Life At The Circus

Bringing Books To Life

2018-03-04T16:51:00.001-05:00

This February the girls had their very first international meet in Orlando Florida!

And since the meet happened to be only 10 minutes from Universal Studios, we decided to add a day of Family Fun at Universal Studios before heading home from Florida.

Our oldest son has read the entire Harry Potter series more than once as well as some of the “bonus books” like Fantastical Beasts and Quidditch Through the Ages… child number two got into the Harry Potter phase this fall and is currently reading book 5. Child number three read books 1-4 a a year or so ago… she stopped on book 5 b/c it got too scary for her liking. I have read through 5 but it was many years ago and I am fuzzy on details. So, we decided the whole family needed to listen to the audiobook for book 1 on our 13 hour ride down to Florida, since we were going to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Jim Dale does a FABULOUS job of narrating it. It got us all in the mood for a day of Harry Potter magic. (We were captivated and ended up listening to all of book 2 and a large portion of book 3 on our ride home).

We started in Diagon Alley and went straight to Gringotts Bank.

Then we went to King Cross Station and found Platform 9 3/4.

and we rode the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade!

It was so fun for us to see so many details from the book in real life!

Even waiting in lines and exploring in shops was so fun!

We had lunch at Three Broomsticks!

Then we set off to explore some of the other areas of Universal.

The Superheroes were great fun!

They really took the time to talk to the kids. Captain America was not happy to have our son tell him his favorite super hero was Falcon, but then he explained that it was b/c he loves animals and then he listened to him tell all about our pet animals.

Rogue and Storm asked the girls if they were gymnasts.

Seuss Landing was a lot of fun… brought out my inner child and my inner elementary school teacher.

As evening approached we headed back to Hogsmeade for one more ride on Flight of the Hippogriff….

When we got off we were in the perfect spot to wait for the evening light show at Hogwarts.

What better way to pass the time waiting, then to enjoy a glass of the infamous butter beer!

Then we headed back to Diagon Alley… stopping to visit with the Knight Bus driver, and make a call to the Ministry of Magic.

And since they alley was much less crowded in the evening, we all had a chance to use the wand for some magic of our own.

Before we left, we made time for a quick pic with their teammates and friends!

It was a super fun filled day! The next day we set off for North Carolina and a quick visit with friends. They define SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY. And while we didn’t have a lot of time to spend with them, we made good use of the time we had…

The rest of the journey home flew by thanks to Jim Dale’s narration of Harry Potter Book 3.

St Kitts: More Beach Fun and Monkeys!

2017-08-16T22:11:00.001-04:00

Our final port of call was St Kitts.

We didn’t really have a game plan for St Kitts. All we knew was we wanted to find monkeys and a beach with some shells and snorkeling. We found a taxi driver who could take us to both!

After getting a chance to hold the monkeys, we set off for the beach.

Here we enjoyed several hours of sand, sun, swimming, sea shells, and snorkeling.

They found Dory!

Everyone got to do what they wanted and we all had a wonderful day at St Kitts!

Another National Park – St. John USVI

2017-08-15T18:29:00.001-04:00

When we found out the itinerary for the family cruise, Scott and I were super excited to see that the ship would be stopping at St Thomas… this meant that we could take an excursion to St John and visit US Virgin Island National Park!!!

That’s right, another vacation with a sign pic for the circus crew!!

National parks rarely disappoint and St. John was no exception. St John was our family’s favorite day of the vacation (and there were a lot of good days)!

We even saw an iguana on St Thomas right when we got off the cruise ship…. you know your day is off to a great start, when you’re greeted by an iguana!

The kids enjoyed it all, from the ferry ride over, to the van ride to the park.

The snorkeling there was fun and amazing… even better than we had even hoped.

We saw so many beautiful fish and even an eel and a sting ray! All 6 of us got to enjoy snorkeling.

I was so thankful for all the swim practice the kids had earlier this summer, because not once was I worried about them swimming out there.

This brain coral impressed me!

And the “electric blue” looking fish was one of my favs.

The eel, is the leopard colored like thing you see hiding in the coral.

We got to try our hand at stand up paddle boarding, which has been something on my wish list for a while now. The water was so clear. When I jumped off the paddle board I thought I could touch b/c I could see the bottom so clearly, but quickly discovered I was in water way over my head.

Pop even did a little kayaking.

Every single time my youngest saw a fish he would point and say “fish” through is snorkel. It was really cute and there were a LOT of fish so it happened a lot. In addition to snorkeling, our youngest had a fantastic time playing in the sand with his cousins.

His favorite aspect of the day was “spending the whole day together with everyone.”

It was such a fun day with many precious memories. I’d definitely go back and spend more time at St John if I had the opportunity.

Birthday in the Caribbean

2017-08-14T20:40:00.001-04:00

Our youngest daughter turned 10 during our vacation. It was the second year in a row that her birthday fell during our vacation. At first she wasn’t very excited about having to celebrate her birthday away from home….but turns out a Caribbean cruise isn’t too bad a place to celebrate ones birthday.

She has told me in the past that SOMEDAY, she would like to have an ice skating party. Um, Ice skating parties in July can be a tad tricky…. unless you are on the worlds largest cruise ship!

Once on board we learned that the ice rink was only open certain days and times…. While it wasn’t open on her birthday, it was going to be available the evening before… so her party got started a little early!

After dinner on Monday we all went to the ice rink.

The next morning Scott and I decorated our room with balloons and streamers (from Solomon's :-) to surprise her when she woke up in the morning. She really liked it.

Her birthday was on a port day, and it just happened that it was on the port day where our entire group would stay together. We planned an excursion to USVI National Park (more details on that in another post)…. after a day of snorkeling, swimming, and paddle boarding we returned to the ship.

Due to the extended day excursion, we didn’t have our normal formal dining plan. This actually worked out well for the birthday girl, b/c she did NOT want to be sung to by the wait staff. This girl does not enjoy being the center of attention. We ate up at the buffet where everyone found something yummy to eat.

We did sing her happy birthday in a whisper and then we topped the day off by going to see a ventriloquist show. The show had us all laughing and was a perfect ending to a fun family day.

The rest of the week the wait staff at the formal dining room tried to sing happy birthday to her and she always refused. One night the head waiter performed a magic trick for us and she begged him to tell her how he did it. He said, “You let me sing Happy Birthday to you and I’ll tell you.” She shook her head and said, “I want to know, but I don’t want to know THAT bad!”

It was a truly fun birthday for her. It was my favorite 24 hours of the entire week. Even our oldest son said, “Man, it is her birthday, but this was MY favorite day of the entire year!” She decided it was a great way to celebrate turning double digits… and she’d like to return to a cruise when she moves from double to triple digits on her 100th Birthday!

Bahamas Part 2

2017-08-08T12:11:00.000-04:00

Once we had our clothing situation resolved, a weight was lifted from our shoulders and were ready to show the kids the Caribbean. We were thankful we were able to get our errand running out of the way early and get the kids so we could hit the beach. We were off the ship for round 2 before 9 am!

We had decided ahead of time that our plan for Nassau was to walk to nearby Junkanoo Beach. We knew it wasn’t necessarily the best snorkeling around, but it would provide us with a beach to play around in and we were planning our big snorkel excursion for St John later in the week. Junkanoo was perfect for our needs that morning. We walked there in under 20 minutes. We got to swim in beautiful clear water. We got to practice our snorkeling. My parents met us for part of it and enjoyed some beach time with us also.

