20 Reasons We love Legoland

 

 As you can tell, the Ashcrafts LOVE Legoland.  I thought I would share more pictures with why we like Legoland.

1.  Spencer LOVES Star Wars!!!

2.  Devan LOVES Star Wars and especially Star Wars Legos.

3.  Where else can you find a giant pumpkin made out of Legos?

4.  Family bonding time.

5.  My kids love posing with all the Lego creations there.

6.  So many places to ham it up for pictures!

7.  The best play areas for kids 1-12!

8.  They have the right idea when it comes to cookbooks.  LOL.

9.  You can find Prince Charming there. 

10.  They have Emma's favorite Safari ride there.

11.  What can you do with Legos?

12.  Mini USA is amazing!

13.  We loved all the Halloween decorations there.

14.  Kids can drive without a license. :-)

15.  My kids could HAM it up at Legoland.

16.  It's a great way to see the great cities of the USA in one place.

17.  Even their restroom signs are creative!

18.  You can get people wet there.

19.  You can get wet there!

20.  Where else can you drive a "fire truck" and put out a fire without the heat?

Fall Break was a lot of fun!

Fall Break: Mormon Battalion Visitor Center

 We headed to see the newly remodeled Mormon Battalion Visitor Center in Old Town San Diego.  This is a MUST see if you ever head to San Diego.  Lizzie thought this place was better than Legoland.  We liked it so much that we stopped here again before leaving San Diego to head home.

 Glad we weren't traveling in one of these wagons!

 Our kids loved panning for gold.

 They had Fools Gold mixed in with the rocks for kids to find and take home.

 The interactive film throughout the visitor center brought the whole experience alive for the kids.

 Lizzie as a pioneer

 The kids loved the interactive map showing how far they had marched.

 Emma loved the horses!

 We met up with the Ashtons, a family from Salem, Utah, that we met at our hotel.  Our kids had a great time swimming and playing together at the hotel and on our 2nd visit to the Mormon Battalion.

 Another picture of the Ashtons.  Their son, Jacob (in the plaid sweatshirt), goes to the same high school as our nephews and nieces in Utah.  Small world.

Lizzie got picked both times to dress up!  No wonder she loved this place.

Note:  If you go to see it, sit on the crates when you go into the big room! They are the best seats in the house. 

Fall Break: Trip to San Diego Part 2

One of my favorite parts of heading to California is seeing the beach and the ocean.  I love seeing the excitement in my kids faces as they play in the sand and water.  We spent several hours just playing at the beach on Wednesday.  It was cold for us, but we still had a great time!

Emma (almost 4)

Such a princess!

Liz and Devan race the freezing waves.

Liz (10)

I LOVE this picture of my boys.  Especially the happiness in their faces.

Devan (12)

They couldn't resist building something.

Mom, the photographer

I love seeing my kids working together.  Priceless.

Fall Break: Trip to San Diego Part 1

Our kids were SO excited to head back to Legoland for Spring Break in October.  While most families love Disneyland, Legoland is our family favorite!  When given the choice, our kids continue to beg to return to Legoland.

Emma takes her first drive all by herself.  She'll be 16 way too soon for my liking!

We loved seeing all the different figures built from Legos throughout the park.

Devan attempts to save Spencer from the shark!

Boys put on a show on the pirate ship!

The whole park was decorated for Halloween.

Can you tell how much my boys LOVE Legos?

The kids loved this little free fall ride.  I think Ivan liked it as well.

Spencer hugs the Lego Captain.

The kids had a great time building and racing Lego cars.

Spencer shows his car masterpiece.

On Tuesday, we went to Sea Life Aquarium which is attached to Legoland.

  Emma loved looking in the bubbles at the fish.

The boys found another project to build.

We had a great time watching the shows and seeing all the fish and water life.

Estes 2nd Grade Mini Muster

So, I need to really play catch up on our family blog! October 6th, I was able to help volunteer at the 2nd Grade Mini Muster.  The fire department put on this great fire safety event each year for the 2nd graders in our district. 

Fire Fighter, Hyrum Duron, explains one of the activities to the kids.  Hyrum just happens to be the dad of one of my daughter's good friends.

Spencer escapes the Fire Safety Trailer.  

They put these great blindfold glasses on the kids and they had to follow the hose to the door.

Spencer and his best bud, Raden, had a great time.

My little fire fighter

I am so glad I was able to go to this activity with Spencer.  We had such a great time cheering on all the kids.

Important Election is approaching

 

This November's election is crucial and it is quite possible that conservative women will cast the deciding votes in many races.

