Newport Beach 2009: Speechless

Hey oh! So, let's get right into this! So every other year, the Madsen's head on over to California. It's pretty much the best. So this year was nothing different! Except we had costumes. In the words of Barney Stinson, "It was awesome." (If you don't watch How I Met Your Mother, that probably means nothing to you. If you do watch it: I know, right?! It's the best.) So here we go. Suit Up!! Ashlii and Sophie. This was before we even left for California. They just knew it was going to be fun packed, so they got their rest in.

The family, ready to embark on the 6 hour drive from St. George. You don't even know what it took to get this picture. (it took a lot.)

Our uniforms. That's Neil Patrick Harris on the front. We really love him. And HIMYM*. We also got pajama pants. And on the back, it has all of our names...kind of like a concert t-shirt.

We were getting ready for the first beach day. The kiddies love watching some Disney channel...I was braiding Tessa's hair.Apparently someone taught her how to do blowfishes on the window...that someone's name probably rhymes with Shmalex. I think.

Finally, we made it to the beach. Tessa actually loved it, which was exciting. She did take one little fall, which made for an interesting few minutes, but she was totally fine after that.

My brother also got us tickets to see Conan O'brien. This is us waiting to go in. We actually had VIP tickets so we only waited like 10 minutes...that's right, we're important. It was way fun. And a lot different than it looks on television! We got to see Adam Sandler, Peter Sarsgaard, and Kate Voegelle. I'm pretty sure I didn't spell those names right, but I've seen them in real life...have you? That's what I thought.

We also did a lot of shopping. I know, weird right? Not really, if you don't love to shop in the Madsen family, you can't truly be a part of the Madsen family. Alex is still working on becoming a true member. Anyway, every single mall in California has a carousel. And Tessa noticed...

Carousel at Fashion Island. I got a picture of her at all the other carousels, so just picture this 3 times with different outfits.

All the grandkids, fully suited up. Quick back story-notice Rubie's arm is in a sling. Well a few weeks ago, her little baby elbow popped out of the socket. And would you believe it happened again, like the second day we were in California? Well believe it, there's proof right in front of you! Poor baby. She's ok though. I think...actually, Ashlii...if you are reading this, is her arm fixed? Text me. Or call. Or I'll call you.

And that's it! This is just another swimsuit shot of Tessa. She's actually much tanner in real life. It's kind of sad. And I'm not. My 2 year old can tan, and I can't. For the record, I really like my hair color with my skin tone, so I put on a lot of sunscreen. So I'm cool with it. And I'm not even joking.

*HIMYM: acronym for How I Met Your Mother

Cupcakes You Can Cuddle

I may have already posted this months ago, but we officially have a website (thanks in large part to my boo)! Check it out, spread the word!

http://cupcakesyoucancuddle.squarespace.com

Up the Canyon

So I'm blogging again, twice in 1 week!!! K-razy. The sad thing is, I just finished this blog, and then I deleted it somehow, and when I went to get it out of my drafts, it had saved the blank post...so here we go. Last night we went up Little Cottonwood Canyon with Alex's friends. Back story: Mike, who you may remember from previous posts, got this job where he travels ALL THE TIME. Seriously, more than Alex. So he was home finally, but he was leaving again on Tuesday (today). So Alex, being the adorable friend that he is, decided to throw a little going away thing for him. I actually think Alex just wanted an excuse to eat roasted marshmallows. But anyway...so we plan this thing for Mike and most everyone could come-even our California friends (you know who you are) were here, so it was going to be a par-tay! Then Mike tells us he's leaving Monday morning...so we had a big Bon Voyage party for Mike, and he wasn't even there. It's funny when you think about it...are you thinking about it? Hilarious, right? But Mike, you'll be missed...seriously, there's only so much fun to be had with just Steve and Andy. So hurry back! Here are some pictures to document the event:

First, Steve and Andy made Alex and me tin foil dinners. I've never actually had a dinner that is cooked a top coals, so you can imagine I was terrified. Plus, Steve and Andy might try to poison me...I'm not sure how they really feel about me...but it was so good!!

This picture doesn't look too great, but it was so so so good! That's three so's. So you know I loved it, because normally I only use one. That's my fork...little did that dinner know, I was about to devour it!

Andy, Steve, Alex, and me enjoying our dinners. Everyone else ate hot dogs. Or Taco Bell. Too bad for them.

Tessa showing us the marshmallow in her mouth. And no, she doesn't have a shirt on. It got really wet, so she couldn't have that.

This is Steve trying to convince Adam's new girl that she needed to prove herself worthy by stuffing a bunch of marshmallows into her mouth at once. She did it eventually. I got it on film. I'm just waiting for the right time to post it. Steve's all about food challenging people. It's the best.

Alex's friends all started throwing marshmallows at each other, so Tessa wanted to get in on the action:

This was her wind up. But she never threw it, she just ate it. She gets hungry.

Anyway, that's all I've got. It was way fun...hopefully Mike will go out of town a lot more, so we can have going away parties every weekend!

(Mike, I'm sort of kidding. We can have parties when you are not going out of town too. Maybe we'll even invite you!)

Independence Day

So since I haven't posted in a while, I figured I would just share our Fourth of July adventures. I know the 4th was so 3 days ago, but whatev. I didn't have anything else to blog about! So every year we go to the Centerville Parade and every year it does not disappoint. The best part is when the baseball teams come through, and they almost take your eye out while throwing taffys...it's the best. Anyway, last year Tessa was all about running into the street and getting candy, but this year she was a little apprehensive about it. Leslie had to get the candy and bring it to her feet, then she'd reach down and grab it.

Tessa and Trace sitting at the parade. Tessa is so patriotic. Hence her flag.

After the parade we usually go swimming, but we went to a park instead. It was fun-we ate good food. Tessa had a freak out, but it was no big deal.

The family at the park-Tessa wouldn't look at the camera. I don't know what her deal is.

Then, that night we went to Alex's aunt and uncles house. We had a fun barbecue, and then watched fireworks. If you don't know about Alex's family, they are pyromaniacs. Every one of them. It's terrifying. 2 years ago, Alex was lighting bottle rockets in a cup, and the cup tipped over so they shot into the crowd. It would've been funny, except one of them went up Tessa's shorts and burned her stomach pretty bad. She was only 8 months old. So this year I tried to ban him from lighting the fireworks. It worked for like 10 minutes. Then, he asked our 2 year old if she wanted to light some. I'm thinking next year we go to Canada for the 4th of July, that way there won't be any fireworks. Take that Alex. (FYI, she didn't light any with him. I was pretty mad about that suggestion, and Alex picked up on my anger. He's a clever one.)

Tessa and Sara with their sparklers. They had fun with each other. And then this is Tessa tackling Sara and Kaylee. They were all really tired, but for some reason they thought chasing each other and this ball would be a good time. It was adorable.

Anywhoodle, that was our fourth. Way interesting, right? I'll get better at being fun.