This year we had the opportunity to take a trip to California for a family reunion with the West side. We had never really taken a trip that didn't involve Idaho or Arizona since we married, so we were really excited about this. My parents were so wonderful and helped make sure we got to go.
We left shortly before 5:30 am on the 9th and headed to Wendover where we got breakfast.
The kids were surprisingly well behaved for the first 6 hours.
After we passed Winnemuca they started getting pretty rowdy. We stopped at the store to buy some adult Dramamine (I get really carsick) and replace our windshield wipers. We hit a small rainstorm on the way and the wipers were just smearing bugs around and making it even harder to see, but it was a thousand times better after replacing them. After the stop, we were anxious to get on our way again. We had bought the kids portable DVD players so we broke those out and had them watch movies and relax.
After entering California and making it through Tahoe National Forest, we stopped at a rest stop and let the kids do some running around.
We continued on after learning that my parents were about 30 mins ahead of us and hit Sacremento at the start of rush hour. After about 10 hours in the car, my stress levels were through the roof. I just wanted out of the car, I wanted the cars around us to BACK OFF (ha ha, yeah right... this is California, remember? I should have been grateful when they atleast used a blinker!), and I wanted a nap. I think Caleb was just as eager as I was to be done driving after my freakout session.
When we arrived at the hotel in Fairfield, the kids were soooo excited. They'd never stayed in a hotel before because the only trips we've ever taken have involved visiting home and we always stay with family. They were so happy, telling everyone that it was the coolest place because it had a bathroom, 2 beds, and a little kitchen in it. I should have taken a video. I didn't, but I did snap a picture of how happy they were!
We had a little bit of time after checkin to freshen up before dinner. My sister's family had stopped at Lake Tahoe and we were waiting on their arrival (anxiously waiting, I might add! My kids couldn't wait to see their cousins!)
After they arrived we all went to Denny's for dinner and I also must add that we got to meet my parent's new foreign exchange student, Vivian. You'll probably see pictures of her, and now you'll know who she is.
Everyone was pretty worn out after dinner and our kids were being so naughty that we tried to make them go to bed instead of swimming. Cousins went to swim, and eventually my dad called and said that it might help them sleep better if they got some energy out. He was right. I took the kids down for a bit and let them play while Caleb enjoyed some peace and quiet and settled down for bed.
The next morning we all woke up and went to breakfast. We did McDonald's which was just down the road so we got to walk. Caleb took our car to fill the tires a bit. Due to the temperature and elevation differences and all the driving, the car was freaking out and we didn't want to deal with it. Putting a bit of air in solved the issue.
Next we headed on to the Jelly Belly Factory!
It's kind of a tradition for visits to California. We went when I was young and I still have the hat for it. Connor was so excited about it, and Evelynn was excited about the super cute matching shirts we all had (Thanks to my little sister for the design and my older sister for the wonderful idea and concept suggestion, and my parents for getting everyone them!)
If you've never stopped there before, it's pretty fun for kids to see everything that goes into making a jelly bean, and my boys were fascinated. Evelynn was fascinated with her Auntie and stayed by her and sometimes by Daddy, so I'm not so sure what she most enjoyed lol.
Connor had a little bit of issue with how loud it was during the tour, so we hurried ahead of everyone else and tried some Jelly Belly Flops while we waited.
After we all finished the tour we went and sat at some outdoor tables and had sandwhiches for lunch.
Then we did some quick penny-smashing before loading back in the car for another 2 hour drive.
First of all, we entirely lost count of the amount of Winery and Vineyards we passed on the drive. It was kind of crazy, but it was definitely a beautiful area.
We had been warned that the last hour of the drive would involve really winding roads, but we had completely underestimated what that really meant.
We had about 30 miles of up and down hill switchbacks and ended up giving all the kids dramamine expect Liam, who was asleep at the time. Well, that wasn't our smartest move.... less than 20 miles up we found ourselves pulling over to clean up his puke. It was not fun. AT ALL. The roads were pretty narrow anyways and I have repeated nightmares about driving off mountain side roads like that and I was terrified every time a huge logging truck came around a cornor. I wasn't sure if they'd see us. And to realize that we still had atleast 10 miles to go after Liam's puke mess it really, really was not fun.
