Our California Adventure

First stop, DISNEYLAND!!!! This was us right before we went on our very first ride which was Mr. Toad's wild ride. (that is why there is a frog behind us)It's a small world after all! The kids were pretty much terrified by all of the rides, notice their worried expressions in the picture. All of the rides were SO LOUD! The kids are expecting the small world children to jump down and try to hijack our boat.

We rented a beach house in Carlsbad with two other couples. We had SO MUCH FUN! The best part of the trip was the beach. Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

What a cute little future surfer.

The cutest girl I've ever seen in a swimsuit!!

She loved rolling in the sand. She wouldn't go near the water. The crashing waves scared her to death. We took the kids to an aquarium in San Diego. They loved it. There were tide pools that they could explore with starfish and anenomes (I have no idea how to spell)

Then at night we roasted marshmellows around a fire pit in the backyard of the beachouse.

This guy was about 2 feet away from us. Just hanging out on the Oceanside Pier.

We had a blast. The kids travelled amazingly well. Mason loved the plane ride. So sad to be home. I've already lost all patience with the kids and am wishing I could have a little alone time. While I'm writing this Mason is climbing on the back of my chair. I'll take a few picks to demonstrate.

I may feel frustrated and have no patience... but when I look at the pictures, his little smile makes me feel a whole lot better. Except two seconds after I took these pictures he fell off the back of my chair and started screaming then I got him in his pj's and found that he had pooped in his pants.

The joys of motherhood.

To myself on mother's day.

I stole this from my friends blog because it was so hilarious and completely how I feel on this mother's day...

Dear Me,

Happy stinking Mother's Day.

You thought being a mother would be so great, didn't you? That your kids would be plump cheeked and easy to please? That you would be able to handle each precious child with happiness and ease?You were wrong.

Motherhood is kicking your butt, and you know it.

Like yesterday when Opie was about to poop in his pull up -again- so he was rushed to the toilet just in time to smear poop over multiple surfaces? Remember that? Remember screaming, "WIPE YOUR BUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!" repeatedly until you had to give yourself a time out? Yeah, that wasn't fabulous at all.

And remember on wednesday, the 572nd time Monkey came to you crying, "Owie owie owie owie owie owie owie!!!" and you didn't even look at him and just muttered, "You're fine, stop crying." Remember? That wasn't very nurturing, was it? How damaging is that to his little psyche?

So go ahead and go to church and hear about how mothers are amazing, and listen to all the perfect examples of selfless, level headed parenting that is going to be mentioned in all the talks and lessons. Then hang up those little finger print molds and wear your macaroni necklace with pride. Because this whole Mom thing is much harder than you expected, but maybe if you put on a good enough show you can even convince yourself that you're doing a good job.

But in the meantime, maybe you should pull out that candy bar they handed out after Sacrament Meeting. Because chocolate might be the only thing that gets you through the next couple decades of child rearing.

Sincerely,

Me