trashed && scattered: July 2010

last week some family came from idaho to visit. they moved from california about five years ago, and that was one of the hardest things i've ever had to deal with. i miss them dearly so i thoroughly enjoyed spending the week with them. My aunt, uncle, their three little girls, and my grandparents came down. in all the fun and excitement i forgot to take pictures of all the places we went, i did remember to take a few, but am still waiting on my sister to send me the ones she took.

i've mentioned my three little cousins, ciara, kylie, and sydney, in previous posts. it's amazing to see how much they've grown. the three girls had just had their national dance competition in las vegas and thought they were on their way back home to idaho, but were very excited to find out they'd be staying in california for a week. they didn't know anything about all the fun plans their parents had made for them.

ciara's birthday had just passed so we made plans to have a birthday lunch at the american girl store at the grove. That store is amazing! no little girl could possibly leave there without a smile on her face! we looked around for a little bit until it was time for lunch and headed into the restaurant. it is the cutest little place with black, white, and hot pink decorations and even a chair for your doll to sit with you at the table. it must have been a funny sight to see fifteen adults and only three kids. after lunch they brought out an adorable cake and sang happy birthday.

the next day we headed out to the beach, seeing as they don't have a real one in idaho. it was fun, but freezing so we just enjoyed playing in the sand and running away from the waves. the little girls loved looking for shells and seeing dolphins swimming out in the water.

the last few days of the trip were left for disneyland, the little girls didn't know about this either. ciara and kylie had been a long time ago, but it was syds first time. we stayed for three days and went to both parks. everyone had a blast and syd handled the roller coasters like a pro! she was bummed that the only one she wasn't tall enough for was california screamin'.

the next day we said a sleepy, and exhausted, goodbye at 4am. i'm still not caught up on sleep from that week, but it was so good to see my family. i'm grateful to have such an amazing and funny family. i don't know what i'd do without them.