Summer Road Trip

This is our longest family road trip yet. We will pass through 13 states before we are finished. We are on our ninth state so far - Utah, my favorite State. We have seen some beautiful things and had a lot of fun. Here are some highlights so far...

Landon loved playing in the ocean in Southern California. He was out riding the waves with his body or his boogie board most of everyday last week with his cousins. It doesn't get any better than that.

William loved Sea World. He loves animals and this time he was tall enough for all of the rides. And again, vacation with cousins is simply the best. They are best friends. The boys also loved the mix CD that Vince made for our trip. He put a bunch of different versions of Route 66 on it since we were traveling along much of the old highway.

Sophie turned four last week. All that she wanted for her birthday was a dance party. Toni made her a great dance mix on her ipod and we had a fabulous dance party at the beach house. Fun times. Also, a great Sophie moment. We stayed in Mesquite, Nevada one night at the Oasis. The next morning, we went to Denny's for breakfast which is hooked on to the casino. We walked in and Sophie saw the lights and all of the slot machines and said wide eyed, "Wow. Denny's is really cool, mom."

Audrey has been a great traveler. She enjoyed swimming in the ocean and the motel pools and she loves to go on walks with dad. When she sees the jogging stroller, she giggles. We enjoyed some great walks along the beach at sunset. She also loved the steep staircase at the beach house. She would giggle after each step. We had to watch her every second. She also loves the Muppets. My mom bought the first three seasons of the Muppet Show on DVD and we all enjoyed watching them together after a long day of fun and sun at the beach.

Vince was really excited to see Santa Fe, New Mexico. We stayed there our first night and spent some time there the next morning. We both really enjoyed the Georgia O'Keefe Museum. We also had some amazing food at this run-down little cafe in Tucumcari. The best Chile Relleno ever. Vince loved that and just spending time with the kids. He and Aud were up early every morning going for a walk and then making breakfast for everyone.

He also enjoyed this creepy little rock shop off of the highway in Hollbrook, Arizona. They had an ostrich farm and all of these store mannequins in weird poses with huge fake dinosaurs, like in the dinosaur's mouth or hanging from a crane. Weird spot for a bathroom break but the kids got these necklaces that they like for only $3 so I guess that it wasn't a total waste. I wanted to leave quickly. The lady in there kept telling Audrey that she was going to eat her up and I started to wonder. I would have waited in the car if it hadn't been hotter than a steel playground at noon.

I loved seeing the ocean again. One day some dolphins actually came by right in front of us, just a few feet from where Dobber, my brother-in-law, was swimming. Amazing. I also loved the fresh sea food. We have had such a great time. Next, we are going to spend some time with Vince's parents in Northern Nevada and then a few more days in Utah and Bear Lake with my dad. So glad it's summertime!! I will post pictures when we get home.