June-AZ&CA Adventures!

We got to play Rook a few nights we were there as well, good times. This is one of my better hands.

 Duane had promised the boys before we left for Arizona that he would fix his parents elevator so they could try it out. They loved being able to help Grandma take down some year supply food to put away. 

 Willy is one flexable little guy. He loves sucking on his big toe. 

 Duane had a conference in Cali at Yosemite National Park and a couple days before Duane's conference we made the decision for I and the boys to drive out there with them. The whole 12 drive! It wasn't too bad. We just paced ourselves and made stops where needed. We stopped 4 times total. The last stop we made was to Arby's or something and across from the restaurant was a huge dirt field. Duane took the boys to run around since they'd basically been cooped up all day... Tristen had a heyday!

 But then we had to figure out a way to clean him and Kalvin off before we got back in the car. That took a few minutes...

So, in the morning of the first 2 days, Duane had classes so the boys and I slept in and would go on short hikes.
Or just sing songs in our dirty room...

The first day we went out I definitely under estimated how cool it would be up in the mountains at Yosemite. I was in shorts, sandals and no long sleeve. We decided not to hike in the 1/2 mile to see a huge tree and I'm glad cause it started raining like 10 minutes after. That would have been absolutely miserable!
We did enjoy looking at big trees closer to the entrance though.

 I loved seeing the green moss that would grow on the trees (you can see it in the trees behind us).

 A huge redwood fallen over.

 This is us walking back to the truck next to the redwood that had fallen in the picture above.

 What a big helper Kalvin is to hold William.

 The next day we came back to Mariposa Grove and had a much better experience (after I bought a sweater) and paid to ride the tram. It was a great idea! We got to see everything and the boys loved the ride.

 Grisly Bear: The largest limb on this bad boy is 6 feet in diameter (to give some perspective). You can kind of see the branch on the left middle of the tree.

 Faithful couple. Two redwoods that have grown together so that the bottom looks like one tree, but you can see it is actually two.

 And, I think this one was called clothespin. We were a little ways away, but we were told that you could drive a pickup truck through it.

 Clothespin behind Duane.

And clothespin a little closer.

This one was pretty cool. This tree has been struck by lightening so that the entire center is gone and dead. You can see the opening toward the top where it is black yet it keeps on growing because the center of trees are dead anyway. Kinda neat.

  

 This, I think, was the Louis and Clark cabin (and now a little museum). You can see how awesomely huge these trees are compared to this cabin.

 We got to stop at grisly on the way back.

 Can you see me and the boys there close to the tree?

 When we got back from our trip I told Duane that I really needed to go to the bathroom and asked that he please hold all the stuff. He said that he wanted to go drop our stuff off at the truck, but I let him know the truck was too far away and that we were walking by the bathrooms right then and that I just wanted to go real quick, well, it ended up that I and both boys went to the bathroom before I could get back to relieve Duane. I probably should have let him just drop the stuff of first... when I came out, I had to take a picture of him holding all the stuff because he didn't complain once. He's such a great hubby to do things without complaining or putting up a fuss. He must love me :-)

 From the grove, we took the 18 mile drive to the tunnel. It took a good 40 minutes through all the winding roads and the boys fell asleep, but it was well worth it!

This video is maybe a little long, but it does a pretty good job to show how beautiful it was there in the mountains.

Once we got there and all the kiddos were sleeping Duane and I took 10 minutes to walk around together (keeping a close eye on the truck too though). It was kinda cool to have that time without worrying our boys were going to fall off a cliff. 

 I could live here.

 Then we went back and woke up the boys. As usual, Kalvin wakes up happy from naps.

 I love this picture that Duane got of us because it looks like you can't tell where we came from, but in reality we are only like 20 feet from the truck (it's down 10 feet to the path and another 10 feet from the truck). I was the lucky one to hike up the mountain with two babies.

Tristen is usually kinda grumpy after short naps.

But by the time he caught up with Daddy and got to hike down with him, he was doing a lot better. 

 My little cutie with the best Daddy.

  

 As we went to leave, Kalvin and Tristen were awake this time so they were able to see the loooong mile tunnel. It was kinda fun :-)

 They liked it too.

There was a Train that was at nearby Sierra National Forest that was on the way to Yosemite for our trip each day so we stopped there one day for the train ride. The boys had never been on one and loved this special treat.

I think there were 4 cars of people. Mostly full.

My handsome, Love.

After getting back Tristen had fun climbing on all the traincars.

After the train we drove a bit to the valley except that by the time we got there, I had a mean headache so I rested in the truck with Willy while Duane and the boys got out to play. I only got to sleep 10 minutes I think before Willy woke up.

It was fun looking at these photos of Duane and the boys. I think they really had a good time. Duane said he just sat back on the beach and watched the boys play while he watched birds and photographed.

They all came back with soaking wet clothes.

