July Coastal Road Trip

We headed up the coast, and all those windy, curvy roads put me to sleep.  It was my way to get rid of the car sickness.  So much for me seeing the scenery.  We stopped and had lunch, and Samantha ate a lemon slice... she does it without even making a face.  It is pretty funny.  Of course, then everyone is like, "here eat my lemon," seeing if she can eat it again without squishing up her face like most people.

 We started into the Redwood forest, which were just AMAZING!  I had never been there before, or that I remember anyway.  It was just gorgeous, and breath taking.  What giants those trees are. 

 We walked around a few different times at pull outs, but Lindsey and Lauren were freaked out over the noise as the wind blew.  The trees would kind of cre-e-e-ek, and that was enough to put them in a panic. 

 We found a few drive through trees, which is were we found our car having over heating problems.  That made the rest of the trip a bit stressful for Robert.  He worried about it the rest of our drive.  Being a holiday weekend, that magnified it I am sure too.

 GIANT tree isn't it!

 We found so many fun places to take pictures.  Emily at times wasn't participating for whatever reason.  It would change from time to time.  Other times she was a joy and would be all photo ready.

 Check out these roots!  There was a huge hole in the ground below it where it once was I guess.

 I'm not sure why, but then the girls started making scary faces and growling.  Maybe they were trying to scare Lindsey who was already freaked out by the noise.

 So funny, those little girls are!  Samantha and Amber loved walking around, saying, "take my picture," and "now take my picture."

We spent pretty much one day driving through the redwoods.  The girls kind of got to the point where the girls felt like once we had seen some of the trees, it was all the same from there and they no longer wanted to get out and check out the trees anymore. 

Stay Tuned for the next part of our trip...  from July. 

July pictures part 1, California

Okay, so this is the short version of our July events in parts, with pictures.  The very beginning of July we took off for our almost month long adventures, starting toward California for the funeral of a beloved Uncle.  Occasionally we would give the girls little suckers or something.  Samantha fell asleep with hers.  Poor baby!

 The girls also spotted a dirt devil, and they thought the salf flats were pretty cool too.  I am not sure if they have ever driven this way at all. 

 The rooms were pretty basic and small, but we seemed to make it all work okay.  As soon as we got to our rooms, my parents had already been there but were currently out visiting family.  The girls were excited to see them when they returned.  Amber loved playing "guess who" with Grandma. 

Kelly seemed to get the girls all wound up, teasing them and playing with them.  But most of the time it was in my parents room, so I didn't mind much.  I figured it was their problem. 

 One afternoon, Robert took our girls and went to a movie with them.  I went over to Aunt Phyllis' to visit with family there.  There wasn't much for my little ones to do there, nor was there any other little kids there.  It was so great for him to take them so I could visit and spend time with everyone.  I wouldn't have gone other wise.  Tracy and I rode with my parents, and you can see behind us, Lorri and the rest of the group.

One of my Aunt's who wasn't able to make it to the funeral, sent little cars for the boys (my dad's brothers) to race.  This is them trying to get ready to race their cars...  those boys are so funny!  I am not sure you could ever go wrong spending the afternoon with them!

Aunt Phyllis, Wayne's wife, was the official judge.  The boys some how cheated, so she declared a re-race.  Of course those cheating that won, didn't want to redo it.  So they lined up again to race again. 

 Then the next group was able to race, then the winner of those groups raced each other.  What a crack up it was!  We had such a fun time. 

As we left Aunt Phyllis' Lorri's car was loaded down with probably 3 too many people, but we all made it safe and sound.  It was a bit of a wet ride from the water fight that broke out in the car, but I think it all seemed to be okay.  Nothing like a good inside car wash. 

After we got back home, we walked across the street to eat at some little fast food place.  Amber and Samantha took full advantage of Aunts and Uncles that maybe would give them a ride.

The place we stayed at had a pool, but you had to have the employees unlock it before we could use it.   As Robert and I were heading up to Washington, I got this picture of my sister all ready to go swimming with the gang.  We left before anyone else did, since we had a long drive ahead of us, oh yeah and 5 more kids than anyone else was traveling with.

Most everyone left on Sunday, as did we.  My parents and Kelly stayed behind for the graveside services.   My sisters took this picture below on their way back home. 

