j+l rodarte family

2010-09-19T22:59:00.000-07:00

The hot fisherman.

Lily fell aleep in the boat with daddy and Jay.

I can't even remember the last time I caught a fish! I'm back in the game little fishies!

High time, ain't it?

2010-09-19T21:50:00.000-07:00

Looks like it's about time to hop back on the good ol' blog and write myself a few lines. I figure since I am now four months post-partum I've given myself a good enough break. Life for me and my family comes to a bit of a halt with the anticipation of a new arrival. About a year or so later we come around again. More so me than the rest of us, but since I'm the one who's in charge of the comins' and goins', there's not so much of comin and goin when I'm expecting. That's just how it is.

Jaxson is. . . words cannot express really what I feel about that boy. What a light in every moment of my day. His giggle, dimpled smile, blue eyes watching his momma. It is something to drink and breath for me. All of my babies are that for me, so that year of sabbatical from life is nothing and well worth it. This is the first time I've had babies two years apart, the others were three. Lily is quite good at being two and this new addition has been a bit of a learning curve for me. Every woman hears the saying that after three, bring 'em on, well not for everyone I guess, going from three to four has definately harder even with a wonder baby. Dynamics are everything, personality, ages, genders and so much more factor in. Even with my dynamics Jared and I are still looking around to see who is missing. It may just be my mind, I've been looking for that for quite some time, or it may be that little spirit waiting to come into our family. We shall see.

Summer. . . well I blinked and I think I missed most of it because it's gone! Turning thirty started out our break and then our family was able to enjoy a couple of super fun trips, we upgraded our car and grew an amazon garden during my blink at least. Jared and I had a conversation about the length of our summer though. We remember summers being so long, with lazy days and feeling like it was so long until school started again. Not so much anymore, but is it just because we're getting older or do our kids feel rushed too? I got a bit of an answer to that question when Peyton (a.k.a. Jared to some, but will always be refered by me as Peyton) said to me, "School is already starting? We just got out of school!" Is this signs of the times or is life just plain different for our children? I can say that I miss those lazy days of summer and am so thankful that I was able to have them.

The day before we left for Utah to visit our friends and family, Jared and I bought our beast. With our growing numbers, we've bust out of Jared's truck and no longer able to haul anything and take our family with us. Jared was quite set on an Excursion and preferred the diesels. After a few months of craigslist, we found one in our budjet and with most of the desired options but no diesel. So we drove four hours down to Tillamook, Oregon and bought our beast. Then four hours back home to then leave for Utah the next day. For those who know me and how much I care about gas mileage, this was a big gulping moment for me. "Just face it," Jared tells me.

Peyton got out of Cub Scout Camp at four o'clock Saturday, the day we were leaving for Utah, so I was under the gun to get things done. Jared had to do some work to make up for his week off, so the preparations were up to me. We were able to do it though, yippe Utah, here we come. Our plan was to stop off in Boise overnight and drive the next morning to make it to our friends the Stone's church at one o'clock. Jared was cruizing and the kids were doing well, the beast has a dvd player :) so when we were rolling through B town, we decided to keep on trucking. Thirteen hours straight driving, all done by my sweet hubby and we made it just in time to take a quick nap, shower and enjoy our church meetings with our friends. Just a funny, crazy side note-during Sacrament meeting I look over at Petyon and there is blood gushing out of his nose and all over his clothes. I am thinking that we need to go back to the house and get cleaned up, but Jared swooped in and they scurried off to the bathroom. A couple of minutes later, they are back and clean and the nose is stuffed with toilet paper. Well, I guess wrestling has been good for a few lessons learned!

Our week with our buddies was fast and furious. Too much fun was had. Fishing, train ride to Temple Square, Subzero icecream, ohhh Subzero. . . wipe drool and . . . Boondocks, late nights shooting the moon, sushi, dreamy. We were also able to visit my grandparents in Midway and my kids and Jared were able to visit for the first time.

