I got up Monday morning and got scrambling. My dishwasher had broken down on my last load, so all of the Sunday dishes had to be washed by hand. This took all morning, plus I really needed to get packed. I always need to pack up a cooler for trips, and so I really needed to stop at a grocery store. Unfortunately, between all the backed up dishes and laundry, I didn't get to it. We left in a big old rush on Monday evening. Ryan wanted to push as far as we could go. Well, with no cooler, and with no dinner, Mo was bawling loudly by the time we reached Mesquite. Ryan pulled into McDonalds, instructed the kids to use the bathroom, and went in to get Mo some chicken nuggets. I was appalled at Oak, who chose to use the bushes in front of the restaurant (right in front of their store front windows) instead of the bathroom facilities. After witnessing Oak pee on the bushes, several customers left. I sometimes feel like such a failure as a parent. How could he possibly not know that this is totally not ok. Needless to say, that he had a lengthy lecture about public behavior. He didn't realize people were watching, and he did do better after. I also realize that leaving the kids home has become a convenience, we rarely eat out, and Oak needed some tips and pointers. Not peeing in front of the restaurant was one of them.
Ryan blew through Vegas, and all of the lovely border casino's. He went through Baker, and I was getting really tired. Luckily, Mo fell fast asleep after his nugget fest. I finally fell asleep too, and we eventually did get a room in Barstow. I fell asleep, but everyone else stayed up late watching some show about Moles I believe.
We got up early, and started traveling. I have decided that some of California is kinda dumpy. It was amazing when we climbed a hill with a bunch of windmills and dropped into a fragrant, and green valley. It was gorgeous. I love traveling through the orchards with all of the clean citrus smells in the air, and I love the foggy mistiness of the area. California is gorgeous, and this is farm country in California. Ryan stopped to meet his dad at a Richie Bros auction yard that was close to Tulare. We spent most of the afternoon looking at tractors, tool beds, and tires. I could tell that the farm show was going to be a huge fiasco. I could not keep track of my little ones to save my life. I would blink, and all three of them would just be gone. They would tuck themselves away in a stack of tires, or they would climb in one of the tractors and blare the horn loudly. Luckily, everyone there seemed very chill about the whole situation. No awkward, "he he, keep your kids off the merchandise." The only time someone said anything, was when they climbed a ginormous tractor, that was used for picking and sorting fruit. And I was in total agreement with them. Mo had no business being on top of that. In Mo's defense, it was Wams who had taken him up there. She was keeping good track of him, but wow. Not too happy with Wams.
After looking at farm tractors for awhile we went to the farm show. The first day was nice because there really weren't that many people there yet. I was so relieved, but after two hours of hauling Mo, and at times Chlo around, I was way ready for a wagon or a cart of some kind. I began scouring all of the displays for a red wagon. I decided I would pay just about anything for one. We not only had to carry them everywhere, but we were constantly having to pull the kids off of stuff too. Seriously, Mo has a death grip too. Anyhow, Ryan and I both agreed, if we were going to spend an entire day looking at the farming displays, we were going to have to have a stroller or a wagon. I ran to the first Walmart that I could find and purchased a garden wagon. Seriously...the best decision ever. Ryan did have to spend several hours assembling it, but it saved me. Oak even rode in it at times, and they all three would nap in it. There was so much to see and learn at the farm show. There were displays of all varieties. Ryan stopped at a squeeze chute display at one point, and studied them for a long time. In the meantime the kids climbed all over their squeeze chute displays. The vendor also had some balls that were attached to springy strings that the kids all got, and they were a ton of fun. They got into many ball bapping fights after that, and everyone loved those things except for Sage. She didn't get one, and she just got beaten to death by everyone else's balls nonstop. Don't worry about Sager though. Once she had had enough, she made those who beaned her nonstop with balls live to regret it.
A nice gal at an ice cream stand asked Chlo what grade she was in. Chlo smiled and told the lady that she was in sunbeams. This left the lady kind of confused. Oak also charged at a golf cart that was hauling the business personnel around. He backed up, and run full steam ahead at the golf cart. The men in the cart were laughing at him and tried to swerve around him. Luckily they didn't hit him, but I guess in their game of "chicken," Oak won.
There were some intriguing displays on bugs and fruit flies, and Oak would sit there and study them for long spans of time. I would finally have to pull him away from their microscopes because a line would form behind him. We also learned a lot from a fruit sorter display. It was a huge machine that inspected fruit and sorted it into the good and "spoiled" piles. Anyhow, We had great fun. At one point Mo had fallen asleep in the wagon. Ryan was checking out the Praxair tent. Lisa had informed me that Ammon had spent hours in the Praxair tent, and so I expected the same from Ryan. I told him that I was going to be in the women's tent while Mo slept. In the women's tent they had chef's come and teach cooking tips and recipes. It was perfect to just sit in the shade for awhile. Sags and I were watching an intriguing lecture on making live wreaths when a nice woman came and asked if we would like some chocolate milk. I was blown away by this because if there was anything that I would have wanted right then, it was chocolate milk. Let me tell you, the chocolate milk was creamy and cold. Sags and I had seconds. It was way pleasant. I love it when things like that happen. I know it sounds small, but I always feel like those are just huge blessings. Small ways that life can be so good and enjoyable. I see the Lord blessing me constantly.