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We headed for Washington, the long, scenic way, up the coast.  (That will be part 2 coming soon)

Starting of July

Before I start this, I want you to know this will be a ReAlLy lllloooooonnnnngggggg entry, so if you don't have time to read it all, or you just don't like to read long ones, then wait for my next one that will have the highlights and the pictures too. 
July was a super busy month!  Back in June my Uncle Wayne was in poor health and at different times I thought he was going to pass and then he would recover.  My dad stayed most of June with him in California.  It looked as if he was getting better and the medical team decided he was ready for a rehab center and shortly after he got there, his body gave up.

My little family was planning on going to WA for the majority of July anyway, so we were busy getting ready for our trip, but instead our trip took us to California first to meet with other family members for the funeral of Uncle Wayne. 

I know it sounds odd that a funeral was a fun thing or a fun place to go to, but it seems the family I was born into has parties no matter what the occasion is.  They know how to have fun and live life.  It was a very emotional strain as well, I felt much sadness for my dad, losing his sibling and also Uncle Wayne's wife (Phyllis) left to pick up the pieces and move on.  Don't get me wrong, there were many tears shed!  I seemed to have been sitting in the sobbing section, or was that just me sobbing?

I met my parents and most of my siblings in California.  I was the only one there with kids so it made it kind of tricky figuring out what to do with that and how to entertain them and yet still get family time in too.  Robert was wonderful!  One evening as we were at Phyllis' home, Robert took the kids to see a movie so I could visit and spend time with family.  Many of my aunts and uncles were there along with several cousins.  It was great to sit around such wonderful people and enjoy the moment.  I wouldn't have been able to do that if Robert hadn't taken the kids or entertained them for me. 

I am not sure why crazy things happen to us when we get together as a family but they do.  "The Boys" (my dad and his brothers) had car races with little cars, then others were able to race their own cars too.  My aunt Margie who wasn't able to attend sent a care package with all the goodies in it, the cars, dum dum suckers for the "dum dums" who didn't want to race, and a book to record the events of the race and other messages too. 

Following the funeral (the funeral was held on a Friday I think and then because of 4th of July, the graveside wasn't until Tuesday) as the weekend ended most of us all headed back home, or for us Utah Girls that meant starting our trip to WA but now we were making the drive from California up to WA.  My parents and Kelly (brother) stayed for the Graveside services and then would drive back to WA.

We decided to make a fun trip out of it, and take the scenic route along the coast on highway 1, go through the redwoods, see the ocean, stay a few nights and then drop Robert off at the airport in Portland on my way to my parents house.  Unfortately for me, I missed many of the cool scenic things because all those windy roads equals car sickness to me.  I ended up trying to sleep off the nausia and the head ache of it all.  I'm not good at those scenic drives unless I am driving.  I thought I would be okay, but I always think that and I never am. 

Because we were on the road for 4th of July, we really didn't do anything.  No fireworks, no celebration.  I think we might have seen a few fireworks on the beach but instead we polled the girls and a movie and popcorn won the vote.  Kind of boring, but it was so cold and windy that I was okay with staying inside instead of trying to brave the crowds and the winds in a town we were unfamiliar with. 

With all the driving and stopping we did, somehow we ended up with some car problems.  I am normally pretty laid back about things, I figure it will all work itself out, it won't really matter much in the end and it will end up being no big deal.  Robert on the other hand gets a little more upset or worried about it.  It first manifested itself as we were waiting in line at a drive through redwood tree park.  We smelled something really bad like melting rubber and then heard a funny squealing noise too.  We shortly discovered the car heating up but we couldn't really pin point what was happening with things, the cause of it, only that it was happening.  We thought we would get it looked at down the road, but then it was 4th of July.  We decided to say a prayer and chance it and keep going. 

It didn't seem to be much of a problem except for when we were stopped and idling.  As we were driving especially at higher speeds it seemed to cool the engine off naturally and it was no problem.  The problem was that the whole way back from the coast to the airport we were in stop and go traffic the whole time.  The car would over heat, then it would cool off, then it got scary HOT and then we would go and it would cool a bit down.  We even got off a different exit because we saw our exit was backed up and we couldn't sit there at that high of engine tempatures. 