More to follow, still gotta catch up. Pictures coming once the site will work right.

It went off with a BANG! 4th of July/Birthday Party Rodarte Style

2009-07-16T23:47:00.000-07:00

So I can enjoy my 20's for one more year! Bring on the thriving thirties. All I can figure is that even though we may get a bit more wrinkles and we may sag in a few places we would rather not sag, doesn't getting older mean we can have more of a right say what we want and be a little more relaxed about who we are and all that stuff that we worry about when we are young ;). I look at my 9o somthing Grandma and she can say and do pretty much whatever she wants and people just say, "Oh, you know Grandma, that's just how she is." I can't wait to be that old crazy woman who can just say it how it is and get away with it 'cause I'm old. So even though we get to saggin', there are some perks to getting a little bit older.

Celebrating the 4th is THE best! We eat, blow things up, eat, hang out in the sun (this summer is sweet with all of the sunshine, I'm soaking it up. . .literally!) and then eat a little bit more. You get to dress your girls (cause there's no "dressing up" my boys) in red, white and blue and be all matchy. It's always fun to have an excuse to get coordinating outfits for us three amigas.

JP (Peyton) got to ride his quad for the first time this summer and I didn't hardly see him all Friday and Saturday, he was a riding fool. Imagine being all dressed in long sleeve, thick riding pants all black on a 85-90 degree day? He managed it just fine, now if I could just get him to be as dedicated to helping out and cleaning and school as he is with riding.

Food Storage on a Roll!

2009-07-16T23:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me! Jared just bought me my first food rotations system and I am loving the very organized and efficiency of it all. It's a smaller pantry sized, no #10 cans in this one, maybe next year if I'm a good little house wife I can get the really big super dooper one. Gotta stock up on my food storage and make sure it's good and rotated :) Let the good times roll (sorry, I just couldn't hep myself)

2009-04-30T22:06:00.000-07:00

Jared and I went head to head in the birthday cake bake off! No, actually, I wanted both babies to get a special cake. Peyton (Jared, he is wanting to be called by his first name now) had been talking about what kind of cake he wanted for a few months now. We found a picture of a sweet sculped cake that looked like sand dunes, but after the cakes were baked Jared had the vision. there is a sculped bike track with a loop-d-loop, trick ramp and Chips Ahoy dirt track. I put J P on it to be kind of a symbol of the change of name. I am so impressed with Jared, he is so amazing. I guess that working in construction helps with architecture!

Lily got an inch worm/caterpillar. Man, this cake is huge! We had four different cakes at this party and about 1/5th of each one was eaten. But it's all about the love! Lily and Peytong loved them so that's all that matters :)

P.S. the antenna are the candles, kinda fun!

Tiger Lily

2009-04-30T21:22:00.000-07:00

Little Ms. Lily in a small photo shoot with the lilies Grandpa and Grandma brought for her birthday along with the beautiful bracelet sent to her from Jen. With her hair in the piggies that she can now sport, she is a living doll :) I cannot say how much this year has flown by for me. Is she really a whole year old? Didn't I just get home from the hospital with her? Wasn't I just holding this little pea pod scrunched up on my chest? Now she is cruising around, trying to keep up with brother and sister, tearing things out of cupboards, sleeping from 7:30pm to 8:00am in her own crib, eating big people food. . . she is growing up. At times it really gets to me but really I am loving every minute I have with this beautiful spirit I have for a daughter.

2009-04-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

So beautiful! The day after the fair (Sunday) we drove to Jared's parent's house for our weekly visit and we got a big surprise! It was a little philly that was just born that morning. Frank (Jared's dad) had two other horses bred last year and neither one took. What a shock when one of his mare's gave birth that was never bred. Those sneeky horses horseing around :). I got into the pen and got to give the new baby some nose pats and the mommy was just beaming with pride (or that's what I think anyway). Baby's are just such a miracle.

