Poms Camp

While Ashley and I were at Girls' Camp, Paige was at a camp of her own:  Poms Camp!

A lot of the athletic and extra-curricular clubs at the local high schools hold summer camps for kids in order to raise funds and since Paige has such a love for choreography and dancing, I thought she might like doing a week long Poms dance camp.  Dave was working from home during the time Ashley and I were gone, but I thought it might be best for both of them if Paige had something to do each day for a few hours.  So she and some friends signed up to do Poms. 

The only downside is that I didn't get to see anything, even the family performance.  Fortunately, Dave videotaped it and Paige was more than willing to give me live performances.  She really seemed to love it and was happy to placed front and center in her group dance.  I'm not sure if she likes the dancing or the performing part more!

Anyways, I think we will probably take some dance classes this fall.  This girl needs to be in a dance recital!  Too bad she doesn't live closer to some Aunts who could mentor her.

Girls Camp!

Right after Grandpa and Grandma left it was time for Girls Camp.  Ashley had a friend who moved away recently, come back to Illinois to go to camp with us, so she came over and spent the night at our house and then we were off to Camp!

Ashley and I always go up a day early.  All the leaders on the stake level go up early to get everything ready before the Young Women arrive.  I worked in the kitchen again this year and we use this day to buy all the food for 175 people for the week.  It is one long day of massive grocery shopping--it's exhausting.  Fortunately, the leaders who go early can bring their daughters if they have any, so it is a fun time for Ashley to hangout with friends and check out the camp before it officially begins. 

The theme for camp this year was "...the light within" which coordinates with the mutual theme of "Arise and Shine Forth."  The basic premise is that before you can arise and shine forth you have to kindle or develop the light within you. 

So camp this year from my perspective was:

1.  Hot (as usual in July) although not as hot as last year.

2.  Exhausting, but not because I was staying up all night with rowdy girls (our girls are so good) but because it is just physically exhausting and hard work to be on your feet preparing 3 meals a day plus snacks, non-stop for 4 days.

3.  So uplifiting.  I think if I learned anything it is that camp just fills you with love.  You just see the YW in a different light and learn to love and appreciate them even more.

4.  Hilarious.  Honestly, at camp because of my assignment I spend more time with other adults than I do with the Young Women.  Especially the kitchen staff.  This year there was 4 of us and seriously we had such a great time.  You have to keep it light when you are slaving away in a kitchen everyday.  Plus at some point you get so deliriously tired, everything is just funny.

5.  Hilarious.  Did I say that already?  Our ward basically staffs 75% of camp when it comes to adult leaders.  We had 10 ladies from our ward go this year.  I'm pretty sure that most of the immature and rowdy behavior came from us.  All I can say is that at one point a few of us had the most inappropriate laughing fit--you know the kind where you can't stop laughing, getting to the point you are crying.  Our Bishop came up for ward night and came over to talk to me and one of my counselors and we couldn't even speak we just burst out laughing right in his face.  I'm sure he thought we lost our minds, which by that night we probably had. 

Anyways, good time as alway at camp.  I think it was after I got home that the busyness of the summer finally hit me.  I literally felt like I hit a wall.  I'm not even sure I have completely recovered yet, but of course it was worth it and I am so glad that I know so many wonderful Young Women who have a love for camp and a strong desire to be there every year.  (I get a cd of camp pictures this weekend, so I'll update later with more pictures)


Ashley and friends on "tutu Tuesday"

A GRAND Visit

As promised, Grandpa and Grandma Smith brought Paige back to Chicago and fortunately, stayed with us for a few days.  Unfortunately, it happened to be during the hottest, most humid and driest time of the summer, but they were troopers.

We always have a great time during their visits.  We eats lots of good food and go to lots of fun places.  They came in on the weekend and were able to go to church with us, which was really nice.  We also played lots of card games.  The girls love card games and are so happy to have two willing players in Grandma and Grandpa.

On Monday, we of course, had to eat lunch at Portillos for some good ol' Chicago style grub.  Then we all went to see the movie, "Brave."  Sitting in an air conditioned movie theater is always a good call when it is over 100 degrees outside.  Later that evening, Paige taught the family home evening lesson and Grandma taught the girls how to lead music properly.  We sure needed that!  Thanks Grandma.

The next two days we gave Grandpa and Grandma a pretty big taste of Chicago humidity with back-to-back outdoor activities.

First up, we went to a Cubs game.  We must have inherited our love for Major League Baseball from Grandpa and Grandma.  The Cubs, were in town this particular week so we planned a trip to Wrigley Field.  Dave actually went to work that day and drove the van into the city.  Later that afternoon, the rest of rode the train downtown and met Dave at his office building.  We then walked over to eat dinner at the "Italian Village."  It is like the original Chicago Italian restaurants, one of the oldest in the city.  It is famous more for that reason than the food, but it is fun to say you have been there at least once.  We were seated in this dimly lit alcove, very old-fashioned feeling. 

