my Grandma has given my sisters and I since we were little. We would get a piece for Christmas and for our birthdays. It took from the time we were little until now to complete the whole nativity. My younger cousins got quite the deal, they all got their complete nativity at the luncheon! My nativity means the world to me and it will always remind me of my Grandma. The apron my Grandma is wearing I made for her in high school home ec. so I was happy to see that she still has it :)
Saturday night it was finally RODEO TIME! When my Grandpa Forest was alive, he had a reserved box behind the chutes that he had for as long as I remember. Thankfully we still get the box for a few more years, until they put them up for auction :( LAME, but we're enjoying it while it's still ours. We are right above all the cowboys so it was fun for B to watch them and get right in the action.
A great "feature" of the box is that when they go out of the chutes and start bucking, poop flies at us. This year it got us worse than ever. It was just fantastic when it got on my seat.
Then I looked down and found it on my arm. When I tried to "brush" it off, it SMEARED!!! So nasty. Thank goodness for baby wipes.
B loves Grandma Ju Ju (that's what he calls her, it's so cute)
My one day a year cowboy
Me and my sees Leanne
This stampede was a BLAST! Until next year's "Yippie"!!!