Two Weeks Road Trip

3200 Miles &  3 States,

 1 Beach &  5 Perfect Sand Dollars,

 1 Wedding & 1 new Grandpa,

 1 Emergency Room Visit & 0 stitches (thankfully),

 1 Theme Park & 2 roller coasters,

 570 Pictures, 

 A great vacation!

 We started out our vacation with a trip  down south to Pismo Beach. It was a wonderful beach. The sand was super soft and the surf was gentle enough to let the little ones play. There were hundreds of sand fleas that kept the boys thoroughly entertained the entire time we were there. They would dig them up and put them into a bucket and let them go to watch them dig back down into the sand. The best part was that each time they found one it was just as exciting as the very first. There were also a lot of shells and Sand dollars all over the beach. We found lots of them and 5 perfect sand dollars. We even saw whales spouting off shore while we walked on the pier. We stayed in the very cozy Dolphin Cove Motel right on the beach and it was nice. We ate at a really good Pizza place for dinner one night and it was so good we went back for lunch the next day. We also rode a surrey around town for an hour or two. There is a great camp site there and we are definitely going to have to go and try it out. 

Building Sand Castles at Pismo, the sand was perfect for it.

All six of us in a surrey bike thing. Lots of fun and lots of peddling

Sand Fleas

Sand Dollars

After a couple nights there we headed out for the next adventure.

We stopped in Bakersfield and visited with some of Aaron’s Family. We stayed with his cousin Jeremy for a night. It was a great visit and Aaron and I are convinced that we ought to do it more often. Plus I didn't take any pictures. What was I thinking?

Then it was out of California and into Arizona. We headed into Casa Grande to see Jolene (Aaron’s mom) get remarried. We stayed in the only hotel in Casa Grande, it was also a golf course. Jolene was marred to John Price, it was a quiet little setting. It was great to see family we have not seen in a while and meeting all of John's family. Jared was so excited that his family just got so much bigger. We are too. 

With this ring . . .

John & Jolene 

Melissa, JJ and Jessica. 

Liam in his tie, He is so adorable!

Beautiful little girl. She is one of John's grandchildren, I can not remember her name. 

Then we headed to Las Vegas to spend some time with Grandma & Grandpa Price, Shaylee and Aunt Melissa and cousin Jessica. We had lots of fun in the pools at the resort and then took a walk down the strip. (Something I do not advise for parents of young boys) We did find a couple of wholesome things to do like the M&M store, the MGM Grand had a Lion in the lobby and a pretty good buffet, and if not for all the revealing pictures it was a pretty cool site to see. Aaron and I were convinced that we were done in Las Vegas so we headed out a day early to visit with my brother Sean and his wife Lisa. (Back in AZ)On our way we stopped and saw the Hoover Dam really quick. Just long enough to get a few pictures.

 

They are building a new bridge to by pass Hoover. It was really cool to see it in progress. We will have to go back in a couple years to see it again. 

The Family at Hoover Dam, the wind was really whipping, it almost blew Shane away!

In some Hotel in Vegas. Liam was passed out we walked a lot that day. 

We got the boys matching shirts to keep track of them, the greatest idea ever! 

 

The visit with Sean & Lisa and the cousins Carly, Ridge & Ty was great. All the kids got along great and had a wonderful time. Arizona is not green but it is beautiful in its own way. We hiked, swam, took pictures, visited with Family, Carly was baptized, I cut my hair and we all just loved it. Lisa has one of the best families that I know and they welcomed us in just like we were supposed to be there. If the lord sees fit to put us near them I would not complain, except on days when it is over 100 degrees outside.       

Liam in the backpack I got for Aaron when Jared was small enough to fit in it. 

My boy, growing up to be so handsome. 

Crazy Cousins

Arizona rocks 

Cousin's climbing rocks at Camelback mountain. It was a good thing we had those spray bottles, it was a life saver. 

      

I was able to observe Lisa’s sister Cindy take pictures for a wedding book and she was kind enough to show me a few tricks with my flash. She also took pictures of my boys and I am sooooo excited to see them. Cindy is a Great Photographer.

Sunset at the farm that Cindy took pictures at. See there is some green in Arizona!

All in all our visit with the Rieman’s was too short. We had to leave on Tuesday.

We stopped short of LA on the way home and on Wednesday morning Aaron had a crazy idea to go to a theme park. We chose Knott’s Berry Farm. The boys loved it. It made for a very long day driving home in time for Aaron to be at work by 6:00 in the morning Thursday, but worth it. We got home around 3:00 am. Jared and Dallin loved the rollercoasters and Shane is looking forward to the day he is 46 inches tall so he can ride with his brothers.

Shane went on this ride 5 times before I had to pull him away. He loved it! All it did was go all the way up and then jump up and down a few times. 

Notice Dallin's one tooth that is still hanging on for dear life. It fell out a couple days after we got home. 

The Sidewinder roller coaster, Jared, Dallin and Dad went on this while Shane, Liam and I were riding Shane's favorite ride. 

The log ride, the boys loved it. 

Another kiddie ride. Jared was too tall to ride it.

There is a stage coach ride that takes you for a ride around the park. It was a lot of fun but very smelly as you can see from Jared's pose. 

This is the kind of picture you get from hanging your camera out the window on a stage coach ride. 

And here is the more handsome side of the horse. 

As far as being home we are glad to be here. Along the way I picked up a stomach bug. So recovery from this vacation will take a few more days then normal. I sure hope that we did not share it with the Riemans. Lisa I am really sorry if we did.

Thanks to a great friend here at home the house was sound and the animals happy to see us. My garden took over the back yard, I guess the drip system worked. Now I have another mountain of Laundry to do and Dinners to make.

It was fun, now back to reality.