Who knew squirrels liked to ride roller coasters?
http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2009/08/squirrel-crashes-pictures.html
I got us to the airport safely and on time.
After getting off the plane we were famished and found this great little place that promised to get you in and out since the kids were in a hurry to get to the beach.
The food was really good too! After eating we drove to Huntington Beach where the local surfers hang out. We followed a couple of them to see where the great surfing spots are located and the best place to catch a wave or two. 
Once we got to the beach the waves were calling...
and so were the authorities...
apparently California law prohibits camouflage sun bathing...
Alea was picked from the audience to fight the dark side, partially because it was her birthday, but mostly because of her light saber skills and previous experience fighting the dark side. If you remember in the prequel to the prequel, episode 1/2, she previously defeated Darth Vador and saved the Empire, but i digress...
Darth Maul ran away like a screaming little girl....In this episode of The Adventures of WHAW, we took a weekend trip to celebrate Alea's birthday at the happiest place on earth. Disneyland!
Car rental and hotel... an arm
Disneyland park tickets...a leg
The look on their faces.... priceless!
After stopping, Weston screamed "THAT WAS AWESOME!" Congratulations to Heidi! After nearly 2 years of school in the Physical Therapy Assistant program at Gateway College and tons and tons of this:
... and a few weeks of practicals at the Maricopa County Medical Center Burn Unit:
...Heidi finally graduated and got to wear this (in May):
...But wait! It's not over yet. After another month of studying for the State Board Exam.....
She passed! Or as it should be properly stated....She passed with flying colors! Even though she couldn't remember 5%?
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This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of tire tracks, so I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you, you would drive with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of tire tracks in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of tire tracks, my child, is when I drove you.”
In this episode of the Adventures of WHAW the kids headed north to Grandma’s house alone.
Well, you know the song….
Over the freeway and through the airport, to Grandma’s house they go.
The kids know the dad who will carry their bags…
Thru the security checkpoint we go, oh!
Over the freeway and through the airport, to Grandma’s house they go.
Weston knows the deal, no need to swallow a pill
To sleep on the plane, as his energy begins to drain, oh!
Over the freeway and through the airport, to Grandma’s house they go.
Alea knows the way to put down her tray
And order a cold drink from the FA, oh!
Over the freeway and through the airport, to Grandma’s airport they land.
They have to wait for the flight attendant Kate,
To escort them to the gate, where Grandma waits, oh!
And some kids can’t even go to the bathroom by themselves…
After leaving the festivities behind, we all headed back to Aunt Dalene’s house for the night. As we realized that the house was pretty full of weary travelers, we decided to check a few hotels for availability and found a nice quaint place with a decent price tag. We figured it would be nice to have a quiet place to lay our heads and a bathroom we wouldn’t have to wait in line for. Plus if you notice in the picture below, it had all you can eat cereal from the General Mills silos. 
After checking in, we continued our way to Dalene’s house to participate in the fireworks show. Since Arizona is too hot and dry in the summer time, fireworks are illegal but in Idaho, anything goes. The kids lined up along the porch and were soon in harmony, “oooh, aaaaah, oooh, aaaah, as they watched the fireworks display. After all the good ones were lit and sent skywards, the kids enjoyed shooting roman candles and twirling sparklers. After the backyard fireworks display, we headed back to our room ready to hit the hay. 
After a good nights sleep, we journeyed our way down to 14th street to watch the Idaho Falls parade. The kids properly stretched and warmed up in order to gather as much candy as they possible could. In previous years, the candy would rain down from nearly every float. Not this year. You know the economy is bad when the candy count is down. However the parade still provided great entertainment. 
After the parade, we had lunch back at Dalene’s and enjoyed a great feast. At 2:00 the annual softball game started. As I stood there lined up waiting to bat, I had flashbacks of my youth baseball games, where I hit home run after home run, often winning the game! I remembered all of the diving catches in the out field, and the 90 mph fastballs I hurled over the plate. Strike one, strike two, steeeeriiiiiike three, as the umpire yelled, you’re out! The smell of hot dogs permeating the air and the sound of the crowd cheering, Wynn, Wynn, Wynn…..watch out…crack! Apparently while waiting to bat I had dozed off in my fantasy baseball dream and was hit in the head with a foul ball. Ok not really but it sure makes a better story than just getting up to bat and hitting a fly ball, making it to first, and then getting thrown out at second on the next play.
After the softball game ended, we jumped in the car and drove over to Aunt Linda and Uncle John. They happen to live about 2 miles away from Aunt Dalene’s house. Upon arriving, we found ourselves mingling with 2 giant pans of chocolate brownies and rice crispy treats. The kids ran outside and played on the airplane teeter totter with cousins they’re not quite familiar with. This didn’t stop them from playing together and they had a great time.