By the time we got up there, we were all sooooo ready to be out of the car. I quickly found my Aunt who directed me to the Sister Missionary who could tell me if there was a washer/dryer we could use. Thankfully she took mercy on us and let us! (I seriously can't thank her enough.)
The majority of the family stayed in the Lodge, but 2 families got cabins. Well, Caleb arranged with my Uncle to snag the second cabin and after checking it out, saw that it had plenty of room for both our family and Melinda's. Needless to say, we got to party it up with them all 3 days!
That evening I went on a short little walk with my parents across a rope bridge. (Ok, I've already confessed by fear of roads that wind around mountains where one wrong turn could lead you to your death.... but have I mentioned the bridge fear???? Yeah, it's a big one, too. )
Look, people. I conquered my fear. AND I did it later again the next day. BOOM!
I took a picture of my parents by the "Captain Moroni Tree".
That night both the families in our little cabin had an exhausting night. Miss Evelynn WOULD NOT SLEEP! She gets so excited and just can't fall asleep when we're camping or doing anything new. It's not the first time it's happened. I was so worried she'd wake Lawrence. He did eventually wake up and my poor sister was in the car with him like all night. I had no idea until she told me in the morning, but I felt so bad.
Melinda and I woke up at 5 so we'd be ready for breakfast duty at 6. We were running a little late after that night, but we seemed to get breakfast out in an ok manner.
After breakfast, clean-up, and lunches were made, we all headed to a nearby beach hoping to check out the tide poolds. I don't think we made it in time, but it was really fun to go still.
(Thanks to my sis for a few of these pics! I obviously can't take pictures of myself)
Now, you NEED to know about these cute kids (Connor, Evelynn, and Kayden, pictured below).
I went over to grab some pictures of them and they announced that they were making a castle for a crab! How cute is that?!
My Uncle Chad had caught a crab and eventually gave it a home in their castle (where they smashed the castle in order to trap it.... whoops.)
We all just got to sit around, play, chat, and relax. It was pretty fun!
Eventually everyone decided to find a more sandy beach and they were going to head back around Shell Beach, but we (our family, Melinda's family, my parents, and my Grandma) decided to head to the lighthouse we had planned to see.
Before we left, I snagged some pictures of Caleb up on this cliff. One lone man in the world!
(Man did I wish I had a long zoom lense!)
Next we headed up the coast to the Point Arena lighthouse. It was another 40 or so minutes up the coastline.
When we pulled up, I started to worry I'd looked up the wrong place because I couldn't see the lighthouse. It was soooo foggy. We kept following Melinda's car though since her husband had been the one to track down the best spots for us to stop. As we got closer I could see it though and was intrigued by how thick the fog was.
We got to go look around the museum and then we got a tour and got to climb allllll the way to the top! (My legs were ON FIRE!)
We took periodic breaks to rest our legs and snap pictures.
When we were nearly at the top there was a landing where adults and those over a line on size could go out on the balcony. I wanted to so I did, and then I quickly realized I shouldn't have. I was terrified and Caleb got a lot of amusement out of it. I refused to take my back off the wall or go more than a couple steps away.
My Grandma and Caleb were a lot braver than me!
There was just a bit more of a climb after that point, but it was entirely glassed in, which meant I could see everything (well, everything the fog would let us see). While we were up there learning about the history of the lighthouse, the fog started lifting more. I ended up having to sit down because the dizzyness from being in a car on winding roads left me motion sick and I felt like the whole lighthouse was swaying (or maybe I was just terrified). Combine that with my already confessed and very clear horrible fear of heights, well, I was just glad I didn't cry. I crawled my way back to the stairs when it was time to go down.
I do have to admit it was beautiful though, as long as I didn't think too much about it.
The tour guide guy said without fog you can see the san andreas fault line from there, and of course, what's left of Devil's punchbowl was right here as well.
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| Devil's Punchbowl |
On the way back down I tried to step out again and grab more pictures since the fog had lifted.
This right here (below) is what's left of the Devil's punchbowl.
When we got down the lighthouse we sat at the picnic tables and had lunch before heading on to our next destination. I thought it was the prime picture-taking opportunity and definitely took advantage.
