Family Vacation: The Beach

We kept trying to go to the beach the whole week we were in California but Emily kept preventing us from getting there. I really, really wanted to go so finally on the last day, even though it was Sunday, we made it. Since it was Sunday, we just took it easy and walked along the beach and played in the sand.

Emily loved watching the waves and the seagulls, but when we tried to put her down in the sand, she hated it. She would scrunch her legs up so they wouldn't touch. I think she looks like a flamingo in this picture.

We put her down in the sand and she just cried and cried.

Then we brought her back to the towels and filled up a little toy with sand and let her touch that. Since it was on a smaller scale, she did a lot better with that.

Then she started having fun and spread sand all over me.

Then she tried to eat it.

After that, she was having fun crawling around and playing in the sand. She just didn't want anything to do with the water.

Finally! Happiness!

Allison had brought a kite and was so sad when this sign was posted at the beach entrance.

So she flew her kite down the street on the way back to the car.

Anyway, it was a fun vacation and we are so grateful that we were able to go. Thanks to Mom and Dad for taking us on such a great trip!

Family Vacation: San Diego

While in San Diego we went to the zoo. It was really cool. They had so many animals there, and a lot of them were actually out and about instead of just sleeping in a heap like at the Hogle Zoo. They even had animals I've never even heard of before. Unfortunately Emily was miserable. We went on a bus tour at the beginning and she was just whimpering on my shoulder. She never does that! It was so sad.

After the bus tour, she did take a nap in her stroller for awhile so that was good. I was sad she missed all the animals though. I thought she would have loved it. Oh well.

There was a really cute baby giraffe. There was also a cute baby hippo and koala. The bears were cool to watch and so were the lions. We watched the lions being fed, and it was so cool.

Allison came with us to the zoo, which was nice since we hadn't seen her all week. We found this polar bear wandering around!

The panda was so cute! It was just chomping on its bamboo.

Emily woke up to ride the sky tram and she at least liked that.

Allison decided that she needed a lion. She was so happy. I really liked the zoo. I hope we can go back someday when Emily will enjoy it more.

We tried to take Emily to the pool. She hated it. I think it was just too cold for her. So we came back and went swimming in the (much warmer) bathtub.

We also went to the Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center in San Diego. My grandparents served their mission there. It was pretty neat.

One of the guns they had on display belonged to my 5th? great grandfather who was part of the batallion. His name was even carved into the handle.

One cool thing I learned there was that some members of the batallion got sick and were sent to Pueblo, New Mexico to recuperate instead of going on to San Diego. While they were there, they learned how to irrigate and farm in the desert. They then brought this knowledge back to Salt Lake, and so that is why the farming and stuff was successful here.

They also had a spot where you could pan for gold. I was unsuccessful.

We were able to do some sealings in the San Diego Temple. My dad had about the hugest stack of names I have ever seen. About halfway through the stack I felt like I needed to go feed Emily, so I left. Apparently shortly after that, everyone else decided to call it quits for the day as well. The temple was really pretty. They have an atrium in the middle and the celestial room was beautiful. Even though it took a really long time, I was glad to be able to go to the temple.

We gave Emily her first taste of chicken nuggets. She loved them!

And I also let her try some of my ice cream.

It was hilarious to watch her licking it right off the cone.

On the drive home, poor Emily had about had it with vacation and her carseat. She pretty much cried all the way through Nevada. She would cling to Matt every time it was time to get back in the car. It was so sad. At that point Matt said that we were never going on vacation again. :( I made him take it back. :) It definitely was a whole new ball game going on vacation with a teething baby. But we had a lot of fun.

Family Vacation: Characters & Hotel

Of course we had to take Emily to meet some princesses and other Disney characters. (And I had to get their autographs for my book!)

We met Ariel, Tiana, Belle, Sully, and Brier Bear.

Em didn't care so much about the princesses, but she was fascinated with Sully. They also have an adorable Monsters Inc. ride that she loved.

At one point (or more than one), she decided to throw a fit. She screamed and screamed until I took the lid off her sippy cup. After she took a swig (with most of it going all over her shirt) she then proceeded to stick her hand in the juice and suck the juice off her fingers. Over and over.

It sure is a good thing she is cute, because a few times Matt and I were about to lose it when she was being a cranky pants. It was really fun watching her when she was actually enjoying the rides and stuff though. She was just in awe.