After a few hours we headed back towards the ship, saving time for the girls to do some shopping. Both girls had saved their allowance to do some shopping on the islands during our vacation. Their goal for Bahamas was to find straw bags to keep sea shells in. It was really cute to watch them walk around looking for just the right bag and also interacting with the woman at the stand. She offered to add their names to the bags, which sealed the deal for the girls. Now they had a souvenir from the Bahamas to keep their shells in from our vacation. They were happy.

Replacing What Was Left Behind

2017-08-07T17:53:00.001-04:00

The day before we left for vacation, I had commented to a friend that I found packing for our cruise to be more challenging than any other vacation because this was the first vacation we’d gone on where if we forgot something we couldn’t just run to Wal-mart to pick up what we needed…

Turns out I was worried for good reason, b/c when we arrived at the curb of the airport, we realized we had left behind one of our larger suitcases… the one with all of my and Scott’s underclothes and shorts and every day type clothing (it also had some decorations for our daughters 10th birthday that I was really excited about :-(. While we arrived at the airport with plenty of time to check our bags, go through security, and board our plane… we did not arrive with enough time to go back and forth to home and get our forgotten luggage. I send out a few panicked group 7AM texts to a whole lot of people from our church family that live near us seeing if anyone could possibly help us (yes we were that morning spammer)… it was a desperate grasping at straws attempt to try and get our bag! We actually had a friend ready and willing to make the morning trek, but when we talked to the ticket person at the airport we learned they won't quite make the check in deadline. So close! (thanks for trying)!

Like it or not we had to go for plan B.

I did a search on my phone and saw there was a Target not far from the Ft. Lauderdale airport. My FIL had set up a shuttle to take us all directly from the airport to the ship but Scott and I figured there would be enough time for the two of us to get a taxi and run to Target. It would be an unwelcome stress and expense but, there SHOULD have been plenty of time.

I started making a list of what I thought was in the missing bag. I couldn’t remember for sure exactly what was in each bag and I was really wishing I had double checked what we actually did have before I checked the ones we had (note for next time we forget a bag :-). Anyway, I made a list of what I thought I knew we needed and by far underwear was our biggest concern. Thereis a lot that can be improved in a pinch but underwear is a staple you don’t want to cruise without.

The kids were happily enjoying the flight with Nana and Pop. Our youngest stared out the window in awe and amazement the entire flight. I asked if he wanted his book and he told me, “No, I am too busy staring out the window looking for the ocean.”

We decided this wasn’t going to be so bad. Sure it wasn’t ideal, but we could make it work. It appeared our flight was on course to actually land early… Scott and I were feeling optimistic. My list was made, his parents would get our luggage and take the kids to the ship, we’d meet them there after a quick taxi ride to Target…. But then… our plane took an abrupt right turn and our captain got on the loudspeaker and announced that were making an unexpected stop in Orlando due to a medical emergency. It was a great reminder that however inconvenient our forgotten luggage was, it really was not an emergency. There would be no underwear but, in addition to our health, we were thankful for the bags we did have: all of the kids clothes and our dress clothes. We had our sunscreen. We had our snorkel gear. We even had a bathing suit each. We had our toiletries and first aid kit.

We made it to the ship and my sister in law lent me a pair of shorts and a few tank tops. My mom lent me a shirt and spare bathing suit as well. I was pretty well set except for underwear. Poor Scott had only the shorts he was wearing, some polo shirts, a pair of khaki pants and a bathing suit. Before the ship left the port, I did some more searching on my phone. The first port of call was the Nassau, Bahamas the next morning. I thought maybe, MAYBE they’d have a Walmart or Target. I discovered they had something called Solomon’s Supercenter. Scott and I made a plan… we’d get up early the next morning and disembark as soon as possible. We’d leave the kids with the grandparents and take a taxi to Solomon’s. We packed our beach bag, laid out the kids swim suits and sunscreen. We figured we’d be back in 2 hours tops… the grandparents would make sure the kids ate, then when we got back to the ship, we would still have time to take the kids to the beach that was within walking distance of the cruise ports.

We were some of the first people off the ship… when we asked a taxi driver for a ride to Solomon’s Market he gave us a strange look. “What are you looking for,” he asked us. We forgot one of our suitcases we explained… we need underwear and tee shirts… not tourist shopping… but like where would you go if you lived here shopping. He told us Solomon’s was where we wanted to go…but not many people come off the cruise ship asking to go to Solomon’s.

Solomon’s was exactly what we needed… think step down from Walmart… not near as big selection… and way higher imported prices… but truly we were not in a position to be choosey. We had our list of essentials. We needed underwear, some tee shirts, a pair of shorts and some birthday decorations. There was more than that in our suitcase at home, but these goods would help us get by. Not everyone gets this pic when they visit Nassau. :-)

We got our goods and were back to to the ship in an hour. As we walked up to the ship we saw Scott’s sister and her family heading off for their excursion at Atlantis. “We have underwear!” I shouted with glee!! (see the “Solomon's bags in the picture below –> Happiness)

When we got home a week later, we had to laugh at our suitcase sitting in the hall waiting for us. One plus of our forgotten luggage was Scott and I came home to a suitcase full of clean clothes waiting for us, while the kids had to wait till I caught up on laundry for their clean clothes.

Christmas with Grands and Cousins

2016-12-29T14:22:00.001-05:00

I LOVE hosting Christmas. And I am so thankful that my extended family allows me that privilege. I am thankful that they all have been willing and able to come year after year so we could share the day together. I don’t take it for granted. I know my parents won’t always be able to travel. I know my BIL and SIL can get stationed so far away that it just doesn’t make a trip to MD possible. I know life situations can change in the blink of an eye.

And so I am thankful for what we have. I am thankful that my SIL, BIL, and two nephews came and spent 4 days and 3 nights with us. I am thankful for the sounds of cousins chasing each other round the house, for cookie decorating, for legos and video games and trampoline time, for Apples to Apples and a giant puzzle. I am thankful for the mess and the giggles and the time together.

I am thankful for our Christmas Eve candlelight service and the reminder that even though this world is dark and broken, Jesus is the Light of the World and He came to save us and give us hope. I LOVE Christmas. I love the entire season from the day after Thanksgiving till New Years, but my favorite part by far is worshipping on Christmas Eve. Here is my crew before heading out the door on Christmas Eve. Gosh, they are growing up before my eyes.

I am thankful that Christmas morning we started at 7 am with both sets of grandparents here to enjoy the festivities.

I am also thankful that this year Christmas was on a Sunday and we were able to take some time away from the glorious mess on Christmas morning and spend time to worship our Lord. Part of me left church wishing Christmas always fell on a Sunday. A HUGE thank you to the pastors and worship leaders who gave up even more of their family time to prepare to lead their congregations in worship. It was a gift to us all.

This year we were also treated with a Steelers/Ravens game for Christmas. Since my love for Steelers football was a gift passed down from my dad, I truly LOVE when we can all watch the game together. This Christmas found the entire extended family in our basement, cheering and crying and screaming and towel waving and in the end CELEBRATING an intense game of Steelers football. What a treat!

I took very little pictures this Christmas… like seriously hardly any. In fact I have zero from Christmas day. But, I did want to stop as I am packing up my Christmas decor today and at least record some of my favorites memories from this year. Because I am so very thankful for the family God has given me and for the time we got to spend together.

