Vacation Time

We haven't been sharing very much this month. That doesn't mean we haven't had things to share.

We decided to take a family trip. We've talked about going to California since February and kept deciding it wasn't the right time. Then my little brother Mitchell came home from Afghanistan and we decided that that was reason enough to make the road trip.

Our first day began by driving to visit Oliver's grandma in Las Vegas. We got in late which led to Evan not sleeping well at Grandma's house, but she was wonderful in letting us stay with her. Our second day was Ryan's birthday. Grandma was so sweet and had purchased balloons, cake and a present for our Ryan. He loved it! We then drove several more hours to Mission Viejo, California. Some old friends live in California and their parents offered their home to us for the weekend. They were so generous! It made it nice to not have to pay for a hotel every night, but it made it almost mandatory that we were able to visit Neek & Josiah for as much as we did. I loved it! Neek was awesome! We arrived at dinner time and she had provided dinner, made a cake(with blue frosting-very important in a 3 year old's mind), purchased balloons and even gave him a few presents.

Ryan had a fantastic birthday and I didn't do anything to make it that way.

Day 3 was fun! We went to Newport Beach. We walked along the pier and then let the kids play at the playground there in the sand. As we walked along the pier, Evan's attention was focused on the waves. He tried to climb over the railing to get to them. As the other kids were enjoying the swings or slides, Evan walked all the way back to the pier to try and climb the railings again, not realizing that he could have just walked over the sand straight to the water. So I finally took him down to kick in the waves for 10 minutes or so. He loved it so much. After a picnic lunch at the gazebo, we walked on the other side of the little island and took Ryan, Evan & Taylor on the ferris wheel. Again...the kids loved it! We then drove south along the PCH and Josiah took us to a viewpoint that was fun to walk along. For a shutter happy family, can you believe we didn’t take our camera out once on Day 3?! We were just having too much fun playing with our friends.

Day 4 we drove to San Diego to walk around Balboa Park. After a few hours meandering those beautiful acres, we went to the newly renovated Mormon Battalion Visitors' Center. That was a very cool, spiritual hour. After that, Oliver was determined to find some birds. So we sent ourselves on a little adventure amidst our big adventure and found a good bird watching spot. It made our trip complete as far as Oliver was concerned.

Day 5 we left the comfortable home we were staying in, and the cool ocean breezed weather to begin our trek back north. Our first stop was several miles eastward to the desert where Mitchell is stationed. We got to Twentynine Palms...or 2-9...got a visitor's pass and found him in his barracks. We took him to lunch and then drove into Joshua Tree National Park.

Oliver found birds, Mitch was being photographer, and Ryan was having a blast with his uncle. Evan and I were...there. and hot. :) But it was so nice to spend time with Mitchell even if it was just for a few hours. And if there hadn't been any bees...another story for another day. After leaving Mitch, we needed to head back to Vegas. But luckily we went the fun way. Which for us, means not the interstate. We drove a more direct route north through the Mojave National Preserve and boy was I grateful for a dinky little dot on the map...Hooray for Kelso Depot!

Day 6 was a lazy morning with Grandma again before heading north. Oliver hadn't had enough little adventures so we stopped at a park in St. George and found this cool campground up past Silver Reef called Oak Grove and then ate dinner in a dinky little Mexican restaurant in Cedar City.

It was a great ending to our vacation. We were relaxed, got to see fantastic friends and family, and didn't necessarily feel like we needed another break...except to do laundry.

Random Vacation Pics - by Ryan

We somehow missed our 11 on the 11th for this month. So here are some pics for you taken by Ryan (who turned 3 on Friday!). These were all taken during our recent vacation to visit family and friends in Las Vegas and California.

End of School Year

Evan had such a fantastic time at school this year, that I wanted to do something small for his teachers to thank them for making it a great year. As a mother, I was a little off because his last day of class was Tuesday and I thought I had until Thursday. I kept my time frame and luckily, on Thursday, they were in his classroom taking things down preparing for demolition of the school the next week. I didn’t really know what to give them, but I found this cool idea and tried to replicate it.

 

It was fun to do and I kind of give myself a pat on the back for finishing it. (Thanks Oliver for getting me a chick flick to watch while doing it). I also took some time to write out a thank you card for each of them. It was definitely small, but then Evan made up for it by giving his own version of gratitude.