San Diego and Joshua Tree

We have returned from our great San Diego adventure!  Overall it was a good trip, aside from the general whining and crying from  the kids.  We headed out early Friday morning with plans of driving through Joshua Tree on the way.

It wasn't at all what we had imagined it would be.  The landscape there was was dry with bursts of amazingness.  You just have to go there and see for yourself. Perhaps one day when the kids are older, Scott and I will travel there again for a little camping and exploring. 

We once again passed the wind mill 'farm' near Palm Springs.  It's really quite strange driving through there... white, spinning giants everywhere you look.

We encountered rush hour as we were getting closer to San Diego.  I snapped this picture and rolled down the window. I could smell the ocean and feel the cooler, damp air.  I looked over at Scott and told him how much I loved California.  We have now seen this beautiful and amazing state from top to bottom and I hope to return here again some day.

We checked into our 'less than perfect' Ramada hotel and ordered pizza.  I honestly can't remember if we explored the city that evening or not, but after a full day of driving I'm sure we were all ready for a good nights sleep.

The following day we met one of Scott's friends from high school at the San Diego zoo.  Christina had a little girl, Eva, who was a year older than Maria.  After a bit of warming up to one another, they quickly became friends and enjoyed numerous snacks and cotton candy.

They even made friends with the creepy polar bear.

After an exhausting day at the zoo, Scott and I decided to take the girls down to Mission Bay to walk the beach and look for sea shells.  People were everywhere enjoying beach volleyball, barbecues, and icy cold beers on their ocean side decks and patios.

On Sunday we met Christina and her family and friends at the beach for a day of play and relaxation.  Both girls loved playing in the sand and getting wet in that salty sea.

Afterwards we went to the beautiful Stone Brewery for a beer and one last meet up with Christina, her husband Cisco, and Eva.

Monday we spent the entire day at Sea World.  I'm getting exhausted just typing this!  We saw Shamu, dolphins, sharks, and sea turtles.  Maria was so excited to see Shamu that when the show finally started and the whales started swimming out, I got tears in my eyes and looked at Maria to see her excitement.  She was grinning from ear to ear.  It's those times of motherhood that I love the most.  The sea lion show was by far the highlight of our entire day... I was laughing out loud.

We told Maria that at the end of the day, if she was good, we would get her the stuffed dolphin she had been asking for since she had first laid eyes on it upon our arrival.  Both girls did well and each left with their own Sea World souvenir.

It was a fun, and very exhausting trip.  I'm sure I should've taken more pictures and recorded more video, but overall I'm happy.  It just feels so good to be home.

Our trip to Disneyland... and other mishaps

This post has been put on the back burner for far too long.  We finally figured out how to get an internet connection on the computer through our phones, so blogging has become that much easier.  No more 'stealing' weak signals from other sources or taking the girls to the pool house to use the free wifi.

Speaking of pool houses, we've been spending a lot of time in the pool too!  Today the weather is supposed to be in the 90's... and it's only April.  Well, almost April. ;)  We've had to turn the air on in the trailer which has been providing a bit of relief, but as soon as it goes off, the trailer heats up like an oven.  And it's so loud!  Our switch to lighter, fresher meals have also replaced the comfort foods we had enjoyed while in California, and the switch was basically overnight.  Not a very good transition into summer.  Tan lines on little bodies and big bodies, flip flops, sundresses, shaving of legs.... these are some of the things that we have adjusted to since arriving in Arizona... and our search for a set of table and chairs for the 'patio' has been put on the front burner.  Something that folds flat but still looks... hip.

Now that I've made you all envious of our early summer, let me fill you in on some of the good and not so good highlights from the trip.  Sorry if this post sounds a bit negative, but please try to sense my sarcasm while I was writing it. :)

A trip to Disneyland was on the agenda.  Not a place I was particularly fond of going to, but like Scott said 'it's for the kids.'  So south bound to Anaheim we went and I believe somewhere along the way, we got a flat tire on the truck.  Scott didn't know how to get the spare off and struggled with it for some time.  Thankfully he resorted to calling a local Dodge dealership to find out how.  Soon we were back on the road.

We stayed at an RV park that was within walking distance to Disneyland.  We intended on getting up early the next morning and walking the few blocks, but ended up not getting out of the trailer till eleven or so.  We had no idea the amount of time it was going to take to walk through the whole park.  We thought for sure we'd be home by six, but ended up leaving the park around nine.  By the end, we had all had it and were able to watch the fireworks on the walk home.  I believe it was the best seat in the house.

We always seem to travel to popular places during a school hiatus, this time it was spring break.  The lines were pretty bad and I would say that the majority of our time was spent in line.  The one thing that was top on the priority list that day was to meet the princess'.

and yes, Ginger looked crabby in just about every picture.  I think she gets that from me. ;)

After going on a few rides and having some lunch we decided to wait in that loooong line to see them.  I believe we waited for over an hour.

But when we turned the corner.... Maria was in heaven!!

I had never seen her so excited!  She had not a shy bone in her body.  She continually jumped up and down for several minutes before someone finally told her to calm down so we could get a picture.  I'm sure it wasn't the first time Belle and Ariel saw a little girl so excited.  Ginger on the other hand, couldn't have cared less. 

We ate pink cotton candy, ice cream, and pizza... all of which were overpriced and not very good.  We bought Maria a pair of ridiculously priced pair of pink Minnie Mouse ears, which made her head itchy and now sit on the dresser and haven't been worn since.  But like Scott said, 'it's for the kids'.  She does however look really cute in them.

