For work I had the opportunity to head out to Richmond, Virginia to help with a 5K Foam Fest. I have never been to Virginia, or that far east, so I was excited to go check it out! The first thing I noticed was how humid and green it is. The race was held at Pocahontas State Park which was just south of Richmond. The area was so pretty! I feel in love with it. The roads were lined with trees, the houses were tucked away from the roads and hidden, plus all of the buildings were so colonial looking. The only negative thing about the area were the giant bumble bees. I have never seen bees that big in my life!
We flew out on Wednesday. The flight out (and home for that matter) sucked. It was a longgg day. I was so excited when we finally landed. Thursday was spent setting up the course and trying to stay dry from the massive rain storms. It rained and rained. It was miserable! On Friday, I got to stay in the dry indoors and head bib pick-up. We held it at a local running story called Lucky Foot. The owners of the store and the employees who helped me with the pick-up were awesome! I couldn't stop laughing. It made the day zoom by! Saturday quickly rolled around which was race day! The peeps of Richmond know how to have fun! We had zero problems on race day, so i would consider the event a success! Sunday rolled around and we headed home! I sure missed Austin and Kennadi but am sure glad I was able to go check out that area. I may or may not have fallen in love with it (now if I can find a reason to move out that way...).
Look at all that rain!
I got funny looks when I pulled up to the gas station and started filling ALL of these (15 in total)...
Austin did it! He is a graduated man! Austin graduated from Utah Valley University with a degree in Construction Management. I am so proud of him! While he was doing school, he also somehow managed to worked full time and juggle family life and an internship. I am still amazed at how he did it all! Austin chose not to walk or participate in any graduation festivities. I won't complain though, I wasn't really looking forward to sitting through a graduation ceremony. We celebrated our own way in California instead!
Austin is now working at Alpine Homes in South Salt Lake County. I never thought he would leave Huish's but this amazing opportunity came up that he just couldn't pass up. He is working as Alpine Home's warranty/new home owner orientation/property manager guy. There is great potential to move up in the company which is what he is most excited for! I must say now that we are both done with school, we are really happy with where we are at!
On Wednesday, we headed down to San Diego. Our first stop was the San Diego Temple. We chatted with some sister missionaries and then snapped some photos. The temple grounds were gorgeous and I wish we had more time to go inside! After the temple visit, we went to the Mormon Battalion. We learned all about the Mormon influence and history in the San Diego area. We even got to pan for gold there! After the Mormon Battalion, we walked through Old Town San Diego and ate some delicious Mexican food. We then headed to the hotel and went swimming for the rest of the day.
Thursday we ventured out to the San Diego Zoo.I loved the zoo. I am pretty sure Kennadi and Austin enjoyed it as well. When we first arrived at the zoo, we headed to the guided bus tour. The bus drove all around the zoo. Kennadi loved pointing to all of the different animals. After the bus tour, we just walked around. Kennadi's favorite animals to see were the panda bear, elephants, and gorillas. At the zoo we also rode the Skyfari. This was an aerial tram that went from one side of the park to the other. Kennadi wasn't afraid one bit to look over the sides. She is one fearless little gal!
We started Friday off at the USS Midway Museum. This is a museum where you can walk through the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier. This is a huge ship! We were there for a couple of hours and still didn't see the whole thing. Austin loved this part of the trip as he is a history buff. I was too busy wrestling Kennadi to really enjoy the museum. A hungry and tired girl doesn't make for a very relaxing tour. We finally had to bail the museum because Kennadi was such a pill. After the museum, we headed over to Coronado Island to beach bum it. We had a picnic and then let Kennadi run wild. Kennadi loved playing at the beach. She would run in the waves, try to find seashells, and throw sand everywhere. After we started getting sun burnt, we headed back to the hotel. That evening, we headed to a San Diego Padres game. My mom, Courtnie, and Darci were kind enough to watch Kennadi that night so we could enjoy the game without any distractions. This was my first MLB game and it was fun! We even made it on the jumbotron in the first inning!
Saturday was Seaworld day! We watched the Shamu show and the Dolphin show. Kennadi loved watching the fishies and orca (In typical Austin fashion, he made sure Kennadi knew Shamu was an orca not a whale). We rode a few water rides, petted the stingarays and starfish, and went through the shark tunnel. Kennadi also loved the Seasame Street rides and wanted to keep riding them over and over again. Luckily there weren't long rides so we could make it happen!
Seaworld must have wore her out because she slept all during dinner!
Sunday was the day our vacation had to end. We ended up leaving early again so that we could drive while Kennadi slept. The drive was longggg. It was fine until we hit Cedar City around noon. We were starving and we were greeted by a nice snow storm which knocked all of the power out. No power meant no food joints were open. So we decided to head up to Beaver to grab some food only to be met with traffic so we couldn't stop there. We ended up snacking on goldfish and drove the rest of the way home very slowly. Having a sunny vacation end is bad enough. Having a sunny vacation end with a snow storm greeting you at home is worse.