2009-04-30T08:10:00.000-07:00

The after fair party commenced at our house for pork spare ribs, broccoli salad, rice and strawberry cake for my little shortcake. She was diggin' the whipped cream (actually it was dream whip and I have to say it WAS dreamy!

2009-04-30T07:53:00.000-07:00

Puyallup Spring Fair! What do you do to celebrate a 1st birthday? Go and have a family day at the local fair. Not the cotton candy, ride riding kind though. We took our baby to see all the little baby animals. Lana was probably the most excited. We got to see pygmy goats, llamas, calves, and lots of other cute fuzzy little creatures. Lily pointed at them and in her cute little lilt say "ehhh?"

So our family got our first experience at the Spring Fair! Love the good family fun!

Fun with Food!

2009-04-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

I have this never ending craving/obsession with summer rolls (or fresh spring rolls) They are divine! What better thing is there when you can make something better than a resturant? I can tell you that it is quite satisfying! These little babies have mint, cilantro, basil, rice noodles, bean sprouts, carrot and cucumber sticks, shrimp and a thin slice of turkey. Authentic ones have a pork slice, but it's what I had and it seemed to work just dandy! The sauce is made from hoisin, peanut butter and chopped peanuts. It was so fun! The rice wrapper was really amazing to work with too! Life is good, let me see your summer roll!!!

Little Piggies for Lily

2009-03-29T17:00:00.000-07:00

Sweet Lily's hair is pig tail ready! This is exciting and sad at the same time. She is 3 weeks away from turing 1! One! Didn't I just come home from the hospital with a brand new tiny bundle that just slept (sort of ) and ate (most of the time). Here she is ~ crawling, laughing, playing peek-a-boo and other really cute games, eating food. . . growing up!

2009-03-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

Never in my life would I have thought I would be a part (be it small) of something so cool. I will never go over a bridge again and take it for granted. Huge girders were trucked in one by one and lifted by a 500 ton crane into place. Rodarte Construction's biggest job ever is a bridge over the train tracks in Kent. Jared went to supervise last Saturday and so the kids and I went to get in on the action. A small town girl like me didn't grow up seeing huge earth moving operations. Constructions is all about collaborating. People coming together with specific skills to accomplish a common goal. This is what life is all about. Productivity, creativity, teamwork, leadership, delegation, organization. . . Jared told me to stop with the description, so it is what it is ~ something I admire.

HAPPY 31st J-ROCK!

2009-02-03T21:19:00.000-08:00

SUSHI~My hubby has a few favorite things in life. The second is sushi baby. His birthday lunch w/his buddies, I mean brothers and dad and "the office guys" (they see more of him than I do :) ) So we all got to "sush" baby!

Here are some more of his favorite things. . . See the sushi dragon on the plate too! Pure lovely edible art.

Jared's Favorite Things:

ME!
His babies!
Hunting. . . anything
Me
His family (extended)
Seahawks
Peyton wrestling
Sushi
Panda Buffet (snow shrimp baby!)
Me
Snowmobiling
Being in the mountains.
Hanging out with his "amigo" (Peyt-dogg)
and me!!!

Happy Birthday Jared! We love you!

2009 Monster Truck Jam ~ Boy's Night Out!

2009-01-29T22:37:00.000-08:00

Friday night (Jan. 16th) Peyton and Jared were off to their 3rd year tradition of going the Tacoma Dome for the MONSTER TRUCK JAM! Just to let you know how much Peyton loves this, if you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up he'll tell you, "I wanna be a monster truck driver". He's definately hard core. I asked him the other day at dinner what we should name our next baby if it was a boy (no, I'm not pregnant, just thinking about the possibility) he, without hesitation replied, "Grave Digger". Actually, he's said he wished his name was Grave Digger. . .I totally missed the mark by naming him Peyton.

The night was a hit, I took Lana and Lily out for a night of shopping at Target and then movie and popcorn at home for a girls night in. I didn't figure they would like really the loud and stinky trucks. When I went to Les Schwab for tires the last time, Lana refused to go back in because she thought it was too stinky (she told me this while plugging her nose). She's such a girl.