We had a cup of crap coffee at one of the cafe's and sat and watched the other tourists pass by.  I could've sat there much longer than we did, but the day was running out.

We headed back to the trailer and put the kids to bed.  Got up bright and early to get a head start on the day.  Our plan was to leave the RV park by 8:00.  We succeeded, but not even 5 miles onto the freeway we encountered our second flat tire, only this time it was on the trailer.  Sonofacraphole!!


Luckily, some highway patrol tow truck thing pulled over shortly after and offered to help free of charge.  It put a dent in our early start, and buying new tires later that day set us back too. It's all a part of the journey, I suppose.


We arrived in Phoenix that evening to look at some campgrounds and then proceeded south towards Tucson where my parents live.  We encountered what we thought was a black widow spider in the trailer, but soon discovered that it probably wasn't.  My father came over and sprayed the screens and all the openings with pesticides.  Taking precautions against scorpions, wolf spiders, black widows, and snakes soon became high on the to-do list.  While we were in Tucson, we went to the Desert Museum, went swimming, had really good hamburgers made by my brother-in-law, and best of all, spent down time with family.


It was quite the journey, full of good times, bad times, and lots of memorable photos in between.

I've been bombarded!

It seems like there are so many fun and exciting things to share with you, but no time to do it all.  I'm also quite certain that many of these things are only exciting to me, but I'll fill you in on a few before we hit the road on Wednesday.


~First~ I got my first roll of film back from Walgreen's.  Scott bought me an old Pentax K1000 from Ebay a few weeks ago, and I flew through the first roll to see how they turned out.  I love that there are so many ways to keep photography interesting and I can't believe I didn't discover film years ago!  Overall, I'm really happy with how they turned out.  I love the vintage feel to all of them and the film grain is so gorgeous and authentic.  I was also very happy to find that the light meter worked. 


The following pictures are all from that roll. 

~Second~ I've been thinking a lot about Maria starting school.  I have tossed around the idea of homeschooling, but Scott (who likes the idea) doesn't think I can do it.  I would LOVE to prove him wrong as well as prove to myself that I can do it ;)  I'm quite dissatisfied with the public school system and believe that she would get a better, FULLER education at home.  I'm sure some of you out there are teachers and most of you send your children to public schools, but it's just not the path we want to choose.


So, yesterday while Scott was at work, I took the girls to Barnes & Noble to check out the kids section and to look into the topic of homeschooling.  After Ginger had a complete meltdown in the store, we left with a Pre-K workbook for Maria.  I guess the trip wasn't a TOTAL disaster. :)  Upon our return, Maria was excited to get started, so we did a few pages before dinner.    She tried her hand at tracing numbers as well as various counting activities.  She was really receptive and eager to learn, which makes things easier.  It'll be nice to have a head start before she even begins school next year... and it's fun for her!


*if any of you homeschool (unschool) your children, I would love to hear any suggestions/feedback you might have to share*


~Third~ I was offered the chance to share our story with another website.  It's hard to explain all the details, but it's a well followed site and a really great opportunity to get our story out there.  I'm not the best writer, so sharing our story to hundreds of people won't necessarily be an easy task, but nonetheless, a FUN one!


~Fourth~ We leave on Wednesday!!  Tomorrow I'll be packing up the dishes and getting last minute things in order.  We're also planning a trip to Disneyland on the way to Arizona.  Maria is extremely excited about this, I only hope she's big enough to go on some rides.  We'll be back on the road again on Friday morning, hoping to make it to Tucson before it gets dark.  I don't think I've ever been so excited to see my parents!


So with that, we'll be away from the blog for a little while.  We're going to take time to be with family and get situated and familiar in our new surroundings.  I'm sure we'll be back with fun new pictures and lots of adventures to talk about.


Cheers!!

If I could turn back time....

~we would've installed different counter tops~

~we wouldn't have packed the Yakima box full of unnecessary stuff~

~I would've packed myself more summer clothes~

~I probably should've went with a more conventional rug~

~we should've went to a more 'qualified' upholsterer~

~wish I would've grabbed those two rolls of unused film~

~I really didn't need all those shoes~
~I would've went to some knitting groups~

Just some random thoughts I've had since being on the road.  I'm sure Scott has his own list too. :)

Our afternoon on "The Rock"

Last week we took our final trip to San Fransisco with one thing in mind... touring Alcatraz.  We booked our tickets early this time, and good thing we did because they sold out fast.  Touring "The Rock" was a phenomenal experience and we're so happy we were able to work it into our schedule before we leave California.  If you ever get the chance, please do go and see it for yourself... you won't be disappointed.

I'm sorry, but our pictures don't do it justice.

the first building we went into played a short movie about the history of this historic place.  Scott and girls watched the movie while I stepped out and took some pictures.

There were beautiful gardens that were tended by many of the inmates as well as the workers that lived there.  Were you aware that children were raised here?  I wasn't.

This is what greeted us upon entering the cell block... the shower room.  The hygiene table and shoes were behind bars so I couldn't get a closer look.  I love how they staged almost every room to make it feel real.

We also did the audio tour while in the cell block.  Please, if you ever come here, DO the audio tour.  It is full of information, stories, and special effects and you'll be left in the dark if you don't.

Several of the cells were staged to document the lives of some of the most notorious inmates.

The man in the middle is "the birdman"

and then there's Al Capone

We spent nearly three hours on the island taking in the sites and touring the grounds.

I took a lot of pictures, but didn't share them all.  Perhaps you'll see more in the future.