Cousins came to visit!

This late summer trip our cousins made to California will always be memorable. Everyone had a great time. 

My kids had been confiscating moving boxes from the recycling bin and building elaborate box forts in the cooler hours of the day, and the boys fit right into this activity. This kept them occupied for several hours. 

The cousins are good tree climbers, and Gordon had to show off his tree climbing skills too. This is the same tree he would fall out of a few weeks later. 

 We spent one afternoon at Corona del Mar. The big kids had fun jumping the waves and going out with the adults to get pushed around by the ocean. I even went out with Ben and dived under a few waves with him for the first time. 

Jill didn't mind hanging out with Devon and Clayton who preferred to dig in the sand. 

The next day we went to Disneyland. 

These two were buddies and we got several pictures of them holding hands or walking around like this. 

Splash Mountain for Tyler, Nicole and the older kids. Gordon, Clayton and Devon and Ben and I went on the Winnie the Pooh ride and looked at stuff in the gift shops while we waited. 

Everyone got to go on Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise.  

Adventures in canoeing. The guide asked, "Who brought all these kids on this boat?" and then added something to the effect that it was going to take us forever to get around the river. I think we did pretty well though. 

Everyone loved this ride, the kids enjoyed squishing all into the same cup. 

 On Wednesday, Ben took Tyler and Nicole out on a bike ride to the Back Bay. 

 We spent another afternoon at the swimming pool. 

Then it was time for a turn at the California Adventure theme park. 

Cars Land was really fun for the boys, although Devon wasn't fond of the roaring engine sound that Lightning McQueen made in this picture. I think this is the only picture we have of my kids with this character. 

 While the older (and taller, less scared) people went on the Cars ride, Devon, the boys and I spent time trying on hats in the Cars Ride gift shop. 

 Gordon was bummed in this picture because he wasn't tall enough to ride on California Screaming just yet. Devon and Clayton thought it was fun though. 

I spent an hour or two with Devon, Clayton and Gordon in the Redwood Wilderness Path area. There was a little stream, some fun slides, and then lots of elevated rope trails the boys could run and climb all over. We were here because they were too afraid to ride Grizzly River Run. 

 The older kids (and adults) loved this ride and went on it at least a few times. It was a hot day as well, so the water was a nice relief. 

Riding the Golden Zephyr. I rode this three or four times in a row with Devon while everyone else was on the Silly Symphony Swings. 

This was probably the scariest ride (I think it is!) for some of the older kids. I think I was in Bug's Land with the younger ones. We had fun playing in the water tap area and riding the smaller ride. They especially liked the Flik's Flyers ride. 

Funny 3D glasses in the Bug's Land Theater. This show was a little more exciting and scary than anticipated, but everyone made it through. 

The one picture with everyone included in front of Grizzly River Falls. Hopefully we get some more trips together in the future!

Annual Summer Roadtrip

First stop, Las Vegas. Not for a hotel this time. 

 For Tacos El Gordo. This restaurant has really good, authentic tacos and Gordon gives it a thumbs up. 

 Yum. 

We stayed at a very nice La Quinta in Ely, Nevada that night. It had a good breakfast spread and swimming pool. Then we got stuck in road construction the next day and I led an impromptu stretching session while we waited. 

 We made it to Idaho in time for Ev's ninth birthday where we at eclair torte. 

And she got MORE legos. Because you can never have enough Legos (although I'm beginning to think they have plenty).

 She also wanted to visit the Boise Zoo, so we did. And it was super hot, but the Boise Zoo is pretty awesome. We even saw the elusive snow leopard. 

 And the Benjamin Bat. 

 We bought a ticket to the butterfly house, which was my personal favorite. All kinds of butterflies were out due to the heat, and landing everywhere. We had to be very careful not to step on them there were so many. I had 3 or 4 on me at one point.  

We also rode the paddle boats at the park next door and chased the ducks around. 

 Ben and Nate went into downtown Boise one night to see a criterium race. 

Ben brought his bike and rode it on some of the canals around the area. 

