Vader - What should we do

Well my girls have been begging me for years to get a puppy. And you know how much Brylee loves dogs. I kept putting it off because I really didn't want to deal with the extra "child" and all the extra work and responsibility that comes with it. But we saw this little pug at the pet store and we fell in love with him including Bret which is just odd. So we just bought him on a whim (Wednesday) and adored him for four days until he started having diarrhea(Sunday). We were in Twin Falls and a lady at the pet store said it might be Parvo. Searching the Internet for a few minutes convinced me I needed to take our little Vader (his name) to a Vet. So I drove him to Buhl and yes he had Parvo. Parvo is a fatal virus if not treating immediately and even if treated it may still be fatal. We left vader at the Vet and came home to Pocatello. The vet had hopes for Vader all week and even Thursday afternoon told me he could go home Friday or Saturday. So Friday morning we headed to Twin to go through the temple and get our puppy. Ellie was so excited. We got to Burley when the vet called with news that Vader had passed away. Ellie cried forever and made me promise her we would get another puppy. This little puppy was seriously the cutest thing, so playful and so fun.

The pet store will either refund our money (and pay the vet bill) or get us a new puppy. However, this virus stays on our property for years. We can't bring a puppy home until it has had three shots and even then it may still get Parvo, not likely but possibly. My girls are devastated and really want another puppy. Do I get one?

So friday morning, July 25th, we rented a van and drove to San Diego for a family vacation. I don't think it should be called a family VACATION. I do not feel like I have had a vacation. I feel like I need a vacation. I think a vacation can only occur when you leave the kids with grandma amnd grandpa! It was great fun and I loved spending the time with the girls, but I am exhausted. Our friends, Sean and Nichole Rammell also drove down with us. They have three girls all between Ellie and Brylee's ages. So the five girls had so much fun together. We stayed in St. George on the way down and Vega on the way back. Nichole also brought her 15 year old sister and cousin to help with the kids. They were great and even watched the kids sleep in the hotel room a couple nights so us four could go out. We went to Rockin' Baha for a bucket of seafood one night without the kids. In Vegas, we hit the casinos. It was my first ever gambling experience. Bret and I each took a $20 bill. Nichole convinced me to play the slots and Bret and Sean hit the tables. I lost all $20 in less than a half hour. Gambling is not for me!! I found Bret and he was up to $35. He gave me his chips so I could try the tables. I lost it all except for $1. Bret placed it on a table and we were about to walk away when we realized he won $40. So we cashed out and walked away with $41. We actually one a buck. I think next time I will just watch Bret play. We will have much better luck. I told the man at the table it was my first time gambling and he asked it I just turned 21. Since I turned 30 today I felt like kissing him. (not really) I laughed.


You can see it took a lot to entertain Brylee in the car. Sunglasses, dolls, and a movie all at once. Actually she did very well in the car to our surprise.
We stayed at Town and Country Inn at Hotel Circle. The pool was a hit. We went swimming almost every day. Ellie is becomming quite the little swimmer. She dives, does hand-stands, tries to flip adn loves the deep-end. It is nice to have her so independent in the water and not have to worry so much. Brylee on the other hand THINKS she can swim. Bret and I would stand about 10 feet apart and I would shove Brylee towards Bret. She would dive in kicking and throwing her arms until Bret pulled her up. She would come up, catch her breath, push the hair out of her eyes and say again as she dove back in towards me. She was crazy!!
All five little girls at the hotel. Anna is a year younger the Ellie and Allyssa is just older than Brylee. Aubree is 4 and sometimes feels left out but they all got along very well considering. Ellie was completely occupied with her friends and had little time for mom and dad on this trip. I felt like the only time I saw her was in our hotel room at night. She also hated posing for a picture, which is unheard of. She got so annoyed with me whenever I asked her to take a picture with me that she started refusing to smile. So I eventually gave up and just took pictures of Brylee. Does this mean Ellie is growing up?? I hope not.
We went to Sea Port Village our first day in San Diego. (Ellie wasn't too annoyed yet). This is always a great place to visit. The shops are so fun and the music was great. The three older girls danced to the bands and just had a great time. A man even made them all roses from palm leaves for free because he thought they were so cute.
This dog was taking a rest in Sea Port Village and Brylee went right up to it and layed on it. I am trying to teach her to not just walk up and hug dogs for her own safety but she is truly an animal lover and she can't be stopped. Luckily this dog was so sweet and his owners just got a kick out of Brylee. She gave it kisses and hugs and layed with it for 10 minutes.

More of our vacation

Brylee loved the rides and was not scared at all. This one was at Sea World. When the ride would get a little wild she would say, "Oh my goodness." It was so cute and I had so much fun riding rides with her.
This picture is outside the M&M shop in Las Vegas. We had to go in and buy the kids some M&Ms. Each kids got to fill their own bag with whatever colors they wanted. Ellie thought this was great because they had lots of pinks and purples. I was surprised but they didn't even melt in the horrible Las Vegas heat. And...it was HOT!!!!
We went to the Rain Forest Cafe for dinner in Vegas. They sat us right below the crazy, shaking, loud gorillas. It felt like a true rain forest every 10 minutes. We had a Nemo ballon made for Byrlee. Anything...to keep her happy.
Bret and Brylee were watching one of Sea Worlds shows. Brylee loved the shows and clapped and cheered the whole time.

Legoland California

Legoland was, by far, our favorite place we went. It is an amazing amusement park and more child-friendly than any place I have been. When you got in line for a ride, one adult could hold your place in line while the other adult took the kids into a lego-play area. Then they had a gate that allowed you to go directly to the front of the line when it was your turn to ride. Trying to keep Brylee in line for 45 minutes was impossible so this idea alone made me LOVE Legoland. It also had four large playgrounds that were just incredible for the kids to play in. There was so much to do and see that it didn't feel too crowded or crazy. It was just FUN!!!
Spongebob made out of Legos. Of course my girls wanted a picture. Every character you can imagined were made out of Legos, some contained hundreds of thousands of Legos. They were very impressive.
The had created a mini-USA with every major city and momument. So much detail was in these creations. Even the kids loved looking at them. Behind us here is the capital building.
For several years now Ellie has wanted to go to France to see the Eiffel Tower. She learned about it in pre-school once. So she thought it was neat to see it out of Legos.
The Statue of Liberty and part of the New York City display.