As for dinner, Dave drove us to the game.  It was a hot one, pretty sticky but still fun.  There were lots of runs and even a grand slam, but since the Cubs are horrible it was mostly from the other team!

 

Aren't they cute?

On the next day we went to Starved Rock State Park for a hike.  In retrospect this was probably a little crazy, because it was SO HOT AND HUMID.  We did it anyways, because we really wanted to go.  Grandpa and Grandma like to hike and this is a nice place to go.  Usually there are waterfalls and streams, set in bluffs or "canyons" that were cut by glaciers.  This year, we are pretty much in a drought so there is no water.  After our hike we were soaking wet, we looked like we had stood under a waterfall, but it wasn't water--pure sweat.

We also had the pleasure of seeing a black snake sitting on the trail along with a few birds.  Another pleasure was hearing Paige yelp and scream everytime something rustled in the bushes or flew by her.  Silly girl.  We packed a picnic lunch, but by the time we finished hiking, we were so hot that we just sat in the air conditioned car to eat instead. 



One tired crew!

 

The best part of the trip was a present that Grandpa and Grandma bought for us at the gift shop.  It is an Audubon Society bird clock.  It has birds of the Midwest and makes a different bird call sound at the top of every hour.  We LOVE this thing!  It's fun to have it in the house chirping away all day.

 

The worst part of any trip is having to say goodbye which we did the following day.  Grandpa and Grandma were probably happy to get home and avoid anymore outdoor adventures in the stifling heat, but we sure love and miss them!





Dining in Style

Hooray!  We finally got a new table for our dining room.  We have needed this since we moved in, but it just kept being put on the back burner.  It seemed like there was always something else that took priority.  We even went and shopped around a couple of times, but when we couldn't find what we wanted, somehow we just gave it up for a while. 

Dave of course, was always supportive of getting a table.  I was the one who was dragging my feet.  Fortunately, when on a whim I finally said, "enough is enough" we are going to look for a table he was on board.  It was good to have him there with me in the showroom when I started to waffle about if the this is the right table, "maybe we should wait."  Dave held firm and made sure that we didn't fall into the same old indecisive pattern.

So here is the new table, it's not super formal, but it is versatile which is good for what we need.  Now we just have to see how long we can go without scratching it!

Paige's Trip

Dave's family has a tradition that when grandkids turn 8 years old they get to go stay with their grandparents for a week.  It's a special trip and every grandkid looks forward to their time to be one-on-one, the center of attention with their grandparents. 

Paige had been looking forward to her trip.  She turned 8 in October but had to wait until the summer to go.  This was okay because it gave her (and me) plenty of time to get used to the idea that she would be flying on an airplane as an unaccompanied minor.

Because Dave's parents live in Utah, the logistics of getting our kids to the grandparents is little tricky.  When Ashley was 8 she flew by herself from Chicago to Utah and then Grandma flew back to Chicago with her.  I was nervous when Ashley did it (even though it turned out fine) and was nervous at the thought of Paige doing it too.  Paige has a lot of self-confidence but she is very shy around strangers, so I was more worried about her flying alone.

After trying to come up with a bunch of scenarios, a plan finally fell into place.  After our family trip to California, instead of flying home to Chicago with the rest of us, Paige would fly from LA to SLC by herself.  This worked out because the flight was much shorter and cheaper.  She would only have to be alone for a 1 hour flight versus 3 hours.  I felt much better about that. 

After a few days in Utah with her grandparents, Dave's parents flew back to Chicago with Paige and stayed to visit us for a few days.  I think we got the best deal out of this and we are so grateful to Dave's parents for not only taking Paige but also coming out here to see us!

Here is Paige boarding her plane at LAX, she is all ready to go.  In fact, she was so independent that she wouldn't even let Dave roll her suitcase through the airport.  She was determined to take care of herself.  I guess, I had no reason to worry!

Of course, once she got to Utah, I wasn't there to document her adventures but I did hear a few stories and did have some wonderful family members share some pictures.

I have to say that she had a great time.  Grandpa and Grandma took very good care of her and she also got lots of playtime with her cousins.  This is a pretty special treat because we don't have any cousins nearby.  Paige also has a number of cousins around her age and she loves to play so it was perfect.  What a great tradition Dave's parents have.  Paige loved her trip!  It will always be a special memory for her.

One of her first items of business when she got to Utah was to go swimming with Grandpa, Grandma and the cousins!

She then went around in turns visiting the rest of the family:

Paige was lucky that her trip happened to take place right after Dave's sister, Kelley, and her family moved back to Utah from Rexburg.  Paige got to go over and play with the Gees and then right before Paige left, Kelley's two girls, who are about Paige's age came over and played on the trampoline at Grandma's house.  This was exciting because we don't usually see the Gees too often.



