On our way out of the LA area (on Monday, July 21st) we went by the Newport Beach temple (our hotel was quite close). It was a pretty day but I think by this time in our trip, Justin was starting to hate the camera! By the time we went to Pismo he'd REALLY had about enough of the picture taking (which you'll see when I get to that blog)!
From there, we drove up Monday night to Shaver Lake, up to the Malan cabin. This was where we spent the next few nights, amidst our daily travels. We took Justin to Indian Rock that night (our Malan tradition) that is in the subdivision. We enjoyed looking at the stars and the city lights (and of course the potholes....Adam told Justin that they were where the indians ground acorns--and I was ALWAYS told they ground corn. We'll still have to research that one, acorns might make more sense? Still it's a cool place that I'm glad we could share with Justin.). We do wish however, that we could've had a "true" cabin experience, spending time exploring, hiking, playing games, cooking, making s'mores down in the fire pit...but this trip was not conducive to that unfortunately. We commented after we left the Shaver area how pathetic it was, we didn't even see Shaver Lake while we were there--we were so busy trying to coordinate visits with everyone. Someday I want to take our family and stay there a week without anything/anyone to see! Tuesday morning we woke up and Adam, Justin, and Spencer went exploring while I did some laundry. Justin loved finding sticks and pretended all sorts of things, as kids do with sticks...I loved doing that at the cabin as a kid, climbing all the big rocks and stuff. So fun to watch my son explore this wonderful place like I did when I was little. Grandma Linda made this beautiful sweater that Spencer is wearing, it matches the beautiful blanket she made him too!
Next was SUCH a fun thing! I took the kids down to Fresno to Kristen's house where Audrey and Jennifer and their kids all met up. How fun it was to see them after lots of years and meet all their cute kids. We had Pete's Teriyaki (something Fresno-ish that I'd been craving, yum!) and hung out. What a fun group, I sure miss them all! Thanks Kristen for having us over...I'm glad your place is still standing!:)
That night we met up with the extended Smith family at Sweet Tomatoes. It was great to see Grandpa (Great Grandpa) Smith and Uncle Mike, Aunt Marina, Kendra and Rob, Janina and Matt. We were able to see Janina's cute house in tower district before heading to dinner. It was a fun evening. We miss them!
Whew. On to day 6 of our trip, we're to Wednesday, July 23nd now. Ok, so I really wanted to avoid the throw up details of the trip, but I guess I can't leave this part out. Adam got violently sick (vomitting sick) late Tuesday night when we got up to Shaver. We thought maybe it was Sweet Tomatoes, or maybe Carl's Jr poisoning. So he was still pretty sick, just nauseous, on Wednesday. So...he was attempting to foil our long-planned vacation..uh, trip (I still can't quite call it a vacation!). So Justin, Spencer, and I drove up to McKinley Grove where the giant sequoias are. We went there with my parents for a picnic when Justin was 2 months old, right before we moved to Omaha...but obviously Justin doesn't remember that. So I knew he'd think they were cool, and since it's only like a 30 minute drive from the cabin, it was a do-able trip (going up to the Redwoods was just too far north!). We had a nice time with Grandma Pam and Uncle Jordan who came (the others chickened out since Adam wasn't going to be there...they think I bite or something!). Grandma Pam made a GIANT yummy lunch, it's too bad the rest of the boys weren't there to enjoy it, yum! I wish I took pictures of it, but I didn't. Here are the giant sequoias though:
AND the next (and final) blog of the trip will be pismo and the plane ride home....
From there we went up to Fresno and went swimming at Great Grandma and Grandpa Malan's house. This was Justin and Spencer's first swim of the season and they had fun. Actually, it was Spencer's first time swimming. He's ready to be dunked Jan Thomas style....Too bad all the Malan aunts aren't around Omaha to teach him to swim like they did to me at 18 months! Justin is the one who really needs some "dunking" and I'm determined to get him going at the Y in the indoor pool. He's had a few group lesson sessions, but it's just not enough...or "correct" in my opinion, for how to learn swimming. Anyway, here are a few of the pictures from the swim at Grandma's:
Next we went up to the Smith's for a lovely dinner. We hadn't seen Doug in a few years so it was fun--Justin had lots of fun playing with Uncle Doug and Uncle Jordan. Uncle Parker showed him his spicy peppers growing in the garden and introduced him to the dogs that have joined their family since our last visit. This was also Grandpa Smith's first chance to meet Spencer. Unfortunately, Spencer is still pretty Mommy-attached and so we couldn't get a happy picture with him and Grandpa!:(
From there, we drove up Monday night to Shaver Lake, up to the Malan cabin. This was where we spent the next few nights, amidst our daily travels. We took Justin to Indian Rock that night (our Malan tradition) that is in the subdivision. We enjoyed looking at the stars and the city lights (and of course the potholes....Adam told Justin that they were where the indians ground acorns--and I was ALWAYS told they ground corn. We'll still have to research that one, acorns might make more sense? Still it's a cool place that I'm glad we could share with Justin.). We do wish however, that we could've had a "true" cabin experience, spending time exploring, hiking, playing games, cooking, making s'mores down in the fire pit...but this trip was not conducive to that unfortunately. We commented after we left the Shaver area how pathetic it was, we didn't even see Shaver Lake while we were there--we were so busy trying to coordinate visits with everyone. Someday I want to take our family and stay there a week without anything/anyone to see! Tuesday morning we woke up and Adam, Justin, and Spencer went exploring while I did some laundry. Justin loved finding sticks and pretended all sorts of things, as kids do with sticks...I loved doing that at the cabin as a kid, climbing all the big rocks and stuff. So fun to watch my son explore this wonderful place like I did when I was little. Grandma Linda made this beautiful sweater that Spencer is wearing, it matches the beautiful blanket she made him too!
