What I won't do for free food!

So, my friends and I camped out at the Chick-Fil-A in West Valley (of all places) for the grand opening! The first 100 people in line got "Free Chick-Fil-A for a year"! (52 coupons for a free value meal). I got there around 3 p.m. and I was proud to be #59! We thought it would be warm at the end of April...and normally it would be...but, not so! It was FREEZING!! It snowed and the wind blew and I shivered ALL night long! It was so worth it though! They fed us dinner and pumped us full of hot chocolate and Dr. Pepper and we had a great time! They had a D.J. come and entertain us for a few hours! We played some games and did some really embarrassing dancing, but we had SO much fun! Luckily my friends are the "camping type" and brought tents, air mattresses, heaters and sleeping bags. They have done it a few times and are getting to be total pros!
Playing the hula hoop game. I did awesome. I think I took 6th place. :)

Me and Katrina playing the hula hoop game.

Me rockin' the hula hoop game...even with my giant slippers on that made it a little tricky!

Me and Barbara (a.k.a. Barbie...even though she hates being called Barbie) gettin' some lovin' from the Chick-Fil-A cow. :)

This was our super star troop...Katrina, Me, the cow, Laura, Barbie and Katrina's sister Cassandra with her sweet baby that barely cries! :)

This is such a random picture...I'm not sure who took it...was it you Barbie? I like it because I know how hard I was laughing at this point (so hard my stomach ACHED) and I can tell just how tired I am here. What's not to love about being high on diet Dr. Pepper, dancing with a cow late at night in a Walmart/Chick-Fil-A parking lot in West Valley in the freezing cold? I mean, really? DOES IT GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT????

Oh yeah...chicken dancing with the cow...it DOES get better! :)

Playing this super fun scavenger hunt game...I took second place...thanks to my peeps who did all of the running and "scavenging" for me! :) I won a brownie...well, part of a brownie (I think they cut it into 2 or 3 pieces for the winners) and shared it with my "team"! :)

So, this is the funniest part of my night. We were in line with these super cute boys that just came home from their missions. We were asking them so many questions and having such fun conversations with them...they probably thought we were total cougars! :) The reason I was grilling them was because I thought this one boy (Tommy) should go out with Chris' sister Mollie. I called Mollie after 10 p.m. and spent some time talking her into driving CLEAR out into the middle of nowhere, in the dark, in the cold to meet this boy. Since I used Tommy's phone to call Mollie and by doing so gave him her #, apparently they had been texting back and forth for a little bit. So, around 11:45 she actually showed up to meet him. (Poor Kody was a little left out, good thing Laura & I kept him company...maybe Mollie should have dragged a friend along with her!) Anyways, we stood around this heater talking for hours! I was SO tired but I could tell they were hitting it off and neither one of them wanted to leave...and I didn't want to ditch Mollie and go to bed. Well, once it started snowing hard and the wind starting blowing hard (around 2 a.m.) I finally "sent" Mollie home. She had a college final at 9 a.m. and a long drive back to Sandy in the snow...but, don't worry...Tommy texted her to make sure she made it home safe. :) Wouldn't that be a funny story to tell if they did end up together?

So, we tried to go to sleep but the wind was blowing snow (and tents) everywhere. Plus, there were some possibly drunk people in the Walmart parking lot right by us yelling for about an hour. Oh, and don't worry...the road we were next to is apparently busy ALL hours of the night. People were driving by and honking ALL night long! I think I finally fell asleep around 4 after I had worn myself out from shivering for 2 hours straight. Then, at 5:15 Katrina was up putting stuff away because at 6 a.m. they line you up, hand you your stuff and then kick you out. Apparently they open for business around 6:30 and they don't want a parking lot full of tents. Not sure why? So, we got our free hats, t-shirts and 52 value meal coupons and then packed up and headed home. I hurried home to shower and get the kids ready for school. I have never been so tired in my life and I think I am still freezing and may never feel warm again! Don't worry....I pretty much passed out while Hayden and Sophey were napping and at least can function again. :) I would totally do it again in a heartbeat though! It was so much fun! In fact, they're opening another one this summer...

My cute babies! :)

Hayden put on Katey's flip flops and glasses and grabbed some of her toys and begged me to take his picture! What a funny boy!
Is it just me or is she the cutest baby ever??

Um, I'm pretty sure she is...

(And she's the sweetest baby too!)

Taylor's field trip

Taylor got to go on a fun field trip to the movie theater at the district and the copper mine.
This poster says, "Let's go to prison." Another mom and I thought it was a great place for these boys to get their picture taken. They are all such good, cute boys...they better not end up in prison...OR ELSE! :)

The copper mine was SOOOO windy!!

But, it was SOOOO cool too!

Gotta love the huge tire! The wind was blowing SO hard we couldn't even keep our eyes open for the picture! Thanks Tay for inviting me to go on your field trip with you! I love you!

Girls Trip Part 2...

Ok, so I keep forgetting that when you blog, you have to do it backwards. So, these pictures are in the right order, but this post should be the 2nd one, not the 1st...so read them in backwards order if you want the full effect. :)

So, on Friday we spent the day at Disneyland (which was actually a last minute decision). We got there around 10 a.m. and it was a perfect day to spend there! Not super crowded and PERFECT weather...what more could you ask for? :)

Katey didn't know what she wanted to do once we got inside. So, we jumped on the teacups since there was no line. When we got off I asked her what she wanted to do next. She said, "Well, don't they have toy stores in here?" Apparently I shouldn't have spent $140 on tickets, we should have just gone to the big Disney store in Downtown Disney for free because all she wanted to do was shop. :)

Well, I insisted that we were going on some rides since we already paid to get in. So, we went on Small World and she LOVED it! I think since it is basically full of dolls it will be her favorite ride forever! Soph was completely mesmerized by it all! :)

After Small World, Katey really wanted to wait in line to see the princesses. Normally we would have 4 boys with us and would NO WAY be waiting in line for over an hour to see some princesses! So, since it was a "girls trip" we did girl stuff! :)

Katey got her face painted (while Grandma saved our place in the forever long princess line) and loved it!

