My last park in California! (by Princess Muffin Cakes)

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Hmm-hmm-hmm

I just love water bottles…

Well, hello there! I didn’t realize I had company.

Hey, would you be able to reach through your computer and unscrew the lid on this water bottle for me? Mom left a few drops of water inside and these special drops told me they just HAVE to be dumped out. ALL over my onesie.

Aww, you’re so cute, Princess! But they actually can’t open it for you.

What if I say, “Pease???”

Double awww! But nope, they still can’t open it for you.

PEEEEEEEASE????!!!!!

Whoah!!!

That’s it. We’re out of here! Running off to the last park of our California summer.

Shucks. It’s not a bottle of water, but I guess it’ll have to do.

There goes Mr. Light Blue Hat!

Mr. Orange Hat!

Mr. True Blue Hat!

And Mr. Wook-Mom-I-Don’t-Have-To-Weaw-My-Hat-If-I’m-Hiding-Under-Here!

Ice cream mushrooms, anyone?

I don’t know. They make it look fun, but I just don’t know if I buy it.

Come on, Mom. Let’s check it out.

Well, look at that! It *is* fun!

Even without my water bottle. :)

Our Saturday: The Canadian Temple

The Drive to Canada:

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Hi Everyone!! Guess what??  We drove to Canada today!!  Yep, it’s true.  There’s a new temple in Canada that the Prophet hasn’t blessed, yet, so we wanted to visit it!!  So this morning, we hopped in the car and took off…

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“I’m tired. May I nap now?”

Poor Scooters started the trip ready for his morning nap.

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And I started the trip enjoying some of my train books.

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While Mommy started the trip enjoying my bare toes.

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And the beautiful outskirts of our city.

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Awww! It wasn’t long before Scooters drifted off.

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And I decided to join him. :)

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Mommy and Daddy enjoyed the peaceful tranquility of children sleeping and gorgeous trees.

The Border:

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When we got to the border, we realized we were going to be there for a loooong while.  The Mormons were storming Canada and Canada wasn’t prepared.

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But that’s okay, because I got to drink a Caprisun!

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And we saw the Peace Arch!  It means that Canadians and Americans are friends.  I’m so glad!

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But we weren’t glad that there were a million Mormons trying to get across the border and only three lanes open.

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So we jumped ship while Mommy kept our spot in line.

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“Wook! A Peace Arch! I wike Canada!”

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While she was in line, Mommy remembered why she doesn’t like to drive in Canada.

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And I pushed Scooty-tooty in his stroller!

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“Hi, Mommy! Are you still in line?”

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“Okay, we’ll come back later!”

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Then we saw a PASSENGER train ZOOM by on the tracks behind us.  It was awesome!

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And Mommy was still in line, so we wandered some more.

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But then she moved!  And saw signs!

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So we ran back and joined her.

But then we still had to wait.

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So Scooters played with his socks!!!

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Hee, hee!  He loves his socks!

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**Fiercely intense chomp**

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And Mommy broke out her secret weapon.

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I love Mommy’s secret weapons.

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And then!!  We were next in line!! And then!!  We were in Canada!!

The Temple:

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Guess what!?!

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We’re here!!!

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We’re at the temple!!  And I get to go inside!!!

But first, we needed to find a place to park and walk back.

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Oooohhhh, isn’t it beautiful!

I wanted to go inside right away, but first we waited for our turn to join a tour group and watch an introductory video about temples and the history of Mormons in the surrounding cities.

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Then our group got in line to enter the temple!  And we saw lots of people we’ve known from all the places we’ve lived–it was like one big Mormon reunion!!

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And some of them totally saved Scooty-tooty’s tired bacon from getting fried as we waited in long lines (there were thousands and thousands of visitors!).

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They actually LET him pull their hair and then LAUGHED!!!  Mommy’s scalp cringed just watching, but since her baby was happy and they were happy, she was happy, too!

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And I got to eat a GOGURT!  So I was happy, too.

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But then.  My food ran out.   And I wanted to be a train and chug.  But I couldn’t!

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So Mommy and I jumped ship and chugged around while Daddy kept a spot in line.

AND THEN!!!

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It was our turn!  And I got to go inside!!  And it was so beautiful!

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I saw the baptismal font–where I’ll get to serve when I turn 12 years old.

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And a sealing room–just like where Mommy and Daddy were married.

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And an ordinance room–just like where Mommy and Daddy go to learn about God and the purpose of life.   (When Mommy showed me the altar, I asked, “Where’s the sacrifice?”)  :)

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And the beautiful, incomparable Celestial Room.

The room that represents what heaven will be like after this life.  A heaven with God and Jesus Christ.  And our families.

