Trip to San Francisco

Tim and I decided that we needed to try and do a few special family things before he left for his deployment and one of those was a trip to San Francisco. Tim and I were going to a preseason 49er game and wanted to visit his grandmother with the girls as well.



We spent one day at the aquarium in San Francisco and got to see a bunch of great fish and other aquatic animals. The girls especially loved the penguins.


Tim and I went to the game that evening and met all our tailgating buddies for the first tailgate of the year. We had a great time!

The next day we went to the Jelly Belly factory on the way home. It was really fun to see how they make their candies and to get to taste them. They also have a lot of flavors of Jelly Bellies that you can't find easily other places. Of course we had to buys some of them!


It was just a weekend trip, but it always fun to be able to spend time as a family together.

Our New Car Adventure

Right after the wedding Tim decided we needed another car in our household and went all out with researching which car would best suit our needs. He finally decided on a Jeep Liberty, but the kicker was that he wanted the diesel version. Of course, they only made these in 2005 and 2006 and not very of many of them. Tim did all kinds of research and then found one he really liked....in Champaign, Illinois. About the same time we got an invitation for my sister's surprise 40th birthday party in Austin, TX. Being the adventurous sort that we are, we decided we could do both! Woo Hoo...let the adventure begin.

First, we didn't know if we were going to be able to go or not because Tim got called up to be on a strike team to the fire at Lake Tahoe, NV. Fortunately, he got off in time to come home and pack for our trip, but I was getting ready to see about getting refunds on our tickets for a while.

After attending two days of VBS and making sure everything was going to be organized for the remaining two days of crafts I wouldn't be there (thanks again to my most AWESOME committee), Tim and I flew off to Indianapolis, Indiana. I do have to say that I love that moment I get to the airport and realize I cannot do anything more to prepare for my trip and begin to relax. We then rented a car in Indianapolis and drove to Champaign, Illinois. We got to the car lot about 5:30pm and did all the paperwork to buy the car and then drove to return the rental car. Of course, the place I chose to return it was closed and so I quickly checked my handy Pocket PC (one of my lifesavers during this entire trip) to see where else we could return it. There was another place a few miles away and Tim even let me drive the new Jeep while he drove the rental car. We then found our hotel and got something to eat so we could go to bed as early as possible since we planned to make it clear to Dallas the next day.

The new Jeep as it looked when we started out

We got up the next morning and it was raining (this tended to be the theme of our entire trip). We got on the road early (not as early as we had hoped, but still early) and headed south to Dallas.

Our first state to travel through was Illinois (of course). Forgive me if some of my pictures are not quite accurate as to which state we are in, but I tried and then couldn't quite remember which state was which.


Next state was Missouri....I do know these pictures are accurate as this is the St. Louis Arch and I do KNOW this is in Missouri (give me an A in geography, huh?).



After Missouri, we passed through Oklahoma and, yes, Kristine, there are a TON of trees there despite what those of the rest of us might have heard. Because of all of the rain the whole middle of the country has received, everything was SUPER green. It was kind of cool to see as most of Nevada has been dry and brown and green was a welcome color. I didn't mind the rain as much as Tim did as I wasn't driving and was just being grateful for the coolness the rain brought.



Of course, we did see the world's largest McDonald's on our way through Oklahoma and I did get a picture of that because isn't it all about the scenery?



We then arrived in Texas and in Dallas. We spent two nights with two different friends in the Dallas area and then headed to Austin to surprise my sister. Her husband had planned to have her party on a barge on Lake Travis, but because of all the rain, the company canceled the barge and he had to quickly find another place to hold the party. Fortunately, he found a hotel suite and so we all headed there. Again, thank goodness for my Pocket PC and GPS program which helped us find our way. My sister was totally surprised (I will post the pictures from the party in another post) and we had a great time. We spent two days with them and then headed to Houston to visit some other friends for one night. We came back to my sister's for July 4th as that is her birthday. (I'll post those pictures and detail it later too). We got a bunch of fireworks and lit them off which was great for Tim and my brother Joe as we all live in Nevada where fireworks are illegal (and for very good reason as the recent fire in Lake Tahoe is evidence).