Next was SUCH a fun thing! I took the kids down to Fresno to Kristen's house where Audrey and Jennifer and their kids all met up. How fun it was to see them after lots of years and meet all their cute kids. We had Pete's Teriyaki (something Fresno-ish that I'd been craving, yum!) and hung out. What a fun group, I sure miss them all! Thanks Kristen for having us over...I'm glad your place is still standing!:)
During my visit with friends, Adam went to Fresno and hung out with his family and went to lunch (had to be Carl's Jr...he really misses that!! Hardee's just isn't the same!) and the movies. Afterwards he and Jordan went to Blackbeard's and played video games. We met up with them and I had to get a picture with ol' Blackbeard himself and with the eye patch Justin won at playing games.
That night we met up with the extended Smith family at Sweet Tomatoes. It was great to see Grandpa (Great Grandpa) Smith and Uncle Mike, Aunt Marina, Kendra and Rob, Janina and Matt. We were able to see Janina's cute house in tower district before heading to dinner. It was a fun evening. We miss them!
We drove around Fresno before heading back up to Shaver for the night and saw "our" temple. It brought back a lot of feelings and memories for me. Watching this structure being built in basically my backyard will have a lasting positive impact on my testimony forever. I was just looking at the piece of granite I have from the building of it the other day. What a miracle that building is. I love the gospel. I love the temple.
Whew. On to day 6 of our trip, we're to Wednesday, July 23nd now. Ok, so I really wanted to avoid the throw up details of the trip, but I guess I can't leave this part out. Adam got violently sick (vomitting sick) late Tuesday night when we got up to Shaver. We thought maybe it was Sweet Tomatoes, or maybe Carl's Jr poisoning. So he was still pretty sick, just nauseous, on Wednesday. So...he was attempting to foil our long-planned vacation..uh, trip (I still can't quite call it a vacation!). So Justin, Spencer, and I drove up to McKinley Grove where the giant sequoias are. We went there with my parents for a picnic when Justin was 2 months old, right before we moved to Omaha...but obviously Justin doesn't remember that. So I knew he'd think they were cool, and since it's only like a 30 minute drive from the cabin, it was a do-able trip (going up to the Redwoods was just too far north!). We had a nice time with Grandma Pam and Uncle Jordan who came (the others chickened out since Adam wasn't going to be there...they think I bite or something!). Grandma Pam made a GIANT yummy lunch, it's too bad the rest of the boys weren't there to enjoy it, yum! I wish I took pictures of it, but I didn't. Here are the giant sequoias though:
That night, Adam was feeling better (ish) so we met up with Mark Porter, Adam's best bud since he was little, son of Grandma Linda. It was his birthday...poor Mark, I wish we had a little better of a place to celebrate, but we ended up going to the pizza place in Prather (before we drove back up to sleep at the cabin). It was good to see Mark; I miss those Porters a lot, they're great.
The only cabin-ish pictures I got before we left (SO pathetic, it's not even funny...)
AND the next (and final) blog of the trip will be pismo and the plane ride home....
5 comments:
It sounds like you need a vacation!
Thanks for the pics. I have been curios to see how the trip went.
What a trip! I bet you guys went home exhausted!I am sure all of your fam and friends were so excited to see you guys, especially your darling little ones!
What a FUN trip!!! I have to tell you that I am so happy for you and so jealous all at the same time! It looked like so much fun...you did so many of the things that I think I would do given a full week in Fresno. I haven't been to the sequoias in forever!! I know what it is like though when you visit family and feel more rested coming HOME because of trying to see absolutely everyone you can on those rare trips home! You made me miss Fresno so much!! I am so happy you guys got to do that!
I found you from a comment you left on Cristy Michaelson's blog! It's good to catch up and see what all you've been up to.
Wow! So fun! I do miss you. So I realized that I deleted your message and never called you back. I swear being pregnant left me half brain-dead, I never remember half the stuff I used to. Anyway, in case you didn't already know, I'm NOT going to the reunion. I didn't love high school all that much then and I love it even less now. Sorry! You're welcome to go and then come hang out at my place though, THAT would be fabulous!! :)
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