Hanging Out With The Cousins

We had a fabulous time in California with my brother and his beautiful family. The girls all get along so well and have non-stop fun. S is like a wonderful little mother hen and takes such good care of the younger ones. Ellie and L were inseparable the whole visit, spending much of their time together in front of the piano. We went to the girls' favorite Pinecone Park and experienced an pretty big earthquake while we were there. Our planned trip to the local Children's Museum had to be rescheduled for the next day because it closed to inspect for damage. So we went to another park and Auntie A bought our girls their very first ice cream from an ice cream truck. We are always so happy to get together and so sad when it is time to leave. Oh how I wish we lived closer to each other.

Abby and Ellie with their cousin L

Maddie knows her body parts

Ellie and L were inseparable

Maddie and her beautiful cousin S

Maddie loves dinos

These girls are the best!

A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village

Our first adventure was at the A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village in Salem, OR. It is a children's museum that is housed in three historic homes and includes a 20,000-square-foot outdoor discovery center. All the exhibits are hands-on experiences for kids of all ages. We explored as much as we could: dinosaurs, bubbles, the human body, rivers, China, a grocery store and a toy invention room. The outdoor structure was a huge hit with the everyone -- the girls even got me to go down the three story slide with them!

Checking out groceries

Climbing the mammoth fossil

Victorian architecture play house

African village playhouse

Inside the climbing maze

Road Trip!

Abby wanted to visit with her cousins in California for her birthday this year. So we decided that since we were going to be out on the road, we might as well make a true adventure (and great geography lesson) out of it. So we all piled into the minivan and spent 16 days traveling throughout Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Montana, and Idaho. We picnicked, swam, hiked, and explored every landmark, historical site, and natural wonder that we saw along the way. The entire trip went so smoothly -- the girls are absolutely the best little world travelers.

The car is loaded and we are ready to head out early on the first day.

We packed the cooler with picnic lunches and hit every rest stop along the way.

Sisters hamming it up