National Parks

 Even though Visalia is only an hour from the National Parks, we don't usually make the trip.  It's hard to spend more time in the car after the 12 hour drive.  And a lot of the activities in the park can be tiring for the kids.  We couldn't resist this time!

We spent the day in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.  We did all the big tourists sights:  General Sherman, Grant, Moro Rock.... 

 

 

We went inside a tree!

The boys on their hike up Moro Rock.  It was Jeff's first time!

 

After the National Parks we went swimming at my favorite childhood swimming hole in Potwisha.  It was so fun to see my kids playing in the same rock water slides.

 

Visalia

When we arrived in Visalia we went to my parent's NEW house.  They had only moved in about two weeks before our visit.  It was exciting to see their new place and to hear about all my mom's plans for it.



 

Pappy is a great snuggler!

Even though it was 100+ degrees we spent a lot of time outside.  The new house has several small yards that are great for lounging.  We swam in the back yard and had snacks on the front deck.

 

I had to send Tank into Clare for some extra morning snuggles. The babies love a little extra sleep.

California, here we come....

Yet again we made the drive from Portland to Visalia.  I don't know if I should be proud or ashamed of how often we do this, and how well my children travel....

 

 

Here we are, pulling out of the driveway....notice how happy Nora is.

And here we are, all five of us slept in a king size bed- the only room left at the hotel we stopped at on our way down.

And best of of all we met Lyla.  Lyla is my friend, Leslie's brand new baby.  We were so excited to be able to stop by for a few snuggles!

 



And to celebrate our arrival:  In-n-Out Burger.

Berry Picking

We went berry picking this year!  We went at the perfect time and the blue berries were huge, ripe, and so yummy.  We also picked raspberries.  The kids loved picking the berries, even Nora who won't eat them.
When we got home I washed them and froze them in a painstakingly way, but so excited to know we could have berries all year!  Only our freezer died while we were on vacation and so we LOST them all.  Despite that, we still had a great time.

L.L. Stub State Park

 

We spent two days at L.L. Stub State Park in a cabin!  It was our first time staying in a cabin at a state park.  The cabins are essentially the same as yurts, these just happened to be new and nice.  L.L. Stub is a new park and is along the Banks-Vernonia Bike Trail.  The cabins are at the highest elevation of the park so we had a view overlooking the rest of the park.  

 

This year the kids have really shown us that they know what camping is all about!  They love exploring the campgrounds- and are actually starting to relax!

The purpose of this trip was the bike half of the bike trail.  From L.L. Stub the trail is ten miles to Vernonia.  Riding along the trail was pretty easy, considering we were towing children!  But getting in and out of the park was HARD work.  We had to ride some pretty steep hills! 

Ice Cream in a Bag

We made ice cream in a bag for dessert!  We do this at least once every summer, and it amazes the kids!

It is a lot of work, especially because you can only make one serving per bag.  The ice cream doesn't taste the best either, but it's still ice cream. 



Road Trip 2012

We have trained our children to be professional car travellers.  We load them up, throw some snacks at them, turn on a dvd, and start the miles.  California here we come!