Poor Robert, he was so stressed!  About the car acting up, getting to the airport on time, the traffic we were in, leaving me with a car that was having problems to get up to my parents house.  He was so stressed about it all.  I kept telling him we would be fine and that all would be okay, it would all work out okay. 

We all made it, we got Robert to the airport, he caught his plane on time, I made it to my parents, and all was good.  Well except for the large repair bill we paid as we were on vacation.  All in all, our car did good!   Funny thing, well not really, my sister Lorri, had car trouble coming home from CA too, and I think my parents' did as well. Lorri's car lost the A/C and my parents' lost OD in the automatic transmission. 

We stayed at my parents house then for a few weeks and then Robert came up and ran yet another Ragnar Race.  I was able to hang out with lots of my siblings during the time I spent there.  It was so nice!  My sister Lorri took several days off work to come hang out with me and my girls.  Along with my other sisters who spent lots of time at my parents house. 

It was kind of odd and sad at the same time.  My parents are putting their papers in to go on a mission.  In doing that, they will be selling the house and Pony Poop Farm will no longer exist.  It seemed kind of weird and strange as I looked around at things.  I thought, this will be the last time we do this, or this or go here. 

One day I went out to my dad's shop.... I was immediately overcome with tears and emotions of sadness.   My dad has wanted a shop for as long as I can remember, he finally has one.  As I looked around inside at all the tools and things hung around, I wondered what would it take to keep the house.  What would it take to keep this shop.  My dad's dream was now going to be lost.  I couldn't take it.   I sat in the barn shop, and wept.  As soon as I could get ahold of my emotions I called Robert and tried to see if there was something we could do, anything?  (If only we didn't still have our rental house, that would be enough to take care of my parents house for sure!)

I later talked to some of my sisters about it.  They had all thought about different things too, but nothing really would do it.  Nothing would really make things better or keep the place for my parents.  I couldn't handle it emotionally, how could this happen?  No matter what we could all do within our means, none of us combined could make it work out.  I have since dealt with the idea of it, and am okay with it.  Not that if I wasn't they would change anything.  It is just a house, it is just a place, it is a place where many memories have been made, but those memories are with each of us.  They do not stay there.  They will not fade away as PPF disolves and becomes someone else home. 

I don't mean to make it sound like my parents mission is a bad thing.  It is a wonderful oppurtunity and I am so grateful for their example to me... and especially to my children.  They are trully sacrificing EVERYTHING!  All the things they love, all the things that they have worked hard for, and the things that they have dreamed of, they are giving up or setting aside for 18 months.  From the house that they have lived in for nearly 40 years, the horses, the farm animals, the playground area my Grandpa made, the shop my dad and his brothers built one summer, my mom's dog, her bird, the roses, and not to mention my mom's whole family lives all right there too.  This is a sacrifice for them!  What an example, all the things they are giving up to serve our Heavenly Father.  It seems like such a huge deal, but then when you really think of it, it is just stuff.  (Stuff I am very attached to though.)

I think as this chapter of the book ends, with my parents' place gone, all of us kids are aware of it.  We are aware of what matters most.  Family.  It seems that each of us are a little more aware of each other, a little more motivated to stay in touch and stay close.  My parents will be leaving, and it brings up questions in my mind.  What does that mean to me and our summer vacations for next year?  Will we all still gather at their house when they return?   Will our WA trips be over?   I guess many of these questions have no answers now, but in time they will.  It is kind of the unknown and it is scary.  I think of when my Grandparents left their home in CA, their house was the big gathering place.  When they were gone that was the end of gathering together really.  With the exceptions of funerals, we don't get together.  Our families get bigger and we focus on our own.  It seems strange to me, it seems like I won't be able to lose those bonds with my family, but will I?  As I departed then, it was a little harder to leave, not knowing when I will be back, things feel uncertain, and I get more teary eyed when I leave, it is getting harder to leave my family as this transition is getting closer.  I wonder if my siblings and I will lose touch or have long periods of not seeing each other.