Trying to entertain Sophey! Man that was a long time to wait in line! :)

Apparently you can only have strollers in line if your baby is asleep. I told the lady that my shoulder hurts too bad to hold her in line for that long (which is the absolute truth)! So, she was nice enough to let me take my stroller, but she said to pretend like she was asleep. How do you pretend your baby is asleep when everyone can see her throwing a tantrum?

Katey was in girl heaven! Sophey, on the other hand, was not.

Katey and Belle

I had to hold Sophey to the side because she was screaming in Belle's ear and Belle was getting obviously annoyed by it. :)

Jasmine was so sweet to Katey and talked to her for a long time. At least when you wait in line for that long, they don't rush you through and they make it worth the wait.

After seeing the Princesses, we walked all over the park trying to find something that Katey wanted to do. We found a restaurant that served chicken nuggets (since that's about all she'll eat) and then she was pretty much done for the day. After a mini tantrum, (when I told her we had to go on rides and we could go shopping later) I convinced her to go on the circus train ride. This is our self portrait in the "Wild Animal" car.

While we were on the circus train, Soph took a nice little nap in the stroller while Grandma hung out with her. :)

Katey had to get some new mouse ears because we found hot pink & zebra striped ones. I almost got myself some too...

Soph didn't really love her first mouse ears...oh well, I'll convince her that she loves them. :)

The Fairy God Mother was probably the nicest character I've ever met. She was genuinely sweet! That's what I want to be when I grow up!

We talked Katey into going on the Jungle Cruise but she wasn't all that impressed. We also talked her into going into the Tiki Room (which I haven't been in since I was about her age) and she totally loved that! Of course I didn't take a picture...

Me and Soph on the Jungle Cruise! Poor baby didn't feel good and had a rough day! Someone forgot to tell her it's the happiest place on earth!

Katey absolutely loved the parade!

We had to do Small World one last time...

...Katey loved that more than anything else!

Katey in front of the castle. I love Disneyland at night when it's all lit up! By 8 :00 Katey was ready to get out of the park and go to the giant "toy store". She had a great time picking stuff out. She was SO spoiled on her girls trip! Well, so she's always SO spoiled...but, especially on this trip! It was so much fun and we had so much fun with Grandma and Sophey there too! I think we'll have to go again...when Sophey's a little bit older!

The American Girl Store!!

Katey has been wanting an American Girl Doll FOREVER!!!! I have bought her several "cheaper" dolls over the years to try and satisfy her craving. I really did not want to spend $100 on a doll. I just didn't. Apparently all of her friends have several dolls and she was the only one who didn't have one. So, I caved. After all, it is a special birthday for her this year...turning 8 and all. Crazy, huh? :)

Well, since Chris and I took the boys on a "boys trip" a couple of years ago, I decided to take Katey on a "girls trip"! We talked my Mom into going with us and we had to take Sophey to pull it off without having to get a babysitter. So, the 4 of us set out on a "whirlwind big city adventure". We left on a Wed. and drove to my parents house in St. George. We got up early Thurs. and drove to L.A...which was the longest drive of my life I'm quite certain. :)

We got to our hotel just in time to throw our bags in the room, change our clothes and make a mad dash to the American Girl Cafe. We had reservations at 4:00 for "afternoon tea". Well, thanks to L.A. traffic, I called them to let them know we were running behind around 4:15. They said, "If you can be here by 4:30 you'll be ok." So, we were BARELY there by 4:30, and wouldn't you know...we were the only customers. :) Apparently 1 other party had a reservation and didn't show and they had already made the food. So, that's why they let us in late. :)

It was a little slice of girl heaven! It was $20 a person for finger sandwiches and dessert, which Katey wouldn't touch because she is awfully picky (and I still had to pay for her), but we had the place to ourselves and we had a darling little waitress who was determined to give Katey a wonderful birthday! :) It was decorated super cute with pink and black and had these big doors that opened onto a balcony over looking a cute little outdoor mall.

Since we were running so late, Katey didn't have time to pick out a doll before we ate. They had a shelf full of dolls that the girls got to borrow at the cafe. Soph pretty much abused hers, but Katey fell in love with her "borrowed" doll and ended up buying the same "Julie" doll. :)

( I uploaded these pictures backwards...so, this post is kind of out of order.)

Katey couldn't take enough pictures of Julie and we kept having to pose with her. :)
I had to sit on the bed with Sophey while I got ready because every time I put her down she cried! I think she has abandonment issues.

Katey, Julie and Honey.

Can you tell how much she loves her doll? Oh, they had to have matching shirts too.

This was parked in our hotel parking lot and we just had to get a picture with it!

Jordin Sparks was doing a free outdoor concert and The Grove shopping center. It was pretty cool.

Soph sharing Katey's lemonade...anything to make her happy!

Me and Katey at The Grove...Jordin Sparks was rockin' out behind us!

After our "tea" and shopping spree!

Soph loved hanging out on the balcony at the cafe!

I {heart} my girls!!

Katey is such a good big sister to Sophey!

The Fab 4! :)

Soph abusing her doll.

The poor blind baby!

Katie and the "borrowed" Julie.

Grandma Pat, Katey and Julie!

Sophey was only happy when she was destroying things at the Cafe!

Happy (early) Birthday Katey!