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