That's  why I just joined with women across the nation who are taking a stand  by saying, "I'm a conservative and I will vote."  Concerned Women for  America started this effort to inform and equip women who want to stand  for faith and freedom when they go to the polls.

I encourage you to join me by going here to sign the petition.

We have some wonderful Conservative choices on the ballot this year in Arizona.  

I am voting for Jesse Kelly in the Congressional District 8 election on November 2nd.  When it comes to taking a stand on important issues that matter to me, I believe that he is the man for the job.

  I encourage you to look at where the different candidates stand on the border, the economy, health care, smaller government, national defense, and the constitution.  I believe that you will see what I saw.  Jesse Kelly needs to go clean Washington!

In June, I had the opportunity to listen to Jesse Kelly answer questions from people in my community.  I have been searching for a candidate who will defend the constitution, put a stop to all the out of control spending, and who believes in limited government and states rights.  I was so impressed at how well he knew the constitution.  He will definitely have my vote this coming primary. I think that if the entire country voted people like Jesse into Congress, hope could be restored to this great nation.


If you'd like more information, please visit:

www.voteJesseKelly.com

 
I am also voting for Jan Brewer.  She is doing an amazing job as governor and has earned her right to govern this great state!


 

Graham Glauser, one of our good friends, is also running for the Marana School Board.  He would be such a great asset on the board.

You may agree or disagree with me on candidates, and that is okay.  The important thing is that you do your homework on each candidate and issue and GO vote!  Voting earns you the right to complain.  :-)

 

I'm still alive- barely.

I have a hard time saying NO.  I think I have the YESitis disease. :-)  Last week was one of my most stressful yet.  I don't think I have felt that stressed since my college days.  I think for sanity sake I need to learn to say NO.  After all, sleep is a necessity and not a novelty.

This was my last week summarized:
1. Today: Lunches packed, kids to school, 2 stories filmed for KVOA that will air on October 1st and 29th.  Visit taught a dear friend (Best Part of my day).  Finished editing 101 Things to Do With Eggs.  Typed up the Rough draft of Minutes and agenda for the police commission (I serve as secretary). Kid's homework done.  Papa Murphy's took care of dinner tonight.  Then, Family Home Evening once Ivan got home.

2. Yesterday:  At church at 8:40 a.m. to set up my classroom, taught my Sunday School lesson.  I LOVE the people in my class! Got really sick (allergies exploded), slept for 5 hours, straightened the downstairs in preparation for cameraman coming on Monday, read my next lesson.

3. Saturday: Ivan had to work overtime, so the kids and I tackled cleaning the house and doing the chores by ourselves.  I worked on editing 101 Things To Do With Eggs.  Cleaned out my inbox. I've gone from 1423 unread messages to 84 unread messages.  Played catch up.  Attended the dinner and Women's Broadcast at the stake center.  Then, ran my coupon errands.


4.  Friday: Started day at 5:45 with a 6 a.m. walk.  Lunches packed, kids taken to school.  Posted deals on mysavvysavings.com, book inventory attempted, and shipped 2 book orders received. Kids picked up from school.  Friends of kids come over to play.  Put a years worth of girl scout patches on Liz's sash.  Took Liz to her Girl Scout Sleep over activity.  Went to dinner with Ivan and to buy a new door knob to replace the one that broke earlier this week.  Watched Ivan replace door knob before heading over after 10 p.m. to pick up Liz from party.


5.  Thursday:  Started day at 5:45 a.m. with walk.  Lunches packed, kids taken to school. Ordered Elizabeth 60 fabric covered headbands for her side headband business that she's starting.  Spent 4 hours working on a project for Groupon.  Got the editing done for the first 1/2 of 101 Things To Do With Eggs. Posted deals on mysavvysavings.com.  Homework, homework, homework.


6. Wednesday: Went to bed at 2 a.m. after cutting up all the veggies to freeze that I bought last week and making Strawberry Raspberry Jam. Still got up at 5:45 a.m. to walk, then swept, vacuumed the carpets and steamed the downstairs tile, before taking the kids to school.  Watched a good friend's baby, so she could go to the temple.  Took Liz to Activity Days.  Piano Lesson for Liz.  Attended Boy Scout Court of Honor where Devan received his 2nd and 1st class and 11 merit badges.


7. Tuesday:  Got up at 5:45 a.m. to walk.  Took kids to school and Emma to Margie's.  Got my hair cut and eyebrows waxed.  Ran all my coupon errand today.  Bought Lizzie the material she needed to make a large variety of headbands. Picked up kids from school.  Homework. The list goes on.


To tell you the truth, I don't know if I could have done one more thing last week.  I think I wore myself out.  So, where do I start cutting?  Any suggestions?