 Gordon with his favorite activity at Grandma Chickens' house. The poor birds are probably so relieved when we leave. 

 Found some little toads while cleaning off the porch. 

Living in swimsuits for part of every day, playing in the pool and with the hose.  

Don't you know what happens when you get muddy? 

Muahahahaha! 

Grandma hosted a fiesta for Primary Teacher Appreciation, and even got a mariachi band to perform. 

 Out at other Grandma's house in Washington, the kids enjoyed their cousins and a tire swing. 

 How many can fit on there before someone gets hurt?

 Trampoline forts!

Finding whatever dirt they can to dig in. 

 The boy cousins brought their bikes, and Ben and Tyler took the older kids down the ditch road on a long ride. They all did really well. 

Ben and Tyler rode bikes down to the Columbia River. 

Going target shooting with the mens.  

 Girls like to shoot too. 

Evelyn hit four targets, and Jilly hit three targets. 

We walked the canal road in the cool of the evening, watching combines cut the wheat. 

Playing with second cousins on Sunday. 

Back to Idaho for a quick stop before heading back to California.  

 Grandma Chickens had a seemingly endless supply of ice cream sandwiches, to the children's delight.

Driving back through Nevada to Irvine in one day, enjoying the occasional break in sunshine a thunderstorm would give us. 

Palomar Mountain Camping Trip

To celebrate the end of the school year, we booked a camping trip to some mountains southeast of us, the Palomar Mountain area. It gets snow in the winter (5000-6000 ft in elevation), although with the drought, it seemed the area had not seen significant moisture in quite some time. 

There were a lot of big rocks near our campsite, and our kids found a few other kids to play with on this "playground." This was also the area the mosquitoes hung out in. 

Excited for tinfoil dinners! They were super tasty. It got dark not too long after this, so we read from "The Chronicles of Narnia," and then went to bed.  

The next day Ben figured out where some of the hiking trails were near our campground, and we took the kids on a 1.5 mile hike. It was nearing noon though, and the sun was hot, so there was quite a bit of whining on this hike. 

There were some good views of the valley below us though. We could see clear into the bottom of the valley we had driven through to get up to Palomar. 

Me perusing a Sunset magazine article about camping in California. Ben thought it was funny.

Palomar Mountain is home to a large observatory. They have a museum and gift shop there open to the public. 

The highway leading up to the observatory is quite windy, and Jilly felt motion sick upon arrival. 

Looking into the big telescope room. 

This observatory continues to function and is still one of the largest in the world. 

We found this big tree, I think it was a sequoia. 

 There were some young redwoods here too, this one full of holes, drilled by woodpeckers, and then filled in with acorns by the squirrels. It was a funny sight. 

More big rocks to stand and pose on. 

This is a huge coastal live oak tree. Live oaks make up much of the treescape in the higher elevations of coastal Southern California. 

 We took another hike later in the day, what we thought would be three miles, but ended up being more like five miles. It was a hike that took you to the top of the ridge where "Scott's cabin" was at. This cabin was an old homestead in the area. 

It was a pretty hike, and we walked along the ridge for quite a while, not finding this cabin. Once we realized we were heading for the small general store by the highway, we figured we'd gone too far and needed to head back before the kids got hangry. 

On the way down, with more careful observation, we found some logs outlining the place were Scott's cabin used to be. The signpost marking the site had been knocked down and that's why we didn't see it the first time through. We hiked roughly a mile beyond this point. This kids were troopers, and are still talking about the crazy hike to find Scott's cabin. 

The kids enjoying Ben's fire-building skills. They were pretty tired, and the canned Progresso soup we had for dinner tasted awesome after that long hike. 

We had a great time and the kids want to go camping up here again. 

Other June highlights: I gave my third successful piano recital, Ben went on a green smoothie diet for two weeks and found out he's not very tolerant of milk, and Ben and the kids spent some time at Disneyland. I had a lot of work training this month as part of my contract renewal and that was not fun, but oh well.