Maya Meets the Cooper Cousins

We made our annual trip to Southern Utah in August - it was an interesting trip...I'll do another post about my parent's house being destroyed by a flash flood soon (*heavy sigh*). Despite all the loss at my folk's home, we Cooper girls still manage to enjoy being together!

One of the perks of the week was for Dylan - ANOTHER birthday party! Hey, any excuse for cake is a good one. He was most excited about the gigantic 9 candle, but was a little disappointed when he discovered that it was not edible. Can't win 'em all, buddy.



Sammy loved playing with Maya, and as you can see, Maya loved spending time with Sammy! Doesn't she look like one of those little troll dolls here? You know, the kind that you spin and their hair sticks up? Ha! Crazy baby...



Zack and Ivy. Best cousin-buds from day 1. Still going strong.



Dylan and Sammy. They had a great time playing together!



Mia is happy to be playing with Maya, but Sadie seems less than thrilled...



This "who the heck are you" face is the look that Taylor gave me for about the first entire day I was there - then I finally got a smile out of her!



Saved the best for last. My sweet Grandpa, Dana Pratt - age 90...with his newest great-granddaughter Maya. This is the best photo I have EVER taken. Love them both to pieces!

Cause You Just Never Know Who Might Be Baking Your Pie

When we recently traveled to Utah to visit my family, we drove over Cedar Mountain and through Mt. Carmel Junction, Utah - where apparently, all the pies there are made by Ho's.

Awesome.

(Yes, Matt pulled over JUST so I could take this picture. I was giggling like a schoolgirl, while Dylan said, "what's so funny? What's a Ho?")

ThE HaPpIeSt PlAcE oN eArTh

Hooray for Disneyland! Matt and I decided to take the kiddos plus Zack's best bud Ryan to Disneyland last week for two days of memory-making. Mission accomplished.

Here they are, waiting in line to get into the park. They are a TAD bit excited, in case you can't tell. Even Matt!


All the boys, just after going on our first ride, Pirates of the Caribbean. I loved how they added Jack Sparrow to everything. He looked so real that it was slightly freaky.


Z and D at California Adventure near the enormous ferris wheel. I like this picture. Pure HAPPINESS.


Dylan was chosen for Jedi Training! Awesome! He was TOTALLY into it and VERY serious about learning all the moves and fighting Darth Maul. Such a cool show!

Graduate of the Jedi Academy. Happy.

Dylan, Zack and Ryan waiting in line to go on the Toy Story ride in California Adventure. It was WAY better than I expected! Loved it!

Dad and Dyl waiting in line for Grizzly Rapids. We got SOAKED.

Dylan saw this on the trash can and said to me, "Why does it say waste please? They want us to WASTE? You're not supposed to waste. Wasting is bad!"

Proof that I was there.

We survived!

The Madsen Family Invades Newport Beach or Family Vacation 2009

Ahh, the fun of a family vacation!! We all descended upon Newport Beach, and Newport Beach survived. Good times. We had a lovely stay at the Marriott Newport Coast Resort (highly recommended!) and the eight day getaway was over all too quickly.


Some of the Madsen boys, playing in the waves. We went to the beach for 6 days in a row, and it NEVER got old. Never.



This is one of my favortie shots. Dylan pondering the waves. Deep thoughts, I'm sure.



Matt's brothers, Rick and Josh. Still competitive after all these years!



My little family. I like this shot! Check out my spectacular tan. I swear it makes me look 10 pounds thinner. I fell off the 'no tan from anything but a bottle' wagon in a big way. The tanning gods welcomed me back with open arms. Welcome home, Nicole the mighty sun worshipper...welcome home. Ahh, it felt good to be back.



The whole crew! Believe me, it was NO small feat getting everyone together and (mostly) smiling for this picture. Whew! Pretty cute bunch, eh?

Things to Do in a Small Town While on Vacation

Fly a man-eating kite (seriously. This kite was out for BLOOD) at the Sand Dunes.

Matt and Mia

Swing really high on the BEST tire swing in the world.

niece Kelly

Oooo and Ahhhh over 1,000 year old pottery found by some strange man (allegedly) that I definitely DO NOT know.

(Ooooo.....Ahhhhhh....)

Admire and be slightly jealous over sister-in-law's crafty Easter skills.

Giggle every time you pass by THIS police car parked along side the road that keeps people from speeding through this small town. Why do I giggle, you ask?


Because THIS guy is driving the car.

(Take a close look. I am sure they replace him with the real thing every once in a while, just to mess with smart-alecks like me who think they know it all.)

Family Vacation, Part IV: Legoland

Legos, Legos everywhere! It was quite cool to see all the different things made of Legos. We had not originally planned on going to Legoland, but decided to go just the day before...what a great decision! The boys loved it - it was their favorite part of the trip. Great rides, lines were not too awfully long...a fun day! The water park was the best part...it was another HOT day.


Weeeee! Zack in the middle, Dylan to his right. The lady on the end HATED this ride, poor thing.


Dylan, Zack and Matt spinning round and round and round...


Dylan and Matt. This is Dylan's face after his first roller coaster ride. He LOVED it. We definitely have a roller coaster junkie in the making.


Zack...again, going round and round and round, and getting wet in the process.


Darth Vader with Darth Dylan. Pretty cool.

So - now we are home - to even MORE heat! We had a great time. I am exhausted. I need a vacation from my vacation, but I wouldn't change a bit of it!

Family Vacation, Part III: Sea World

Another day, another park. The day after we went to the zoo, we rejuvenated our feet (seriously...have you ever used one of those foot rejuvenators they have at the zoo? It was AWESOME. Truly.) and headed for Sea World. Karsen and the girls were able to come and spend the morning there with us. I LOVED seeing all the water creatures there - so beautiful.

Here we all are, checking out the baluga whale. They swam RIGHT up to the glass by us. They are so white and lovely. Kids liked this a lot.


Me with Paige, checking out the penguins.


Happy feet! Happy feet!


Haley in the GINORMOUS bounce house.


Z and D, climbing up the play structure. You could seriously lose your kid in this, it is SO huge.


Katelyn's HOT!


Emma. Can't get over those eyes!


We were walking down the lane, then this huge group of flamingoes is coming straight for us! The guy with them says, "just don't move, and they'll go right by!" Very cool.


Shamu the whale. Incredibly graceful.


How do they train them to DO that?? So cool. We sat in the splash zone and got drenched. Loved it!

Family Vacation, Part II: the San Diego Zoo

We had a fun-filled day at the San Diego Zoo. I had actually never been to this zoo, so I was way excited to see it. It was HOT and a lot of the animals were hiding in the shade a bit (smarter than us!) but we saw a lot of cool critters and enjoyed our day.

Mountain lion. He was pacing and pacing. I think he was looking at us like we were his DINNER.


Always love seeing the elephants! This one was giving himself a dirt bath. It was quite entertaining!


"Won't you step into my parlor?" said the spider to the fly...


The tram was a BIG hit. We rode on this several times!


My boys in front of the zoo. Dylan is doing his Statue of Liberty pose. Don't ask - I don't know.


Zack and Dylan. Notice the big fat scary snake in the background. Reminded me of the first Harry Potter book...I half expected the glass to disappear!


Baby Panda in the tree. SOOOO cute!


Dylan got his face painted. He loved it. I spent the rest of the day reminding him NOT to smoosh his face all over my shirt.


The Zackaroo. A rare and exotic creature. Rarely seen in the wild.


Dylan and his long lost brother, Monkeyfaced Dylan.

A great day was had by all!