Southern California :)

So Mark, Sheryl, Reed and myself made the trip out to Southern California to visit their family Rob and Katie (Rob is Reed's brother and Katie is Rob's wife).  It was definitely a lot of fun but it was also a lot of hard work.  One reason why it was so challenging is because there wasn't a nurse there with us.  Having a nurse around makes things a little easier.  I woke up at 4:00 a.m. on Thursday and we had to be at the airport at 5:30 so we could board the plane at 7:30.  Helping Reed onto the plane...what a task!  He has to be lifted from his wheelchair into an aisle chair.  He is then taken in the aisle chair to his seat on the airplane.  Once to his seat, we have to lift him onto the chair.  The problem was we didn't have very good help.  It was me, Mark, and two little men that I think were smaller than me.  The lift from his wheelchair to the aisle chair hurt my lower back, which ended up making the ride to California not very fun.  Once on the airplane, we sat there for two hours before take off.  This is because first off, the A.C on the airplane was not working, so they stopped letting people on until they fixed the problem.  It was toasty warm on board and there was no way we were about to get Reed off the airplane just after getting him into place!  Then for some reason (I can't remember the reason) the airport stopped all flights for a little while.  Just kidding, I remember!  It was because of bad weather.  Once they started letting planes take off again, the captain informed us that we were 30th in line for take-off.  Well somehow word got around via flight attendants that there was a quadriplegic on board and because of that we were able to jump to the front of the line!  Happy day.  So we finally made it to California after great discomfort due to my bad lifting.  Getting off the plane was lots better because Kent and Kayla (Reed's other brother and sister-in-law) were there to assist.  We made it to the hotel.  We stayed at the Marriott's Newport Coast Villas.  It was very nice.  Luckily I was able to rest.  Then it was time for the vacation to begin!  The next day we went to the Padre's game in San Diego.

I was able to snap a picture of the San Diego temple on the way to the game.  It sits right on the side of the freeway and it looks very big!

  

Outside view of Padre's Stadium

Inside view of Padre's stadium :)

The gang :) From left to right, Kayla, Rob, Kent, Reed, Mark, and Sheryl.

I thought this mascot was hilarious so I had to take a picture of it!

This is an attempt of me taking a picture of myself.  As you can tell from my expression, I felt silly doing it. :)

This was a cool wall at the stadium.  It had water running down it and at night the S and D showed up.

 It was a very fun night at the baseball park.  We had amazing seats, sitting twenty rows up from first base.  Sadly the Padres lost to the Nationals 2 to 1 but it was still a good time. :)  The next day we went to the Angels game.  We had lots of time beforehand, so we decided to go to Downtown Disney.  To get there, we had to pass Disneyland.  From the road, I could see Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, and California Screamin.  It was fun walking around though.  We also ate lunch there at a place called The Uva Bar.  I ordered fish' n chips and they were so good!  After Downtown Disney, it was on to the baseball game.  Once again, very fun :) Luckily they won 7 to 5!  My only regret was that there was a food stand called Judy's and they had a chocolate milkshake there that I really wanted to get.  Well I never went to get it, and I really regret that.  Oh well.

This was the closest I got to Disneyland.  Boy was it so hard since I love that place!

This is one of Reed's hobbies... Pin collecting :)

 So the next day was Sunday.  I went to church with Kent and Kayla to Rob and Katie's ward.  It was at 9 a.m. but i'm so glad I went.  I decided to stay for all three hours.  I went to Sunday school with Katie and then since she is the secretary in Young Womens, I went with her to beehives.  It was very fun!  After church I went with Katie to her house to hang out.  It was so nice and so fun talking with Katie.  I watched a movie at her house called "Flipped."  Such a cute movie!  I recommend it.  The next day was also a relaxing day.  We went to the Tar Pits, which was actually really interesting.

Sadly we only had ten minutes in the museum because it was going to close, but luckily we were able to take a quick picture.

Me and the mammoth :)

A tar pit.

Kayla and I wanted to touch the tar with our hands very badly, but we decided to stick sticks in the tar instead :)

On the way home I took a picture of a disneyland firework from the freeway.

 The next day was a shopping day.  Katie treated Mark, Sheryl, Reed, and myself to lunch at Tommy Bahamas in Lagoona Beach.  I ordered the Mahi mahi and it was delicious!  We went to a shell stand so Reed could buy some shells.

While Reed was looking at shells, this is what I was doing.

 The next day we went to the Dodger game :)

Its hard to tell but behind me there was a row of dummies wearing Dodger uniforms in the fan store.  I tried to get them all in but this picture just doesn't show it.

Dodger Dog!  Ironically enough, it taste like a hot dog.

Dodger blue spring water.  I actually just got it because I thought it was a really cool bottle.

Its hard to tell from this pic, but the Dodgers wore their throwback jerseys.

All the food and drink was half price :)

A fun day at the ballpark even though they lost.

 Our last full day in California, we went to the aquarium which was very fun!

Another attempt of taking a picture of myself... not great

We got to touch the top of jellyfish!  So cool.

This was my favorite part of the aquarium.  The week-old seahorses.  They were smaller than a penny.  So cute!

I forgot to mention one of the coolest parts of going to the Angels game.  After the game they had a free concert.  We didn't stay for it but while Reed was in the gift shop, I was able to watch a little bit.  I didn't know the name Taio Cruz until I heard him start singing "Break Your Heart."  I really wanted to hear "dynamite" but we left too soon.
Overall it was a very very fun trip but also very exhausting!  Its good to be back in Boston :)