The next morning we got up early and headed for home. It was raining....again...and just as we were heading west right outside of Segovia, Texas a deer ran out in front of us and we hit it....yes, in the brand spankin' new Jeep! Tim swerved some, but it hit the right front part of the car and jammed the passenger door shut and ruined the right front part of the car. It was still driveable, though, and we made it to Albuquerque, New Mexico that night before we had to stop to sleep (we only had one headlight at this point and didn't want to drive to far in the dark). We found a place to stay for the night and didn't get to bed too late.


The next day we got up early again and headed out of Albuquerque. We got about thirty miles out of Flagstaff and our Low Coolant light went on. Aaaaaagh! Tim checked and saw that the radiator hose had been rubbing on a pully and had made a hole in it. We filled it with coolant and made our way to Flagstaff. I had talked to the insurance and they advised me that it would be difficult for our auto body shop to tow it to our home town and so we suggested we rent a U-Haul and car trailer and make our way home. It ended up being about 1/4 of the cost and they were very happy with us. Of course, because of the extra time in renting the Uhaul and since we had to go slower, we had to take an extra day to get home.


Arizona...before Flagstaff, you can see my broken mirror so we were still driving the Jeep


They claim this is the most BEAUTIFUL gas station in the world...what do you all think, and who were the judges?

Our lovely Nevada desert

We made it through Las Vegas and spent the night in Beatty, Nevada at a kind of cute little hotel. The next morning we got up fairly early and made it the rest of the way home. Yeah! Tim has taken the car to our Auto Body shop and we are hoping to have an estimate of time and money by Friday.

The older three girls left for camp on Monday (Alyssa and Jenna are recreation staff leaders and Sammy is going to Jr. High camp in the same place) and Tara and I have had a really nice week with Tim being here about half the nights. I'll post more about that later too, but I wanted to post our car adventure pictures posted.


Here is the jeep post-deer encounter. We feel blessed that it wasn't any worse and no one was hurt (except the Jeep, of course)

Our Trip Home

We finally got out of the hotel at about 12n on Thursday. I don't know why we can't get moving faster, but Tim really wanted to sleep in a little before he drove home and so we got a late start. Our first stop on the way home was by the place where we got our pizza oven. We wanted to visit with the chef who owns the company and I wanted to look at some of the soapstone pieces to bake with. It was fascinating talking with him and hearing all the things we can do with our pizza oven besides just pizza. I know...I know, to some this is going back in time to bake with fire, but I just think it is such a cool concept. These soapstone pieces are made in Brazil and last a lifetime (unless, of course, you drop and break it). We ended up getting the 6 liter pot, the lasagna pan, the warmer and the pizza stone. Now I am in the process of seasoning them so we can use them next week. It is kind of like seasoning cast iron and you can slow cook things in the 6 liter pan, so I am really excited to try that. I'll keep you all posted.



The trip home was fairly uneventful. We drove home a different way than we drove there and I think it was a little faster. We did get to stop at In 'N Out Burger on our way home (kind of a tradition every time we go to California, even though we have one here now), but mostly everyone slept.




We finally arrived home at 12 midnight and just unloaded what we needed to and went to bed. It was a great vacation, but exhausting and it was nice to get home.

Our Last Day in Disneyland

The last day in Disneyland, we decided to ride any rides we hadn't gotten to and then each person got to pick one ride that was their favorite to ride again. We also wanted to finish up our shopping.

We first went over to Bug's Land (from A Bug's Life) and rode a few of the rides over there because we hadn't made it there the day before.







Tara got this Mickey pretzel...I wanted to be sure and get a picture so I could maybe duplicate them (in whole wheat, of course)


Tara and Jenna went on the sailing ship and I got more pictures



We did all get to ride our favorites again. Mine was "Soaring Over California", Alyssa's was "Space Mountain" (I did not ride that again...couldn't take another 1/2 day of dizziness), Jenna's was "Pirates of the Caribbean" (they have redone this since the second movie came out, but not too much, so it was still really fun), Sammy's favorite was "Thunder Mountain Railroad" (Tara did not ride this again, needless to say, and Jenna was happy to report she only freaked out the first time she rode it, the second was much better), Tara's favorite was "Haunted Mansion" and Tim's was "Indiana Jones" (Jenna did ride this, but decided it was too much for her and wouldn't go again). I have to say that Tara also got to ride the Teacups and the Carousel at least twice and wouldn't say which was truly her favorite. We left that night at about 10pm, all tired and having had our fill of Disneyland. It is such a fun place, but it is EXHAUSTING!

