Thursday, May 27, 2010

Roller Coaster Junkies: Nina & Ari

Nina: hamming it up, as she rides "The Buccanneer" (You know the big boat ride that swings back and forth, dropping your stomach out each time?) She has such cute facial expressions!

She and Ariana were riding this so fearlessly and I was getting sicker and sicker. I convinced them that this ride was scarier than roller coasters and spent the next 30 min. talking them into trying a real roller coaster.

We played in a big ball room with the boys and the girls ATTACKED Grandma.

They would load this "gun" up with about 30 foam balls and shoot them at Grandma all at once. It was so much fun. But still, I kept nagging the girls about trying a roller coaster.

We went on the big swing machine and the girls showed me how brave they were, not even holding on . . . and finally . . .

They were so confident and sure they could handle a roller coaster, I took them right to "Goliath." In 2000, it was the fastest (85 mph) and longest closed-circuit roller coaster in the world. They were both tall enough, so I though they'd be fine. They had no idea what to expect as we couldn't see the actual coaster anytime we were in line. It was perfect. Afterwards, they terrified and thrilled that they did it and kept their eyes open!

They spent the rest of the day on these two Coasters. We rode "Gold Rush" 8 times. It's a very tame coaster and after "Goliath," the girls thought it was for babies. I convinced them to try raising their arms and after the 4th time they could raise them the whole time. THEN they thought the ride was fun. The last ride of the day was "Revolution." In 1976, it was the world's first roller coaster with an upside down loop. I didn't tell the girls about the loop de loop before hand and although they were freaked out, they road it 3 times until the park closed.

These are the girls on "Gold Rush," raising their arms. They had such fun together. Nina is almost 8 and Ariana is 6 and they're the same height. Ari asked me if she and Nina will be able to ride ALL the coasters the next time we go to a park together! She's a brave little thing! I can't wait, they're my favorite Roller Coaster Partners! I love Nina's manicured nails and ratty, rain drenched hair. Too cute!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Bumper Cars

Damian and I spent the afternoon with the little guys and it was the best part of our day. I think we're too old for the big roller coasters now. Damian says they just don't do anything for him anymore. Whatever that means?! I thought they were plenty exciting, but too painful on my head and neck.

Bumper Cars with Grandpa is an adventure for all. He's the most ruthless driver and crashes into anyone he can with GUSTO!

Isn't my nephew Matthew so adorable? I love that cute little guy!

This is my sweet neice, Ariana Chanel. She's named for my sister Briana and me (my middle name is Chanel). She is so much fun and quite a good driver!

This is my brother Paul (Daddy of Matt & Ari) crashing into me!

HEAD ON COLLISION: We hit Magic Mountain HEAD ON and enjoyed every minute!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Magic Mountain

We went to my baby brother's wedding in St. George last weekend and then hit Magic Mountain in Valencia, CA on the way home. There were 8 Idiarts and 8 Goolds and we had a BLAST!

Right away, the Die Hards ran to the scariest ride I've ever been on in my life . . . TATSU. I'll never be the same.

Grandma took Ben, Matthew, Nina and Ari to some smaller rides and they met some super heros on the way!

Later in the day, we swapped groups and Grandma got a chance to do some big rides with Grandpa, Diana and Rachel.

Katrina realized she LOVED roller coasters and paired up with Beca, Mike and Emma for a couple BIG ones.

The rain started coming down the last hour of the day, so we hit a few water rides, since we were wet already! It was such a fun day! More pictures of the little kids tomorrow!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Honeymoon Happenings

My brother Daniel was married last weekend in St. George. I don't have photos of the wedding yet, but I did take some of the decorated honeymoon suite! This is the Sparkling Cider "Area."

These are Briana and my accomplices: Rachel, Ariana & Katrina. They created a chocolate heart on the bed with Dan and Madi's initials.

We decorated the heart-shaped bathtub "Area," too!

Then, we dashed to the reception, where the girls collected the guests gifts in their matching dresses and corsages. They were so helpful and cute. I hired a photographer to take lots of pics of them early in the morning, before the sealing, so when I get those pics, I'll upload them, too!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Laurel Art Class

About a week before I was released as YW Pres. we had a special painting class for the Laurels from 3 wards. My good friend, Jen Vranes of www.jensart.com taught the class and brought all the supplies.

This is my sweet foreign exchange student, Diana. Her painting turned out beautifully!

I enjoyed seeing so many girls paint the same subject material, but each do it so differently. . . in this shot you can see all the cloud styles! Very cool.

I love this BIG poppy in Jessica's painting.

This painting by Jenna was one of my favorites . . . I love her clouds! Oh, I miss my Laurels!