There And Back Again: A Conlins' Tale, Second Leg

We rose with the sun the following morning, Saturday, to get an early start on the drive. This day was to be our longest drive, 12 hours not including stops. I think it was good that we stopped and spent a day at Pat and Dave's on our way to California, instead of on the way home, or it would have been even harder to go than it already was. But California was waiting for us so we gave hugs and kisses and headed down I-40 towards Arizona.

Sunrise from Pat and Dave's backyard.

The boys are pretty amazing travelers. I guess when you road-trip as frequently as we do, there isn't much option other than to go with it or be miserable. I am glad that it seems our boys have chosen the former. And, boy do DVD players, Nintendo DS systems and the iTouch make things easier for us all! Can I get an Amen?! The boys did have mandatory screentime breaks, where the new books we bought at the Book Fair earlier in the week were pulled out and read, but otherwise we let them have-at-it because otherwise they start have-at-ing each other! Tommy has been rear-facing until this trip, but we turned him around mid-way through Saturday's drive so he could be part of the action. Meaning: our action of handing him everything he saw scattered around the car that he wanted. He's going to be turned back around now that we are home, I hope that goes well! I love this picture because Tommy is grinning ear to ear! This was about 1-hour before we got to Palm Springs, our stop for the night, and he was still doing just fine.
Here's the beautiful sunset, plus many squished bugs, taken just after we stopped for dinner in the first town we hit after crossing from AZ to CA. A good sign that the week was going to be as beautiful as the night!
We arrived in Palm Springs about 8:30 and got the kids all settled in, then went to bed ourselves too! It's amazing how exhausted your body can be after doing nothing but driving all day ! We had one night at my Tutu's place there, as my dad had lent the place for the week to another family not knowing we wanted it at the same time (we are already on the calendar for next year, just in case, so this won't happen again!). But it was good to have even just the one night there, it cut out two hours of drive time to the coast where we would be spending the week and allowed the kids to use the pool there, one of their favorite pastimes. Plus...all I need to say is: orange, lemon and grapefruit blossoms...the fragrance is everywhere there! I don't think there is a smell that I love more. I just breathed deeply in through my nose for 16 hours straight until we piled in the car again to go see my sister.

Bougainvillea, one of my favorite flowers

And there it is, the beautiful, tiny blossom that smells soooo delicious!

We left about noon to drive to my sister's apartment in Laguna Beach. I couldn't wait to see her! The weather was cool and overcast and became stormier the closer to the coast we got. Hmmm. Fortunately, we have the hearts of Seattleites and a little stormy weather doesn't phase us much. Afterall, we have plenty of sun in Colorado Springs, just no green, and the rain was making the already green things in California even greener! It was a feast for the eyes! This who-cares attitude about the weather would prove to be an asset for us throughout the week!

After a joyous reunion with my sis, the boys' Auntie Lili and her boyfriend, Jason, we decided to take a walk down to the beach. Their apartment is only about three blocks up from the ocean, and it was calling us like a siren! The weather was still bad, really windy and pretty cold (especially when you packed for sun), but it wasn't raining, so out we went.
I love the pictures below because you can really see how stormy/windy it was. The sea was definitely angry! And it started to rain just as we hit the beach. Adam, Leah, Luke and Tommy made a beeline back to the apartment, but Josh and Ben had already descended the many stairs and were playing on the beach, so Zac, Jason and I followed them down. It wasn't a warm, lovely beach-walk by any means, but it was pretty cool to be down there with the ocean pounding and frothing, and the boys were having a great time exploring. Jason definitely has a bit of the spirit of a little boy in him, he was pointing out cool things for the boys to look at all over the place, and the boys loved it!
After we were thoroughly chilled to the bone, we dashed back to the apartment to meet up with those of our group who had chosen warmth over beach. We spent the afternoon listening to the rain pound down and the wind blow through the trees, hanging out and munching on treats, letting the boys try Jason's xBox Kinect, talking about what we wanted to do the next few days, catching up, and feeling happy. Jason's birthday had been earlier in the week, so his parents and nana came over for barbecue and homemade pineapple upside-down cake (nice job, Sis!). It was so good to finally be in So. Cal. with my sister and know we didn't have long hours of driving for awhile!

Tommy's ringlets were going crazy with all the moisture--CUTE!

There And Back Again: A Conlins' Tale, First Part of the Journey

The following posts from our vacation will be very picture heavy. First of all, it is still too immediate, so of course, in my head every moment must be preserved. Secondly, I am suffering from post-vacation depression. I miss my sister, I miss the greenness, I miss Disneyland, I miss Katie and her big, tasty breakfasts, I miss the time with Adam, I miss the freedom of time, I miss the quality time with the kids, I miss it all. And finally, I like pictures. So there you have it. Expect many pictures. It was a fantastic trip. The boys were incredible. I loved it! We all did.