Now, something you need to know before you start wondering why in the heck there so many kissy pictures on this trip. Funny story: the last time I was at an ocean before this was a family reunion with the very same family at the Orgeon Coast, June 2008. While I was there, Caleb and I broke up. I was soooo sad and didn't want to be in any pictures because I was bawling the entire time.
So basically, he owed me big time after ruining my last ocean (oh, and we were walking to the LIGHTHOUSE when it happened) experience. He doesn't seem to be hating it too much though (wink wink).
On our way to the lighthouse we had passed a spot that had a beautiful, sandy beach. Melinda and I had both REALLY wanted to take our families to one so we'd all tried to keep our eyes out for it. Mitchell had spotted it so he led the way and we decided it was PERFECT!
We didn't know the name of it at the time, but my Aunt & Uncle had stopped there and my Aunt knew the name: Cook's Beach.
Cook's Beach
I stole this pic from my sister, but I felt the need to show how beautiful it was. We hiked down this trail covered in trees and flowers and lush greenery, just to pop out to this view.
We didn't know the name of it at the time, but my Aunt & Uncle had stopped there and my Aunt knew the name: Cook's Beach.
Cook's Beach
I stole this pic from my sister, but I felt the need to show how beautiful it was. We hiked down this trail covered in trees and flowers and lush greenery, just to pop out to this view.
Next you cross some logs over this shallow creek known as Glennen Gulch Creek.
It was SOOOOO beautiful. The kids were amazed and so excited to play!
These daddies were great sand castle builders for the kiddos!
I grabbed this great picture of my Grandma!
Of course, I had to snap pictures of Caleb and I again.
There are a ton of pictures in this post because I seriously struggled to decide which ones were best.
Caleb was trying to help these two build sand castles but they were so excited that they made it a difficult process lol
At one point it was kind of funny because Caleb dug himself this little hole and wanted to see how long he could stay there. He didn't know there are little sand crabs, and he was kind of surprised when something "bit" him lol. Needless to say, he abandoned that plan afterwards.
When I was little we had an Uncle & Aunt who lived in Portland as well as the Uncle & Aunt on my dad's side who were (and still are) in Santa Rosa. We did several trips to the coast throughout my childhood and I was well versed on what to expect. Our favorite game when us kids were little was to run from the waves and try to not get caught by them. I failed miserably once when I was pretty little and the waves kept knocking me down. It terrified me and my dad pulled a sopping wet and pretty stunned girl out. I had to get wrapped up in little Jessica's blanket.
But anyways, it was my kids first time at the ocean, so I decided to teach Connor how to play the running from waves game. He took to it really fast and had a blast running in and out of the waves as they came to the shore.
My kids didn't want to stop playing even for pictures. I forced them though, like the good mother I am! ;-)
I still can't get over how beautiful this little beach was!
At this point, everyone in my parent's car left.
I wish I'd gotten pictures of my Dad. Liam was so heartbroken when he left! They really bonded on this trip and he was so sad that Papa was leaving. He kept pointing and finally Caleb figured out what was going on and walked him over to say bye.
Our family and Melinda's family wanted to wait a while and keep playing.
Connor started burying himself in sand. We figured he was already filthy, so why not?!
As you can see, we all joined in on the burying.
And then because Connor was being buried, Evelynn decided she needed buried, too, although we attempted a mermaid tail with her. It didn't go so well because she kept squirming.
I tried really hard to get my littlest to like the ocean, but if you look through the pictures following this, you'll probably see that he started freaking out and I had to pick him up again when his feet got touched by the waves.
I was happy that Caleb snapped atleast one pictures with me and each of the kiddos at the ocean.
I really had thought Liam would enjoy the beach the most out of all the kids, but he was pretty unhappy with us about sticking his toes in the ocean. He willingly laid on the sand though, until he realized he was getting dirty.
I tried to teach Evelynn the game with the waves, but she was much too willing to get wet. I nearly had to hold that kid back!
Eventually we decided it was time to go, but we stopped to grab pictures of how sweet the little spot was!
After we stopped we found a little store to buy Dramamine for the kids (both Melinda's and mine's needed to have some in stock). The dads went in and turns out, they bought the whole store out in just that visit. Haha! Our kids had desperately needed it though, so I don't feel too bad about it.
