California Vacation

We took a week-long vacation last week to California! It was our first family vacation ever, and although I'd say it was a success, it was also a lot of work and very tiring! :)

On day 1, we drove drove all day and stayed the night in Klamath Falls, OR. The kids did wonderfully that first day - Benny made one 5 1/2 hour stretch without getting out and with almost no complaints from Salem to Klamath Falls (Abby had to get out twice during that time for quick potty breaks). The second day we took off for the second part of our almost 800-mile journey to Angels Camp, CA. Neither of the kids did as well the second day, but still, overall they did amazingly well for not being used to long drives like that.

Lots of driving! / Pit stop to view Mt. Shasta.

Since we arrived to our condo in Angels Camp at night in the dark, we were anxious to check the place out in the morning daylight.

Abby taking in the golf-course valley view from our balcony.

Our first day there, we decided to just hang out at the resort (minus a quick trip to the grocery store). The kids had so much fun having Daddy to themselves with no distractions.

Playtime with Daddy.

Swim time with Daddy.

The weather was absolutely perfect while we were there - high 70s to low 80s. The resort had a very large kiddie pool (that Abby kept thinking we were calling "kitty pool" :), that was only a foot and half deep in the deepest spot. Abby especially loved playing around in it. Ben, on the other hand, took awhile to warm up to it and then would get disenchanted quickly each time he fell. The second time we went he did better. Kevin and I decided that swimming is not so much fun and is definitely not RELAXING when trying to keep track of two little ones and keep them from drowning! I barely had enough time to get in a few pictures in between helping Kevin chase after Abby and Ben (especially Ben who had no concept of slippery cement and falling in water!). At least we had the pools all to ourselves and didn't have to worry about other people getting in the way too!

My original plan for our second full day in California was to drive down to Yosemite, about 2 1/2 hours away. I have never been there, but have always wished to go (I have only been to California one other time and that was on a high school youth group missions trip to San Fransico). But, after much discussion, Kevin and I decided that it would be better for the kids to go to Calaveras Big Trees State Park, which was a mere 30-minute drive from the condo. So, we headed off with our picnic lunch.

We found a lovely picnic area down a trail, right next to a beautiful little river, and enjoyed our lunch there. Well, everyone but Ben. He couldn't keep him still enough to get more than a couple bites in, as he kept wanting to explore.

Then we drove to another part of the park that had the famous Giant Sequoias (also known as Sierra Redwoods, cousin to the Coastal Redwoods). We began our hike with Ben in the Ergo pack and Abby on Daddy's shoulders, but it didn't last long. I was borrowing the Ergo from a friend, but since it'd been many months since we'd borrowed it last, Ben was not used to be cooped up in such a fashion. After much whining from him, I gave up and he walked/ran/got carried/fussed for the rest of the hike. Surprisingly, Abby turned out to be a fabulous hiker and trooped almost the entire way on her own, often leading us all (mostly because Kevin or I would get stuck behind chasing Ben down who kept trying to go off trail :). Abby also was able to appreciate the enormousness of the trees (Ben could not have cared less!) and had fun spotting them with Kevin and me.

Kevin and Abby posing at the base of twin Giant Sequoias.


Funny how even the littlest of boys are drawn to sticks!

Family picture inside a tree with a tunnel carved through it.

The hikers.

This last picture below deserves a little explanation. At first glance, it may appear that Ben was happily leading the way as our very own little tour guide. In actuality, this occurred toward the end of our hike as Ben was getting very fussy and Kevin and I were starting to get frustrated. At this point, he refused to be picked up and wouldn't follow along with us, and so in frustration (and probably not the best parenting, I know :), I said, "Bye, Ben! See you later," and turned to follow Kevin and Abby, thinking he would not opt to be left behind all alone and would give in and follow us. Boy, was I wrong. He happily replied, "Bye!" and took off the opposite way with his trail guide in hand:

It gave Kevin and me a big laugh and we quickly learned that that was not an effective tactic for getting Ben to obey.

After much needed naps back at the condo, we had a simple barbecue dinner out on our balcony. Boy, I love the sunny, warm weather!

Afterward, we walked to the resort clubhouse so the kids could play in the kid's playroom. But Ben, not surprisingly, preferred the arcade room where he would go from one driving game to the next. Thankfully, they were too young to realized that arcade games are meant to have money put in them. :) Back at our condo, they enjoyed a little more playtime - the highlight being pretend play with the blender (Kevin took the blade out :). And then it was off to bed for the kiddos in their own room. We brought the pack-n-play for Ben and Abby slept on a twin bed with a few chairs lined up for a guard rail. She was pretty proud of her big girl bed and they both slept wonderfully almost every night we were there (I know, I have much to be thankful for!).

The next day's plan was to visit the Angels Camp museum which has its own little mock mining town complete with gold and gem panning (this is Gold Country afterall). Much to our disappointment, they had just switched to their winter hours that week and wouldn't open until the day were scheduled to leave. We were so bummed! So, after some playtime at the local park, we dropped Kevin and Ben back off at the condo for Ben's morning nap while Abby and I hit the town to explore. Angels Camp is the town where Mark Twain stayed and overheard the story which is the base of his short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," which was his first successful piece that brought him national attention (Kevin and I read it online when we returned home - I wasn't overly impressed, but Kevin got some good laughs out of it). Since then the town has played up the Mark Twain/frog connection and frog decor is everywhere! They even have an annual frog jumping contest. Abby had a lot of fun spotting all the frogs throughout the town.

The next day, we said good-bye our wonderful condo and headed back toward home. Abby and I were already talking about the "next time" we might come again to California and stay at Angels Camp. We are so appreciative to my aunt who allowed us to use some of her bonus time on her timeshare. Worldmark condos are the BEST and they are the only way to travel in my opinion. :) Using bonus time, they are very inexpensive and the condo itself and resort amenities can't be beat! It's also great to be able to cook all our meals at the condo to keep our costs down and it's so nice to have all the extra space for the kids that would be lacking in a typical motel room.

Anyway, we made one tourist stop on the way home to visit the Sacramento capitol. Abby has taken up my interest in state capitols and loved viewing the large building and noticing similarities with our own capitol. Someday, I hope to visit all 50. :)

We enjoyed a quick peanut butter and jelly lunch underneath the palm trees before heading back on the road for home. Deciding to make the drive back in one day instead of breaking it into two like we did on the way down, we pushed along, arriving home around 3:30am. Unfortunately, the kids had had enough sleep that they wouldn't go straight back to bed and instead ran around the house excitedly chasing the cat and playing with missed toys. Finally, at 5am, we got them to go to bed and Kevin and I collapsed in our bed for a few hours of sleep before morning, exhausted from our wonderful, but tiring vacation. :)

(For more pictures, see my album on facebook.)