Our journey took us 29 days and 3600+ miles, and many thoughts to think through.  We finally made it home.  I wonder if that will be the last time my children will experience Pony Poop Farm.   I know there will be other adventures in other places, but it makes me a little sad too having our last visit at Pony Poop Farm, or was it?

Disneyland

We got free tickets to go to Disneyland through the "Give a day, Get a day" program.  Check out my post here  about it.  Since we were already in California, we decided this would be a good time to use our tickets.  Amber and Samantha didn't have tickets, Samantha was free and Amber was a $67 to get in I think.  We saved a fortune!  Especially since we tried to bring our own food to eat, and drinks too.  I had a whole backpack full of snacks and sandwhiches and drinks.  We had a blast!  Last time we were at Disneyland, Lindsey and Lauren were 2 and Emily was 4.  Unfortunately we are still odd, so it makes it hard on some rides, because someone has to ride alone. 

This was Splash Mtn.  The girls went on it with their dad, then they took me on it.

This is Indian Jones.  Lindsey was too afraid to go on it the first time, but then the other girls LOVED it so they begged to go on it again, this time Lindsey went on it too.  The first time they went with their dad on it.  The rest of us went to Tikki's something with singing and talking birds.

This was Pirates of the Caribean ride.  The girls liked it except Amber.  She wasn't liking the drop offs.  The first one Robert told her it was the last one it was all over.  I then pushed him and pointed forward where there was another one.  Ooops!  It wasn't her favorite ride, but the other girls seemed fine with it.

Lauren and Emily on the Pirates ride... they liked it too.

 

The girls rode this ride at least 2 times.  They liked Thunder Mtn. 

This was the Submarine ride, now it is Nemo themed.  The little girls went on it and thought it was fun.

I had the little girls for awhile, and they LOVED this ride too.  I was a little dizzy, well alot dizzy when it was over.  I can't do spinning rides.  Even Nemo's Submarine ride made me feel dizzy or sick.

This was Space Mtn.  The girls LOVED it.  They went with Robert first then they took me on it again.  They take a picture of you somewhere through all the winding and spinning.  Look at how scared Lindsey looks.  Emily was plugging her ears the whole time because it was a super loud ride.  I didn't care for it that much.  I liked the old one, or what I remember of the old one anyway.  It has been so long, maybe I didn't like that one either.  I perfer the up and down hills instead of just round and round rides.  (Shh, don't tell anyone but I am more of a Magic Mountain/Six Flags fan.)

This was It's a small world.  I have a picture really close to this of Lindsey one this same ride.  It will be cute to compare them. 

This was Amber and Samantha's favorite ride I think.  They wanted to come back on it again.

There was lots of times when we split up, the big kids went with one of the parents and the little kids went with the other parent.  Some rides we could all go together and some we couldn't due to the nature of the ride or the height requirement.  We took all the girls on the Mattahorn.  Amber was groaning toward the end and yelling, "I hate this ride, I hate this ride!"  We were cracking up laughing.  That wasn't a favorite for her either.  I took the big girls on the Haunted House, which is one I like, but they didn't really like it and it was all changed and decorated for Nightmare Before Christmas.  I was bummed! 

This is the little girls eating a sandwhich while we were waiting for a Pooh ride.

Can you tell the big girls are like, "Really, you want me to stand by Pooh's stuff?"  They just got off Splash Mtn with Robert,

This is some stuff the girls were playing with while we were waiting in the line for a Pooh ride.

The little girls and I waiting in a long line to see Pooh, Eyeore (who had to go right when it was our turn), and Tigger (who left right at the person before us).  I was bummed we only got to see Pooh, I would have settled for Tigger instead.  Oh well.  The girls liked it.  Amber gave him a big hug when she left.  It was so cute!

I took the girls into Toontown.  We had fun there too.  The other girls I think were in line for Space Mountain I think.

Amber and Samantha got to meet Mickey Mouse!  Amber said, "Hey I have seen you on TV!"  It was cute. 

This is a fountain in Toontown. 

Again this is in Toontown, this is Goofy's car, parked in front of his house.

The girls had to drive every car they saw, several times!

This was so funny!  Amber was playing with this.. then she pulled it all the way up and put down the handle.  It triggers all these noises, exploding sounds, firework sounds, smoke coming out of the building.... and they just kept going on and on.  Amber was running around in a circle screaming.  It was hillarious!  People tried to do it again after we left, but it just made a little "boing" sound. 

