A Cali Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year, we had our Martinsen reunion in California again. Oh, so beautiful. Mom and Dad rented a gorgeous house where we gorged ourselves with chocolate pie, heath cake and incredible Mexican food. I think I may have eaten a gallon of Mom's salsa. 6 pounds later, we were back in Utah. How does that happen in a week's time? It was all fabulous.


First on the agenda was Disneyland. Rob's sister April used to live here and so knew a great babysitter, so we left the 3 babies at the homestead and headed off for the happiest place on earth:) Olivia of course spotted the merry go round almost immediately.


Oh the fantastic 'It's a small world' ride. It was worth the hour long wait in line. We were thinking it wouldn't be as crowded going on Monday, the week of Thanksgiving - kids are still in school, right? Wrong, they got the week off, so it was pretty crowded. Still had a great time though. I love this picture with Grandma and Grandpa.



Teacups? No thanks. Rob's turn. Dad Martinsen was a trooper, he does not like the teacups and gets sick but went anyway. He earned extra grandpa points.


FYI - don't let a toddler get hold of a sugary churro and eat it over your head. Serious sugar dandruff. Thanks for the help Sarah.

Our little Livvy is a runner, has been since she discovered she could. So we purchased a child safety harness. She didn't like it, so we decided to just be super cautious, which backfired when she cut through a line and was found inside the Buzz Light Year ride. That is the scariest feeling, not knowing where your child is in a place like that. Oh, worst feeling. Needless to say, she was in the harness after that. Aunt Sarah is helping her pick out a souvenir.


So, what do you do? I ride a float dressed like a prince and dance with Cinderella and smile a lot.


Liv was plum tuckered out by the end of the day.


I took the girls home and Rob stayed to shut down Disneyland with Sarah. They got to actually ride some real rides. He was happy to spend some quality time with his little sis.


Day 2 was Brooklyn's 1st birthday. So of course we stripped her down and let her immerse herself in cake. She didn't really get into it, a bit too much dinner maybe? Cute little bug.


Time to open presents!


Riding on her new alphabet train.


Olivia kind of took over the tricycle. She discovered how to turn the pedals with her feet and go fast instead of just scoot along with her feet on the ground. So she became down right possessive. We had a couple of lessons on sharing and taking turns:)


Good times with Grandpa. Brooky is quick to grab anything within arms reach - guard your glasses!


There was a hot tub in the back yard that we took advantage of. The swimming pool wasn't heated, so with all the kids, the tub was quite full! My cute little family.


A day at the beach. The girls were so excited. I think Brooky was a bit overwhelmed with it all.


Rob, trying his hand at paddle boarding. He didn't really have the time he needed to learn how to do it, but had a great time trying. Way to go Rob!


Livvy had a great time in the sand building sand castles with her cousins.


Brooklyn was so funny. She was covered in sand and hungry. There, on the towel, she spotted a nutrigrain bar and proceeded to eat it, sand and all. Mmm...crunchy.


Thanksgiving Day brought with it our traditional turkey trot run. Rob Scoresby found an outdoor track at a high school close to our home. Liv was super excited to run. Here's a classic of her stretching before the big event!


Rob, getting Livvy revved up. The kids were so into it. They ran about 3 and 1/2 laps around the track. That's a long way to go for those little legs!


Go Olivia!!


We all took part in the pinata making contest (Rob took it very seriously, as you can see from the second picture, it was a beautiful turkey)! Eli was a trooper and spent so much time on his. He, Caleb, and Halle did a great job. Livvy, after much coaxing, sat at the table for .2 seconds and was off to greater adventures.


She did get excited about the google eyes and Elmers glue.


Eating the spoils. Livvy got several candies from the first pinata and was satisfied to just sit and eat those. When the others broke open theirs, we would say, "Livvy there's more, go get it!" Nope, she was a happy camper with her little pile, (when do I ever tell my kids to get more candy)? Brooklyn was ecstatic with the few she was able to find on the floor.
Brooky-"Mmmm...candy...drool...drool...mmm." Liv-"I'm drunk on sugar and I love it."


I woke up at the crack of dawn this morning and decided to just have a cheerio or two.


The Minute to Win It events were a hit. Rob and Annie spent a lot of time planning some really fun obstacles. I had to wear panty hose on my head with an orange in the foot and try to swing the orange and knock down 6 cans in a minute. Hideous. Mom, Dad, and Rob are looking quite intense!



I love the San Diego Zoo. This was in front of the polar bear area. We watched an enormous polar bear pull itself out of the water and walk around. It was amazing. The animals were very active. Here are my little pups.


Such a fun picture of the cousins. Funny how they happen to be in ascending height order. Can't remember what they're looking at, but it must have been pretty interesting.


Of course there has to be ice cream where Grandpa is, which Brooky was pretty excited about. Look at that greedy little face! "If I can just get my hands on it..."


There's just nothing in the world like childrens laughter. Love, love, love it.


Hold on Grandpa, they're pretty squirmy!


Some good ol' Daddy Brooky time. Another fantastic day at the San Diego Zoo!


What an incredible blessing it is to have such an amazing family! We love our Martinsen family and wish we could see them more often. Thanks Mom and Dad for another wonderful reunion!