This Spring, we packed up the kids and the dog and headed to California for 17 days of friends, family, and tons of adventure. We left the day before Easter for our longest day of driving - 11 hrs! Above is a picture of the start of our trip - 6am, Saturday, April 3
We only stoppped a couple of times on our drive down to Grama's house in Merced. One was for a picnic lunch at a rest stop between Redding and Sacramento. (BTW - The bruise on his head was a failed attempt at pulling himslef up at the coffee table a few days prior to our trip- ouch!)
Robin Hood's improvised bow and arrow
Still on Day 1, we stoppped for dinner at our dear friends Mai, Luis, Sophia, and Andres. 
Day 2: Easter! Nana and Papa came up for the day at Grama's House
Day 4: We left Merced and headed to Clovis via Yosemite where we met our close friends, The Sheldons, for a hike to the Vernal Falls Bridge (aka by the Evans' family as "Snicker Bar Bridge") An unexpected 2 feet of snow the night before added an element of excitement to the hike, but the kids did fantastic on the 3 mile round trip hike.
Day 5: Wake Up Call!!
Playing with Mommy's My Little Ponies =)
Day 5: A visit to the Staffords. First,Caleb gets a lesson on Tink.....
.....Then Mommy gets a lesson on Bella
Caleb gets cozy with Papa
Day 6: One more ride before we leave Nana and Papa's house
Mommy enjoys showing the boys how she grew up - like feeding the little orphan kitty
Day 6: In-n-Out at the top of the Grape-Vine
A beautiful day at Manahtten Beach before heading to BJ, Cori, and Taylor's house for some good Mexican Food and to spend the night
Day 7: We're happy to spend the next three days with Uncle Carl, Aunt Lani, cousin Maile, Grama, and Uncle Mike in Yucaipa
Everybody loves to rub the Buddha head
A trip to Build-A-Bear
Day 10: With Uncle Mike at the Hotel Room
Day 10: Exploring Downtown Disney before dinner with the whole family at Rain Forrest Cafe
Day 11: DISNEYLAND!!!!! =)
Noah thought the bubbles were hillarious!
A short snooze through It's a Small World
Mr. Ryan's Wild Ride
The anticipation of Space Mountain
The delirium of 13 hours of Disneyland
And he's out....literally five feet out the gate
Day 12: We spent the day (and night) with Uncle Clint, Aunt LeVonne, and Elaine - what a relaxing day!
Jackpot!
Day 13: Waiting for Cousin Grant to get out of class at college in Landcaster before we take him to lunch.
Day 14: Playing in Grama's and then off to the Cabin in the Sierra's with all of the high school and college buddies.
But first, an early Birthday celebration for Caleb with his dragon cake!
Day 15: John got up early to skiing at his old stomping grounds. At the top of a really steep run (only the 3rd one the day), his rental ski popped off and he did an olympic style tumble down the hill and dislocated both shoulders! He was able to pop the right one back in and then ski down to the ski lift where ski patrol then took him the rest of the way in the sled. I left the big boys at the cabin with the girls and other kids while Noah and I came to take Daddy down the mountain to the ER. Needless to say, we spent about 5 hours of Caleb's birthday in the ER. John spent the rest of the trip with his arm velcroed to his side with an immobilizer. A rotten way to end the trip, but a good story none-the-less.
Happy 3rd Birthday, Caleb!!!
Day 16: Leave the cabin, meet Grama at the bottom of the mountain to get Shasta (the Dog), then on to Chico where we had dinner and a great evening at the park with Aunt Margeret, Uncle Bill, Cousins Wayne and Dawna, and their kids Maddie and Braden. Then off to spend the night with friends Steve, Julie, and Luke.
Day 17: Yreka, one last picnic lunch before the final push for home.
