Back to Arcadia

Today we got up and had doughnuts again for breakfast. John found some coffee near the Yosmite Village Store and we ate outside enjoying the views. I was able to snap one picture of Half Dome before we left as the smoke was clearing. We left the park around noon.

Unfortunately I didn't give the kids Dramamine and driving through the winding roads Luba started vomiting and Kristina started to feel sick. Luba kept saying the roads were like a roller coaster, and in some places they seemed to be. We had to stop in Oakhurst for about 30 minutes till they felt better. We met up with Allison, Brian, Nathaniel, and Caleb for lunch at the same In-N-Out in Bakersfield we had eaten at on the way up. I can now say we are tired of these burgers and will eat elsewhere for the rest of the trip.

We arrived back to Arcadia around 7:30 and got the kids ready for bed. It was good to be back in a bigger bed, the kids though were on the floor since there were 12 people in the house.

Mom x3

Yosemite Wedding

Late last night I had gone over to Allison and Brian's cabin later Nathaniel, Caleb, Ben, Amanda, Junilla, Andrew arrived. We sat and talked till midnight, so needless to say I'm tired.

This morning we got up and went over to the Curry Village store so John could get some coffee. (the kids wanted a picture by this bear) We had doughnuts left over from yesterday's breakfast which we then ate in the cabin. We are able to keep food in our cabin since it has wood walls as opposed to the canvas tents. We did notice the sign on our windows instructing campers to keep the windows shut if there is food in the cabin to prevent bears from coming around. Well, we slept with the windows open and didn't see any bears. After we ate we took a bus to Yosemite Falls. The kids wanted to climb up on the rocks close to the falls, but they didn't have appropriate shoes on. Kristina liked just sitting and watching the water fall down.


Later we met up with my cousins Abigail, Ben, and Caleb along with Nathaniel and Ben's girlfriend Amanda. We walked around for awhile then went to eat lunch with Abigail. After lunch we went back to the cabin to change to get ready for the wedding. The wedding was taking place at Glacier Point which is an hours drive 'up' from the valley floor. Yosemite Valley is at about 4000 feet above sea level and Glacier Point is 7800 feet above sea level.

By the time the wedding started at 3:20 a lot of the smoke had cleared. I think also, the there wasn't as much smoke at such a high elevation.

(This is us sitting waiting for the wedding to begin.)
The wedding was very beautiful and the weather was perfect.

Ater the wedding we drove back to the valley to the Ahwahnee Hotel for the reception. There was a sit down buffet dinner with fruit, salads, scallop potatoes, chicken, salmon, prime rib, and dinner rolls. All were very good. After the reception we posed in a giant fireplace for a Linsz/Gray family picture.

Mom x3

PS We found out during the reception Matt LeBlanc, (Joey from 'Friends') was eating in the main dinning room so we all had to walk in, a few people at a time to see him.

Driving to Yosemite National Park

Today we left Arcadia, CA and took the long (7 hr) drive to Yosemite National Park for my brother, Greg's, wedding. Luckily our minivan had a DVD player so we stopped by Wal-mart on the way and picked up four movies. We started 'Peter Pan' just as we got on the expressway. I wanted to kids to notice the mountains as we drove thru them, but they were too interested in the movie.

They did also spend some time reading. Occasionally they would look out the window and say, "Are we in the mountains yet?" We had to first drive through the San Gabriel Mountains which took about an hour to get to the other side. Then it was flat land for three plus hours. It was very hot up to 105 degrees. They did notice all the fruit which was being grown such as apples, peaches, blueberries, grapes, apricots, and oranges. We stopped to eat at an In-N-Out in Bakersfield.

In Fresno I gave the kids Dramamine so they won't get sick as we went up into the mountains. As we started going up in elevation Michael was saying he couldn't hear, his ears felt funny. We had to show everyone how to pop their ears and we told them to keep swallowing. We finally arrived in Yosemite at about 6:15 PM. As we drove into the park the kids started looking for bears. We also noticed how smoky it was. There are so many forest fires the sky was gray not it's ususal blue. As we got to Inspiration Point you could barely see Half Dome due to the smoke.

We are staying in a cabin with a bath. It has two double bed and a cot. We will be crowded, but the kids are excited about their first time 'camping.'

Mom x3

Dodger's game

Today we went to the Dodger's game, which started at 12:10. Everyone was still tired from Disneyland and slept in a little. The Dodger's were playing the Chicago White Sox. Being from Chicago I'm a Cubs fan, but decided I would like to see the White Sox win. I tried to explain to Kristina and Luba how baseball was played. I think Kristina understood a little because she has played kickball in school and in the back yard. Since the Dodger's were the home team they were in white uniforms and the White Sox were in black and gray. This was very confusing for Luba because I kept calling the 'black' team the White Sox.

We didn't eat lunch before we left since John wanted the kides to have the whole 'baseball' experience, eating hotdogs at the park. All total we bought four hot dogs, two nachos, three cokes, three popcorns, and one cracker jack. We did have a lot of popcorn left over. By the seventh inning stretch the White Sox were winning 2-0 and the kids were very restless and seemed bored. We decieded to leave. The White Sox ended up winning 2-0 so we didn't miss much.