Christmastime in the Big Apple

2016-12-21T09:50:00.001-05:00

About a month ago my youngest asked when we would see the Statue of Liberty again. We visited it a few years ago on our way to our Boston Vacation, and it has been a highlight memory of our youngest child ever since. He loves when we spot it on tv or in a picture somewhere. I replied, “Probably the next time we go to New York City.” To which he of course replied, “When can we go to New York City again?” followed by, “Can we go tomorrow?” The other kids all laughed and said no way, besides Daddy is away on business travel, we can’t go without him. He then wanted to know if we could go the day after Daddy got back. I said, “Let’s ask Dad.” So, we did on our next phone call with Scott. Scott paused a minute and said, “Welll…. maybe let me check my schedule.” He was getting back the week before Thanksgiving and already planning to take a light week of work, maybe we could pull of his request and have a family fun day in the Big Apple. The kids eyes got huge. They really didn’t think we’d say yes.

I started looking into things we could do for an afternoon in New York. And as I did I realized we were right on the brink of Christmas in New York. While some of the lights would be on display, the big tree in Rockerfeller Center wouldn’t be up until after Thanksgiving. Soooo I strongly suggested we put of our spontaneous day of fun in New York City for a few weeks so we could see the tree as well. The kids obliged and a date was set.

Yesterday was the day! We set off around 9 am… breakfast and lunch packed to eat in the van… we also brought a childrens book about Christmas in New York for my youngest to read on the ride, as well as the movie Elf to watch on the ride up.

Since seeing the Statue of Liberty was the catalyst for the whole adventure, that was high on our list. But, since we had already been to Ellis Island and climbed into Lady Liberty, we weren’t going to pay to do all that again.

Enter the free Staten Island Ferry.

I was surprised at what a great view we got of The Statue of Liberty.

He was so excited!

We also got a beautiful view of the approaching skyline.

After riding the ferry over to Manhattan, we took the subway to enter downtown.

The subway and ferry were highlights for the kids.

Our first stop was Macy’s to see Santa Claus!

The kids have all seen the movie Miracle on 34th Street and so even those with little interest in Santa didn’t mind making this stop.

Once we had our moment with the Big Guy, we decided to let our youngest go first and have his moment with him. I LOVE, L-O-V-E this picture!

Then the other kids joined for a photo opp.

When Santa asked my oldest what he wanted for Christmas, he replied, “For the Steelers to beat the Ravens.”

This brought a hearty chuckle from Santa Claus, who then replied, “I too am a fan of the Steel Curtain. I shall see what I can do for you.”

This brought a smile to all of our faces as well as a fist bump from our 12 year old. When we were done with our visit, Santa said, “I will do my best for the game.”

Outside of Macy’s you get a great view of the Empire State Building.

Next we set off by foot for Rockefeller Center.

We all enjoyed the light show at Sak’s 5th Avenue.

The lights and displays were beautiful.

It’s always fun to torture the kids with a pic of their parents smooching.

Next we set off for Times Square!

We got to see where the ball will drop in just about two weeks. The kids were surprised to see it wasn’t as high as it looked like on tv.

The day was drawing to an end, with everything crossed of our wish list. Last stop was NY style Pizza for dinner. This involved a full subway experience as we had to hop on a subway to a certain stop and change lines to reach our destination on Greenwich Village. Our 10 year old daughter spotted a rat crossing the tracks and was so excited to see a real rat on the NY Subway! I think it is possible her face lit up with more enthusiasm for that than for the tree in Rockefeller Center.

I was hoping that the somewhat out of the way journey to Joe’s Pizza was worth the extra effort.

I had read several reviews and it sounded like exactly what we were looking for. But, you never know when researching on the internet.

However, it was amazing. Delicious pizza with an authentic vibe!!

Our afternoon in NYC was winding down. Everyone was excited for one more ride on the subway and another ride on the ferry. It was fun to see city skyline at night as well as the Statue of Liberty all lit up.

We set off for home, with the kids watching Home Alone 2 Lost in New York. It was fun to hear them recognize places we had just visited. I went to bed grateful that night… grateful for the blessing of a hassle free drive to and from New York City. Grateful for safety on our travels. And grateful for a husband that is willing to take a day off in the middle of the week and spend it driving 7 hours to spend 6 hours in traipsing around the city. It was a perfect day of family fun!

Another Milestone

2016-10-07T22:21:00.001-04:00

A quick search through old posts and you will discover that I am a complete sap about gap toothed smiles. In my humble opinion, they are beyond precious and absolutely adorable. So, when our youngest lost his first tooth this week, I was completely smitten.

It’s been loose for awhile, but unlike my other children he wasn’t eager to pull it. No light saber pulling, or tying the tooth the the door knob. He just waited patiently for it to fall out.

And it did.

During worship at our church last Sunday evening, he whispered over to me with an excited smile, “I Lost my tooth!” Thankfully I had some napkins in my purse. It was so cute to hear him tell people about it. He’d exclaim, “It’s my first tooth I lost in my entire life!” The next day when he was telling his tutor about it at our tutorial, I realized he had somehow gotten the idea that the tooth fairy works for the dentist. As he was telling her, he said something to the effect of, “I was just at the dentist last week and they knew it was coming really soon… so last night they came (apparently the tooth fairy is a they) and they left me a silver dollar AND my tooth, since it was the first one I ever lost in my life, they let me keep it.”

I adore this age. And this smile.

The Full, Fun Last Day of our Adventure

2016-08-18T10:05:00.001-04:00

We’ve been home two and a half weeks and I am finally taking time to record the moments of our last day of vacation…. this is proof positive that I am glad I took the time to record our memories while on vacation b/c there is no way I could have gone back and done it once home.

We woke up QUITE cold on our last full day of vacation at Great Basin National Park. Since the elevation of our campsite was 9000+ feet we found ourselves snuggling in our sleeping bags with our sweats on. We even took time to build one last fire in the fire ring to stand around during breakfast.

Before departing for our hike, we were treated by a visitor at our campsite… This mule deer didn’t seem at all bothered by our presence as he strolled along the stream bed right outside our tent.

We set off for the alpine lake trail. It covered similar ground to the hike we did the day before but instead of going up towards the glacier and ancient trees, it veered to the right and went to two alpine lakes. We found ourselves going at a steady clip, I think we were getting more adjusted to the elevation.

The water level of the first lake was significantly lower than it has been in past years. You could see where the water level used to be. But, thankfully there was still a lake to see.

The snow melt streams were beautiful as were the wildflowers beside them.

Check out this root!

Climbing more hills…

Till we reached the next lake. (haha…. some had more energy left than others it appears).

Here the youngest three learned how to skip rocks.

I love when hikes take you to a spot you wouldn’t otherwise get to see. (unlike hikes that take you to overlooks you could have driven to in your car).

Aspen! I thought these trees were so beautiful.

After our hike, we quickly tore down our campsite and made our way to the visitors center to get the kids junior rangers badges.

Then it was off to Vegas baby! After a 5 hour drive we checked into our hotel and showered. Then it was off to show the kids a few spots on the strip and grab some dinner. It was around 7 or so by the time we took off.

First stop, Paris!

Then the fountains at the Bellagio!

Followed by a late night pizza dinner in New York City

and a fight at the MGM Grand

Then it was back to our hotel to catch some sleep and get ready to head home in the morning. It was a LONG day…not sure what else we could have packed into that day. But, a fun one! And everyone got to do/see what they had wanted. Our flight home was uneventful. Thankfully we had a direct flight which simplified things. By the time we landed, got our bags, got our van, made a quick stop at the grocery store for dinner/breakfast supplies… we arrived home at 10pm. Of course, to us it felt like only 6pm, but we knew we all needed to quickly adjust to east coast time, as Scott had work in the morning and the girls had practice. No smooth transition back into normal life, for us. But, we are so very grateful for the time we had away, to enjoy each other and the beauty of God’s creation. We find ourselves still marveling at all the green back home, after spending 2 and a half weeks in a mostly desert climate.

