Epic Road Trip: Day 2

The second day we were on the road by 8:30 or so. We stopped for lunch at Sonic in Redding, California. I had the kids do some exercises before getting back in the car, and I think some of the other diners & employees thought we were a little nutty. Ha ha! The second half of the last day included more pit stops than the previous day did, but that's understandable after being in the car for 2 days!

One place we stopped for a potty break had a merry-go-round and a slide for the kids to play on. They also had these neat old tractors and buildings. 

We drove through Shasta National Forest, which is beautiful!! I wish I'd gotten some pictures, but the roads were too curvy for me to feel comfortable snapping any pics, and I didn't want to stop just to take pictures. just know that it is very pretty. 

When we got to Oregon the kids were all commenting on how beautiful it was. They loved all the trees and flowers. Katelynn said to me, "It is so beautiful here. I wish we had moved here instead of the place we live now." I told her that they didn't have a school in Oregon for Daddy to learn how to be a foot doctor, but maybe after he's out of school he can get a job up here. 

Oh! I have to tell you this conversation the kids had in the car when we got to Oregon. It was hilarious! 

M: I think these are big conifers.

K: Yes, they must be.

E: They are huge, huge, huge, huge, huge, huge, huge conifers! 

Conifers?! Ha ha! Apparently they talk about conifers on this show Dinosaur Train they like to watch. 

In Southern Oregon there is a town called Phoenix and Glendale. Don't know why it takes 2 days to drive from southern Oregon...hee, hee, hee. :)

Epic Road Trip: Day 1

We left for Oregon on Wednesday. I had planned to leave by 6 in the morning, but you know how it goes. We didn't leave until 9:30 or 10! All the kids and the pup did great on the trip! We only made a few stops, and there were only a couple tiny bouts of bickering. Success in my book!

For lunch we stopped at a park near LA, I believe. We had leftover Papa Murphy's pizza. I made extra a couple nights before so we'd have some left over for the trip. The playground at the park was closed for construction, but the kids found ways to entertain themselves. Emma & Michael were rolling down the hill, and Katelynn took care of Penny.

This was the price of gas at one of our pit stops...and it was the cash price!! I was sick to my stomach. We were in the middle of nowhere and I was just under 1/4 of a tank, so I decided to just bite the bullet and pay it. But, we ended up stopping at the very next exit to do something with Penny and the gas was a whole dollar cheaper!! I was SO mad! That other gas station should be put on trial for raping people at the pump like that! Ugh! Okay, rant over. While we were there the kids introduced Penny to another dog, and washed the car windows. They think washing the windows, as well as the rest of the car, is great fun.

We stopped for the night in Stockton, California, which is about halfway between Phoenix and Portland. I thought we made pretty good time. We stayed at a Motel 6 just off of I-5. It wasn't too bad, except for the bathroom door that wouldn't close! Oh, well. It was a clean place to lay our heads for the night.

Come One, Come All!

Ladies and Gentleman! The post you've all been waiting for...the Circus Birthday Party!!

There was a photo booth:

Scott tying balloon animals: 

Kids crafting a clown hat: 

People eating yummy food, which consisted of hot dogs, a fruit and a veggie tray, animal crackers, Nutter Butters (because they're shaped like peanuts), goldfish, baked fries, popcorn and cotton candy: 

12 year old girls from church to help run the games (here they're taking a break to eat lunch): 

  3 cakes for 3 kids-- walnut carrot, red velvet & a great big chocolate cake:

 And a  huge crowd of friends to share our celebration with! 

It was such a crazy party, but everyone had a blast. We held it in the Ramada at our church building, which was perfect! The picnic tables and big grassy area are all fenced off, there's plenty of parking, and we were able to use the bathrooms & kitchen inside the church. Things got off to a rocky start, though, because we didn't have everything quite set up when people started to arrive. Another problem we had was that we planned to have the kids play in the water at the end of the party, but we couldn't find where to hook up the hose! We found out you have to have a special key, and a member of the Bishopric has to come and open it for you, but they we gone on the Father & Sons Campout! Fortunately Bro. Alger made it back in time to get us hooked up. Hallelujah!

We had a bunch of carnival games set up and had some girls from church help the kids with the games, so everyone had a blast with that. The games we played were Ring Toss (I made it using a cardboard box & water bottles, and used dive rings to toss around the bottles), Hole-in-One (with a little putting green), Bean Bag Toss (I got a banner with a picture and holes in it from Michael's on clearance for 3 bucks!!), Lion Tamer (I covered a hula hoop with orange and yellow paper like flames, then we taped the hoop to a sawhorse and the kids had to throw a stuffed lion through the hoop), Tightrope Walker (walk across a 2X4 on cement blocks) and Seal Training (balance a beach ball on your nose like a seal). After playing each game the kids got tickets which were going to be redeemed at a booth for their favor bags, but it didn't quite work out that way. Oh, well.

I made these little signs for all of the games & the food. We also had a jar of gumballs, and people had to guess how many were in the jar. The closest guess got to keep the jar of gumballs.

After cake the kids played in the water. We set up our triple racer slip n' slide, as well as a 'crazy hose', with wiggling arms that shot water all over the place. We originally planned to have the party go from 10:30 to 12:30, but it ran way longer than that! I think some people didn't leave until 2 or later! But, the kids were having a good time, so that's all that matters.