FAMILY TRIP TO IDAHO!

The kids & I took a fun trip to Idaho for the long UEA weekend. We went to Grandma & Grandpa's on Thursday, and stayed clear until Sunday. What fun! Here's a few of the highlights from the trip:

I wondered if we'd get Rylee off the couch and moving. She's reading the Twilight series and could hardly put it down!

We took a family bike ride around Blackfoot Lake. On the bike ride, we stopped to have a look at the river. The kids just had to get in. The water was freezing!

Before the bike ride, we played Frisbee golf @ Blackfoot course: Rory killed us all!

Baylee worked with Grandpa on a birdhouse for her room. This was a several day project. Baylee was ready to be done after about 15 minutes of work. She got to learn about how our dad pays attention to the details, like measuring and planning ahead. "Measure twice, cut once!?"

Grandma, Jan & the kids took a day trip to Rexburg to see the fall gardens. It's impossible for me to include all the crazy poses that the monkeys did. Here's a few of the best ...

Pay close attention to the happy girl in the back row ...

We also tried to take a trip down memory lane while in Rexburg. I stopped at Horkleys to get directions to Zina's sandwich shop. It closed a long time ago. We also drove past what used to be Retrix and the Galleria; both of them are also gone. I guess things change in 15 years?! The hospital was still there; Rylee was thrilled (NOT) to have to get out to take a picture in front of her birthplace. And was even more thrilled that we didn't name her .... MADISON!

Grandpa, Jan and Rory went golfing. We played 9 holes (it might've been only 8?) at the new course in Shelley. It was nice. Especially Rory's shot over the water ... right on the green! It kinda made up for the pouting he was doing for the 4-5 holes before his great shot!

We all went Geocaching: Baylee found the treasures most of the time. She loved it! Like the hugest of treasure hunts. Here's a picture of Rylee with one of the treasures from the "Soccer Mom" cache. This IS what awesome looks like! Nice glasses!

None of us would have ever found the nano-cache at the walking trailhead. Good thing that Grandma and Grandpa had found it before!


We had a great time, as always. Games, movies, and great food! The Kendricks never disappoint! I love you guys!

For the record ...

I need to go on the record to "tattle" on my little sister! I noticed that she busted me out on her blog about my so-cool coffee mug. Jealous?!

So here goes ...

After much begging and crying, Julie convinced me to break her out of jail ... namely her house ... last weekend. Now you all know that she's supposed to be house-bound for 6 whole weeks. Well, she said she just couldn't take it anymore and wanted to go for a ride. So Rylee and I took her on a shopping adventure to American Fork.

So even though she's following most of her doctor's orders, I have a voucher and evidence that she got in a car .... BAD GIRL!

Wait, am I busting her out, or myself?!

Anyway, we had a great time in town and returned home uneventfully!

I love you, Juls!

BIG NEWS: Mulitalos attend Utah State Fair!

Welcome to Crazyville ... population 4! I took the kids to the State Fair in September. I thought it would be fun for them to see the animals, ride some rides, and people-watch. And boy, was it an entertaining evening! Here's a picture of the kids posing in one of the many photo ops set up. The picture you won't see is of my three monkeys trying to figure out how to get their butts up in the holes for a picture. They are something else! Especially when they are together and on a kick ...


Baylee and Rory rode the Screamer, I think was the name. You can see who's nervous and who's excited. Rory rode it just this one time. Baylee rode it by herself 4 or 5 more times. And she'd have kept going if the fair didn't close.


Mission accomplished: we saw stinky animals (Rory almost barfed in the cow barn), took in the side show (a phsically deformed girl who could transmit electricity was the highlite), ate and drank a variety of fair fare (corn dogs, slushes, cotton candy, pork chop on a stick, fried shrimp, etc.), got henna tattoos, and bought some crap for not-so-cheap!

Can't wait for next year ...

A few more highlights from the family trip ...

It's been way too long for me ... I should have updated weeks ago. You know, busy with work, school, chasing my kids around ...

Anyway, there are some really funny pictures from our adventure in California that I just have to share with you all. I'm sure that some of these will need to be dusted off for a reminder of some of our most embarrasing moments at a later date. Like when Rylee brings a boy home for the first time!

The kids were so excited to shop for school clothes. Except for Baylee. She wanted to spend every bit of her school money on toys and junk. She bought three new Barbies, 6 new Pet Shop pets, and a set of Russian stacking dolls. Oh, and don't forget a Japanese umbrella ... for a rainy day. Probably the funniest part about her is how totally lost she gets in her own world. This is her in the car, as we are driving around sightseeing. The entire trip for her was focused on the conversations between her High School Musical Barbies. She's a hoot!

Needless to say, I had a wonderful time with my kids. 10 whole days of no work, sleeping in, playing at the beach, eating yummy food, and laughing ourselves silly ... how do you beat that?

Here's a few photos of us at a yummy roadside hamburger stand in Laguna Beach. We were starving after a day of swimming and trying to surf. The food was incredible!

Here's a few more photos:

This one is PRICELESS ...



Hairband, $1. Sunglassed from swap meet, $5. Sand in every crack and crevice, no charge. Chance to act like a hippie beach bum, PRICELESS!

Here's one of me at the spot we picked out for our Laguna Beach day. It was so pretty. There were tidal pools surrounding us; we got to see cool see urchins, anemones, etc. And the view wasn't too shabby, either!

So many funny moments happened between Laguna Beach and this next shot. Several late night movies at the hotel, the kids racing down for "free waffles" at the breakfast bar, Rory trying to speak German to some foreign kids in the hotel pool. Oh, my! We had a great time.

This photo of Rory is just one of about 15. Rylee thought it would be fun to shoot action shots of the kids eatinig their ice cream as we waited to board the plane home. Brother!

One of the last funny moments happened just after this photo ...

We were sitting next to where they were boarding an international flight ... to Rome. I had my back to the folks walking down the enclosed jetway; Rylee was facing me and watching them. Mid-sentence, she got really quiet, and looked like she was getting teary-eyed. I asked what was wrong ...

She says, "I just saw Snoop Dogg!" (She believes that he and his entourage were boarding the flight?!)

I teased her about the misting up for several days .... why would you cry about Snoop? And his dog pound? Come on, Ry!

Anyway, it was a great trip. Well worth the time, expense and planning to pull it off! Love you, dang kids!