Our last National Park for this vacation!!

2016-08-03T01:36:00.001-04:00

We left Gana’s house around 11 on Saturday. Our destination was Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada. Our route was ‘the loneliest highway in America’. It was by far our longest drive of the trip, 8 hours with no midpoint destinations. But, of course, we made a few stops. We were not expecting much. We had mentally interpreted “loneliest highway” as “boringest highway” and thought it was going to be 8 hours of unchanging desert. We were wrong. Route 50 in Nevada is actually quite pretty. Scott and I enjoyed the ride immensely. The kids didn’t mind it either. About an hour before we reached the park, we passed through the last (of 3) towns on the route. It was around 7pm, so we had to decide if we would eat dinner here or keep going on try out the 1 restaurant in the teeny “town” closer to the park. We opted for dinner in Ely at a Mexican restaurant I had read about online. It was delicious.

We then spent a little time trying to decide if we should just stay the night at a KOA in Ely or go on to the park as originally planned. The campground in the park was “First come, first serve” and we were a little unsure about arriving at 9pm with no reservation. Since every other remote campground we had stayed at this vacation had numerous sites available, we decided to go for it.

When we arrived at the park entrance, the sign said there were still vacancies at two of the three open campgrounds. Hooray!! But, after driving around every site in these two campgrounds (which were not next to each other) we discovered that sign was not up to date. Boo! It was now after 10pm. Our options: Head back the way we came looking for a state forest, or sleep in the van. We both agreed sleeping in the van was the best move. We found a trail head with other parked cars (overnight backpackers), parked, and situated ourselves for the night. The rental van has stow and go seating. This has been great for storing items during our vacation. This night it was great for storing seats so two of the kids could sleep on the floor.

I am not going to say it was the most comfortable night of sleep ever. But, it wasn’t bad. In fact, Scott and I have not had much luck with our air mattress this vacation… we tried patching it twice and when that didn’t work, we even bought a new one which also leaked…. so most nights we have found ourselves sleeping on a deflated mattress…. all that to say, the van was actually more comfortable for me. Everyone found a spot and I fell asleep looking out the window at a beautiful star filled sky. Everyone was really good about it.

We woke and headed off straight to the Visitors Center. Our goals for our time at Great Basin were two fold: take a cave tour, and do an alpine hike Scott had read about. When I went online Friday to buy our tickets for the cave tour they were sold out (perhaps a missed clue that the campground might be full?). We were hoping maybe we could get a tour in Mon before we left the park. We got to the visitor center a little after 8am (this would NOT have happened if we hadn’t spent the night in the van, I am certain). We were not the only interested party and they offered to create a new tour for us at 10am AND, we could pick which tour we wanted!!! We were so excited!! We bought tickets for the tour and headed to a picnic area for breakfast… this picnic area had bathrooms with RUNNING WATER, so we even got to wash our hands AND brush our teeth! (flushing toilets and running water were luxuries many of our campsites didn’t have) Wahoo!!

We greatly enjoyed our tour of the Lehman Cave.

This cave formation is called, “cave bacon” and it is easy to see why.

The tour was great and was done around 11:30… we set off to find a campsite and found a beautiful site within walking distance of the trailhead we wanted to use. The kids loved the site as it was right beside a beautiful stream (and a secondary smaller stream our oldest daughter could make dams in :-). They played happily on the logs and stream beds. We ate a picnic lunch at our site and set up our tent. WE SET UP OUR TENT AT 1:00 in the afternoon! Our kids noted it was the first time all trip we set up our tent before 9pm.

Then we set off for our hike. Our plan was to do one hike which really consisted of two smaller overlapping hikes (a 3 mile hike and a 2.7 mile hike). We were going to hike to a fork in the hike, head towards the Bristlecone pine groves, then, when we hiked back and reached that fork, we would head in the other direction and hike around the two alpine lakes.

Our hike to the pine grove was beautiful. It was fun to do a hike where the kids could really see the trees thin out as we got closer to the treeline (and to experience the effect of the thinner air that went with it). We enjoyed hiking around these ancient trees. The bristlecone pine in this area are the oldest known living things. Some of these trees have been around since 1000 years before Christ was born!!!! They were beautiful. Portions of them will look dead and exposed even when the tree was still alive which made it doubly perfect since, as our kids always tease us, we love photographing dead trees :-).

Each tree has such fantastic character which I presume comes from surviving harsh living conditions. And, when one finally does die, it can stay on the mountain for another thousand years because it’s wood is super dense and there are no bugs to eat it away. Instead they just weather and eventually erode away in the wind.

During our hike up to the grove it was threating rain but while we were there we started to hear the rumbling of thunder. Because we were right at the tree line, it was definitely time to head back. It began to rain as we headed back down so rather then wait it out at the fork, Scott and I decided to abandon the alpine loop trail and fit it in the next morning. By the time we got off the trail, the rain was picking up and we sprinted back to our tent. We then enjoyed a game of “Exploding Kittens,” the card game of choice for this vacation. By the time the game was done, the rain stopped. Before long you couldn’t even tell it had rained. The sun was shining beautifully once again.

Scott gathered fire wood, the kids played in the stream, and we got ready for cooking dinner over the campfire.

It was a beautiful evening.

I loved the aspen trees. Scott loved the mountain peak behind them. Together they made for such a beautiful location to spend our last evening camping.

We sat around the fire waiting for it to get dark enough for star gazing, then we walked a short distance past our campsite towards the meadow and looked up.

It was stunning. You could easily see the Milky Way as well as several constellations. The older two children sat up with Scott after the younger two and I went back to our tent b/c we were soo cold and tired. Those that stayed up later were rewarded with seeing a shooting star!

The lyrics to the beginning of Chris August song “Starry Night” come to mind as I reflect on the beauty of God’s diverse creation that we were fortunate enough to see throughout this vacation.

From the birds that sing

In the tallest trees

To the human life

Of you and me

From the desert sands

To the place we stand

He’s God of all

He is everything

I’ve given my life to the only one

Who makes the moon reflect the sun

Every starry night

That was his design

I’ve given my life to the only son

Who was and is and yet to come

Let the praises ring

‘Cause he is everything

Time with Gana

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We can not make a trip to the state of California without finding a way to visit Scott’s Nana. Even though California is a big state, and being in California does not necessarily equate being in Nana’s neighborhood. Compared to the east coast, anywhere in California is MUCH, MUCH closer to Nana’s than normal. So, we knew our trip to California, MUST include a visit at Nana’s (or as the kids call her Gana for Great Nana).

We arrived on Thursday in time for dinner. We took her out to Chipotle. Then we spent some time just visiting in her living room. Our daughter proudly showed off her new Chinese dress and shoes. The girls also demonstrated some gymnastics and our youngest showed her his stuffed animal friends. Gana enjoyed every minute of it.

The next morning two of the kids and Scott joined her for her morning walk.

We then spent the day at her house. I caught up on laundry and the kids greatly enjoyed playing in her backyard. I think Nana enjoyed knowing the kids were enjoying her yard and Scott also appreciated that they were playing in the same creek he played in as a child.

This girl was once again in her happy place… building a damn in the creek…Nothing like an afternoon of playing in the mud to bring a smile to her face.

