WARNING: Picture overload.
Going down to California was the best decision ever. Even when I left I had to refrain from parachuting out of the plane to stay there for another week (no, really).
First up, silly pictures of Dane. He's my favorite, and I did not let him go.
He learned to clap to and crawl while he was there.
He surprised himself.
He warmed up to us, and liked Grandma. She gave him all the treats.
But, one of his favorite people was...
MURPHY. He loves dogs. He liked seeing Murphy from above, because that made him feel bigger.
I wasn't there for this, but my dad said he cleared his tray when they were eating outside, then ran his feet on Murphy's head when Murphy started eating all the food.
We got there Friday night, and just played a few games then went to bed. Saturday was time to set up for the big farewell, but we did have a picnic that night. Dane loved the ribs.
We wanted to do a big Frisbee game with the family like we did when Austin was leaving, but it's harder when there's a big personality in a little body there. So some of us left early.
Sidebar: Dane LOVES his baths. Alyse was turning on the bathwater, and he heard it and started shrieking and wriggling. Then, he rolled over and crawled further than he had crawled before to get to the bathtub. It was hilarious. He played with a kitchen whisk the whole time, and was so happy to just lay down in the water. (I have a picture of that, but I have a feeling Alyse wouldn't want Dane's naked beauty on the Internet.) But he also loves his towel, and got so excited when Alyse pulled it out.
Him giving Alyse a head bump... his way of showing that he likes you.
Once she put him on the ground, though, he wanted out of that towel. Too much to do!
Sunday was a good day. Dallin gave a great farewell talk, which you can listen to
here. A bunch of his friends showed up, including people who don't go to our church. They all sat in the front, and seemed to be eating it up. We had a lot of family over for lunch, and it was good to enjoy their company before the mobs of friends came. Poor Daney was so overwhelmed by so many people wanting to say hi that we took him on a couple of walks that night.
After the friends left, Dallin was set apart. We took a picture to commemorate it.
Before Brandon left on Monday, we went to the pool with the little Sine girls.
Lucia and I were matching.
Of course Dane was there, in all his glory.
Dane wanted to crawl in the pool... silly boy.
This is Dane's Murphy face... big eyes and saying "Oooo! Ooooo! Oooo!"
We took Murphy and Dane on a lot of walks with the Sine cousins (who also loved Murphy).
Before Alyse Tommy and Dane left, we made sure to get some pictures with Dane everyone. This is my favorite one of me and Dane.
Seriously, unplanned same face? Best ever.
After we dropped off those 3 at the airport, we went to Balboa Island with Annie, Caroline, and Claira. I got this picture of them on the Ferris Wheel.
We already know about sending Dallin off to the MTC (
here). It was sad, so we decided to go celebrate somewhere special. Where is a better place than Downtown Disney? We went to Goofy's Kitchen, and here is what happened:
Lulu was so excited to see "Doofy", until he got close. Then she freaked out. It was cute, and I don't blame her. He's a dog and like 7 feet tall!
Dale was creepy. He kept blowing kisses at me and squeezing me too tightly. Eww.
(SO CUTE)
The highlight of the day was when Sleeping Beauty showed up. Lu could not take her eyes off the princess... When she was going to take a picture with Lu, Sleeping Beauty said, "Can you put your waffle down sweetie?" Lu just stared at her and immediately dropped the waffle on the ground. Sleeping Beauty said, "Well, that's no good anymore!" hahaha she was a classic princess.
Until she asked us to pose for a picture with her. Ew.
Derp.
And then there was Aladdin. Bethany and I were excited to party with him... even if he was wearing more makeup than us.
All the little girls with Pluto. Lu was a little wary.
Rafiki
Baloo.
I'd say it was successful.
Also! I got new running shoes! I'm so excited. I went to RoadRunner, which is a store that measures your feet and analyzes how you run. After that, they gave me these shoes:
They're excellent. The next morning I ran 3.5 miles without feeling like it. And I ran a mile to time myself, and did it in 9:03. Now I have a time to beat!
The next few days were a lot of detox. I just enjoyed sitting at home... I feel so comfortable there.
We got Boba before we dropped Bethany off at a basketball tournament, and then brought me to the airport. As I left, I couldn't help but think "Why can't Brandon get a job down here?" I know, it's wishful thinking.
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