Toward the end, I came out too and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

On our way leaving the valley, we made one more stop. Duane again took the boys and I got to rest long, like 45 minutes. It was perfect for what I needed and the boys got to meet some ducks.

And be in some beautiful pictures with Duane.

Our next stop that day was Glacier Point.

Duane is proud of this shot of the squirrel looking out to the falls. "Nature can enjoy nature too." This one is cropped in from the one he originally took (below).

I love this shot of the boys. It's just so perfect! Kalvin in the front, leading the way. Just like everything else they do together during the day.

The boys were ready for a bath that night after a long day outside.

This one is a little creepy.

You can see the clothes hanging up to dry. I didn't want to have to wait for my clothes in the washer so I just sink washed them (not near as effective!). By the time we got to Albany, I was beyond ready for clean clothes.

The last day we were there, I dropped Duane off at his conference in the morning and we went to a museum. It was really kinda neat. It was low-key and there weren't a whole lot of people there so it was perfect for us to play without feeling squished by people running around.

They were holding a craft time when we got there. Tristen had a blast!

After Yosemite we were drove 6 hours and met the rest of the Ellsworth clan in Carlsbad for Legoland. It was great! We stayed there 2 days and had so much fun! It was the first time vacationing with the Ellsworth's where we had our kids with us and so we sacrificed not having much "adult" time since each night we were all drained and just wanted to sleep, but I'll bet the kid cousin's made a plethora of memories with each other.

Bob the Builder

So, there were many rides that Tristen was not able to go on with Kalvin and Duane, but it was nice because right next to the big rides they'd have smaller rides for the younger kiddos. I had William as well so I found other people ride with Tristen, like an employee once and another time another mother volunteered to sit next to him.

Thank goodness the balls only go in this side and not out.

Tristen loved this slide and went back in line like 6 times (always cutting the other kids in line), but with a baby strapped to me, I had a hard time getting to stay at the back of the line as I stood outside the gate to the slide.

Waiting in line with Daddy for another ride...

We finally all met up at like noon on the first day.

So, in an effort to get the group moving, I began to lead the way, but then, after taking everyone to a dead end twice, I put Duane in charge of taking us around....

 The first ride we all went on with all the family together:

 Tristen LOVED this ride!

Mom and Dad went on this ride to try to get us wet.

As I've looked back at pictures our trips, I noticed that Duane held William A LOT! Thank you Hun for being so great!

I love that Tristen is mimicking this Lego man.

I was cracking up watching Tristen drive these cars. He was so funny to watch as he purposefully would run into the other cars. At first I was thinking that he did it because he was playing bumper cars and maybe he was, but it may have also been because he didn't want anyone to pass him. Since we've been home from AZ, we went on a bike ride one morning and every time I'd ride next to Tristen he would sharply turn his wheel to hit me almost causing a bad crash between us a few times. It's his competitive side coming out.

Toward the end of the production they had the audience dance along too. Mom was a good sport.

Helicopters!

William couldn't go, so I went twice. :-)

On the second day of the trip we got up early and went to Dennys for breakfast. Kalvin and Duane were not feeling well. Kalvin almost made it to the bathroom before throwing up. As we got to Legoland we were putting sunblock on in the parking lot and Kalvin barfed right next to the truck followed by a kid right next to us in another car saying, "If he's sick, you shouldn't be he..." then his mom cut him off and they walked away. It didn't stop us from going. The lines at Legoland to the rides were pretty long since it was a Saturday, so we went to the Sealife Aquarium. It was actually really neat! Kalvin was sick for quite a bit of this part so I held him intermittently throughout out our tour. He was so though though. I was proud of him for not being whiny.

You can see that he's kind of pale here. Tristen would not turn around for a picture. He had to keep a close eye on this guy.

I loved that the aquarium had these little cubbies where kids could just sit by themselves and look at the fish. Great idea!

There was a movie theater in the aquarium area so we watched a lego, water movie so Kalvin could rest and it was perfect feeding time for William. Kalvin threw up before the movie was over. Good thing I had a bunch of diaper baggies in my backpack. It really helped.

These little guys would hug your finger as you put your finger on them. Kalvin was a little nervous about it, but finally got it after a few attempts.

Tristen actually really liked it in here, I don't know why he's making that face. Maybe he was pretending.

The cousins had a good time performing together on stage. They did a great job and us parents enjoyed it as well. :-)

Tristen's cousins were either snake puppeteers or artists. I don't think there were any cousins that wanted to be dancers, but Tristen was sure proud and he kept flinging his head piece around as if it were hair, he loved it!

Kalvin was a snake puppeteer. 

The Daddies and babies!

Great cousin friends!

Toward the end of our stay at Legoland, we played at the waterpark. The pools were heated so that was nice. Tristen LOVED the kiddie area!

Thank you so much Dean and Barbara for the awesome family trip! I love that you can plan things so last minute (like a week in advance) and still have so many of you come. I had a great time and I know the kids will remember it forever!