For dinner Scott went out to get Jim Boys tacos. These are Scott’s dad’s most favorite food ever, so a trip to his hometown had to include these. Nana was blown away by the idea of getting to enjoy Jim Boy tacos without having to leave her house. Apparently the concept of take out is a new one to her. It was so precious, how thrilled she was with getting to enjoy these tacos in her own home. She said it was like a party.

It was a fun and yummy meal. The kids enjoyed building forts and also playing card games and Nana enjoyed having her house once again filled with the sounds and antics of children. They all sat down and watched Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune together.

As I sat and talked with her about her life, I once again found myself grateful for this stage of life I am in. I know, I know that older people are always saying things like “Don’t blink, these days with your kids go by so fast.” And I know that young moms are often replying, “but I am so tired and the days are long and it’s too much pressure to say don’t blink.” Nana never said to me “Don’t blink.” But still as we sat and chatted about her life, I just got the sense the these days I am living in right now… THESE moments with the piles of laundry and the sink full of dishes… the kids arguing in the back seats and the rushing off to practices…. these days with my kids all home, together, WITH me…. these are the good old days. And she didn’t even need to tell me to treasure them for me to realize, that these years are a gift… a treasure. I don’t love laundry or house cleaning or refereeing kids disputes. But, I LOVE, L-O-V-E being a Mom. And while I’ll be their Mom for as long as I live, they won’t all live together with me for as long as I live. My time spent with Nana caused me to reflect on what a truly priceless time this is.

Saturday morning the kids, on their own, set their alarm for 7am so they were sure to be up with Gana (who woke at 6:30). The kids and I joined her for her morning walk, while Scott snuck out for a surprise.

Gana’s 90th Birthday is in a few weeks. And since we won’t be with her on her birthday, the kids thought we should still do something to celebrate with her. So, we had doughnuts and sang to her. She loved it. The kids actually sang, “Are you one… are you two…” all the way to 90 :-).

Scott loves and respects his Nana. He has as long as I have known him and long before I met her, I too loved her, just because of how he talked of her. He grew up on the other side of the country from her and truly wishes he could have spent more time with her growing up, but that lack of time together did not equate a lack of love and devotion.

As always, the time went by quicker than any of us wanted it to, but all of us were thankful for the opportunity to spend some quality time with Nana at her home. I am hopeful that the kids are all old enough to be able to truly remember the time spent with her. For, she is truly one special lady.

Lunch in San Fran

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I love big cities. D.C., New York City, Boston, Chicago, Seattle, Philadelphia… So, it probably doesn’t surprise anyone, Scott included, that when I was plotting our road trip from Pinnacles NP to his Nana’s north of Sacramento, I insisted we “swing by San Francisco” for lunch on our way. It was an hour drive out of the way (plus whatever time we spent in the city) but I really, really wanted to do it.

San Francisco is one of my favorite cities. I knew we couldn’t do it all with the kids in a few short hours, so I made a short list of what I wanted to do. We had to be quick because our main objective was to get to Nana’s…

We started with a drive down the crookedest street in the world, Lombard St.

From there we headed to Pier 39. We all enjoyed seeing the sites and walking around in some of the specialty shops.

The Golden Gate Bridge was covered in fog.

We LOVED watching the sea lions. Their antics were so amusing.

We looked out at Alkatraz

and posed in front of a heart.

Next we enjoyed some San Francisco sour dough bread for lunch…. shaped like a turtle (thanks to cousin Jenna for the recommendation).

Before leaving Pier 39 we posed in front of two Wyland’s whaling walls. We have a thing for whales.

Then it was off to Chinatown!!!

Our oldest daughter has been wanting to visit China since she did a report on the country in the first grade. We couldn’t get her to the Great Wall this vacation, but we were excited to take her to one of the bigger Chinatowns that we knew of. She had saved her money to buy some souvenirs here and she enjoyed shopping.

There wasn’t time for a cable car ride but the kids enjoyed watching them go through the streets… our 6 year old read the book ‘Maybelle the Cable Car’, while driving in the streets of San Francisco (written by the same author as Mike Mulligan’s Steam Engine).

We headed for the Golden Gate bridge, hoping the fog had burned off.

It hadn’t, but the kids were thrilled to actually drive across it on our way to Gana’s house.

I love San Francisco and will eagerly leap at any opportunity to spend a little time in that fun and pretty city. We saw what we came to see, had fun, and were on our way to visit Scott’s nana, four hours after we arrived in town.

Reuniting with Family at Pinnacles National Park

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During our trek across California, we wanted to also make time to see some of Scott’s family that live here. Scott’s aunt, uncle, and his cousin and her family live a few hours from Pinnacles National Park and graciously offered to meet us there and spend time with us at the park.

We met at a restaurant called Togo’s… we had never heard of it before, but Scott’s cousin described it as “like subway only better.” She was right! It was delicious. Every time we have passed a Toga’s since the kids call out, “TO-GOs!!” with great excitement. I wish we had remembered to snap a picture during lunch but we were too busy chatting and eating and having a blast. Just imagine 13 people gathered around small tables talking and laughing and eating and catching up on life. It was great.

After Togo’s we drove to the the park (about 40 minutes away) and found ourselves taking an extended time at the visitor center talking and catching up some more. Some of it had to do with the fact that it was 108deg outside, but mostly it was just because family is great. Eventually we made it to the trailhead.

This was our first time meeting Scott’s cousins’ husband Henrique and their daughter. But, thanks to facebook, I felt like I new them somewhat already.

Their daughter is the happiest, smiliest, most easy going baby. What a delight!

We all took a hike of the Bear Gulch trail together… all the surrounding rocks were very distinctive, clearly volcanic, and had lots of smaller rocks mixed right into them like chunky cookie dough.

It was hot but our hike went through some caves which made it much more doable… It was actually quite amazing how, as we approached, it was very notable natural air-conditioning.

We saw some wildlife in the cave. We spotted a red legged frog in the cave (a threatened species under the Endangered Species act).

Some other trail hikers helped us spot some bats!

After the cave we almost doubled back to re-enjoy the air conditioning but instead we decided to complete the loop trail. I’m really glad we did as the rock formations were pretty along the far side.

As we hiked along, Henrique was ahead of us and found an awesome spot to do the Lion King pose. Jenna’s response was so awesome, as she cracked up. She is a WAY cooler Mom than I am. The spot was perfect… We didn’t see animals gathering in reverence below but I assume they were.

How could I not let my whole fam join him for a group pic? I opted to take the photo though.

Once we were back to the parking lot, we bid farewell. It was such a fun time, and Scott and I both commented on how we just wish we could have had more time with them all.

Still, we are so grateful for all the effort they went through to meet us and spend the day with us. Family is awesome.

After they left, we decided to take a hike uphill to try and see some of the Pinnacles this park was named after.

As we hiked further up the mountain we could really smell and see the smoke from a nearby wildfire. It seemed to get progressively worse the higher we went, though the fires were miles away.

The smoke actually blotted out the sun.

Sadly, given the time of day (the sun back lit the Pinnacles) and the smoke from the fires, it really wasn’t an optimum time for viewing the pinnacles. We did get this shot of one of the smaller pinnacles.

Our time at Pinnacles was shorter than other parks this trip, but a good time was had by all.

Hiking to the Falls

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Scott had been hoping for us to take a hike down from Glacier Point to Yosemite Valley. It would be our longest hike, but it would have been all down hill and we would pass both Nevada and Vernal Falls. Given our kids fascination with water falls, this seemed like a fun hike. Unfortunately, we learned too late that there was no shuttle from Yosemite Valley to Glacier Point, and the only way we could do this plan was if we had pre purchased tickets for a special shuttle that left early in the morning.