Our first stop was Edgewood, New Mexico. This is the home of Grandma Pat and Grandpa Dave. They aren't blood grandparents, but rather grandparents of the heart; they have been my parents' dear friends since my sister was born, and their two boys (nearly the exact same ages as my sister and I) are like our brothers. The boys love visiting Grandma Pat and Grandpa Dave's home, getting some good grandparent love, and seeing their airplane located in the hangar attached to their house.

The drive was good. We left in the afternoon, allowing Adam a short day of work, and only made one stop along the side of the road to let Luke pee, and then one more in Las Vegas for dinner, Las Vegas, New Mexico that is. Because of my gaggle of kids I can only assume, one oddish, possibly drunk, man in the McDonald's line there asked me if I was a "Saxon." I think that what he meant to ask was if I was Mormon, but not being sure and feeling slightly uncomfortable with this man who wouldn't remove his dark sunglasses indoors, I just said, "I may have a bit of Saxon in my heritage, but I can't be sure," grabbed my ketchup and walked quickly away. Other than that, and the fact that Josh seemed to think the boys' bathroom was a good place to practice his high-pitched screeching, Las Vegas was uneventful, and following dinner we made our way quickly to Edgewood in the dimming light of a beautiful sunset.
The boys settled in at Grandma Pat and Grandpa Dave's easily, having done this drill before, and had a nice sleep before our adventures of the next day would begin.
Grandma Pat had fun planned for us! There were many options, but we settled on a hike in Petroglyph National Monument and then an afternoon ride up the tram to Sandia Peak. The tram ride was kind of a last minute go-to, but when we saw how many cars were parked at the zoo we thought the tram might be a better, less-crowded option.

It was pretty warm and we're a little out of hiking shape from the winter, so the kids needed some prodding and encouragement along the trail. Fortunately, the hike wasn't too long and the knowledge that sandwiches and Izze sodas were waiting for us at the end of the line helped us plod back to the cars. But better than what was waiting for us at the end, the view along the trail made the way much easier, as we were all delighted by petroglyphs galore! Whenever we'd see a new one someone would shout out, "There's one!" It was hard to tell which were legit and which were, uh, more "modern," but it was still quite a sight and truly amazing to think of the ancient and early-settler hands that had carved the pictures into the stone. None of my photos of these came out very well, but trust me, it's pretty awesome.

Ben and Josh loved hiding in the crevices in the rocks. I am pretty sure snakes do too, so I was a little nervous about their adventuring. I was glad that it was against the rules of the park to climb up to the higher boulders. That, at least, kept their feet on the ground.

Luke wanted me to take a picture of him up on this rock. "Look at me, Mom! I'm high up!"

Here's the fam in front of some of the older petroglyphs. The swirl and the squiggle (snake) were pretty common symbols used by the ancestors to the Pueblo Indians that lived in the area over 1000 years ago.

Grandma Pat with Joshie and Ben.

Ben found this turtle. He took a picture with the honu petroglyph in Hawaii, so we thought it was cool to have another picture of a turtle made by a different ancient people.

Here we are on the way up the tram to Sandia Peak. The tramway is one of the longest in the world, traveling along 2.7 miles of cable and 3,819 vertical feet up the mountain in 14 minutes. It's a leeetle high up off the ground, and I was a leeetle nervous, but boy! What a view!

One of the views from the top facing Santa Fe. On a clear day, you can see 9% of the state of New Mexico from the top of the peak.

The other tram coming up!

More view: facing Albuquerque.

Pat and my boys!

We hear there are a couple of great but difficult hikes to the top too. One follows that ridge there.
Pat and I; it was a little windy up there!

There is a ski area up at the top that just closed a couple of weeks ago, but the snow wasn't completely gone yet. The boys liked sliding down it in their tennies.

The eastern view.

Greetings From Beautiful Sandia Peak!

Heading back down on the tram. Just don't look down, Colleen!

I bought a little hat for Tommy at the Walmart in Edgewood because I had forgotten to bring one for him from home. I had to sew on a little elastic strap, so he'd keep it on, not because he doesn't like hats, but because he's The Chucker. Once it's on securely he's happy to wear it, as you can see here. Plus, he was so cute toddling around wearing only a hat and diaper.

The visit with Pat and Dave was such a great start to our trip! And more fun was ahead....

Hawaii Through Ben's Eyes

We sent our digital point-and-shoot camera with Ben so he could take pictures on his trip. I love seeing the world through the eyes of the kids in the pictures they take: some are just funny, some are quite artistic, some are revealing. Some were so good I had to put them in the original post. Minus those, here are a few of my favorites from the photos that Ben took on his trip.

St. Helens Eruption: Photo of Photo

The Headlines.

A Volcano Asleep.

Hawaiian Rainstorm.

Rocky Beach.

Palm.

Boats in the Distance.

Hibiscus.

Bougainvillea With Mailbox.

Nature's Artwork.

Birds Doing What Birds Do.

Sunset from the Beachcomber.

Painted Gecko.

Money I Never Have.

The Bluest Blue.

Scenes from a Kayak: Study One.

Scenes from a Kayak: Study Three.

Humuhumunukunukuapua'a with Yellow Fish: Study 12 (there were MANY pictures just like this one).