Day 2--California Adventure

Day 2 was spent mostly at California Adventure, although, Disneyland opens earlier so we spent a couple hours there and then went over to California Adventure. We did go on Space Mountain that morning and, let me tell you, it took me half the day to get over the dizziness from that ride. We then got Fast Passes for Soaring Over California (my favorite ride). For those who haven't been, you sit in a seat and then get lifted as if you are kind of hang gliding over all different parts of California. They even have breezes and smells that you would smell (the orange grove is my favorite). It is such a relaxing ride for me. Soon after we went to the Grizzly Bear River run and rode the water ride. It was pretty wild, but fun. Tara found that this was the second ride she didn't like.



We then went to the Brother Bear park and Tara got to climb through tunnels, slide down slides and even do a little rock climbing. It was much more her speed.

Even Tim climbed through the tunnels


Sammy and Alyssa sliding down the slides


Tim and Tara raced down the slides....I wonder who won?


Jenna and Tara actually went down the slide together, but Tara was in front and, somehow, got down a lot faster


Tara rock climbing


All my girls


Alyssa coming down the tree slide


Last year when High School Musical came out on Disney Channel, my girls watched it and it quickly became Tara's favorite ALL TIME movie. We Tivoed (is that really a word?) it the next time it was on and had to watch it almost every day for months. She knew all the words to the songs and even some of the dance moves. It, actually, was not a bad movie and I enjoyed it...to a point (after watching something 27 times, I do get a little tired of it). Anyway, they had a special High School Musical song performance and, even though Tara has moved on to love other movies since then, she was very excited so we had to watch the performance. They even had some of the kids go up and do part of the dance!



Tara and Lilo...okay, Jenna, yes, she is with Stitch


Tara even got to go watch a Playhouse Disney show and got to see little live clips from JoJo's Circus, Stanley, Bear in the Big Blue House and Winnie the Pooh. Later we got this picture...
Tara and JoJo


Who gave Tim the camera?


Tara has a pretty tough life...the stroller and cotton candy


Tim even got to go on some of his favorite rides (the rest of us are waaay to wimpy to go on...Tower of Terror and the Maliboomer. The California Screaming rollercoaster line and Fast Pass were waaaay too long and he decided to bypass this ride.

At the end of the night we went back over to Disneyland for the Parade of Lights. None of the pictures turned out great, but this was the best one. Tara then got to ride the Teacups one more time and then afterwards (about 9:30pm) we all went back to the hotel (we had stayed until 11pm the night before and were exhausted).

Disneyland...Here We Come!!

We drove to Disneyland from the hotel the first morning (it would have been okay to walk, but the walking home late at night would not have been fun so we forked out the $11 for parking). The speed limit is 14mph. I am not quite sure about why, but it is and we thought it was funny.


We started out in Tomorrowland and looked at the forever long lines for Space Mountain and decided we would Fast Pass it the next day. For those who don't know what Fast Pass is, you get to use your ticket to go in a faster line, but the catch is that you can only Fast Pass things one at a time and once you scan your ticket, it tells you when you can come back and ride the ride. Space Mountain's Fast Pass wasn't until way later in the day (I think about 5pm) so we decided to Fast Pass it early the next day. Instead, we got on Autopia and drove cars. Tim let Tara drive with him and Sammy and Alyssa drove together. Jenna drove me around.



We went on a few more rides and then proceeded to Fantasyland (Tara's favorite because it involves princesses). We had to ride Small World, of course, and, although it is a fun ride, that song does get old after a while.



We got to see a princess story telling show and Tara got to make a crown (along with Jenna).



I got a picture of all the girls in front of the stage


Tara on her throne


Who wouldn't want to hear Cinderalla's story from the princess herself?


The next stop was Toontown and I got all the girls' picture in the Toontown car.


The girls in jail!


Of course we had to get a picture with the big guy himself!



The teacups were one of Tara's favorite rides! They totally make me dizzy so I just took pictures.



Tim's Aunt Pat has the nickname Mary Poppins so we had to get a picture with Mary at Disneyland...actually, I don't know that I have ever seen her at Disneyland before


The only ride Tara didn't like in this park was the Thunder Mountain Railroad rollercoaster. She thought it was way too wild, but she did try it!