September 18 2014

Day four of our trip was spent at Legoland.  The thing Sam and Kate were looking forward to the most.  And it looked really cool.  But the rides were nothing compared to Disneyland.  Still we had fun, and the kids favorite part was playing in the Lego village and building with blocks all day.  My favorite moment of the day was when at the very end Kate asked if she could go on a roller coaster- which she hadn't wanted to do the whole time. So we went just her and I, and she was so happy and tried to put her arms in the air and we screamed and she felt older and bigger and we had a special ride together.  That or when we bought candy sticks for all the kids before getting in the car to head back at the end of the day and Beth wanted to stay awake to eat the candy and had it in her hand and was fighting to hard to stay awake and would shake awake to lick it but then crashed within about a minute.  I was laughing out loud hardly in control at her trying to stay awake in the car just to eat her candy.  I don't know if we will return to Legoland, it was difficult to figure out their rules for who could ride what which ended in frustration from the kids and I, but a one time to do for sure.  And there was literally nobody there.  We didn't wait in a single line and even didn't get off a ride that Marianne like and asked to ride again, so we didn't even get off!  Sam did think the Lego's were pretty cool, and is suddenly really into Star Wars and they had a huge Star Wars display.  We even saw the characters from the Lego movie- which Sam was wearing on his shirt.  We came home from Legoland and had dinner and then went for a swim in the hotel pool.

The next two days we spent at our cousins in Fresno.  I don't have many pictures because they were on my phone and then I accidentally deleted them.  But we spent time at both Mark and Elisabeth's home and also Dave and Emily.  DeeAnn and Drew and their kids came out to see us both days.  Both families have new homes with pools since the last time we visited.  The kids were in heaven.  Too many cousins to count and swimming to their hearts content.   Kate finally can swim after this years swim lessons so she had extra fun. On the last night Elisabeth even got a babysitter for our kids, and theirs and we all went out to dinner together just the four couples.  I'm so grateful for Jake's siblings and their families.  One of my Sister In laws posted how "Family" we all feel, and it is true.  I feel so blessed to have these awesome families in my life who I consider my best friends.  Another great moment of the trip was right as we were packing Kate came up to me in a quiet moment and showed me a note from her cousin saying how great she thought Kate was.  It made Kate so happy.
We decided last minute to drive through the night home.  Jake was a trooper.  He drove until 5:30 am when I took over.    Even more of a trooper.  This past week as we took the family to Disneyland he was suppose to be with a company he is won top marketer for the quarter with-  on a luxury all expense paid vacation to Croatia.  Instead of sleeping in, free meals, helicopter tours and private yachts like they do, he opted not to go and leave us for 9 days, and we opted not to fly me out which was $2100, and spent the time away just with our family instead..  He changed diapers, dealt with spilled drinks and kids in his bed, and crying kids and his wife's agenda all on his dime instead which I don't think many men would do.  It was not glamorous, but it was special.  I only caught him twice glancing at co-workers posts from the trip while we were away :)