And being in that room all together as a family was a small glimpse of what it might be like to have our family for eternity.

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Because that’s what temples are all about.

California: The third full day

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Hi Everyone!! Sorry about the delay in telling my story… Mommy’s been spending the week attacking our house with great gusto and is thrilled to have it completely organized and recovered from all our holiday excitement.

(Oh!  And she may have spent a bit of leisure time she usually reserves for blogging to read a delightful book instead.   Boy did it make her laugh!  Now she’s got the entire line-up of novels from this author on hold at the library.  So… please enjoy her posts until these babies start rolling in!) :)

So, let’s see…  Where was I?

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Oh, yes!  It’s our third full day in California at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  And now that it’s just us here with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Elise, we got the royal tour of my Grandpa’s impressive projects…

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Like his new composter!

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Check it out! It’s completely enclosed, so there’s no odor or mess.

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And even in the dead of winter, those little microbes are working up a storm!

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And here’s another project: The new green house he built!

(Note: Check out that sweet fence he built around his garden. He needed to protect his food from all the deer and bears and other wildlife that prowl the mountain forests.  And now–it protects his new composter, too!)

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The new green house is where he stores his finished compost in preparation for spring.  It’s also where he’ll start his seeds in the spring when it’s too cold to plant in the garden, yet.

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Then Mommy spotted this and cried out, “So that’s how you make such nice furrows in your garden!! Holy smokes do I wish I’d had something like that 9 months ago when I was trying to plant our vegetable garden with an enormous pregnant belly and a garden of packed mud!”

“Hm, it sounds like you’ve got clay soil,” Grandpa replied, “Let me give you a few pointers on how to make it better…”

After that, Mommy tried to remember everything Grandpa said so she could go home and implement his suggestions.

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And I ran around in the picturesque snow.

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And explored Grandpa’s handmade playground.

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And laughed and giggled so cute.

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Until Daddy caught me!!

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Aaaaahhhh!!!

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Then Daddy put me on a gigantic snowball he made.  And while I was a captive cutie…..

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Grandpa joined me!

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And then Daddy!

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And then Bobby!

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“What did you call me?”

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*Hee, hee, hee!*  Bobby!  I cawed you Bobby!

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“Now you’re gonna get it, Bubbers!”

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After that, I asked Grandma to sing my favorite church songs.

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And I played along.

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And then helped her play.

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While Mommy’s heart melted through the carpet.

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I was particularly fond of Grandma’s neck exerciser, but it didn’t know the song very well.

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So I took over again.

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“I love to seeeeeeeeee the temple!  I’m going there some daaaaaaayyyyy!”

After that, I took a nap.  And when I woke up…..

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Snuggles was so cute and happy to see me!

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So I tried to explain that after my naps, I often need a few minutes to find my sunshine again.

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Snuggles said that was okay.

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He said he’d give enough sunshine for both of us until I was ready.

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So I took his hand in silent thanks.

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And he covered my back until I was ready.

Then sure enough…..

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I found my sunshine again and shared it with my Aunt Elise!

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And then I discovered…..

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…  sports on TNT.

But not for long, because then it was bedtime.

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And while Snuggles and I slept, all the parents went out to eat at a delicious restaurant in town.

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After that, Grandpa broke out the cards.

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And played his favorite game: “The No Name Game”.

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I think it’s a game that Grandma’s parents used to play.

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They had fun and Mommy thought about growing up in Nevada when she saw their old cards from the casinos.

(Note: They never actually gambled in the casinos. They just got playing cards from a friend who worked in a casino because they only use each deck once and then toss them).

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And wouldn’t you know, Mommy won her third game in a row!!  She couldn’t believe it.

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The next day we packed up and headed back home.

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Enjoying a McDonald’s Playhouse at lunch.

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And some beautiful winter weather!

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Boy–what an awesome trip. Thank you so much, Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Elise (and our other wonderful family we saw there)–we had a fantastic time!!!

We love you,
Bubbers, Snuggles, Mommy and Daddy

California: The family photo shoot

The day before we left my parents’ house in California, I asked my parents if we could all take some semi-formal family pictures.  My parents happily complied and it started out great…..

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They were lovely, well-behaved subjects, so I asked if we could add our two boys to the mix.

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So, we did.  And they were all lovely, well-behaved subjects.

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Except the Snuggles-meister.  As you can see, my mother had to keep him standing to get him to look at me.  Because if she sat him on her lap…..

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…..  He was drawn to his Grandpa like a moth to a flame!

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“Hello, flame!  I love you!”

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Then it was time for our turn with the boys.  And the Snuggles-meister lasted about ten seconds.

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Before finding a new flame.

“Hello, new flame!”

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**Baby launches self from mother’s lap**

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So we bagged it and got back to business.