Around 8:30 we all decided it was time to go down to the river and wait around for the fireworks to begin. The fireworks display was terrific. We sat on the grass next to the hotel with surround sound blasting patriotic music and fireworks exploding over our heads showering down bright colors of spark. Fireworks are one of the few things in life that can be enjoyed no matter the time of year. 
After the fireworks ended we walked back to the cars and proceeded to wait in traffic before making our way back to Dalenes’ house. After the fireworks, Jena and Lance decided to put their kids in the car and make the 3 hour trip back home. Weston and I decided to drive back with them in an effort to catch a plane back to Arizona early in the morning. Lance’s lead foot got us to the airport a little earlier than even I like to be there. It was 3:00 am. Now if you have ever wondered what the airport looks like at 3:00 am let me tell you. It’s nearly empty with only the zamboni like machine driving around washing the floors with its built in squeegee. At 3:00 am, not even the security entrance was open. Weston was dead asleep and so I proceeded to find a comfortable place to lie down. Whoever designed the airport chairs apparently never intended to sleep in them, as the permanent arm rest prevents any such horizontal activity from occurring.On this 4th of July, we decided to head to Idaho and celebrate the birth of our new neice as well as the Fourth of July!
So this episode of the Adventures of WHAW began with a stand by ticket, where we literally stood there and waved bye! The glamorous side of traveling the skies unfortunately comes with a lot of waiting, and waiting, and in some cases even more waiting. Heidi and the kids grabbed the last 3 seats on the plane, so I waved goodbye and hung around for the next flight.
The next flight came and left without any empty seats, so I waited around some more with the same results. So after nearly 9 hours in the airport (thanks to a delayed flight) I was able to grab the last seat on the last plane headed for SLC. You should have seen the look on the poor guy's face that was just after me on the stand by list. After all, he had waited nearly most of the day as well with no such luck. I thought he was going to empty my suitcase, jump in, and force me to lift him into the over head bin.
Since the flight was delayed and didn't leave until almost 9:15, we arrived in SLC fairly late. Our standard transportation when flying into SLC, is to have our limo driver, Wyatt, come pick us up. As always, he was right there when I stepped out of the terminal. Since it was late, I decided to forgo the extra hour drive it takes to get to Mom and Dad's house, so I crashed at Wyatt's house. Before heading there, we made a quick stop at the local Taco Bell. Anyone else remember when seven layer burritos were only 99 cents?
The next day, the traveling clan of clowns, otherwise known as my 2 kids accompanied by Jena's 3 kids, came to pick us up and start the caravan trip to Idaho. Jena had negotiated a pretty good deal with Grandma and Grandad, and placed the 5 kids and a first round draft pick to be named later in their van. This left our van kid free and an enjoyable ride as we drove to Idaho.
We arrived and headed over to the church to see Wade and Katie's creation. She is adorable! Who would have known Wade had enough genes in him to pass down and contribute to such a beautiful baby. Afterall, he is the youngest of 6 kids and I hear his oldest brother got nearly all of the good looking genes!
We enjoyed a great dinner with nearly 50 of our Idaho relatives and their families and commented on all of the memories of running around as a kid, while the adults sat by and chatted. Now we found ourselves on the chatty side while our kids ran around endlessly. The evening was really special as we got to participate in blessing Aubrey Marie and welcoming her into our lives. Alea was especially proud that she shares the same middle name and initials as her new cousin.
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Afterwards, we were escorted beneath the arena seats to the make up and wardrobe room. The spandex uniforms were really comfortable. 
Since Heidi and Alea specialize in arial acrobatics, they were asked to do a few flips in the air. Now don't think for a second, that these were just any ordinary flips. They were going to be shot out of a cannon and do a few flips in the air, clear across the arena.
The cheers from the crowd were amazing!
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After we convinced Alea to get out of the water we headed to Sea Port Village to get fudge. Traditions often start without any prior thought, and fortunately for Heidi’s sweet tooth, we stumbled upon a tradition of consuming Sea Port Village Fudge. I couldn’t even tell you the name of the shop, but I can get anyone there that asks for directions. After all, I am the part time San Diego tour guide. By this time, it was almost 5:00 pm which signaled it was time to head back to the airport to catch our 6:40 flight. We put 1.5 gallons of $3.09 a gallon of gas into the lunchbox thermos and returned the lunchbox back to Alamo, hopped into the shuttle and were dropped of at the terminal. After heading through security and before getting to the gate, we had to stop to use the bathrooms. Some of us really had to go! 
