Rachel and Jennifer's Visit!

Rachel and Jennifer are visiting us on their way out to college! We took the tram to the top of the mountain last night and had dinner at the top! Wow, was it cold and so beautiful. Here are some photos. I really wanted to get a good picture of the oldest cousin with the youngest cousin. After all, there are 17 cousins on Andy's side of the family and quite an age range. Dylan, as you can see, thought it was a bad idea...

Steppin' Out!

Dylan has been practicing his walking a lot lately. Pretty soon, he is going to take off...

Lovin' That Corn!!!

Rainstorm!

The girls are always ready for the monsoon rains. At the first hint of a thunderstorm, they have their raincoats and boots on, waiting for the water to go rushing down our street. (On another note, look closely at those crooked little teeth of Mason's because she gets her first round of braces in a month...)

What a Way to Wake Up!!

Early morning nose honking...

Am I Getting this Right???

Or the caption could be: "Why must they make me work so hard???" Dylan loved to get involved in the technical aspects of our camping trip, like turning the lever to lower the camper onto the car. We couldn't have done it without his wonderful baby help!

Our Final Stop

After a couple of nights in San Diego, our last night was spent in Flagstaff. We did not arrive at the campground until dark because we had started looking for a campground in Sedona and every one we passed was full. It was so beautiful, though, full of tall pine trees and a good amount of space between campsites. The girls immediately began building fairy houses in the dark and finished them when we woke up. At this point, the lure to get home was driving me but I liked that area so much that I could have stayed another night. Most of this trip was about getting somewhere so I am now interested in taking a camping trip more for the sake of camping. Anyway, we had a wonderful time and I was sad to put our camper away in the garage... (Notice that the girls did end up with some sort of fairy for their houses!)

The American Girl Place

We took the girls to The American Girl Place in Los Angeles. There was, of course, lots of shopping to do for their dolls and they had to get pajamas that matched the ones that Josefina wears. We also had lunch at their special restaurant. While it was fun and the girls got to put their dolls in the special doll seats, it was quite expensive for a simple little lunch... After that, we went to the theater where a group of girls aged 10 to 14 put on an incredible show in which they acted out all of the American Girl stories. That was definately worth seeing. After it was over, all of the actresses came out and answered questions. I think it was perfect for Mason's age and Hannah really enjoyed it too, even if we did have to sneak her in as a six year old because under six was not allowed...

I'm Soooooo Excited!!!!

At the Beach!

The beach is such a simple thing and always a highlight for the girls and for the baby guy as well. What more can you ask for-- sand, water, shells, gulls. And my do they sleep well after a day at the beach. We got to spend several hours there with Aunt Kathryn and cousins.

California!

Our next stop was Las Vegas for two nights. Those were the only nights that we did not stay in our camper because we already had reservations before we got the camper. We do not have any photos from Vegas but suffice it to say that we were there on 7/7/07 and only won ten cents...

After that we made it to San Pedro, California to visit Andrew's family. We did lots of fun things and have lots to post about that part of the trip but let's start with Grandma Alice and Grandpa Bill since we were so happy to see them!

Zion National Park

After Taos, we headed on to Moab and camped high up in the mountains. That is where the picture of our camper is from. It was our first night in the camper and a difficult one. For some reason, our battery was dead so we had no light. I had an awful stomach ache and went to bed right away while Andrew fixed dinner for everyone and got everything set up. In the morning, things were better and we headed to Zion. Chris and Vincent were with us on this whole trip until we got to California and we also met up with Briget and Izzy in Zion, where they were waiting with a delicious dinner when we arrived! (Thank you guys so much!!!) We then headed to a river right by our campground and swam. The water was just deep enough to hit Mason's chest and had some little rapids that she could float down. Even Dylan and Izzy ended up skinny dipping. (I have to admit that after Dylan was asleep, I was so tired of being hot that Mason and I snuck down to the river again and I took a dive in...) The next morning, we hiked to Weeping Rock, one of the many beautiful hikes in Zion. Then we headed out. I have learned that it can be a challenge to camp with a non-walking baby. Our first campsite had lots of cow patties and the second had goat head stickers. If I had it to do over again, I would definitely bring the Pack-n-play portable crib to put him in when he was outside...

Taos-- the First Stop of our Trip!

We left home on the 2nd of July and headed to Taos first so that we could pay a little visit to Granny and so that the girls would have a big audience for their Fourth of July performance. They had been putting together a show for many months and had organized it down to a background, programs, and the whole nine yards. I was quite impressed with what they accomplished! There is nothing like the energy and imagination of kiddos! We also got to ride in a small parade in the Taos Ski Valley.

Home from a Long Trip!

We have been out of touch for two whole weeks but we are now home and have a lot of posting to do! It is late now so we will just post this one for today to show you what we have been camping in-- our new Starcraft 10-RT pop-up camper!!!! What fun! And yes, our mini van pulled it like a champ!

Daddy's Birthday Party!

Uncle Chris and Vincent are visiting and Mason spent a lot of time and sent lots of e-mails back and forth with Uncle Chris to arrange a birthday party for her Daddy. She organized the games and activities and she and Hannah helped make the pool cake. We had lots of fun! Dylan thought the water balloons were the best entertainment, especially when they popped! Happy early birthday, Dad!