P.S. My boys went to the show where a 7 year old boy got hit in the head with debris from a truck and was killed. . .very random and made me so thankful Peyton and Jared were in the cheap seats.

Last ones, I promise . . .

2009-01-29T21:53:00.000-08:00

More family photos. . .

2009-01-29T21:43:00.000-08:00

2008 Family Pics

2009-01-29T21:32:00.000-08:00

CHUCK-E CHEESE!

2009-01-27T12:07:00.000-08:00

Grandma and Lily! Can't get enough Grandma time! My sister-in-law bought the shirt Lily is wearing. It says, "What Happens at Grandma's Stays at Grandma's".

My sissy and her one of her twins (the other is a girl). GAME ON! I still can't believe they are 4 already. No fun to be away from them and not see them grow up :(

Lily and my sister's other twin taking an afternoon drive.

We have a new tradition started! Last year we went to Chuck-e-Cheese's when we went to Idaho for the holidays and Peyton talked about it ever since, so we went again this year. I love fun family traditions and the Chuck-e-Cheese's in Idaho is so much cleaner and I like it way more than the ones we have around here! Food, family and FUN!

2009-01-27T11:58:00.000-08:00

IDAHO! We headed off between snow storms to spend the New Year with my parents and sister in Nampa/Kuna. Jared and I got home late Tuesday night and left the next morning (New Year's Eve) to make it in time to celebrate with my Grandma Glennis, parents and sister and her family. We made it through the passes easily and got there just in time to enjoy tasty treats and games with the fam. Here is my bigger chub in the tub, er, sink :). It was kind of a joke to see if she could fit and she actually did, so we gave her a quick scrub and got ready for a fun filled day.

2009-01-27T11:53:00.000-08:00

Our trip is ending and this little bunch is headed back home to Peyton and Lana. I love time "alone" (we still have Lily) w/Jared, but I always miss my babies and can't wait to be with them again.

Sleigh Ride

2009-01-26T22:58:00.000-08:00

We loaded up in two horse drawn sleighs and took a ride up to a tent with hot cocoa and a sledding hill. For the first time since I was tiny, I was brave and went sledding! WAHOO! Good cold, wet fun. Wish the kids were there to see their mommy cut loose!

2009-01-26T22:56:00.000-08:00

A little show for our men.

2009-01-26T22:50:00.000-08:00

My first time! On the ICE! Life should be full of first times and this was so fun. It was easier than I thought, but you can also get a false sense of confidence and land on your fanny hard. Boy does it hurt too. You know, not everyone is blest with agility. I will just have to be grateful that Jared didn't catch me on camera with my big spill. Look at the view, it is amazing!

2009-01-26T22:40:00.000-08:00

Cheese! Jared and I are too excited good food and fun for 24 hours in Twisp at a lodge up in the mountains and snow! Bring it on!

Rub-a-dub, there's a Chub in the Tub!

2009-01-26T22:30:00.000-08:00

Monday, Dec. 29th~
Lily had a major blow out on our way to Twisp, WA on a Rodarte Construction retreat. So we (I) plopped her in the tub for a quick "freshening up". Look at this happy face! I think she knows that she is the cutest baby ever (along with my other cutest kids ever) :) She is pure joy.

Holiday Brawl. . .he was robbed!

