Summer 2011 -Part 1

Yes, I do realize that it is the beginning of Fall but I'm going to make an attempt to fill you all in on our crazy summer. Kev went on block leave and had two weeks off so we decided to head for AZ the beginning of July. After going back and forth we decided it would be best for us to drive instead of fly. So we found a sitter for the dog, packed up and headed out. We originally planned to leave by noon on a Friday but Kev's battery on his Jeep died on his way home from work. By the time we got that squared away and on the road it was 9pm. We also went back and forth on whether to leave late at night or get up earlier and make a go of it. Since I had already had a liter of Mt. Dew and Ethan took a late nap we headed out. It was not long before all the kids fell asleep (Kev was out before we even pulled through town). I drove until 4:30 in the morning, I had made it to Jackson, Mississippi then decided it was time I got some sleep. We traded out and I tried to catch some sleep, I couldn't seem to get comfortable or fall asleep so 45 minutes later Kev and I switched out again. I then drove until we got just out side of Shreveport, LA and then we stopped for breakfast. We had been in the car for 12+ hours so we ate, went to Wal-mart for coloring books and crayons,stretched out our legs and then got back on the road. We then stopped in Abilene, TX and stayed the night there. We were dog tired at this point (and I had just been pulled over and given a warning for speeding) so we decided it was time to stop for the night. We headed out somewhat early the next morning, stopped in Wilcox, AZ for dinner and to see Kev's sister and family and then rolled into good ol' Sierra Vista around 9pm Sunday night. It was a long drive but the kids did surprising well. I think it made a big difference driving through the night the first night we started out. Well we only managed to stay put for about 24 hours before we headed back out on the road. With all the fires in Southern AZ and the fireworks being cancelled we headed to San Diego with Dave, Lacy and their girls, along with Uncle Scott for the following four days. We had a blast and it was such a fun week. It was a little crazy to have left the east coast on Friday and be playing in the waters of the West Coast by Tuesday! Our kids love the beach and spending our time with their cousins was even better. Sorry for the novel, now enjoy some pictures...

After driving for 7 hours we let the kids stretch their feet with a walk on the beach

I couldn't get Ryley to hold still long enough to get a good picture!

Uncle Scott was such a good sport with all the nieces and nephews, his one last howrah(sp?) before getting married

Ryley spent most of her time in the water, it wasn't that bad but the air was about the same temperature so it got chilly at times.

Ben and Uncle Scott trying skim boarding, I even tried it and ate it a couple of times, so fun though!

 Fun in the sand!  What is a trip to the beach without someone getting buried.

Livi and Ethan trying to make a pool for when the tide came in.

It was so neat to see all the sale boats out once the wind picked up.

We pretty much just hung out at the beach in this adorable little cottage(I can't beleive I forgot to take pictures of it). It was so nice to just relax and hang with family. We made it to Sea World on Thursday and then headed back for AZ by Friday evening. We stayed with Nate, Lori and Reese till Sunday and just enjoyed being together. It hadn't been to long since Reese was with us for a week so the kids settled right in and just played. Kev and I got to have dinner with Aaron while Nate and Lori put all the kids to bed, thanks we sure enjoyed a night out! After church we headed north to Camp Verde, more on that in the next post.