So, we opted for plan B, which we weren’t as excited about, but ended up being great.

We took advantage of our campsite in Yosemite Valley and hiked through the woods behind our campsite to the beginning of a trail which would lead to Vernal Falls. Unlike plan A, this trail went UP from the valley to the falls. Because it was an upward hike, we were planning to go to the footbridge at the base of Vernal Falls and then maybe see about hiking all the way to the top, if we felt like it.

The climb to the base of the falls was pretty steady and we stopped for water breaks many times. In my head I thought, “yea, I think we will be fine just stopping at the footbridge.” Only when we got to the footbridge, the falls was still a long way off and it really wasn’t an impressive view. We all agreed we must press on.

You didn’t have to hike too much farther to get a MUCH better view of the falls. We stopped here for a snack. And since I am not really a fan of heights, I was thinking, “Yea… I am good…. no need to go further.” But, the rest of the crazy bunch was eager for more.

To be honest, I was a tad grumpy for this next section. It was a rather steep climb, I felt like all I could do was watch the step in front of me and try not to freak about the kids. In truth, the kids and Scott were all great. They weren’t going too close to the sides. They were fine. I was just a grump.

And Vernal falls was very beautiful and worth it.

It is also very large. If you look carefully, you can see a person on the right side of this next photo…

We had hit another decision point. We were basically at the top but there was that spot on the right… and to get to be where that spot was you had to go on up the last part which was a cliff side incline.

As you may have gathered, Scott and I have different personalities. And I am the wimp of the two of us. But, in our 15 years of marriage, I really feel like we have learned to work through these differences well. Sometimes, I just bow out. I know my limits and I recognize when no I can’t just push through and doing so just to be with the rest, will only ruin their fun b/c I will be a complete spazz the entire time. Sometimes I sit on the side and Scott takes the kids to overlooks. And I am ok missing the view. And Scott gets it and doesn’t even give me a hard time. Othertimes, he (and the kids) inspire me to push past the fear and share in the experience with them. Scott gave me an out here. He told me “Look, you can sit here, the kids and I will go to the top and then we will come down. I get that you wouldn’t want to do it.” But, this time, I didn’t want to miss the experience. I chose to dig deep and press on.

The view at the top wasn’t that spectacular. We all agreed the falls were prettier from below. But, that feeling of accomplishment of having pushed passed my fear, was so much grander than the view. And this shot of all 6 of us together at the top became quite valuable to me.

Once we reached the top, we learned we could go down another route. Scott and I were both quite happy to skip out on going down those steep sandy steps. Even though it meant climbing higher to another point and then taking a longer descent down so we could go on a switch back trail. So after lunch in the shade where the kids could dip their feet in a little pool of water and climb on rocks, we set out to finish the trail. As an unexpected bonus, it took us to an overlook of Nevada Falls. We got to see them both after all!

It had us climbing quite a bit in the sun. The kids did awesome. We took it slow and steady. This was Scott’s turn to be nervous as he was concerned about our water supply. We hadn’t originally planned to go this far (the path we chose was less dangerous but was longer). We were OK, but we were short and had to manage things a bit closer. The entire hike we were surounded by the beautiful Yosemite Granit Canyon.

We made it back to the campsite 5 hours after we set out. Our feet were tired, but we were all pretty happy. When we got back and looked at the pictures we had taken from Glacier Point the night before, you could see our hike… Here it is in red in the picture beside us. We chilled at the campsite for awhile and then took an evening drive around the valley. We ate our dinner in a meadow. On one side we faced Half Dome and the other was Yosemite Falls. Pretty wonderful dinner view.

The state of California has been suffering from severe drought the past several years. All I can say is the circus fam did their part to conserve water. You can count on 1 hand the number of showers we have had since entering the state. I am good with not showering every day… however, I have determined that 4 days is my limit. Momma gets a bit cranky after 4 days of not showering and will pay pretty much any price for a hot shower. $5 was a steal of a deal. The kids cleaned off in the river bed. The ice cold river bed. At least it got the layer of dirt washed off of them.

It was a long but fun day and we went to sleep that good kinda tired.

One of America’s Best

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Scott and I visited Yosemite 14 years ago during our trip which shaped all trips. Therefore, it wasn’t a must see for this vacation. And when Scott and I were first plotting out this trip, we kind of waivered as to whether we wanted to include it or not. But, we decided that since Yosemite is one of the quintessential parks and since we were were were going to be SO CLOSE, we owed it to the kids to show them Yosemite.

And I am glad we did.

We entered from the south, so they saw a lot of trees on a windy road and them BAM, their first glimpse of Yosemite was from Glacier Point.

It was a pretty spectacular location to take their first look. Here they got to see see it all, Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, Nevada Falls, Vernal Falls…

My oldest son though this wall looked perfect box jump size and encouraged me to give it a try.

And we took time out for this heart stopping pic. (While Scott was taking this picture, I saw a teenage girl and her dad walk by and notice and then ask her dad to take the same picture).

Then we went through the tunnel, and introduced them to El Capitan.

Then we saw Bridalveil falls. Scott’s aunt told us that when she was here 6 weeks ago, the water at Bridalveil was gushing. It wasn’t exactly gushing this day, but it was fun to see. And we did see a rainbow in it.

We saw this pretty blue bird (and many more like it during our stay in the park).

Seeing the sunset reflect on the granite faces above us, was truly beautiful.

We ended the day with pizza at Half Dome Village. Then we found our campsite and set up in the dark (as usual). As we approached our full campground, it looked like we were going to be packed in with a not so nice campsite. I was kind of disappointed b/c I have really appreciated our national park campsites. Turns out, our sight was on the back of the loop, and it it was right beside a big rock (and all our kids shouted hooray) (only they whispered b/c it was after dark) and right along a stream. We pitched the tent two feet from the stream and fell asleep to the sound of water running. It was such a nice camp sight and we were so thrilled to be there for two nights.

Good Ol’ Family Fun in the Canyon

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Our campground was located pretty much on the border of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. We woke slowly and had a leisurely breakfast, then headed out to see Kings Canyon.

As we approached the visitor center, we saw a sign for a church service in the park. We were only 5 minutes late so we ran down to join them in worship. It was pretty neat to be able to join with other believers in worship, right there in the midst of God’s creation.

After a stop at the Visitors Center, where all 4 kids earned their junior ranger badges, and one child spent some of her birthday money on a stuffed animal black bear which she named Sequoia, we headed down to the canyon.

We had a picnic lunch at Grizzly Falls… which technically wasn’t in either park, but was in some sort of protected area in the middle of the two. As we were walking up from the parking lot, my 6 year exclaimed in wonder, “Wow… a real water fall… like for real!” I think it was his first time seeing one. We all enjoyed eating our picnic lunch while watching the water fall and of course climbing on rocks.

If I had to describe our day in Kings Canyon with one word, it would be “fun.” We took a very leisurely hike around a meadow with the canyon towering above us.

The kids greatly enjoyed climbing on rocks (or doing pull ups on them).

We’d stop to climb and jump and find new routes up the rock, then hike some more.

Every time we would spot a large rock, we’d hear, “Hey Dad, can we climb that rock?” And of course once they figure out how to get on top one way, they each scramble to find a more difficult way to get on. They are all quite fascinated by the sport of rock climbing.

Clearly, they get their fascination for this from their father, not their mother (I would sit on a nearby rock and fret).

After climbing and hiking, the kids were quite excited to spend some time playing in the water.