2009-01-26T22:21:00.000-08:00

The Saturday after Christmas we were off to Kent for Peyton's wrestling match. He lost his first match and won the next two and beat the girl in the 1st place position. We don't know what happened but it was pretty fishy that she ended up in first place. Well, at least we know how it all went down and he had fun! That's all that matters. ~I'm the non-aggressive wrestling mom :)

2009-01-26T22:16:00.000-08:00

Lily and her delicious rolls wanted to show off too :)

The Christmas Tree Star

2009-01-26T21:54:00.000-08:00

Here I go again, catching up time. This is for all my friends who are in need of an update! This last Christmas we tried to go cut a sweet Charlie Brown tree down in the mountains, but by the time we had a chance (w/wrestling every Saturday, it was slim pickings for free time), they ran out of permits. So off to the tree farm we went and picked out my favorite kind of tree, smells good and w/that purdy green :). Lana and Peyton (who is trying to go by his first name "Jared" now) had a grand ol' time putting their ornaments on the tree and remembering where we got them and each of their picture ornaments I've made each year of them (love traditions!) Lana is showing off because she is literally the star of our home!

Snow, Snow. . .SNOW!

2008-12-13T23:32:00.000-08:00

Our First SNOW!!! Yee Haw! We in the evergreen state are seeing white! A beautiful blanket of fluffy white snow. Peyton and Lana were having a snow "ball" of a good time. The first snowman. . .well more like toddler than a man, but it was the first one of the winter and first snowball throwing and snow angels and snowflake eating and on and on with frozen hands did they play. During the ward christmas party as it was snowing big chubby flakes, Peyton went outside to taste test the new falling snow. Lana was dainty in her ballet slipper shoes and twirly dress, but she got in there and had her share of fun too. Oh, the magic of the Christmas season!

Ward Christmas Party

2008-12-13T23:21:00.000-08:00

Tonight was our ward's Christmas party. My beautiful and talented sister-in-law was the woman of the hour and was in charge of the whole shabang. (sp?) It was so amazing. Christmas in Navou was the theme and a husband and wife in the ward played the part of Joseph and Emma. They even rented costumes! They were flippin sweet in their get-ups! "Emma" even made a skirt for it the day before and got a black wig. . . they went the whole nine yards. I am super impressed.

Speaking of impressed though. . . my hubby sang in a quartet tonight w/his bro. They both did the bass part and rocked! Well, it was a christmas carol, so it didn't literally rock, but it was more like - AMAZING! They have the most beautiful voices! I got a bit of video of them singing, but I really think that it would be detramental to my marriage if I were to post it. But I cannot tell you how attractive it was for me to see him up there singing and hear his voice, oh baby!

It was a beautiful evening though. Sissy did a slam bang job with decorations, food, entertainment and everything in between. Everyone had such a great time! Plus the evening was perfect with the seasons first snowfall.

2008-12-07T19:59:00.000-08:00

Our Saturday activity. . .Wrestling tournaments! We had a busy one yesterday too. Jared took Peyton to Enumclaw to weigh in at 8:00am, came home, we all left to Graham to Holly's baptism, afterwords we had to forgo the lunch at Mazatlan. All the fam went without us and we went to Enumclaw to make it to the last two rounds. Peyton lost the first match and kicked up his game and pinned his opponent in about 30 seconds. He was pumped!

2008-12-07T19:51:00.000-08:00

Turkey Tourney~Peyton had fun, although a bit tired from all the food he ate the day before :). He took 3rd place and was excited to get a medal. He took it to show his class on his show and tell day. Good times.

Bye Bye Baby

2008-12-07T19:16:00.000-08:00

My cute crawler is learning like mad. We spent our usual Sunday at The Rodarte's, Grandma tells me to come over to her. Here is what she showed me. Lily is pure genious. It comes from my side :).

Going Parkin'

2008-11-16T18:34:00.001-08:00

Good times with friends. Des and I had our monthly trek to Comfort Foods and then over to the Puyallup park. Just a quick note: the sugar cookies there are to die for, literally. . . the bomb! When we got to the park, Peyton begged me to hold Lily, and said, "Mom, look at these benches, take a picure of us." Then he and the kids posed for me. This quite a miracle let me tell you, because he never does that for me. So here are my sweet babies posers!

