Last fun of the Summer

We went to California a couple weeks ago. It was such a short trip, I almost forgot we even went. We had to do something before everyone went back to school, so we willingly chose to drive 12 hours home to visit family.... all I will say about that is that we STILL need a van!

We stayed 4 days... not long enough if you ask me, but we were able to squeeze a lot in.

First we went to visit my Dad. We went to the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley. It was great! I think I saw only 1 or 2 other families there... we had the place to ourselves. The museum was amazing and I would recommend it to anyone.

Here's the kids playing on a life-size whale statue outside the museum.

We drove cars, made plastic bag balloons, rode a virtual rollercoaster, built our own rollercoaster, learned about earthquakes and rivers, built towers, and even convinced Papa to buy us some toys...

The view was amazing from where we were.

My dad holding the kids up to see out the telescope...

The next day we spent time with Shawn's family. The boys played non-stop with their cousins.

Grant and Ben

Shawn's brother, Ryan, and his wife Diana

And their cute kids, Micheal and Kaitlin.

Nick and Tarrah, with their cutie, Taven

Brock

When the boys weren't with their cousins, there were right here... with uncle Matt, playing a computer game. Grant played with his uncle last Christmas, and ever since, whenever we mention California he asks, "can I play the war game with Uncle Matt?" (no blood, no worries).

Peggy with 3 of her blondies.... Brock, Reagan, and Autumn. Look at the eyes on those cuties!

While at Grandma's house, Jefferson fell and hurt his leg. Don't be fooled by the huge bandages though, he just scratched up his knee. It was bleeding a little, but you would have thought he had cut his leg off by the way he was screaming, "I'm going to die!" Luckily, the massive bandages helped the pain, and his leg didn't need to be amputated.

The next day we took a trip to Sly Park Lake. I grew up next door (well, sortof) to the lake, and love visiting the area whenever I can. I always ask Shawn if we can move there, but he refuses to. He thinks only wierdos live there, yet, he married me!
Disclaimer: this is just the opinion of my nieve husband who bases it on my stories of people I knew who were wierdos. I could have only told stories of the awesome people, but stories about wierdos are more entertaining.

Anyways, we packed a lunch, relaxed, and visited, while the kids took Cubby (my mom's dog) on a walk.

Even Grant, the boy who screams and runs from dogs, took Cubby on a walk.

The next day we went to church and visited out old ward, then went home to rest for the LONG day of driving ahead.

We took a little detour and stopped at Crater Lake. I was SO excited to visit it, but was a little disappointed. NOT because it was lame, but because the weather was lame. The Ranger at the entrance to the park warned us that there was very little visibility of the water, but we handed her our $10 (which I think is a rip off, personally) and went for it anyways... She was right, all we saw was WHITE. We would stand at the edge of a lookout into pure whiteness. Then, we got lucky.... at the Phantom Ship Rock, the clouds broke a little and we saw water, YEAH!

To be honest, it wasn't breathtaking. We couldn't see enough of the lake. We'll just have to visit again. The kids had fun driving through snow, so it was worth it!

Jefferson at Crater Lake

Grant

And hooded Reagan. We didn't think Jefferson would get our heads in the shot.

Our trip was short, but it was fun. Thanks to all the family who made room for us, and took time to be with us on such short notice. We love you all! We miss you all already, and it's only been a couple weeks.