My 10 year old had a complete blast building damns, and then making holes in the them and then tracking the flow rate by using pine needles…. I loved watching her mind work.

Nothing like an afternoon splashing in the river to bring out their smiles.

Be still my Momma heart… one thing Scott and I have remarked on during this trip, is how he is still very much our little boy. Sometimes I think it’s easy to get caught up in the day to day busyness of life and maybe lump the kids all together in a group… this time away together as a family, has reminded us that he is still our little 6 year old. Sure, he isn’t a baby or a toddler anymore. But, he is still very much a little boy. And it has been fun to savor that.

It was in this river bed that we spotted another wildlife to add to our every growing list this vacation.

We all thought this evergreen tree looked like a saguaro cactus.

Our 12 year old captioned this photo, “My mom said I could be anything I wanted and I chose a cactus.”

On our drive out of the canyon, we stopped to see another waterfall.

And here is where Scott showed great love to me. He totally wanted to jump off this rock and into the water and he was so ready to do it. Except I begged him not to. And even though he felt it was totally safe and would have had a blast doing it, he lovingly and selflessly kept his feet planted on the rocks.

The drive out of the canyon and back to our campsite was really pretty.

We got back to our campsite before sunset (a rare thing for us on vacations). We actually watched the sunset from our camp site and then roasted hot dogs over the fire for dinner.

BIG TREES!

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We arrived at Sequoia National Park around 2:00. We had a picnic lunch, stopped by the Visitors Center and headed off to find some big trees.

We took a 4 mile hike in the late afternoon, that as of this point, goes down as my favorite hike of the trip. We started in the populous area of the infamous General Sherman.

Then we hiked the Congress Trail.

As we hiked along, reveling in the big trees surrounding us, we saw some people stopped on the trail in front. They had spotted a bear!

We stood and watched in silence while the bear happily frolicked around, ripping the bark off logs and eating bugs and leaves. It was amazing.

It was so cool to see such a big wild bear, though it didn’t seem so big against the backdrop of a giant sequoia.

We then continued on our way, stopping for more pictures with the big trees.

Then ahead of us, right after this picture was taken,

we spotted ANOTHER BEAR! MUCH CLOSER this time. In fact, he was ON THE TRAIL ahead of us… maybe about 30 feet away.

Thankfully, we were with another family of four, so the 10 of us made a rather large group. We stood and watched in excited silence. He was on the trail so we weren’t really sure how we would get passed. It eventually (after a long time) meandered off the path and we walked quietly and quickly as a group and passed him. It was that combination of super awesome and freaky all at once. Incase anyone was wondering, this is the face I make when walking past a bear while hiking.

Shortly after we reached a fork in the road. Our new bear companions were continuing on the Congress trail, we were heading off on the Alta trail. The Alta trail was incredible. No longer on a paved path, we were walking in the woods.

We didn’t come across another human (or bear) for the rest of the path. It felt like we were in another world. Scott kept imagining what it would have been like to be an Indian living in these woods hundreds of years ago. Since the Sequoias are about 2000 years old, we were walking beside the very same trees the Indians would have walked among.

When we finished our hike and headed back to our van, we were the last car in the parking lot. When we had parked there hours before, we were in overflow parking with cars upon cars looking for a place to park. Now, we were alone.

We then set off towards our campground, but we were all ready for some food. We found a market near a visitor center which was just about to close. When I ran in while Scott and the kids parked, they took the order in front of me and said, “Last order”, and turned me away. But when Scott came in a few minutes later, he asked if there was any chance they could serve us anything, they obliged. What a blessing! We happily chowed down on some chicken sandwiches and tenders (we said we would take whatever they had that was easy), just thankful to have dinner. Then we drove on to set up our tent in the dark. The stars were beautiful. Walking to the bathroom, we spotted the big dipper between the tall trees. It was gorgeous.

We had had a wonderful time in Sequoia National Park.

A little break from camping

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After our morning at the beach, we were headed north west to prepare for the next leg of our trip. But before heading to 4 more National Parks, we were in need of hot showers, soft beds, and a washing machine.

Enter, Best Western.

We hadn’t booked a hotel in advance because we weren’t exactly sure how far we’d want to drive on Friday… we knew we wanted to get close to Sequoia National Park. As I searched online during our drive, I really wasn’t finding much in the town we had been aiming for, so we searched a little farther back… we found a Best Western 45 minutes from the park.

We stopped and were able to get the last room in the hotel! Later when we went down to get quarters for the laundry, we spotted this sign.

What a blessing! We are fans of Best Westerns because kids can stay free in existing bedding… so if we don’t ask for extra towels or pillows or a roll away, we don’t have to pay for the extra occupants in our room. AND, they have free breakfast.

This hotel stay was just what we all needed. I was able to do 5 loads of laundry and reorganize all of our clothing. The kids had the pool to themselves. They happily swam while Scott went out and got dinner.

We then enjoyed taco bell and ice cream pool side, followed by watching the sunset while dangling our feet in the hot tub.

We took our time getting up and out the next morning, and stopped at the grocery store to stock up on food for our next two days of camping.

Tide Pools

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Since marine life is part of Channel Islands National park, we woke up at 5:30am so we could visit some nearby tide pools while it was low tide.

The kids didn’t seem to mind too much though, because the promise of seeing “cool things” was all it took to get them up and at it. Even our late sleeper had a smile on his face.

It was a fun morning climbing on rocks and finding colorful plants and invertebrates.

We really wanted to find a starfish. It took awhile but eventually Scott spotted this little guy for us. I guess it was small enough the birds hadn’t seen it yet.

We had bought bagels at the grocery store the night before so we after exploring the tide pool for an hour or so, we sat and enjoyed bagels on the beach while watching some surfers catch the waves. Then we walked along the beach and Scott and the kids explored a few caves.

I love this shot. Scott was trying to get the four of them to pose on a rock when some of them spotted a bigger then expected wave coming their way. The older two stayed strong but the younger two weren't so sure…

We then headed back to our campsite to pack up. Scott volunteered to pack the tent up alone while I took the kids to the beach for a little more time splashing in the waves. The kids enthusiastically agreed. While there we spotted another sea lion swimming off shore! Then when Scott joined us he looked out and spotted dolphins swimming off shore!!! The kids, especially our oldest daughter, were delighted. I was so thankful because I knew how disappointed they were the night before. What a delightful treat and a great way to end our time at the ocean.

Island Bound!

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This trip seems to be all about extremes and remoteness. Channel Islands National Park is a group of islands located off the coast of Los Angeles. A visit here gives one a glimpse of what the California coast looked like before it was overpopulated with humanity. You can find vegetation and wild life here that doesn’t exist anywhere else. The signature element of the park however is the rocky cliffs along the waters edge and the marine life. The park required a one hour boat ride to reach it. We visited the island of Santa Cruz.

Scott and the kids greatly enjoyed the boat ride.

In fact, I think the kids liked it just as much as the island itself. I prefer my feet on solid ground. I tolerated the ride and am thankful I didn’t get sea sick. While the kids were enjoying the splashing of waves at the bow of the ship, I stayed put in the back, my eyes ever fixed on the mountain range off in the distance.

There was a special passenger on board the boat that morning. A group of marine biologists were escorting a California sea lion out to the islands with hopes of rehabilitating him. We got to watch him jump out to sea as we approached the harbor. The kids thought it was really cool (cause it was).

Once we arrived in Scorpion Harbor, we had to board skiff boats to reach the beach (which the kids also thought was cool).