Getting Back to Nature

2008-11-10T00:24:00.000-08:00

Jared has been able to enjoy the great outdoors with his dad and brothers this hunting season. Peyton, Trey and Sam have gone with them a few times too. Even though there hasn't been any kills, just getting out in these beautiful areas are worth it right? A week left in the season, we are still hoping for that elk! All I'm saying is that if there is that trophy kill, if there is any head mounted it will look really nice in Jared's office ;).

Baby Time with LJ

2008-11-10T00:14:00.000-08:00

LJ, Lily, Luke & Lane all hanging out together at our house after wrestling, waiting for the enchiladas to get out of the oven. Sleeping babies are not off limits and will be awake and playing when LJ is around. Lane is playing too, though you can just see his hands. Too sweet. And yes, Luke has way more hair than Lily does, so not fair :)!

Dress Up

2008-11-10T00:06:00.000-08:00

I just had to post a picture of Lana in her wrestling match outfit. No, we didn't just come from church, she is in love with dresses. This one was from Ross and it flowed around her legs just right and she just had to keep swirling it around. Tights are a new found love. Now we dress up most every day. It's fun, life's short, enjoy the twirl!

Peyton's Pin

2008-11-09T23:57:00.001-08:00

Peyton's first pin of the season. Way to go quick feet, drive, drive, drive!

2nd Wrestling Match 11/8/08

2008-11-09T23:28:00.000-08:00

Wresting season has begun! Life for the Rodarte's is now in lockdown and full of half-Nelson's and "quick-feet". It is amazing to see the growth in my little buddy though. Last year was his first year of wrestling and he had matches against boys who had more experience than he did, so there was a big learning curve for Peyton. There is something about this year for him though. His teacher says that Peyton has matured since last year and is now what she call a "serious student". What a relief. (I have been stressed out with this because Peyton never showed any interest in learning the ABC's, reading, coloring. . .he is on his own agenda. He learned how to ride a bike on two wheels before he would potty train.) Here he is a serious wrestler. Instead of crying at each match (which is what I did last year, though I was an emotional pregnant woman :) ) I can get excited and cheer him along. There is one person that makes the difference for Peyt, his dad. I should say it with a capital "D". Jared is his idol. Anything Daddy likes and does is what Peyton likes and does. I can't imagine a better role model for my son. With Jared and Clint coaching this year all I can say is Bring it On! Stats: 6-0;1 pin

2008-11-09T20:30:00.000-08:00

Sweet Cheeks! Andy and baby Lily are showing off their juiciness after a fine Sunday dinner at Mom and Dad's. Andy is sure sincere with his pearly white grin.

My Baby is a Crawler!

2008-11-02T19:07:00.000-08:00

Yah, she's supposed to stay tiny and newborn, but she has other plans. She is on her own timeline of life. I am excited that she is such a cruiser, but it is so sad too. Why do babies have to grow up?

Trick-or-Treat!

2008-11-02T14:20:00.000-08:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN~TRICK-OR-TREAT~BOO~GIMME SOME CANDY!

Lana and Peyton were excited about their costumes this year. Lana is in love with the Disney Princesses and I think that she looks like Belle so we found this one and were in love. It also twirls! Definately a must in Lana's requirements of clothing items lately.

Peyton got a sweet costume from Grandma R. He got to be the Great White Ninja. Poor guy is colored like his momma :) so he will always be my whitey. Ninja swords from Wal-Mart completed his get-up and Brooke painted his face, he was so happy about that. Thanks Brooke, you're a doll!

What a beautiful and perfect Halloween this year! I was all smiles and so excited. This is the best Halloween I have ever had in Washington. It rained in the morning and by 5:00 the sun was peaking out and it was so warm and nice. The trunk-or-treat at the church was a blast, we were able walk around and talk to our friends and just enjoy the night. On the way back to the house the fog came out and was a perfect background for the trick-or-treaters. Jared took the kids around the neighborhood and Cim and the girls joined in when the got here. Some of the houses were all decked out with Halloween festivness. Poor Lana and Elle had to endure some of the scarier houses in order to get the loot, but they survived and got away with a bunch of sweet treats. I just got rid of some of the Halloween candy from last year a couple of months ago, so here we go again. Could we donate to charity? :)

We capped the already great day off with a party at Crystal's house for Kyle and Brooke's birthdays. There was fabulous food, fun family and it was one freaky Friday!

