Mormon Battalion

Since today is Pioneer Day I thought I'd post the pictures from our recent trip to the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center in Old Town San Diego. I hadn't been there for over a year and they have totally redone the whole place. It is very cool. We had a lot of fun there.


After our tour, which was really fun, by the way, we could look up ancestors that were in the Mormon Battalion. My mom knew of one of her relatives that was and we found his name and learned a little more about him. Very cool.


A family picture.


Is she ever not doing laundry?


We got to pan for gold. We happened to run into someone who actually pans for gold as a hobby and taught us how to do it correctly. None of us could really get the hang of it, but it was sure fun trying.


Sam's big find, maybe she can buy lunch!


More fun things to do there!



After a fun time at the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center we wanted some Mexican Food from Old Town. Unfortunately everywhere was packed, so instead we headed back to Mission Valley and went to Tio Leo's. It was mine and Shaun's favorite Mexican restaurant when we lived down there. It was very good, worth every penny that mom paid for it!

Fourth of July

We had a fun Fourth of July this year. After church we headed over to Old Poway Park to listen to some band concerts, walk through an antique quilt show and other fun things.



Logan helped Connor with some of the free crafts they had for the kids.


A train ride at the park that included a robbery and a gun fight. Talk about excitement!


Connor would have been happy going up and down the embankment at Old Poway Park looking for tadpoles.




Fireworks! We bundled up and watched the fireworks form the back of Shaun's truck!

Point Loma

My mom came back to California with us to spend a little time with us, and so Logan came down to visit too. Mom spent a lot of time painting and cleaning my house (I love when she comes to visit me!)so I thought we should get out and do something fun one day. I wanted to take them down to Point Loma, because it is just so beautiful down there. My big kids were not up to the adventure so just Logan my mom, Mads and I headed down. It was a lot of fun, the kids missed out on a good time!



A picture of my mom taking a picture of her wet ankles and feet. If you know my mom very well you know why this moment was documented. My mom doesn't swim, has never swam and is deathly afraid of water, so for her to go ankle deep into the ocean is kind of a big deal! I think she was taking a picture of her wet feet to take home to prove to everyone that she did, because she knew no one would believe her!

Connor's 7th birthday

We celebrated Connor's birthday this year with a little family party. Sam was in charge of wrapping the gifts and I think she did a pretty good job of disguising what his one was!!


Connor figured it out pretty quick!


Blowing out the candles on his cupcakes with a little help from his sister.

Greek Goddess

Sam got invited to Percy Jackson themed birthday and was supposed to dress as a Greek god or goddess. We didn't pick a specific goddess just draped her in a white sheet and added gold accents. I think she looked just divine and she had a great time at the party!

Rollup pancakes

My kids really missed their dad while we were in Utah, but the thing I think they missed the most about him were his rollup pancakes. Shaun makes them EVERY Saturday and Sunday morning. My kids are not great breakfast eaters, but everyone loves his pancakes. Mads likes making them almost as much as she likes eating them. I think she can almost make them without Shaun's help now! Rollup pancakes are a Young family thing. Shaun ate them growing up all the time. They're basically a crepe and they're so yummy. Here's Shaun's recipe:

Mix together:

3 eggs
1 C. flour
1 C. milk.

Pour about 1/4 cup onto a hot, buttered, griddle and then lift and tilt the griddle to spread the batter thin. Flip when you notice that it's starting to cook through. Fill with jam, fresh fruit or sprinkle with sugar and then roll it up! Delicious!

A visit from cousins

The day we got home from Utah we got to have some fun visitors. Aubrey and kiddos were in town visiting her sister and before they left they came by to see us. The kids have so much fun with their cousins. I honestly can't ever get pictures of Connor and Trey because they are just going the whole time!


Baby Teag and his cute mommy. I love this little guy and just wanted to hold him and squish him, but he wasn't so sure about me, he just wanted his mommy! I guess they need to come visit more often so that I'm not stranger danger to him!


Mads had so much fun with her cousins that she didn't want them to leave. She told bay Teagan that he could sleep over in Sammy's bed!

New patio furniture

Recently my parents bought new patio furniture that was easier for my grandma to get in and out of. I'm not sure who had more fun with it, my mom sitting in it...(seriously hard to snap a picture of this woman sitting. Before I could even get a picture she was up and going again. I think she had decided to repaint the porch to match the furniture!)



...Connor playing in the box it came in...


...or Josh putting it together!

Dinosaur Park

One of our fun adventures in Utah was going up to the dinosaur park in Ogden with our Young family. We'd never been there before, but heard it was really fun. It was a long drive, but a lot of fun once we got there!




Before we got up to the park Maidson kept saying she wanted to find a pink and a purple dinosaur. I told her we probably wouldn't see any because dinosaurs were usually brown or grey or green. Who knew they would actually have a pink and a purple dinosaur! Mads was very excited!





Being archaeologists and digging up bones!

Lagoon/Lagoon-a-Beach

One day while we were in Utah my dad decided to treat us to a day at Lagoon.I hadn't been there in years. The last time I went was when Shaun and I were dating and it was kind of trashy then. I was very pleasantly surprised at how nice the place was! It was a blast!


Midride, I'm not quite sure the little ones are as excited about this ride as they were before it started!


After just doing one ride we headed over to Lagoon-a-Beach. I haven't been to lagoon since this opened and it was so much fun! They had quite a few big slides and a really fun little kids area. I was definitely glad we hit it early in the day because later in the afternoon it was packed.




The skyride.


Riding the train.


Kiddie land, Connor and Mads had a blast there!




Everyone, except mom and Connor went on. Mads was scared before we got on the ride but ended up loving it! And don't let the signs fool you, you WILL get soaked, it's unavoidable!


The one thing I didn't like about Lagoon is that there were too many carnival games and that is all Connor wanted to do! He begged and pleaded all day until finally mom caved and played one with him while the rest of us were on a ride. But, in typical Connor style, he wasn't satisfied and just wanted to keep playing to get an even bigger prize.


Mom in the bumper cars, probably driving backwards!


Mads favorite ride, the kiddie bumper cars. She and Connor went on it at least 4 times in a row!

Everyone had such a great time at Lagoon that day! Thanks dad!

Dad nursing his sunburned feet, and the kids relaxing after a fun filled day at Lagoon!