Then it was back to the camp, just in time for dinner.
After dinner we took the kids on the short little walk over the rope bridge before heading back to the cabin.
Then we got the kids into swim stuff and went down to the river to play.
Caleb took the kids in a kayak. Evelynn was doing just fine in the kayak with daddy, but she didn't seem to like it with me. She said it was "too wobbly", which was probably a good thing, considering later events that I'll get to soon.
All the older kids had been jumping into the swimming hole from the large rock in the back. Apparently it's 13 feet deep or so. Well, my brave little boy decided he wanted to give it a try, too (kid-sized, of course!).
I was sooooo proud of my boy! He's braver than his own mama!
After this I decided it was time to join in on the kayaking.
Evelynn quickly asked to be out, so you'll see that I parked myself and let her out just in time to here Caleb yell out and then splashes. I quickly turned around to see my boys in the water! Someone (we think Liam) knocked them off balance being just a tad bit too enthusiastic and they all tipped. Liam didn't make a peep, but Connor started screaming to be saved. It was a little funny because he was wearing puddle jumpers that keep him afloat nearly as well as a lifejacket, and he just finished swim lessons days before, so he knows the basic dog paddle and could get himself to where he could reach if he'd just tried. (Thanks again to my sis for grabbing these pictures!)
Liam was pretty cold and Evelynn needed to go potty at that point. My Aunt Marla just happened to be down at the river at the time and she was so wonderful and took them up to my parents while I did some more kayaking.
After we got our fill of the kayaking it was time to get everyone in a shower and get ready for bed. The next morning would be checkout and we'd have to go back down the winding mountain to go to our next destination. We really wanted all kids happy and not grumpy for that.
Evelynn was exhausted and had so much attitute, so thankfully my sister saved my sanity by playing awesome auntie duties!
The next morning after doing our cleaning responsibilities we just HAD to take pictures by the cabin because ironically enough, we'd been in the Rebekah cabin. Haha!
I thought my sister's pic was too cute to handle, so you get to see that too.
When we were about to leave, Connor asked to take a picture of him sleeping outside the cabin. Well, he doesn't really like pictures on a normal day, so when he asks for it, I indulge him.
Next up on our list was Sausalito!
Honestly, I was pretty grouchy at this point (soooooo sorry family!) Too much california driver stress, too much carsickness, too much hangry-ness I guess.
It took us quite a while to find parking, but eventually (entirely by accident) Caleb and I found a spot that let us pay $15 for parking. Caleb didn't even blink and said "we'll take it!" when I started telling the valet parking guy we were just trying to turn around. It was a great spot though so we called my parents and sister's family and told them where to go.
It was right by a park overlooking the water with benches and picnic tables, so we stopped and had our lunch. Well, everyone else did, I mean. I spent that entire time waiting in a ridiculously long line for the women's bathroom.
I really wanted a picture in front of the sailboats -- or "bail-boats" as Liam calls them. As you can see, he was more interested in looking at them than the camera! I had to beg for one with everyone's face showing.
If you've never been to Sausalito, it's a pretty cool place to stop. It's SO BUSY, right on the ocean, and you can see San Francisco in the background. If I remember right, it is also home to the pier that houses the ferry that takes you out to Alcatraz. The people on bikes pretty much own the streets and they're EVERYWHERE. It's packed, but oh so fun to see. We went when I was little and I remember feeling a bit in awe about it all.
We walked down the boardwalk and periodically stopped for pictures.
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| You need to know that Connor stole my hat because "his head was getting too sunny and hot" |
We continued down boardwalk until we found this cool little spot pictured below. It has stairs that lead down into the water when the tide is low.
My mom and sister were really sweet and took some family pictures for us!
In return, I forced pictures on them.
We saw the Sausalito Sea Lion -- (info here).
Caleb was doing the picture taking for me. I think my grouchiness was getting on everyone's nerves and they'd rather I was quiet at that point.
Next we headed back up the board walk until we got back to the very same ice cream place we went to when I was little.
IT WAS SO PACKED! I went with my parents to get everyone's order while everyone else waited out away from the lines and crowd.