Cheer Bear

2008-11-02T14:13:00.000-08:00

My beautiful Lily is my Cheer Bear this year which is very appropriate for he. She has been such a joy in our lives. With her smiles and attentiveness and just plain sweet nature, she has brought the family such a ray of "sunshine"!

Boot Scootin' Lily

2008-10-30T22:37:00.000-07:00

For about three weeks now Lily has been a crazy crawler. Well, more like bouncy crawlin', but it's super close to her having the ability to get wherever she wants to go. She definately is on her own set schedule of life. Two sharp teeth emerged a month ago, the bottom front. There is no question that she knows how to used those chompers either. Food is high on her list of things she is super interested in. Not so much the mushy "baby" food, she wants my apples, pears. . . steak :) Yes folks, she a Rodarte for sure! We're are in love with her, completely. I truly believe that your heart has to triple in size with each new spirit you get to have in your family. Is it wrong to love your babies so much? I sure don't think so!

Leaf Wreath

2008-10-30T22:22:00.000-07:00

So, hello. I am back! As promised, I am show & telling my leaf wreath that Lauralee and I made today! She has done this many times and I was really excited to learn how. It's something you can make every year w/a fresh batch of newly fallen leaves. She used all yellow and I had darker colored leaves that I had snatched from off of Hwy 162 at the grange hall before Military Rd. Yes, I got my community service in today and made it into something beautiful! Life doesn't get more fulfilling than that. :) Good times. Thanks to my BFF too, Kristin held Lily for me so I could play in the leaves, getting tangled up in florist tape. One thing I can truly be thankful for are true friends. . .luv u guys!

P.S. Larissa, whatever a tag is, which I'm not sure yet, I hope this fulfills that "tag". So, do I get to say, tag ~ ur it?

2008-08-25T23:12:00.000-07:00

"A dream is a wish your heart makes"

We are at the happiest place on earth. Peyton and Lana's eyes are big, round globes of excitement and awe. After a quick photo op, we head over to the funnest rides. Peyton and Jared were going to be riding buddies, how fun for Peyton to have his daddy go on all of the rides with him. Mom and Lana were to be mostly on the lookout for the princesses. Splash Mountain was first on the list and a giddy Peyton and Jared quickly went for round two.

Crystal's friend gave her a guide to Disneyland book and it tells you how to get the most out of your day and ride all the rides. Since it isn't as hot in the early morning hours, the water rides aren't the most popular and have smaller lines. There were a few slick tricks that it gave us to beat the heat and lines.

The Haunted Mansion was next and Pirates of the Carribean both of which Lana's eyes were tightly shut and ears muffled.After some Winnie the Pooh, Aladdin, dancing to the fiddler, the petting zoo, a long wait for Autotopia for a quick car ride, a quick rest then a night time jont with Space Mountain for the boys and Buzz Lightyear, we were filled with a fun day and ready for a good nights rest for the fun to begin again.

2008-08-25T22:34:00.000-07:00

Monday, April 7th these two snuggle up and get some sleep before their magic begins!

2008-08-25T22:07:00.000-07:00

Day 3~

The ZOO!!!