 

One day she had lunch with her Great Grandpa and Grandma Church as well as Aunt Kristin and her kids Payton and McKenna.  They went up Ogden Canyon and ate at the Oaks restaurant.  You can sit outside right by the river.  After lunch the kids went to a jump house and then ended the day with Italian ice.  Yum!  Oh, it looks like they got a massage too!

 

 

Paige also got to have a super fun day with her cousin Megan.  Megan came to the Lagoon with Paige and those two were perfect riding partners.  They went on all the rides even the big roller coasters.  Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures from this day :(.  I think Grandpa sent Dave a picture, but Dave deleted it --- that's what I get for being over a month behind on my blog!  Anyways, I'm just going to put this picture of Megan up so you can see how cute she is and just imagine her and Paige running around the Lagoon together!



I have to admit seeing all the pictures of our extended family made those of us in Chicago (Ashley, Dave and I) a little homesick for family.  It's amazing how fast everyone's families are growing up!

Disneyland

You can't stay 10 minutes away from Disneyland and not go, so somehow we managed to squeeze in 3 days at Disneyland and California Adventure during our trip.  The last time we went to Disneyland, Ashley was 6 and Paige was 1.  Paige doesn't remember it, so it was time to go again.

Considering that we were there during the height of the summer season, the crowds really weren't too bad and we got to do pretty much everything we wanted.  We spent day one at Disneyland, day two at California Adventure and then back to Magic Kingdom on day three.  Looking back considering how busy we were before with the wedding and everything else, two days would have been enough.  But we still had a great time and it was nice to just be with our little family.

Paige just had to have some Minnie ears

At California Adventure the new big draw was Cars Land which just opened.  I have to admit it was pretty cute.  It was just like walking into Radiator Springs.  There was only one ride we didn't go on.  The line was like 3-4 hours long and fast passes sold out, so we just decided to skip it.  Besides our favorite ride was the Tower of Terror or maybe the California Screamin' roller coaster.

Mater's junkyard...a really fun ride

Inside "Luigi's Tire Shop"

Funny how the most terrifying ride for Paige
was the swinging ferris wheel.  They don't even
make you wear a seatbelt!

Love these people!

 Good times, you got to love Disney, but honestly our whole trip was great and so memorable.  I think it really says something when the best parts of your family vacation were NOT Disney related!

Newport Beach

Another perk of our vacation was that we got to stay at the Kumar family beach house.  It is located in Newport Beach and is one block from the ocean, right by Balboa Island.  The house isn't used that much, but it's got plenty of room (5 bedrooms) and the location is so perfect that we were very happy to stay there.  Especially, for the birders of my family, because we had hummingbirds living right in the red flowering trees in the front yard.

We actually had so much going on and many other things planned during our trip that we didn't get as many "beach days" as we would have liked.  Next time, we will just have to go and hang out at the beach all week :)

We did, however, hit the beach two times.  We literallly could just grab some beach chairs from the garage and walk down the street.  The particular pathway we used that led to the beach was lined with Gardenia plants.  The scent was amazing.  There is just something about being surrounded by the beautiful flowers, lovely smells and the ocean right before your eyes....

The water was cold but that didn't hold the girls back.  They were all in, dodging waves, splashing and getting tons of sand in their hair!

One day, after we got back from Disneyland we decided to soak our sore feet in the Ocean, so went to the beach in the early evening.  My sister, Katey and my cousin Christina were with us as we all sat and watched the girls play in the water.  We had a quite a show.  First, we must have seen about a dozen huge, brown pelicans flying around and landing in the water right in front of us.  Then, probably about 50 feet from the girls a pod of dolphins swam by, followed by a sea lion.  What a great sight.  We felt pretty lucky to have seen all that sea life while just sitting on the beach.

The irony of course, is that two days before our family had taken a boat tour and PAID to see those very same animals.  Yep, we're tourists!  Although honestly, Dave and I didn't sweat it much because the boat ride itself was fun.  We actually went on one of those whale watching tours.  Of course, we knew that the chances of seeing a whale were slim as this really wasn't the right time of year for that.  We went on the last tour of the day which was kind of fun because we were out on the water during sunset--gorgeous!

Also because it was early evening during the tour, the waters were a little choppy which made for a more exciting boat ride.  We did have to hold on tight and there were a bunch of times that our boat was tossing up and down and we got a sprayed as we crashed into waves.  In this regard we were prepared.  Right before we boarded, everyone in our family took a small dose of Dramamine, just in case.  Good thing, we felt sorry for the Japanese tourist who got so sick...no dignity when you have to stick you head in a garbage can and throw up in front of 50 people on a tossing boat.

