Avy and Rylee in Emmett

While we were in California Avynlea and Rylee got to go stay a couple of days with their Cousins in Emmett. They had fun playing in the backyard, doing chalk drawings, sleeping in the trampoline and enjoying endless time with their Cousins. They had such a good time and it made me happy that they were so excited to spend a few days with them!

Beach Fun and Trees of Mysteries Day 3

After Ocean World we went to Wal-Mart to get some food from the deli and then headed back over to the beach by the Lighthouse. We ate our lunch on the beach while Ryker and Bailey wandered off trying to catch crabs. Kenedy took a little nap on the beach while Alison, Mikayla and I went to find the boys. We walked down the beach past the Lighthouse and could not find them, we walked for quite a while trying to figure out where they were and were getting a little bit concerned until we got a call from Kenedy saying they were with her. Somehow we missed them on our walk down the beach.

When the tide comes in  Battery Point becomes an island and I was happy we were back to be able to see it.

After the beach stop we headed back to the Redwoods so we could check out the Trees of Mysteries. A huge sculptures of Paul Bunyan and his Ox Blue were on display so we took some pictures with those.

Once we paid and got onside we found that this was a hiking tour and we were able to see some pretty cool trees.

After going around the hike we were able to go on a gondola that took us up beyond the tops of the trees. It was pretty fun and while we were up there Bailey found a spot where the mountains and the trees formed a heart with the ocean in it's frame. I thought it was really cool!

After the gondola ride we went down through the trail of tall trees. Basically it was different folk tales and random things depicted in wood carvings.

In the gift shop we finally found Sasquatch and the boys wanted to take a picture with it.

Once we were done there we found another drive through tree and Kenedy, Ryker and I all took turns driving through it. Lots of fun but no pictures were taken.

After touring the trees we got back in the car to drive the three hours back to Kylie's house. On our way we stopped at another beach so the kids could run around and possibly got in the water. Kenedy was the only one who really went in because it was pretty cold and even she didn't last very long. While sitting on the beach I found where someone wrote their name in the sand and it was exciting to discover it was Rylee's name and it was the right spelling. I took a picture so that I could show it to her when I got back.

After staying the last night at Kylie's it was time to drive home. No pictures were taken that day but we had fun talking, joking around and listening to music. I am glad that Alison planned this trip for the four oldest kids and I am really happy that she let me come along. I had a lot of fun being wth her and the kids. They made us laugh a lot and were really great to be around. 

Battery Point Lighthouse and Ocean World Day 3

Wednesday morning we got up and got our stuff put together. After we ate breakfast at the hotel we headed out to go check out the Battery Point Lighthouse. They do tours and we wanted to be there in time to catch a tour and then get back to the hotel to get our stuff before checkout. When we got to the Lighthouse we saw people sitting out front of the doors and we assumed they have not opened the doors yet. We wandered around and spent some time exploring the area while we waited for the doors to be opened. We assumed that it was going to be more of a self guided tour but when the doors opened we discovered they only take 8 people in at a time every 10 or 15 minutes. Once we saw the group go in we went and sat in the line with the rest of the people. 

We had I think about 2 groups go in before us and then it was our turn. 

No video recording or picture taking was allowed inside the lighthouse because of homeland security. I was ok with that because it helped me to be more present with the tour rather then worrying about getting video and pictures. It was a really cool tour. We got to go through the entire residence and then we were taken to the very top where the Light is. Once we got to the top we were allowed to take pictures and i took a couple. I loved seeing the inside of the Lighthouse, it was small but it was really cute and quaint. My favorite room was the upstairs bathroom. It was really cute and the view out the windows was amazing. Once I saw that room I felt a little disappointed that I could not take video or pictures just so I could capture the cuteness of that room.

After we did the tour we hurried back to the hotel to get our stuff. Once that was done we went next door to check out the Aquarium. The kids had fun posing on the surf boards.

The kids and I thought we were going in to just check out the gift shop but while we were in there browsing around we heard a voice over the intercom telling the Peterson family to head to the front that our tour was starting. Alison had decided we needed to go inside to see the sea critters. It was a big surprise and made us laugh. It was fun being able to go in, we got to have hands on with the sea anemones and starfish as well as being able to pet some small sharks.

Down below we saw sea otters swimming around and stingrays as well as more sharks.

Ocean World had the nose from a swordfish and that was interesting to touch and play around a little with. :)

We also got to watch a sea otter show where the otter performed tricks and stuff. It was a lot of fun and I am glad we were able to check out Ocean World more in depth.

Redwoods Day 2

After the chocolate factory tour we continued on our way into the Redwoods. We didn't really have too much of an agenda or plan for the Redwoods, we just decided we would stop when things looked interesting. We passed by a spot that had a hollow tree and decided to pull over so we could check it out. While we were stopped Ryker ran off for a bathroom break and when he came back he told us he had found a cool spot to checkout, so we followed him deeper into the woods. 

I had my video camera and was recording a lot of our trip. I was up on a log and all the rest of the crew went down so I tossed my phone to Bailey to get a picture of me.

The kids had fun crossing this big fallen tree and we had them stop so we could get pictures of them

Alison and I thought that we needed a turn on the tree so I headed across after giving the video camera to Ryker and my phone to Kenedy. Alison thought she would be funny by crawling across and it did look pretty good. I wanted Kenedy to get some pictures of us on the log but she was too engrossed in texting on her phone to get the good pictures that I wanted.

After our exploration of Ryker's find we headed back to the hollow tree to get some pictures.

Ryker and Bailey were a lot of fun on this trip. They are such good friends and it was nice to see them interacting and behaving like brothers. My kids all have best friend cousins on both sides and I love seeing their relationships.

After the hollow trip stop we found a gift shop and stopped to check it out. There was a huge different kind of hollow tree on display in the parking lot and we all stopped to climb in for pictures.

I also liked this wooden tree chair. 

The parking lot also had a hollow tree on a truck, it didn't make a lot of sense to me but it was fun for pictures.

After the gift shop we followed a trail to find some giants of the Redwood tress. Alison had the kids recreate a picture she took of them a long time ago where they held hands around a tree. Despite being older and having longer arms this tree was much bigger then the other tree and they could only reach halfway.

This was a cool knobby tree that the kids had fun climbing on.

I wanted a picture taken with this giant of a fallen tree. I told the kids to not stick their head in the hole during my picture but Ryker did not choose to follow directions. Can you spot his head?

The next thing we did was find the drive through tree. Bailey was driving and he wanted to drive through the tree so Alison got out to direct him through. We were driving in the tahoe and it looked like it was going to be a pretty tight fit. We pushed in the mirrors and with Alison directing made it through. I was in the car so I did not get any pictures but it was kind of fun. I am not sure it was worth the entrance fee but it was a bucket list experience, I think. 

They had some cute little tree houses that we had fun going in and all the windows and doors made  for a cute little picture.

On our drive from Kylie's house we spotted a cool "sand" castle carved from a tree and took note to stop and take pictures on our way back through to the Hotel we were going to be staying in that night.

We talked Kenedy into getting out and posing by it for the picture so we could have a comparison to see how tall it was. It was a really cool carving!