Sunny California

Joshua Tree. One big playground for kids and adults alike!

O and I got left behind when they had to go climb higher.

Family tree, and about the only shade around on this blazing day.

melting

Jarom and Bella taking their Jr. Rangers oaths very serious.

As you can imagine we were ready for the beach, but it was a good 25 degrees cooler here. Didn't stop them.

But the breeze was plenty cool for me.

At our favorite campsite at Point Mugu, we were so pleased to get the same site as last year. Eating our lunch that we picked up from the Claremont farmers market.

Took a nice family shower during an earthquake. The kids picked out some coloring books and books from the local dollar store. A little storm came in and so did we. It was fun though, no messy camp fire. Instead we got to read a fun star book that glows in the dark and has all the constellations' background stories. So we got to read about Orion, and then we read our own astrological signs.

Good morning buckwheat!

Bella's birthday. They can't wait to see what's in those gifts!

My lovely little Bell is 5!

Wanted to try on her new dress.

And there she is in all her princess glory!

Disneyland main street

My family. I think this is the only whole family shot we got the whole trip.

Dancing away

The boys met Goofy while Bell and I went to meet some princesses!

Bella was so excited but nervous to meet them, it was funny to watch. You can tell she was pretty stiff.

Two Belle's

And here is the favorite, all of our dreams have come true.

Teacups with my Birthday gal

Daddy acting like he is dying!

Teamwork

Bella leaving like royalty. She and Oey passed out the moment we walked out of the park!

Calico here we come!!

woo hooo

we're here

you're coming with me

My girl and her new friend Rosa

a house made out of bottles

Old timers

Train ride.

Mine tours

Loving learning and walking through history with the kids.

It's weird that people lived down here, and got filthy rich here!

Gold panning!

A baggy of fool's gold.

Bella's birthday volcano in the MGM at the Rain Forest Cafe! A tradition we all love.

Happy critters. They won treats by singing into the microphone at the M&M factory. Here are their singing videos:

Fun till the sun goes down

We signed up for a family art class on Friday night down at the Discovery Museum in SLC. We had such a blast, and I can't believe we haven't done this sooner. Plus it was our lucky night. We were the only ones there so we got the teacher and three helpers to ourselves. We had a nice lesson on Peter Max and then tried to create one of our own using his style. Jarom started strong but could not keep it up, the museum was calling his name. A little disappointing since earlier that same day he took more time decorating a empty toilet paper roll.

Bella and I hard at work.

Oey and Matt stumbled in after Oey got to play with the museum toys for a bit, can't blame the kid. That place is just loaded.

Art is the eye of the beholder. The art hanging up between Matt and I is one of Peter Max's.

We were at the Gateway and it just so happened that earlier that week I had seen a little clip on tv about the new eatery at the Gateway called The Counter. It has all kinds of burgers, and the most amazing garden burgers. We just had to try one.


Saturday the Children's Celebration of the Arts (by the Covey Center) was going on at Pioneer Park with the farmers market. They had about 50 different tables set up with a million crafts for kids. Bella and I had fun making a princess crown while the boys hit the farmers market.

Jarom had $1, and he searched the farmers market over to find the best snowcone for a dollar. That's what he got.

We left the farmers market and rode straight to the Utah Lake Festival. Oey's loving his ride.

They had a couple different games the kids could play

And poor Jarom didn't win

Our favorite stop on the river

Oey's turn

Last stop, the Pony Express Days Carnival way out in Eagle Mountain. The kids all LOVED it. What kid doesn't like rides?

Oey kept slipping way to the side and the dear young worker would get worried and place him back on top. That happened 3 different times.

Such a cute humble carnival in the middle of nowhere. Took us over an hour to find it and we had to stop and ask about 6 different people. The setting sure was pretty and the kids thought it was well worth it. I was getting a little carsick with all the turning around and being lost, but in the end I love seeing my kids' smiles.