Frost Family Reunion 2009, Part III

In the last post, I failed to mention the major sunburns we all got. Joel and my sunburns were just from our own laziness. I don't have any pictures of my burn, but Joel was foolish enough to let me take some pictures of him while he played pool with his brothers:


Dane's sunburn was due to a mom who was not thorough enough. Dane is allergic to some sunscreens, so I don't have the nice spray on or stick types. Just regular old lotion. So I'm supposed to make sure I get good coverage, and I apparently did not. These pictures don't show it super well, but he had an uneven burn down the side of his face and a triangle under his eye:


Those two pictures are all we have of the day after beach day, since it hitherto became known as Vomit Day for many of us. Dane threw up in the morning, but I tried to convince myself it was a fluke, despite the fact that several other people were already throwing up all over the place. I just wanted him to be able to ride the train at Griffith park. But then he threw up several more times in the car on the way there. So we dropped off Jake and came right back home. Boo.
Luckily, it was just a 12-24 hour bug for most of us, and by that evening, Dane was in good spirits again. Tess had a kids' activity of making individual pinatas, and Dane was really itching to participate. He had been sick when they made them, but by bashing time, he was ready to roll, so I made a monkey pinata for him really quick.

He was reluctant to let me help at first:




Even though he was one of the youngest to try his hand at the pinatas, I thought he held his own quite well, if I do say so myself.
The next day was Hollywood Day!!
We started out at Grauman's Chinese Theater, trying to find our favorite celebrities' hand and footprints:
Joel chose Abbott & Costello

While I went with Leonard Nimoy, true to the nerd I am.

Then, things got really exciting when I found the Harry Potter square, complete with wand prints!

And Joel found the footprints of his celebrity crush:

The only really notable star we found down the walk of fame was Michael Jacksons. It was a happening place, as you can imagine:

Then, we searched the streets for a superhero to get our picture with. Joel was particularly excited about this because he recently watched a documentary called Confessions of a Superhero that followed the lives of these people who dress up and pose for tips around Hollywood. So he ultimately chose The Incredible Hulk to get our picture with:

This guy, Joseph McQueen, talked with Joel a little bit about being in the documentary and what happened to the Superman guy. Apparently a new, younger guy forced out the older guy who was in the movie. So we refused to take a picture with Superman.

That was our most exciting celebrity sighting.
That is, until we ran into President Obama outside Madame Trussaud's Wax Museum!

He and Joel really hit it off.
Dane got really excited about a monkey climbing a vine in Ripley's Believe it or Not:

And then, even though we don't ever really watch Sesame Street, Dane recognized Big Bird and was excited to meet him:

Word to the wise: If you're ever in Hollywood, avoid this Elmo! He weasled his way into our picture and then demanded that we pay him, even though we didn't even ask him to be in our picture! And since when is Elmo a Lakers fan? It was all very untoward.
Anyway, we loved Hollywood, but one afternoon was definitely enough for us.
Back home, Joel and Dane decided to take a little swim in the backyard pool:




Tune in next time for family pictures and the wrap up of Frost Family Reunion 2009!

Frost Family Reunion 2009, Part II

Sorry for the delay, everyone. I have been in Oklahoma for the past couple of weeks. And don't you worry; I will be posting about that soon.
Let's see...next up on the Frost Family schedule was
The Beach!
Some of you might recall that Dane's first and only experience with the beach was not a particularly enjoyable one, namely because of an ear infection. So I've been looking forward to a new beach experience. Well, Dane wasn't a fan of the cold water, but he did enjoy playing in the sand with his cousins.


And hanging out with Grandma

And being stalked by Daddy



The brothers ran their customary race into the water


While Laurie Jayne gazed with pride at her husband's triumphant finish

Here's the whole family's set up

I took an arm's length photo to prove I was actually there

Then Joel took over the camera for a little while

As you can see, Dane was a huge fan of being buried in the sand

And of being caught in a game of "I don't want him, you take him" with Daddy and Uncle Jared

We only had a couple of beach umbrellas for 34 people, so we ended up being in the sun. I finally rigged up Dane's boat floaty shade, and he had a lot of fun snuggling up in the tiny shade:


Hooray for the beach!



Coming up soon: Hollywood and family stomach bug!

Frost Family Reunion 2009, Part I

Joel's family has a reunion every other year, and we have really been looking forward to seeing everyone; it takes a big event to get all 34 people in one place! This year, we decided to gather in Los Angeles. Since Joel got Pioneer Day off from work, we left one day early, picked Jake up in Provo, and spent the night in Las Vegas.
For the record, Joel hates Vegas.

But he was a good sport about accompanying me. We stayed in Circus Circus and took a nice little stroll up the strip.

I was hoping to go to the buffet in the Paris or the Venetian, but we got trapped in Treasure Island (the only sidewalk leading out was crowded with people waiting for a show). Making the most of it, we headed into the buffet there and were told our total for three adult buffets was $84.00. Whoa, wait a second. "How much is a buffet?" "$28.00."

Oh.

I was fully expecting to pay about $20, but almost thirty bucks for a buffet seemed a little crazy. So we were naive and cheap. We just walked right back down the strip and ate at the Circus Circus buffet for $13.99 per person.
Anyway, the next morning, we continued on to L.A. Joel's Aunt and Uncle were kind enough to let us stay in their house, and we soon acquainted ourselves with the crazy layout. Apparently, the people who built the house had an unhappy marriage, and every time the wife got really upset, she'd just build another addition onto the house. I didn't get any pictures of it, but I'll sift through my in-laws' pictures to see if they got any good shots.
We spent Saturday shopping and settling in. Sunday, we went to church and then had a family talent show, which was a ton of fun.
The Cobias sang "When You're Next to Me" and the Muppet version of "Tenderly."


I don't know if you can tell, but they were really rocking out.
Then the Nate/Biz clan sang "Kami no Ko Desu", Japanese for "I Am a Child of God."

And Smith impressed us with an impeccable Brian Regan routine.

Paul performed an Andy Griffith bit about football

The Al/Monique clan sang "The Family Is of God."

We didn't get a picture, but Carter displayed his amazing ability to make farting noises with his armpits AND the backs of his knees.
Then the Stephen/Meghan clan showed off their gymnastics, and Lauren sang "Somewhere Out There."


Then it was our turn, with Cirque dane Soleil!!!
The Hang!

The Handstand!

The Ab Strength!

The Wall Climb!

The Kick Flip!

The Clinging Spin!

The Almost Falling Off but Holding on for an Amazing Tower!

And bow.

Joel and Steve did a great rendition of "Who's on First?"

Laurie Jayne and Adam did the unmistakeable "Thriller"


Jake & Co. did "Casey at the Bat"


And Mom played us a lovely nocturne.

Whew. That was a lot of talent.
To be continued...