Disneyland

We went to Disneyland today. We met up with our Aunt Mary and Uncle Wally and our cousins for awhile in the morning. It was good to see them. The girls all love them, but we got separated after a few rides and never hooked back up with them. The kids had a ball. We had told them we would stay and watch the fire works but we got there before 8 and by 6pm Katie and I had about had it. Hey 11 hours is a long time. They agreed not to throw a fit if I took them to Knott's Berry tomorrow. What have I gotten myself into? Three days of theme parks in 4 days it looks like. Sorry poor feet!

Celebrity Watch: I SAW JESSE JACKSON IN TOMORROW LAND! He saw me staring at him as we watched passed each other and I smiled. He knodded his head at me and said "Hello."

Saturday at Knott's Berry Farm

We went to Knott's Berry Farm on Saturday. It was my first time there and it was kind of a cheap Disney knock-off but for the price it is going to be a good way to keep the kids busy.

Highlights:

1)Dewy and Katie screaming when the robbers came on the train ride, Katie because it startled her, Dewy because he really thought we were being held at gunpoint.

2) Having the bumper cars halted mid-run because Asha was stuck against the wall and had to be removed by the ride operator. She kept pull on the dash of her bumper car in an attempt to manually dislodge it from the wall. Don't worry she wasn't fazed a bit, Katie was the slightly embarrassed one. Asha did get stuck again but she managed to get herself out of it the second time.

PS The was finally came back on while we were at Knott's Berry Farm. It was a somewhat humbling experience to have everyone be so grateful for running water.

Poop on your Day Off!

No really I mean it. I decided that I was a little burnt out of keeping these kids entertained and since Katie doesn't have school tomorrow we could go do something fun with her. I decided we would take the day off and just hang out in our pajamas and do nothing. This was a big mistake only because there is a broken water line somewhere and we have been without running water since last night. And owing to the fact that apparently most of these children poop twice a day you can imagine what the inside of the toilet looks like, but you really shouldn't try to imagine bsides it is beyond your wildest imagination. Also the house now smell like an outhouse. At one point I dumped out the entire jug of drinking water I just bought in an attempt to flush the toilet. The Noetic Science is also not working. (I am reading The Lost Symbol). I am truly sicked out at this point. It is now 7:15pm and if I can't flush the toilet soon I might have to go to bed just so I can wake up and flush the toilet tomorrow. I hope. I hope. I hope.

Pony Rides

You will notice that Zaya and Dewy are absent from our Pony Rides at Griffith Park pictures. That is because after I bought them both a ticket they decided to freak out and not ride. I was annoyed and secretly a little relieved owing to the fact that went the older girls mounted these innocent looking creatures, they took off like a bat-out-of-hell. They were also very very short rides, but the girls said it was the best time of their lives. Afterwards we went to Shane's Inspiration to play and have a picnic. There was so much complaining that Katie and I are working on a system to nip it in the bud, so look for that program coming soon to a blog near you. We went back to the pool this afternoon and Zaya did not make me take her to the bathroom. She did however announce to everyone in earshot, "I am going to the the bathroom in the water." She was so pleased. (OK so was I. I know I am disgusting, but am already burnt out enough to prefer swimming in the two drops of pee I know that she created.)

Travel Town

This morning we went to the Travel Town Museum. It was a good way to kill an hour.

The train ride was only $2.50 which isn't too bad until you consider the fact that there were seven of us. I spent almost $20 for a 5-10 minute ride. That is just synical adult talk though and I hope the kids had fun. I am not sure that Dewy did though. He was very upset that the kiddy train was the only operational train. I must have answered about a hundred questions concerning the fact that we were at a museum and the trains there are old.

After going home for lunch we made our first foray into the pool here at the condo. It's not real kid friendly. There were about 10 people there, all of which were there simply to work on their tans so I felt like the kids were just bugging them. After about 15 minutes Zaya came unglued that she had to go to the bathroom. I am not familiar enough with the place to know if and where there was a pool bathroom. So we all went back to the apartment so she could go potty. We then hiked back down to the pool where we swam for about 15 more minutes and she did the same thing again. This ended our pool excursion. Is is wrong for me to just want her to quietly pee in the pool like I am sure all the other kids were doing?

Now That's Good Advice!

The LA Zoo

We started off the day by dropping off Katie and then making a visit to the Doughnut Prince. (I guess that is the next best thing to Prince Charming.) We made our first visit to the LA Zoo. The kids had fun I think. Although once again there was a lot of complaining. (When do kids outgrow that?) Dewy and Zaya were afraid of some of the animals but all in all it was a thumbs up for today's outing.

PS I think I saw Holly Robinson Peete at the zoo today, but I didn't say anything to Cricket because Cricket has no idea who she is.

Day 1

Well sort of...Technically we arrived in California yesterday after staying Saturday night in Primm at Buffalo Bills (by far the grossest hotel I have ever stayed in). I have decided that since I am less distracted by life while I am here, I am going to try to be really good about documenting this trip on my blog.

We are in LA for the next five weeks and as I was discussing with Cricket last night, this will probably be the only time we ever get to take a five week long vacation at least while the kids are at home (I can always hope) so we better make the best of it. Right now I am stilling finding the whole thing very intimidating. Whoever heard of an intimidating vacation? Anyone who attempted to entertain six kids in a big city they were totally unfamiliar with for an extended period of time.

Jon drove with us out here, but he had to fly home today. Before he left, he was kind enough to take us to the beach. Neither of us is too familiar with CA so we ended up at the Santa Monica Beach. I could never had made this trip without him as my car is not equipped with a navigation system. We only hung out for a short while, then we headed down the road a bit to Venis Beach.

Lessons Learned:

1) Don't go to any water activities until after lunch- It was so cold when we went out around ten this morning. We kept it short because the kids were complaining so much mostly about being cold, but also that they were hungry and sandy.

2)Watch where you park.- Our inexpensive excursion to the beach was shot to the tune of $60 by a wonderful parking ticket at Venis Beach.

3)DO NOT use the public restrooms at Venis Beach (especially girls). It is co-ed minus the toilet seats. You are far better off pee-ing your pants. At least then you would know who's pee you were sitting in.

I took Jon to the Bob Hope Airport and picked Katie up from school without getting lost all by myself. (I know I had six kids with me, but you know what I mean)

Cricket would really like to see a movie star.

Tilly is her usual easy-to-deal-with self.

Dewy is pissed Jon left, but don't worry, it is not affecting his appetite.