Alex turns 9

Alex turned 9 yesterday.  We had such a fun day!  This was his year to celebrate with friends, so we planned a Minecraft birthday party in the evening.  But, before the party got started we had some pizza when Dad got home and then opened the presents from Grandparents and Mom and Dad.

 Opening family presents.

 Some of Alex's friends were on vacation this week and one was sick.  So, it ended up being a small party with just a few friends.  Mom liked having the smaller party and enjoyed doing more for the few that were there.  Quality vs. Quantity. :)

 Kabi played the Imperial March while Alex danced for us.

 We made masks and swords.

 Sarah planned and executed an awesome treasure hunt for everyone!


Alex with his two best buddies.  Kabilan and Evin.

We sure love Alex.  He is such a great kid.  He is such a sweet brother and friend.  He loves running, soccer, swimming, baseball, creating things on the computer, playing with Legos, doing crafts,and drawing.  He is smart and loves to read and write stories.  We are so lucky to have such a great little boy in our family.

San Diego, Legoland, and Oceanside.

The Monday after Dad's race we drove into San Diego.  We first stopped at the Mormon Battalion Museum.  It was really neat.  Before we arrived we looked up who in our family was in the Mormon Battalion.  Our kids have 3 4th great grandfathers that served.  So, it was neat to learn some California Mormon Family history!

Next we headed to La Jolla Beach.  We spent the rest of the day swimming and boogie boarding in the ocean.  It was lots of fun.  It's amazing how much warmer a few degrees feels compared to our Northern California beaches. After the beach, we headed to our hotel in Oceanside.  It was right on the beach and really fun!

On our way to our hotel we stopped at the San Diego Temple.  It was beautiful.  The architecture is so unique.   We are glad we stopped to see such an amazingly beautiful temple.

Then on Tuesday we headed to Legoland!  We spent the whole day on rides.  We stopped for lunch and got some really expensive ramen noodles, but we were so hungry it didn't matter.  After lunch we went to the Sea Life Aquarium.  It was super cool to see jelly fish, sharks, and sting rays so close.

 The real set of the Lego Movie!

The next day we spent at the Legoland waterpark.  We went on every slide and ride we found.  There were 2 roller coasters we had missed the day before so we finished up our Legoland adventure with those rides then headed back to the hotel.

 Mom went multiple times on the lazy river with Lily and Alex.

 Playing Sorry at our Hotel.

 That evening we went for a walk on the Pier and watched the surfers.  We finished up our trip at a Mexican restaurant.  Dad ordered our dinner in Spanish which is always fun to hear!

What a fun trip.  We love Southern California...we will have to plan another trip soon!