OK, folks, we're back -- 3000 miles, 950 photos, 4 hotels, 2 throw-ups in the car seat later.We saw friends.
We saw family.
We saw a wedding.
We saw a sunset in Santa Monica.
We saw Tinkerbell.
We saw one of the biggest trees in the world.
We got towed by a tractor.
We had turkey & my grandma's fabulous cornbread stuffing.
Ivy turned 2.
And I made a cake with 3 lbs of butter.
And YOU get to see it all in eight fabulous posts. Yes, eight. I whittled the photos down from 950 to about 180. There's no way I'm putting 180 photos in one post.
Deep breath . . .
We started off our trip with some tragic outfits.
I had to leave the house at 6AM the morning to do a favor for a friend of mine and Steve was in charge of getting the kids ready. I'm sorry, but the stereotypes are true. Daddy-dressed children are . . . unique.
Let's start with Ivy because her outfit wasn't quite so bad. A Halloween shirt and some Hello Kitty yoga pants. Make that Sophie's yoga pants. They were clinging to her little hips for dear life. Those had to be changed out of practicality.
Sophie's outfit was my all-time favorite Daddy-supervised outfit. (I'm sure Sophie got to pick whatever she wanted, which was fine. Afterall, we were just going to be in the car all day.) Pajama pants, (another) Halloween shirt, topped with a dress. On backwards. That was my favorite part of the whole ensemble.
Yes we went out in public. Yes we got strange looks, but I really didn't care.
We headed south for our first stop: Sequoia National Park ("B" on the map).
As soon as we were high enough into the mountains to see snow, we pulled over for about 5 minutes to let the kids play. (Yes, I know they don't have coats on. It was for 5 minutes. We survived.)
When it was almost dusk we went on a little hike (with coats!) and saw "General Sherman"-- the biggest tree in the world (by weight and volume).
I cannot even describe the feeling standing in front of such a massive tree. It might sound weird, but it's almost spiritual. It just reminded me of how incredible and awe-inspiring our world is as well as the power of God and His love for us. In the bottom right photo is a cross section cut from another giant sequoia that is no longer alive. Dang. The top right is Steve and a very tired and cold Sophie in front of "Sherm".
That night we stayed in a little lodge outside the park. Very quaint.
I thought it was interesting how half of the rooms had sliding glass doors to get in.
Then Steve pointed out how easy it would be to lock us in by sticking a board in the bottom of the track. Heh.
to be continued . . .
6 comments:
Amazingly huge tree. I know what you mean when you say it was almost spiritual, though. I thought the same thing as I looked out the window on our return flight to Kansas. It made me feel so small in comparison to the world we live in. Such an amazing earth we have!
The tree thing is an amazing experience. It makes you feel so small and puts thing in perspective.
Sophies outfit is awesome. I secretly like taking Adelyn out in public when she has dressed herself and you can tell. I just love their little personalities.
Seriously, the outfits are killing me! Joe can shop and buy such cute clothes, but he's not good at putting them together. :) Great job Steve!
We missed you Nat! Hope to chat with you soon!
wow! that is one crazy-long road trip! Glad you made it back safe :) And those outfits are so daddy-esque! haha
I have to laugh!! Your girls are darling and so are their outfits. At least you have a husband whose willing to help!!! What an amazing experience to see some beautiful sights!!! I'm going to have to put that on my list of places to see someday. And I have to sympathize with you on having kids throw up in the car. NOT FUN!!
I second what the others said with one addition: Steve's comment about the board in the door is very funny. And a little concerning at the same time. Hmm.... :)
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