When we got back to my Aunt and Uncle's house in Arcadia, Allie, Brian, and Nathaniel were just packing up to leave for Yosemite. They plan to drive most of the way, (it is a 6-7 hour drive), and spend the night at a hotel. We will be leaving sometime tomorrow morning. After getting all of our bags packed up we ate dinner at McDonald's.






Mom x3

Disneyland

Yesterday, we arrived at the parking garage for Disneyland at about 9 AM. Allison, Brian, and Nathaniel were also with us. Since the kids had never been to anywhere like Disneyland at all we were unsure how they would do on the rides. My advice was to keep your eyes open to you can see what is coming, and scream the whole time. The first ride we went on was the Matterhorn. Kristina ended up in the very front car with me, she was laughing and screaming the whole time. When we got off Luba and Michael looked like they were in shock, but they said they were fine. Luba was scared because there had been parts in the dark and she saw eyes. Next everyone but Kristina, Nathaniel, and I went on the tea cups at least this ride was outside so Luba didn't have to be scared of the dark. I never realized how many rides have some time that they are in the dark, basically everyone. We had to just tell Luba to close her eyes when the ride was dark. She also didn't really like the drops on the roller coasters. Big Thunder Railroad had any area in the dark and went fast with major drops, Luba just became very quiet after each 'wild' ride. Kristina and Michael really liked the roller coasters. During the Pirates of the Caribbean, Michael just sat with his mouth wide open. and even Kristina was scared going past the cannons going off and the gun shots.

After we ate lunch we went to the Haunted Mansion. They didn't know what haunted meant. Once we got inside and the doors shut they asked what it meant and when we told them their eyes got HUGE. Before we even got on the little cars both Michael and Luba had tears streaming down their faces. I had to hold Michael and John had to hold Luba. Of course as we were going along something happened to stop up and we sat on the track not moving for a few minutes which didn't help at all. Michael just keep saying, 'it's not real is it?'

On Splash Mountain, of course there was the drop, but Luba got on. We all got soaked and at the end of the ride John said Luba's heart was racing so fast we decided she shouldn't go on any more fast rides.

While everyone else went on Space Mountain, Luba and I went on the Carrousel, Dumbo's ride, and Pincchio's Daring Journey, which was also in the dark, at times. We all met together and saw the Princess's parade.

In Mickey's Toontown we were able to walk through Mickey's house and have our picture taken with Mickey Mouse, we never did see Minnie. After going on the 'kiddie' roller coaster we went to use our Fast Pass on the Indiana Jones ride. Michael wasn't tall enough and Luba would have been too scared so Brian and Nathaniel eneded up riding twice during which time Alli and I took the kids on the Pirates ride again.

We were finally eating dinner at 8 PM and the kids said they weren't even that hungry. After we ate we watched the fireworks. Kristina said she had seen some before in Ukraine, but all three of them really enjoyed them. Lastly we went around on all of the kid rides. The last 30 minutes we spent shopping so the kids could all get the stuffed animal they wanted. Kristina got Minnie in her red dress, Luba got Minnie dressed as Cinderella, and Michael got Tigger. As I was racing around to see if there was anything I wanted to buy John sat down on the curb of Main Street and Luba and Micheal both fell asleep in his lap. We were walking out of Disneyland at 12:15 AM, they had lasted 15 hours. Keep in mind they weren't used to the time change so to them it was 3 AM!!!!! Needless to say we had a lot of fun, but we were so exhausted.

Mom x3

Flying to CA

Our day to leave for California has finally arrived. The kids have been counting down for weeks. I think they are just excited to be going somewhere different, and to travel on an airplane. At least we didn't have to get up too early, our flight didn't leave until 9:30. As we were getting on the plane a stewardess stop Michael and Luba and let them sit in the cockpit. The pilot said he name would be Captain, so now Michael has been saying that is what his middle name is.

We had two lay-overs which broke up the flights for the kids which was nice. We arrived at LAX at 3:30 local time picked up the rental which was a mini van with a DVD player. Of course we had to eat dinner at In-N-Out Burger. They are soooooo good. We got to bed by 9:30 knowing we were going to have a full day in Disneyland tomorrow.

Mom x3

Father's Day

Today is John's first Father's Day. The girls have been so excited this past week to be making different cards for him. Michael was excited to make something for Papa in Sunday School. We all went to eat at Texas Steakhouse for lunch after church along with John's parents, Cliff, Kathy, and Kendall.

Last Day of school

The last day of school! I don't know who was more excited me or the kids. These are first day of school pictures on the left and last day of school on the right. They have changed so much. They are looking forward to summer vacation although I don't think they know what that really means. They are really looking forward to going to California, counting down the days.

Thinking back it was a year ago on Friday, June 15th we flew to Kyiv. So it would have been today. It seems like it was yesterday. It seemed like we waited and waited to go to Ukraine and now it's already been a year since we left.

Mom x3

Kindergaten Graduation

Today was Luba's kindergaten graduation. They had a very small ceremony in the classroom. She was so excited to get her certificate. She also received a certificate for attendance, she only missed three days of school.

Kristina also received an award for phyiscal fitness.

They are both so excited that school is almost over. I think Michael is just as excited because they will be home all day and when they go back to school he will also.

Mom x3