Cancun!!

So we have finally been to Cancun! I really wanted to go a few weeks ago, but instead we went to Disneyland first, which I can't complain about, and this time around it was pretty awesome. The trip there was horrible, horrible, mostly because of the red-eye flight from SLC to NYC (we have to go NYC first and then to Cancun), I don't know what it is about that leg of the trip but Jonton was especially monstrous. So we stayed in this awesome all inclusive hotel. It was especially family friendly and since there is the H1N1 virus thing it was really empty and cheap. Colette was really good at swimming with her little swim wings and Johnathan was terrified of the ocean but a fearless daredevil in the pools. The ocean was beautiful and we had the BEST spot for us, the water only came up to our knees and there were NO waves. Oh and it was really funny there were a few crabs and Rob was messing with one of them and it nipped him. Hehehe. The food was delicious and the people were really nice. They also had a great little kids club with its own pool with slides and everything. Colette loved it. The first picture is Rob with his sad face at having to leave, it was Colette's idea and she took the picture. It was super fun but I doubt we will be back soon, and I am kind of hoping that is our last long, expensive trip for a while :)

MIWA!!

Our lovely friend Miwa came to visit us here in Utah a few weeks ago!! It was awesome! In fact it gave us the opportunity to visit some places that we had never been to before such as the salt flats and the Salt Palace. The salt flats were pretty crazy, we drove for a looong time expecting to see the white stuff right away but we were almost to Wendover by the time it was really white. The mirages were kind of scary too. It was really hard to tell where there was water and where there wasn't. So from the salt flats we went to temple square and ate at the JS building. It was pretty expensive. We walked around on top of the Conference Center, it was beautiful. Then we drove by the McCuen Mansion, Miwa seemed to be interested in the idea that it was haunted. Then we went to the Capitol building but we couldn't stay long because the kids just wanted to run around. So we walked down to Memorial Grove park and played with dogs. From there we drove to Park City and walked along Main street for a little while before driving home and watching Wall-e. The other days she was here we mostly just went shopping at dollar stores and such. It was pretty wonderful to be able to take her around to see things, she is so SWEET!! Pretty soon we may be able to visit her in Japan more too!

Jonton's Birthday!!

It's Johnathan's 2nd birthday today. We don't have a party planned yet, we were thinking about going to Chuck-e-cheeses today, as well as having cake and stuff today. It is kind of funny that before three they really don't get what their birthday means, but Colette is totally aware and looks forward to her birthday in July. I will post some pictures of our birthday adventures later.

First rides at Disneyland!

The first ride we went on at Disneyland was the Dumbo ride. I think the kids were a little overwhelmed about the whole thing when we first got there, but the Dumbo ride was a pretty good first ride for them. After that we went to the storybook boat ride that had the ADORABLE miniatures of some of the most famous Disney stores, such as Snow White, Cinderella, The little mermaid (the picture is of the castle and ship from the movie), Pinocchio (we went through the Monstro whale). All of the plants surrounding the miniatures were real but kept tiny, I thought it was super cool. I was surprised and a little dissappointed that there were SO many people there on a Monday morning. Maybe school was already out in California, or maybe it only seemed like a ton of people but really it was not that busy, I just know that the lines were too long for us to get to ride a lot of the things. Who knows when we will get to go back (if ever, according to Rob, you only need to go to Disneyland once ;)

Disneyland...

The first picture is of the view from the submarine on the Finding Nemo ride. We waited in line for this one for over an hour. The kids were hot, hungry, thirsty and tired but once we got on the sub and they looked out the windows they forgot all about that. Johnathan especially loved it. Colette got a little scared but she still loved it. And fortunately the ride was pretty long, so it was worth the loooong wait.
One of the highlights-for Colette at least-was that Colette got to meet her favorite fairies! When we first approached the area and I said that she was going to meet Tinkerbell she naturally thought that she would be tiny and that she had to look for her, so that it what she is doing looking under the big mushrooms. When she first saw the fairies she jumped up and down and squealed but when we got up closer and she was supposed to pose with them she was all shy and confused. So as we were about to walk away I suggested she give them a hug. That did it, she ran back to them and nearly knocked them over with her best hug. It was really sweet. Unfortunately you can't see the joy on her face, but she was pretty ecstatic.

More Disneyland

One of the rides we went on was a go-cart kind of thing where Colette got to steer while Rob controlled the speed. Johnathan drove our little car for about a second and a half and got bored/scared and wouldn't even touch the steering wheel anymore so I had to take over. We rode a Winnie the Pooh ride that was really weird, but afterwards we got to meet Pooh and Tigger. Johnathan was transfixed with Pooh Bear and didn't want to leave his side and was surprisingly uninterested in Tigger. It almost made me cry how sweet it was to see Johnathan so amazed by the big bear. Colette was a pro at posing with the characters. The characters were really great, very sweet with all the kids, especially since it was so hot and some of the kids were terrified of them.
Oh and they had a lot of fun on the Tom Sawyer island with all the pirate stuff. There were caves and booty and traps and what-not. We had to take a raft to get to the little island.

Disneyland continued!!

I am going to try to post this backwards so that it makes more sense...I think they had a good time, they met Mickey at the very end, but they didn't seem to grasp that it was supposed to be a big deal, and Colette still thinks Chuck-e-cheese and Mickey are one in the same. They also were really excited about the carousel, which we jumped on just before leaving. Rob insisted we take a picture of the iconic castle out front, sorry it is not a good picture. We were extraordinarily tuckered out by the end of the day, but we had so much fun!

ROCKBAND IS FUN

Trip to Long Beach last week

Last week Colette and I got the morning flight to Long Beach and came back the same day. We went to the aquarium, the beach, saw dolphins jumping in the water just like that song I wrote for her to sing a few months ago (http://www.robbennion.com/mp3s/changeiscoming.mp3). We ate at in and out of course. Someone tells me they are building on in the valley here somewhere . .

Long beach Aquarium

Colette didn't want to stop petting the rays . . . the Long Beach aquarium was a lot of fun for the both of us . . .

More photos by popular demand . . .

Nicolle has gotten really involved in her photography class, here are some shots that didn't make the cut but I thought were fun which we took in the park the other day . . .

Going to plays

I am required to see 4 plays this semester. I have tried and tried to go to the numerous plays here at the U but something always came up so just this last weekend I finally went and saw two plays in one day; Jungle Book with Colette and our friends the Heins and then later I saw Dial M for Murder with Michelle and Julian. I like the adult one quite a bit better than the kid one, possibly because there was no singing or dancing. Anyway, here are some pictures of Colette and friends with some of the actors from Jungle Book.