We took the icecream to the little park across the street (apparently my mom has pictures of us kids there when we were little) and ate them.
Now, I hate to say this, but my grumpiness level was through the roof by the end of icecream eating. My kids were being super naughty and it was loud, crowded, and busy. Not really my fav.
My mom wanted a picture of all the kids on the fountain, which I was fine with, until Liam took a tumble off of it. Then I was ready to go. And I think everyone was ready to get away from me. I did manage this picture though in my attempt to get Evelynn to behave. (You see, Auntie was sitting on the fountain for a bit... so Evelynn wanted to, too).
The original plan was to follow my parents to an overlook where you can see the Golden Gate Bridge, but unfortunately, we got stuck in traffic and lost them. We were trying to get turned around to go fix it but then there was an ambulance and the traffic is crazy packed there. We decided to just head onward to the hotel.
They did get some really great pictures though, so if you're interested in seeing them, you know who to ask: My parents or Melinda's family.
I think I was having a bit of a breakdown from the traffic and California drivers, because I was really stressing Caleb out. I wasn't paying attention to the directions (he told me to keep my eyes closed, just breathe, and stop freaking out), so when I glanced up and was like "That's a freaking huge bridge. Thank goodness we're not crossing that", I wasn't prepared for Caleb to inform me that yes, we were crossing it. We were headed right for it.
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| I stole this picture from my sister, I was not in a state of mind for picture taking at this point |
We've already hashed out my fear of bridges on this trip, so can you guess what happened next? I cried. I freaked out. It was not good. I was a blubbering, hysterical mess, and then my poor parents called to tell us they were stuck in traffic. You know what I did? I SCREAMED AT THEM! It was like I had no control, I was that scared of a stupid bridge (Luckily we were on the bottom level, not the top).
We beat everyone to the hotel by a good 45 minutes. They were dead stop in a traffic jam by the overlook for a while. We got a car wash and discussed travel plans for the next morming while we waited. I got to pick the dinner location, so after some looking around, we decided on a nearby Johnny Carino's.
When everyone arrived, my brother-in-law suggested making a reservation so I called and got us one for shortly after 7. Their family took a quick dip in the pool while we got everything settled and then headed on over to the restaurant.
After we got back to the hotel, the dads and kids all went for a swim, and Melinda convinced me to relax in the hot tub with her for a bit. Neither one of us handles the heat exceptionally well so it was short, but it was fun. We made plans to have a little chitchat later after the kiddos were all in bed.
Melinda and I ended up sitting on the floor of their hotel and just laughing our heads off over I don't even remember what for a good two hours. It was a nice way to end the trip, but boy did we miss our Jessie sister!
The final morning of our trip we all woke up and went to this place called Huckleberry's for breakfast. We timed it perfect because it became PACKED right after we were seated. Apparently it's really busy for breakfast. The food was DELISH though and there were huge portion sizes.
The waitress even grabbed a picture for us all on my mom's camera!
We had to say our goodbye's and get headed on our way.
As you can see, the kiddos were quite eager to not be trapped lol
You might remember, or you might not, since it was pretty early in this blog post, but we did NOT stop at Lake Tahoe on our way to California like my sister's family did. We figured we'd stop on our way back and not have to rush. Well, we kind of regretted that after seeing how insanely packed it was. We forgot that EVERYONE goes to the lake on a Sunday.
The kids were pretty bummed when we told them that maybe it wasn't worth driving around for hours to find a parking spot just for a little swimming. They did agree in the end though.
We did do the little hike my sister's family had told us about though. It wasn't much more than a mile, and it took us up to the State Line Lookout.
The kids still loved us enough to grab pictures. I did phone pictures and Caleb grabbed some on my camera.
And Caleb was sweet enough to grab some pics of me and the kiddos.
It really was a beautiful view of Lake Tahoe..
... almost as beautiful as my babies!
By the time we got back down, we were eager to get on the road. It was almost another 9 hours until home and we still needed to stop for dinner in Wendover, which was still another 7 hours away.
We stopped for a late dinner at McDonald's and then got on our way, making it home around 11:30.
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We had such a fun trip with the family and it was so great to see everyone at the reunion!
There will definitely be many wonderful memories from it.
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