Little suprise, we didn't see any whales but we did see dolphins and sea lions.  I also am very proud of my photography skills.  Do you know how hard, almost impossible, it is to use your iPhone to catch a picture of a dolphin as it breaches out of the water?

pod of dolphins

sea lions, taking a break on buoy

Isn't this a great picture of Dave and I?  With the exception of my inner witch or demon being exposed on the shadow I am casting on his chest!  I seriously can't figure it out.  I'm thinking it would be a great idea for short horror story---loving couple board a boat for a lovely sea excursion but they are not alone.....

One last Newport Beach picture--cute girls eating at Ruby's Diner.  They also happened to have a very dedicated balloon artist on hand.





The Reception - Time to PAR-TAY!

After the cocktail hour ended it was time for the dinner and reception to start.  The Pelican Hill Resort, has an upper level ballroom that has an indoor and outdoor area.  We were there earlier in the day as the set-up was taking place and I knew it was going to be amazing. 

Debby had a wedding planner, but she also had a designer who designed "the Look" for the reception and dinner area.  Debby's colors were gold with lots of bright colors such as fuschia, orange, yellow, purples, pinks, etc.  They pretty much draped fabric along every wall of the ballroom as well as made custom covers to change the look of the huge hanging chandeliers.  It really was gorgeous.  Take a look:

tables with beautiful fresh flower centerpieces

the dance floor

Sisters of the Bride--
Becky, Jenny and Katey

The reception started with all the guests, grabbing their split bottle of Champagne with attached table assignment.  We got sparkling apple juice :).  I wish I could have taken one of these flower elephants home with me.

Once the guests were seated the families and wedding party were introduced.  Fortunately for me, I only had to walk in with my dad and sister.  Debby and Sam had the bridesmaids and groomsmen paired off and as they were introduced the DJ hit the music and they had to improv a dance as they came into the room.  This type of entrance pretty much let you know this was going to be a party--no stuffy reception formalities.  Debby and Sam were the last to enter and they came bursting onto the dance floor and everyone joined them with light sticks in hand.  The music was blaring and everyone was dancing.

Both of the girls were having so much fun, but seriously Paige was all over it.  That girl was on the dance floor all night just letting loose.  She danced her heart out.  It was so cute.  I didn't even know she could do the running man!  She had lots of people dancing with her, she was just so into it.  I better watch out, that girl is going to want to go out clubbing before too long!!  She didn't even want to leave the dance floor for the chocolate fountain, for those of you who know Paige-- that is really saying something.

After the intros and some dancing, the dinner and program started.  A number of different program items like toasts/speeches, dances, etc. were interspersed with dinner.  I didn't know this, but it is to give time for the wait staff to clear one course and serve the next dinner course.

So let's talk about food.  It was delicious.  My only regret is that I couldn't eat or even taste it all.  There was just too much, even for me.  Remember we had just come from a cocktail hour with lots of Indian appetizers.  Then we sat down to a 7 course meal.  For our entrees, Ashley and I chose filet mignon and Dave and Paige had chicken.

An Indian friend once told me that Indian weddings are all about the sweets and she was right.  Dessert was served with dinner, it was a warm apple tart with vanilla gelato.  However, this was a wedding so we also had to have cake.  Later on we were served one of two cakes - carrot or strawberries and cream.  To be honest by this time I was really full - so I only had a small bite of each cake, just enough to taste.

Here is Debby's "hanging" wedding cake.  It's fake, because
a real one would be too heavy to hang, but you get the idea.

As for food, it didn't stop there.  Later in the evening if anyone could possibly still be hungry there was a chocolate fountain and Indian candy/sweets buffet.  Probably one of my biggest regrets is not eating anything from either of these.  I just couldn't eat anymore at all, but I sure would have liked to.

Amongst all the eating, the Maid of Honor and Best Man gave toasts.  The big surprise of the night was when the Best Man called my dad up to give a speech.  I think the Best Man had had a little too much to drink and was going off script a little.  Public speaking is not my dad's thing.  If he could have run away he just might have done it.  However, we pepped him up, told him to just be himself because that's what everyone loves about him.  So, he sucked it up and did it.  Poor guy, he was so nervous, but he did great.

 

After dinner and the program ended, there was lots of entertainment which included dancing, a hookah lounge, martini bar, and a photo booth.  Our family stuck to the dance floor and the photo booth.  We took pictures in the photo booth, but I think they got lost somewhere in our travels.  I should also mention that if you happened to burn all your dinner off on the dance floor, you could refill at the In-and-Out Burger truck that pulled up at about midnight.  Free burgers!  Again, not one of us could eat, not even Ashley who has a serious love affair with cheeseburgers.  In fact, it was about this time that we decided to call it a night, but a good night it was.