Our main activity on the island was a hike to Potato Harbor. During the hike we got see two island fox. These fox were once endangered and only live on the island. Also, they have no predators on the island. There are now a total of 29 fox on all of the channel islands. Their population has increased since the time that the islands became a national park.

Our hike began in a valley.

Even though it was brown, I found its vastness to be quite beautiful. I know people come to the island for the ocean, but the primitive landscape of the interior was striking in its own right.

If your going on a hike for clifftop ocean views and you begin in a valley, you can expect to climb.

However, the view at the top was worth it.

We refueled with lunch and then Scott took turns walking the kids out to the overlook. While eating our lunch we could hear sea lions whelping down below.

We walked the entire way back along the cliff coastline. It was beautiful and a bit scary, but the kids were all good about staying on the right side of the trail.

While waiting for our turn to board the skiff boats we played at the beach and were treated with a visit by a sea lion. He swam so close to shore, he was right in front of the kids, as if to say hello. It was quite exciting.

The ride back was smoother since we were going with the wind rather than fighting against it. We were hoping to see some marine life on our ride back. My 8 year old and I sat on the bottom deck while the other three went up top with Scott. Scott was able to see a blow hole of a whale, though he didn’t see the whale. He also spotted some dolphins but the kids didn’t see them. Someone told them that they like to play in the wake of the boat, and once my 10 year old heard that she spent the rest of the ride staring behind hoping to see her favorite animal.

When we reached land and debriefed on our ride, she was crushed to hear that she missed the dolphins that her sister and I saw out the window below. I felt so bad for her b/c I knew how much she wanted to see some. We did console her with the fact that dolphins, while incredibly cool, aren’t super rare to see and that chances are good she will see them one day at a beach.

Still, we all enjoyed our day at Channel Islands National Park. We finished the day back at our campground, with a pizza dinner on the beach.

The Pacific Ocean!!!

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After leaving Joshua Tree, we were headed west for the Pacific Ocean. We checked out the visitor center and checked in with the boat company about our day trip the following day. Then we stopped at Subway to grab subs for dinner on the beach.

We were camping at a State Park which had walking access to the beach. We all greatly enjoyed eating dinner overlooking the ocean and than splashing in the waves afterwards. The kids LOVE the beach and the ocean.

I truly think the beach is this girls happy place. She loves to race the waves and splash in them. She loves to dig in the muddy sand. She doesn’t mind the gritty sand all over her skin and in her bathing suit, in fact, I think she relishes in it. She smiles the entire time she is there and never wants to leave.

This guy loved the waves and the sand, but also with equal enthusiasm enjoyed bird watching. He laughed whenever the sea gulls would cry out and he was always calling for us to take a picture of the birds that were flying over the ocean.

I love this boy. Can’t believe how quickly he is growing up.

Something about the sand and the sea that makes getting a smiling picture of these four, quite easy.

We bid a reluctant farewell to the beach, so we could set up our tent and get ready for our boat ride in the morning to see Channel Island National Park.

Please can we climb some more?

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While we pack a lot into these trips, the over all plan is always pretty fluid. Scott and I had always left a second night at Joshua Tree as an option in our itinerary. After a great evening sunset, animal show, morning hike, and visit to the visitors center, the heat of the day had us thinking perhaps we should move on to cooler pastures. The kids however had so much fun climbing around Jumbo Rocks that they unanimously voted we stay the second night. So, after our afternoon siesta, we headed back into Joshua Tree and spent a few hours just playing on the rocks at Quail Springs (not really a Spring the best we could tell).

We all did a little bouldering together.

Scott took the older three and found a route to the top.

He then took the youngest on a quest of his own.

After that we again were left with a decision to make… head back to camp for a campfire or take a sunset hike first. The kids were game for more hiking and the colors and temperatures were so nice we delayed dinner till after another hike. This time we hiked Hidden Valley. It was a super fun hike for all of us.

Climbers like to climb this rock face (officially called, “The Great Burrito” but we couldn't see it).

We did find a rock we could name however. Bet you’ll never guess what the kids nicknamed this rock.

Scott and I really find “dead” trees to be quite beautiful. The kids know this and you’ll hear them call out on our hikes, “Dad look, another dead tree, want a picture?” The answer is usually yes.

We ended our full day at Joshua Tree by roasting hot dogs round the campfire and under the stars. It was a really nice evening and we were all really glad we stayed.

The next morning Scott woke early (thanks in large part to the hole in our air mattress) and went out to capture the sunrise.

He also claims to have discovered and photographed a new petroglyph but we’ll let you be the judge.

By the time the kids and I were up and at it, the temps were rising and the bees were swarming our campsite. Two of us were stung before we got our gear packed away and we hit the road. Wasn’t the best send off, but we are all still glad we stayed the extra night at Joshua Tree.

The Ultimate Playground

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Our campsite was at Jumbo Rocks, aptly named being as the campground was nestled amongst big rocks.

As with any desert park, the key to hiking is to go early or late. Right after breakfast we set off to hike the Skull Rocks trail. The trailhead was within walking distance of our campsite. Since we were hiking in the early morning, we came across a few animal friends along our way.

Our favorite was this jack rabbit.

He stayed frozen in place for quite awhile. The kids were excited about how close he was.

The kids had a blast scampering amongst the rocks on our trail. Then we arrived at Skull Rock, which is where the kids would say the fun went to a new level (see what I did there?).

I’ll just be honest and say I started to freak out a little here. I’d like to say that I did ok for awhile, and maybe my family would agree.

But, eventually my nerves had all they could take and I was eager to have my family down on flat ground. Scott sympathized with my frayed nerves and we headed back to the trail. But the kids still climbed and jumped from every rock they came across.

By the time we got back to our site, the weather was warming up… we decided to head off for the Visitors Center where the kids worked on and received their Junior Ranger badges in the comfort of some Air Conditioning. We then headed to WalMart to stock up on more food for the next few days and then took a siesta of sorts under a carport of an abandoned and run down gas station with the van running. I worked on my blog and the kids watched a movie on the tablet. It was a welcome break during the hottest portion of the day. Afterwards we headed back into the park for some more fun amongst the big towering rocks.

Joshua Tree National Park

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We left the salt flats in Badwater Basin of Death Valley around 10:30am. After heading 45 minutes towards Joshua Tree we came across a road closure and had to turn around. This of course added about 2 hrs to our 4 and a half hour drive to Joshua Tree. I had found a restaurant online in Pioneertown that I had decided would be worth a little extra driving out of our way. However, this was before the detour…. so needless to say our drive to Joshua Tree wasn’t exactly efficient. As we approached our dinner spot, I got a little nervous that perhaps I banked too much on that yelp review and what if it was a big let down. But,the reviews didn’t let me down and after enjoying a delicious dinner of burgers at Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown, we entered Joshua Tree during the golden hour. What a treat to get our first glimpse of the famous Joshua trees in the light of the setting sun.

We watched the sunset from Keys View.

As we walked back to our van, we spotted a jack rabbit!

And as we drove out of the parking lot we spotted its predator….

We spotted numerous other jack rabbits on our drive to our campsite.

Unfortunately, our timing for Death Valley and Joshua Tree were not ideal for star gazing. Both parks are famous for their star gazing, but with a full moon shining it wasn’t the ideal setting for watching the stars.

But, Scott did get some nice shots of the moon in the background of the trees.

The weather cooled down in the evening and we all slept quite comfortably in the tent with the rain fly off, and nothing but a screen, moon and stars above us. Was the first time the kids and I slept under the stars. And the full moon was a great night light. We went to bed eager to wake up and explore the jumbo rocks surrounding us.