CALIFORNIA, HERE WE COME!

For our summer vacation, we headed down to San Diego. One of the biggest perks is that it's only 5 hours away! :) This blog is full of pictures (because I like pictures).  Some are sideways though and I can't figure out why or how to change it. Sorry. It bugs me when people's pictures are sideways, but....hope you enjoy anyway!

We have a favorite campground in Escondido called Woods Valley Kampground which is 20 miles or so north of San Diego. This campground is in the mountains, but still close to everything. It has a pool, showers, farm, duck pond with fishing, play areas and lots of places to explore. This is the third time we've been there and it lets us enjoy not only camping but San Diego without expensive hotels.

 Tree Huggers!

Brynlie just chillin'.

Hanna just chillin'. This is her camping fashion (wearing the hat backwards).

There were lots of climbing trees around.

My little monkey.

Here's our 3 bedroom tent. It had room for all of us plus some! Loved it!

Hanging at the campsite.

This is what we call the "River Bottoms". A nickname Hanna gave it the first time we were here. There's a lot of woods and places to explore. The kids can wander all around without us having to worry about them.

Another monkey!

Getting ready for a swim!

Getting a little crazy with the roasting sticks!

 We forgot our camp stove so we ended up cooking over the fire. It actually was a lot of fun!

Kamary is the queen roaster. If there is something to roast over the fire, she'll do it! This is some roasted turkey lunch meat.

We brought our walkie talkies. Lauren and Kohler are trying to figure it out.

Playing in the dirt. A must when you're camping.

He figured it out! 10-4!

We went to the beach while we were there. It was windy and overcast, but the water felt nice and we had a great time.

 My kids were not afraid of the water!

Lauren playing in the waves.

 Sideways picture- grr. Alyssa boogie boarding!

 More boogie boarding!

Brynlie decided to take a nap.

Sweet girl.

It's a little blurry but I love the look on Alyssa's face!

 Look what washed into shore.

Playing in the sand.

Counting seashells.

Searching for seashells.

Alyssa took a nap too.

These are sideways, but I love these pictures so I had to include them.

While we were in San Diego we went to the Maritime Museum on Harbour Blvd. The museum is on several historical ships. I love old sail boats so I was just as giddy as the kids.

Another sideways picture, grrr. Here we are on the Star of India. It was built during the civil war and is the oldest ship that still holds a regular sailing schedule. VERY COOL!

 Hanna on the Star of India's deck, looking out at the other ships.

Lauren is swabbing the deck.

Brynlie and Alyssa waiting to go to the upper deck.

I love this picture!! Kohler looking at a submarine out the ship's window.

Trying to steer the ship.

This is a different ship. It was used in the movie Master and Commander with Russell Crowe and it was also used in the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie (On Stranger Tides).

This was an old Russian submarine. Both Kamary and I decided we could never live in one of these. Talk about claustrophobia!

Brynlie watching the ships go by.

Looking through the telescope or periscope or whatever they call it. You can see Harbour Blvd.

Here are the kids in front of the Star of India.

Of course after exploring sailing ships, you have to have seafood!  Here are the kids waiting for lunch.

After going to the museum we headed over to the new Mormon Battalion Visitor Center.

 Where did these crazy kids come from?

They took us on a tour of the Visitor Center. It was so much fun! It was interactive with different scenic rooms-- all geared toward kids.

 In this room the kids got to dress up like Battalion members. The kids were entertained the entire time and we learned things about the Mormon Battalion we never knew. It was a great experience.

 Panning for gold.

 Lauren is doing some laundry. I'm very grateful for my washing machine.

Hanna's building a pyramid with the bricks.

This is one of the sister missionaries that took us through the tour. It turns out her uncle is the Mission President in Toronto Canada where my parents are serving their mission.  It really is a small world.

They took our family picture with an "old fashioned" camera.  They also had a lot of interactive games and stuff. It was a great visit!!

We had a great vacation and of course the best thing was spending time together.  After four fun filled days we headed back to the heat of Arizona and our doggies. We missed our doggies, not so much the heat.

Back to real life.