The girls found yet another car to ride and drive.  This was a fire truck next to the TNT box.

I think this was in Goofy's house.  We played here for awhile waiting for Robert and the big girls.  They had a little play area outside his house with a slide too.

This is note worthy that Samantha is driving!  That didn't happen much.  This is Mickey's car right outside of his house.

Emily was trying out the little door.  I think she has seen someone named Alice try to fit in small places before.

We had a great time!  I would totally do the "Give a Day, Get a Day" again for tickets.  The bummer was we had to choose between California Adventures or Disneyland.  I also felt guilty that much of the time we were catering and trying to work out ways to get the big girls back on the big rides they wanted to do.  We didn't do many of the little rides and the ones they wanted to do again, like the It's a Small World, we didn't get to do it again because we were hurring to go to some other big ride.  I felt bad about that.  We did only a few small rides for the little girls.  I guess that just means we will have to go again!  I also regret not getting a picture in front of the castle....  I kept meaning to do that, but Robert wasn't much into waiting around for pictures, instead it was riding rides and getting in line to ride rides.  The kids had a good time. 

We brought home souviners, 4 princess plastic cups for the little girls, a snoglobe Emily picked out, Lauren got a hat with mouse ears, and Lindsey picked out a little stuffed Bolt dog.  That cost probably more than our food did. 

California Trip

Typically we make a trip to California in the fall.  This year we went a little earlier than normal.  The girls were really excited to go to California to see their cousins and family there.  Robert and I always enjoy our visit... and look forward to the time we get to spend with family there. 

Samantha was glad to see a little greeter on the porch.  She looked in her (Samantha refered to it as a her) little bag and said, "Its enpy!" (empty)  It was pretty funny.  She also knocked "her" over and was trying to put her back up.  With the wind we have here at our house, this cute decoration would have never made it.

Samantha really liked this pumpkin girl as she refered to it.  She gave it several kisses.

This is cousin Sean and their cooky dog Duke.

Cousin Serena gave make-overs to the big girls.  Lindsey said she looked ugly, then looked at Lauren and said how pretty she looked.  I looked at both of them, and said "You LOOK the same!" 

Here is Serena doing her magical work on Lauren.

Now Lauren is complete!  Lauren was loving the make-up!

Then it was Emily's turn.

And Emily just aged about 4 years!  Time to wash it off, I am not ready for her to be that old!

This is why they call Duke a cuke!

Silly Duke!

Then it was time for the girls to do Serena's make-up!  She was a little scared. I didn't blame her, the girls were saying... where does this go?  Serena would say, that is lipstick, it goes on my lips.  I didn't get a picture of the final out come.  Serena did better at doing her own make-up then the girls did.  She re-did her make-up right away.

We visited the beach. 

 The girls were asking what the noise was, they thought it was thunder, but it was just the waves, they were crashing!



I can't remember if it was Serena's suggestion or one of my girls' for a picture here, but I think it was a good one. 



Serena was so good with the little ones.  And they loved her too!

Emily is trying to keep Amber at a safe distance from those big waves.

Lindsey found something....  someone perhaps left behind or lost.

Oh, it was just Serena's hair piece.  Serena's lots of fun!

The pictures don't really do justice for the size of the waves.  They were pretty cool to just sit and watch.

Ping Pong battles were on most the time.  I played with Amber across the table from side to side instead of end to end.  Amber was pretty coordinated really for being just 3, well almost 4.

We went out for ice cream.  Who could complain about that?  The girls were loving it!

 Then our time was over and it was time for us to come home.  We look forward to visiting them again.  Thanks to Uncle Bill, Aunt Michelle, Sean, and Serena for the fun time.  We also went to Sean's water polo game, and that was pretty amazing.  That is a tough sport!  Serena delighted us with some of her music on her Tenor sax (I hope I am right on the tenor) which we were glad to see her new saxophone she got from Christmas last year.  We will look forward to the next time we get to come visit again.  (If we do the Disney "Give a day, get a day" again, I would like to go back before Samantha turns 3 so she will still be free.)  Plans are already in the making!