They way our family rolls is pretty unique. We are not few in number and I challenge anyone to have as much fun as we do on our own schedule. That being said, we arrived at the zoo after getting all families up and ready after a full and exciting not to mention long day at Sea World (which was one of my favorite days and Lana is still singing the Shamu song, "Left, right, Shamu, Shamu!). Then we heard them all onto a bus, drive 2 hours south to San Diego and by this time, we need to feed the herd. How to you feed such a slew of people? Why a buffet of course. Otherwise you're going to have a long wait for your food, which isn't fun with 22 grandchildren running around. We all load up again and head for the zoo, Jared at the wheel (he assumes this role in most situations). The navigation system is telling us where to go and when we arrive at our destination we find out that we have 2 hours to get wild with the animals. Most of the family got on the tour bus and went for a quick ride to check out the beasts. Peyton was so excited to see all of the different jungle animals and one of our favorites was the black panther. We never got to see it up close, but the quick drive by was amazing.

Frank really wanted to see the gorillas. I didn't really understand his wish to see them until we were at the exhibit. It was truly amazing. They are truly a family. Grandma taking care of her grandbaby~giving piggyback rides and mother trying to put her baby to sleep as the baby is trying to get a little "snack" and mom finally gives in after which the baby falls asleep. I can definately relate to that. It was really sweet to observe them, I haven't ever seen an actual

family up close like that before.

I think the boys were really relating to the gorillas as well. They were all getting back to their roots, their heritage. :)

On the drive home, we were able to catch a quick view of the San Diego temple. What an amazingly beautiful building that is. It would have really been sweet if we could have at least taken a picture in front of it.

Fun day all in all and we were ready to get some rest for the day ahead of us. . . Disneyland, here we come!

Disneyland!

2008-07-15T07:11:00.000-07:00

I am new to this blogging bit and even though it's been 3 months since the trek of the Rodarte Family Adventures in California, I though that I would start there.

We started out on April 3rd in this 37 passenger bus that Dad bought and made some adjustments to specifically for this trip. He added a stove, small fridge, a bed in the very back, accessories in the bathroom as well as a sink that he designed, an extra fuel tank, paper towel racks. . . it was pretty amazing. I've learned after being a part of this family for almost 8 years now that whatever Dad can imagine in his "Great Brain", he can make happen.

So the adventure begins as we depart Enumclaw, destination Disneyland. I forgot to mention that at this point I am 9 months pregnant, expecting our 3rd! Some of my friends thought that I needed to reevaluate my decision to go, but I really felt that everything would be okay. The only thing I worried about was subjecting the rest of the family to a grouchy pregnant woman. We aren't the cuddliest things around. Dad was very accomodating to me and rigged the very back seats to face each other and then fabricated a padded board to sit flush with them to make a type of bed so that I could put my feet up. What a guy! We were loaded up with snacks everyone provided and little pillows Mom & Dad got, ipods, video games, movies and lots of Rodartes. This was going to be something that would go down in the record books as an amazing family vacation.

After 20 hours and 5 driver shifts we reached our hotel and before the bus could slow down the restless little ones were scrambling to the pool with a few beraggled parents following behind. Oh, there is nothing better than lots of sunshine and a cool pool! I wasn't quite in the mood to strut my bad self in a swim suit ("in my delicate condition") so Aaron took care of helping Lana and Peyton was pretty confidant on his own. You've never been to the pool until you've been with this family~cannon balls, splashing, laughing, piggyback rides. . . anything fun and they are a part of it. Jared had two of the five driving shifts and was too pooped to pool, so he sacked out on the bed instead.

Day 3~

SEAWORLD! Left right Shamu Shamu-Left Right Shamu Shamu

This was one of my favorite days! We went to dophin shows, a cute seal show, the Shamu show-walked and saw penguins, felt an ice wall, we all loved it! Lana still chants "Left, Right, Shamu, Shamu", along with the arm motions that the trainers did for the show. She'll sit down with me and say, "Mom, 'member when we were at Disneylan' and Shamu made us wet". She says a lot more but I know that there are many things about this trip that are engraved on her little brain.

Nearing the end of our day, Jared and a few others discovered a ride called Atlantis and with the park closing soon, they went on it about 4 or more times. The kids and Audrey and I watched them as the splashed down at one point. The ride was about 15 minutes long, so I waited and watched. They were having a good time.

More to come soon. . .