California

The night before our vacation started, we headed to SLC for a baseball game for Tyson's team, the Sidewinders.  They were playing "The Horns".  They are a good team, but we really feel like our team should be able to beat them.  For some reason, our boys have a mental block with this team.  I made treat sacks for our team with bubble gum and fruit roll ups that said, "Get on a ROLL and BLOW them away".  Unfortunately, that didn't help, and the Sidewinders lost.  

We stayed the night at Jayson and Kassi's house in preparation for our flight the next day.  Jayson called as the game was getting close to ending. Kaden answered the phone and told him to not come from work, but to go home and make us some dinner.  Bossy child, but it worked and Jayson made us all spaghetti, which is Kaden's favorite.  

We got up the next morning after Jayson and Kassi had already left for work.  We got ready and headed towards the airport.  We picked up Kassi from work and she dropped us off and then parked our car at her work to save us some money.  Kassi acts as our chauffeur quite often.  We arrived in California in time to buy some drinks from the store and check into our hotel before the first two basketball games.  Tyson played on a team called "Pump and Run."  The first game was against Team Bibby that is sponsored by Mike Bibby who is an NBA player.  Greg got a picture of the boys with him.  Our team started out with a 15 point lead until the other team put a dad under each basket to yell at the boys and the officials.  After that, our team kind of crumpled and the calls all seemed to go the other way.  It was pretty intimidating and the boys lost by about 8.  

The whole tournament was quite the hackfest. Very few fouls were called and it was pretty physical.  After that game, the boys played another team of Asians that looked like the Jeremy Lins called Hoops.  They beat that team by about 8 but it was a tough win. The next day the Pump team played against a team called RCB. They weren't that good but our team really played as individuals and let them hang around.  They had a 6 foot 1 inch kid that shot threes and looked like Manute Bol. He singlehandedly kept his team in the game. They beat that team by about 6 and moved into the tournament, with a 2-1 record, where they played a team from California.

The final game was against Tri-City Ballers. They were not very tall but their guards were terrific. They could defend like no other.  For some reason Tyson only played about 10 minutes in this game but still scored about 8 points. It was a frustrating tournament because the team really didn't play together very well and it appeared they were afraid to share the ball. Hopefully they learned from it as they prepare for Nationals.

Day One

Getting ready to play Team Bibby.

Against Team Bibby, playing against a kid every bit as tall as Tyson.

Game 2

Playing against the team Greg called the Jeremy Lins.

Game 3 -Day 2

This Manute Bol lookalike was about 6 foot 1.

Day two there was only one game early in the morning. 

That made it a perfect time to go to Disneyland for the rest of the day and evening. 

 

We started out in Tomorrowland.  Greg ran over to get us fast passes to Space Mountain while the boys and I got in line for the Buzz Lightyear ride.It was lots of fun blasting all the targets.  Tyson barely beat me, but we both beat Greg and Kaden.  We were quite the marksmen!

After the Buzz ride we headed over to Star Tours.  

My favorite ride of all time is Space Mountain.  Kaden was nervous at first (as you can tell from this first picture). About 3/4 of the way through the ride, the lights came on and they stopped the ride.  It was kind of interesting to see what the ride looked like on the inside.  They finished the ride with no music and the lights on, so then they let us ride again without waiting. Woo-hoo!  Two space mountain rides with one fast pass!

We were kind of bummed that the Matterhorn was not working while we were there.  

We always like the fun guides during the Jungle Cruise ride.

The next picture is of a strange man the boys saw across the way while we were waiting for the parade to start.  Kaden made a list of the strangest people we saw so that he could make sure and share with everyone.  The list includes: men wearing capri pants, a man wearing black leggings with white polka dots, a man with his own purse, a man wearing blue sequin bunny ears, a man wearing  a dress, and this cool gentleman with the straggly beard.

Getting ready to go on the Haunted Mansion ride.

In the submarine for the Finding Nemo ride.

We had to make sure and have dinner in the Golden Horseshoe so that we could watch Billy Hill and the Hillbillies.  They always make us laugh.  They are so entertaining.

Day Three -Game Four

Below: Former NBA player Eddie House with Kaden

 After the game we took off for Laguna Beach. We had never been there before, but Kassi had gone there with a friend and told us about it.  The scenery there was amazing.

 There were these great little tide pools that you could hike out onto the rocks into the ocean to see.

Tyson stayed out in the water almost the entire time we were there.  He got hammered by quite a few large waves.  He kept telling us afterward that he had sand in every crevice possible.  

He loved trying to gross us out.

Greg went out for a while and got hammered by a few waves also.

Greg chasing Kaden to try and dunk him.

Funny face on the side of the cliff near where we were on the beach.

Day Four - California Adventure

We missed the opening of the new Cars rides by two days!  Oh well, we also missed all the crowds that it will entail!

Greg and I rode California Screamin', but couldn't talk the boys into riding it with us.

The Aladdin show is always fun to watch.

The army men from Toy Story.

Greg and Tyson rode the Tower of Terror twice.  

As you can see in this photo, Tyson was scared to death, but kept assuring us later that is 

was SOOOO FUN!

 The chair swings.....Greg and I took a pass on this one!  But both the boys like them.

 

Kaden by a giant watermelon in Bug's Life.

The new Toy Story ride was a hit!!  This time Greg scored the highest, followed by Kaden, then me and then Tyson.  We waited 45 minutes later in the day to ride it again, just to have them shut down the ride!  Bummer!  But the first time was sure fun!

The world of color show was amazing!!

Day Five- Disneyland again!

Kaden begged for a turkey leg our first day at Disneyland.  After the beach day, we cruised through Downtown Disney and saw this shirt for him.  We told him he could have a turkey leg our next day at Disneyland if he would wear the shirt for a picture!

I asked Minnie for this picture to send to Madison. She lost a tooth and sent us a picture, so we told her we would tell Minnie about it.  Minnie is saying, "Wow!  Another tooth?!"

Peter Pan ride- Kaden is not happy- he said it is a baby ride!

Pirates with an animated version of Johnny Depp

I love It's a Small World!

Getting ready to ride Splash Mountain

They are all very wet....I was somewhat wet....but I ducked behind them!

Proof of me ducking!

Day Six- 

We checked out of our hotel, and then drove out to Naples.  We had never been there before, but Kassi had told us that it was a city that reminded you of Italy with the canals for roads.  We wanted to check it out.  It was beautiful!  Afterward, we hurried to the airport....which we didn't need to do.  After we checked in and went through security, we found out our flight was delayed by about three and a half hours!  Yuk!  But, we got home safe and sound, and Jayson and Kassi were at the airport with our car waiting for us!  Thanks guys!