For Christmas, my mom and dad gave us the gift of a vacation. They must have known that is one of my absolute favorite things to do! We were given a trip to San Diego. No trip to Southern California is complete without a Disneyland trip though (especially since Austin and Kennadi has never been). We headed out on the long drive to California on Sunday morning. We left way early in the morning, 4 am early to be exact, in hopes that Kennadi would sleep most of the way down there. Boy were we wrong. Kennadi only slept for about an hour the whole way down. She was a perfect angel though. She hardly made a peep and was pleasant the whole way. We were anticipating many stops along the way but due to Kennadi being a rockstar we made it to California much earlier than expected. We arrived before we could check into our hotel so we parked the car and walked over to Downtown Disney. This is the first taste Austin had of Disneyland and I think he was impressed! We both were getting really anxious to actually go into the park the next day. At Downtown Disney, we wandered through the Disney stores, grabbed a bite to eat, and then headed back to the hotel to check in. We then spent the rest of the day relaxing, waiting for the rest of my family to arrive, and swimming.
Sitting in the car...
The next morning, we headed over to Disneyland first thing in the morning! My family has a tradition of always heading onto Pirates of the Caribbean as the first ride of the trip. Unfortunately that ride was closed down for our whole trip as well as Indiana Jones. Talk about disappointing! We opted to ride Thunder Mountain Railroad first and then ventured over to Fantastyland. Kennadi was in heaven riding all of the rides. I was surprised she never got scared and was always willing to try different rides. She absolutely loved Dumbo, Teacups, and the Winnie The Pooh ride. I am sure Kennadi wouldn't have minded riding those rides over and over again. During the afternoon, we headed back to the hotel room for a quick nap break. When we arrived back at the park, we stopped and watched the parade. Kennadi loved seeing all of the Disney characters and was perfectly content just sitting on my dad's shoulders and staring the whole time. After the parade we rode more rides until they finally kicked us out of the park. It was a successful first day!
On Tuesday morning, we opted to go to California Adventure first. We hit the Radiator Springs ride first so that we didn't have to wait in the 2+ hour line that usually accumulates throughout the day. We were definitely fans of that ride, it may even be Austin's favorite ride! Later on that day, Austin and I waited outside The Tower of Tower with Kennadi and Easton while the rest of my family went on that ride. We were sitting right by a cast member entrance/exit when out pops Mickey Mouse. Kennadi was so excited but a little intimidated at the same time. Mickey Mouse came and grabbed her hand and walked her across the road. He even stopped and posed for a few pictures with her! That afternoon, we once again headed back for naps. With Kennadi, a nap is a must! After nap time, we headed back and did some last minute shopping and rides. We then went and watched World Of Color. This was my first time watching the show and it was incredible!
We really enjoyed our time at Disneyland. It was nice going with my family because we had plenty of hands who were willing to watch Kennadi while we hit a few rides (mainly Darci and Dad. Thanks!). I think Austin really enjoyed Disneyland. I was so nervous to take him because he swore he wouldn't have fun because it was a "kiddie" place and didn't have thrill rides. I think Disneyland definitely wore off on him though and he is even planning our next trip. No complaining from this gal!
Riding Dumbo
Shameless Selfie on the Toy Story ride
Jungle Cruise. Kennadi was so cute she even got a map!
Family Teacup Ride.
Every train was a "truck" this trip. She can say Sebastian like a pro but apparently train was too hard...
Austin's cousin, Derek, got married recently and Austin was asked to be groomsmen. The wedding was down in St. George which meant we got to have a little weekend getaway! I wasn't complaining one bit! We headed down Friday after work. After traffic, detours through the middle of no where (AKA Minersville), and many, many disney movies we finally made it to St. George. Friday night we stayed at my Uncle Dave and Aunt Nannette's place. My cousin, Kirk, and his wife, Michaela, brought their little boy, Ashton, over to play that evening. Kennadi and Ashton are less than a month apart. Kennadi really enjoyed having someone her own age to play with. I wish I would have taken pictures of the two of them together. The next day, we headed out to Derek and Alex's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding but a freezing day! The weather was not what you would expect for a Spring day in St. George. The whole time we were in the temple I kept worrying about Kennadi freezing to death outside. Kennadi didn't seem to mind though. I think she was loving playing with all of her cousins and aunts! After we stood in the cold for photos, we headed to the church for a luncheon. At the luncheon we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed on the road back home. It was a quick trip but a good trip. Congrats again Derek and Alex!
Kennadi loved holding "baby" Chloe...little did she know Chloe is about as big as she is!