When we were on the train, we saw this girl with super poofy hair and Mickey ears with the name "Sheffon" on them. She was making out with this big white trash guy. It was so funny that we had to sneak a picture. The more funny part was that the people next to us saw us take the picture, and as soon as Sheffon and her boyfriend got off the train they busted out laughing and asked to see the picture. Ha!

I was kind of jealous of how good Rivers was compared to Emily. He was perfectly content to just ride around in his stroller and take in the sights. He never took a nap, just a few snoozes in his stroller occasionally.

And he really never got too fussy even without taking a nap all day and staying up late. I was jealous that Emily wouldn't do that. We shared a condo with Scott, Mystie and Rivers. It was fun to watch Emily and Rivers play together. Mostly they would steal each other's toys. It was pretty funny.

This is when Emily was the happiest. Just running around in her diaper.

Rivers wanted in on the Mickey ears too. And apparently Em's shoe as well. :)

Our last night in Disneyland I really, really wanted to stay for the fireworks, and so I made Matt and Em stay with me. Emily was so funny. I think she was in that beyond sleepy slap-happy stage and so she was giving us kisses the whole time and jumping back and forth between the two of us. I sure do love that little girl.

Family Vacation: Disneyland

For our Shepherd family vacation this year we went to Disneyland and San Diego. We drove to St. George the first day and stayed overnight and then continued on to California the next day. Emily was mostly pretty good on the way there. I looked back one time and found her reading a book. So cute!

Our first day in California we went to Disneyland. The first day, Emily did pretty well. We mostly hung out with my parents, which was fun. With fast passes and rider swap passes, we got to do a lot of rides and the longest line we ever waited in was 30 minutes.

Emily loved the rides. She loved looking at all the colors. The only one she really hated was the Nemo ride when it got really dark. She poked my contact out of my eye during that part. Luckily I caught it and was able to put it back in. She wore her Mickey ears and people kept commenting on how cute they were.

I got a birthday button and Emily loved eating it!

At one point on Day 1 in the late morning, she started to get cranky so we laid her down in her stroller, draped a blanket over the top and she slept for a good hour or so. She was good for another couple of hours, and then in the afternoon we went back to our hotel for a nap. My dad just took his nap right in Disneyland!

Her favorite ride was the Jungle Cruise. She loved it! She would just hold onto the railing and look out at the water and the animals. It was so cute. She also loved Pirates, the teacups, Small World, the Haunted Mansion, Little Mermaid, Bugs Life, and the Toy Story rides. She didn't like the Carousel too much though. She also loved the shuttle bus and cried when we had to get off.

But her favorite thing was when we would let her get down and crawl around. I was hoping she would be walking by the time we went on this trip because I knew she would want to get down, but we just had to deal with her crawling on the dirty ground and trying to find a relatively uncrowded spot and make sure she didn't get stepped on. (At one point a fat old man stepped on her hand. It was so sad.)

If I learned one thing from this trip, it is that we have quite the hyperactive little girl. She was not content to be held or confined to her stroller. This little girl needed to be on the move, which was hard at a place like Disneyland. I also learned that she gets super cranky if she misses her naps. Of course it didn't help that she cut her two top teeth while we were there so she was extra fussy, had a fever part of the time, and a nasty diaper rash. But we tried to make the best of it and had a fun time.

Kyle got me a princess hat for my birthday.

We did the best we could to entertain her while standing in line. Once we got on the rides, she was great.

Even though it was a family vacation, we hardly saw anyone the whole time besides my parents that first day. But we did manage to do a few things on the last day with Scott, Mystie and Rivers. I'm not sure what the rest of my siblings were doing, but we never saw them. On one of the nights my parents were nice enough to watch the babies so we could at least have a few hours to do something without having to worry about a baby. So we got to see the World of Color show, which was really cool.

This is when we fit 6 people into one teacup!

I found some mint julep! Although I decided that Anne's is better. :)

And here is the mandatory family picture by the Mickey plant.

And the wishing well where it all started. (Remember how Matt and I got engaged the weekend we went to Disneyland?)

Emmy's great-auntie Ginx got her her very first Mickey ears with her name on them. So cute!

My auntie Ginx lives like 10 minutes from Disneyland so she would come hang out with us after she got off work.

One thing I wish I would have taken more advantage of was the Baby Center. I only used it the last day, but they had places to feed and change your baby that was cool and quiet. I think Emily just got way too distracted. Even though it was a whole new ball game with a baby, I still love Disneyland!