California

We just got back from California, visiting with B#1 and his wife.  We had a good time and hopefully didn't overwhelm them too much by adding 11 extra bodies to the mix.

 

It was a tiring ride for the kiddos.

 

Our first day there after traveling we went to church with them. It was a nice little church. The pastor is a very genuine man who loves the Lord. We were excited to meet him, knowing how much he prayed for Mark before, during and after his surgery. As a matter of fact, he told us he is still praying for Mark. The Lord must have told him that although Mark is mostly better he still has some bad days where he feels like he hasn't made much progress. It was amazing to know that their pastor was awake before the sun was up on the morning of Mark's surgery texting us to let us know he was praying for us.

 

 

We went bowling while there. The kids really enjoyed that and I got to bowl using bumpers since I was on their lane!

 

 

The day after that we went to tour the Jelly Belly factory. I really enjoyed that. Maybe it is the homeschool mom in me but its great when you can learn something and eat candy at the same time.

We enjoyed having a picnic lunch outside. The Lord blessed me by taking away the 106 degree temps of the previous week and giving us low 80's while we were there.

 

 

After leaving the Jelly Belly factory we decided we still had enough energy to go see some of Old Town Sacramento. The guys went to the California Railroad Museum which they thoroughly enjoyed while we girls(and B#11) walked around the shops.

 

 

While we were walking around we spotted Danny's Mini Doughnuts. Can you say Yum??? So of course we decided we needed to stop in. The young man making the doughnuts made the experience fun for us and they were very yummy. We bought 48 mini doughnuts!

 

 

 

B#6 got to put the sprinkles on the chocolate doughnuts.

 

B#3 got really into shaking some doughnuts.

 

B#1's wife got to do some shaking too!

 

 

I liked this sign..if you are going to go to a saloon it should be a coffee saloon!

 

Our last day there was spent packing, shopping for food for the trip home and visiting a fun park with places for the kiddos to play in water. As you can tell B#11 loved it. He is a little waterbug.

                                                                             
                                                                     B#10 loved it too!

                                       These two thought they were just too cool to get wet!

And then we headed out...bright and early. Our first rest stop of the day had this Rattlesnake warning sign...Ugh! Kids stay close!

 

We decided to take a detour on our way home to visit Crater Lake. It is the deepest lake in the United States and the clearest in the world. Which, I think, is what makes it so very blue. It added a bit to our trip home which made it a little harder for the kiddos but in the end I think everyone thought it was worth it to see. Apparently it is a volcano, boy I didn't realize that when I committed to the side trip. Heights and kids make me nervous. But we all survived. Isn't it beautiful?  Our God makes amazing things, doesn't he?

                                          How's your summer going so far?? Any great plans?