Another funny incident occurred when we were looking at tractors. They were blue tractors, which used to be Ford tractor's but they are now called "New Hollands". Anyhow, at this particular dealer, they had a model type blonde woman who was kind of scantily clad to entice buyers. She had a ribbon across her body that labeled her as "Miss Blue." I noticed that many men liked to come to this tractor display and get their picture taken in front of the tractors with Miss Blue. Chlo ended up in many of these pictures without their knowledge. I wish I could see their faces when they look on their cameras or print up their pictures to find Chlo in their picture. She was in the tractor behind them with her little Holstein cow figurine while many of these pictures were snapped. Photo-bomber Chlo. I just couldn't help but laugh and leave her there. It adds a wholesome aspect to the picture I am sure.
After the farm show, Ammon found us a really nice place to stay on his I-phone. It was way spacious and nice, after a few nights in the Motel 6. We had some great soup-in-a-bread-bowl too. We headed out the next morning for the Sequoia National Park. The road up through the park was extremely narrow, and wind-y. We were all glad to stop and take a few breaks. At one spot we found a big rock over-hang and the kids caught orange salamanders. At another spot, Ryan found some chestnuts and the kids climbed all over some rocks. When we started to reach to the top, we all were freaking out about the size of the trees. They seriously looked like a freak of nature. We stopped at one so the kids could climb in the cave that was at the bottom of it. We were appalled to find millions upon millions of ladybugs. They were crawling all over the ground. Jerusha freaked when her cousin Halle threw a handful at her, and they landed in her mouth and hair. It was interesting to say the least. We decided to reach the top because they had a museum that we hoped would answer a bunch of our questions. Well, we reached the top, and we thought that Ammon and his family were right behind us. Not so. It took them awhile, but they eventually did meet us where there was a nice little museum. Apparently Halle had filled her camera case with lady bugs. I heard Ammon tell his kids that they were not allowed to bring the ladybugs into the car, but Halle brought her camera case and it was chock full of ladybugs. Apparently Lisa looked behind her, and Bowen was just covered in them. Ammon chucked the camera case out the window, and they had to spend a bunch of time cleaning the ladybugs out of the car. This is what caused their delay. We spent some time learning about the trees, and we also went up the road and saw the biggest sequoia in the world. It was huge. This trip was a little problematic because Oak had just been cooped up in the car too long. He and Bowen got sword fighting with sticks and they were all over the mountain having a swashbuckling good time. At one point Oak jumped and landed in a big pile of slushy snow. It sprayed all over a couple who just happened to be walking by. Instead of being mad at Oak, they looked up and glared at me. It was true that he was totally out of control. I apologized and we all moved on. Sadly, they were probably soaked the rest of the day. Oak swears up and down he didn't mean to, but he needs to start thinking things through a little better.
The trip down was all wind-y again, and everyone was getting pretty carsick. I thought we had lucked out with Chlo because she fell fast asleep. Well, when we finally did reach the bottom of the hill, she started whining that she didn't feel good. I knew that she needed to see the road, and get her bearings about her, and so I told her to come up and sit by me and watch the road for awhile. I was slightly annoyed that Ryan rolled my window down, but he was trying to think ahead. Well, too late, she didn't make it to the open window, she puked all over my lap. Needless to say that it didn't make me smile too much. I told Ryan to watch for a secluded spot by the river where I could clean up and change my clothes. He turned off and found a spot across the river. I began running down to the water, ripping puke-y clothes off in the process. I had stripped down to my garments, and was just about to start scrubbing when Ryan came over and mentioned that I might want to find a spot behind some trees before I removed any more clothes. He was looking up and across the river. I hadn't even noticed, but we were right across from a restaurant. It was full of people eating on their patio. At that moment, it seems that it was just them, me, and cricket noises. All of them had their eyes on me just wondering what the heck I was doing. Needless to say that I was grateful that Ryan called my attention to this, and I was slightly annoyed that he hadn't found a secluded spot. Anyhow, after finding some cover in some trees, and splashing up in the river, I had clean clothes on, and felt great. Poor Chlo, I was getting carsick too.
We found a nice Mexican restaurant that had a patio too, and the evening was tranquil. We were right on the river, there was a grassy area where the kids could play, and the waitress and the food was great. Ryan also found us an excellent place to stay at the bottom of the canyon. California is beautiful. The river ran right behind it, and there was a nice park for the kids to play. The kids attempted (again) to swim but their pool was frigid. My kids are impossible to stop when it comes to swimming pools.
In the morning we drove all the way to Needles California where Ryan and Cliven have been checking out a ranch. It was a way long drive with many fights and squabbles coming out of the backseat. Yells, and bawls, and screams were abundant. At one point, Chlo asked Jazzerz to throw her a water bottle. This was not a good thing. Jazz chucked that water bottle hard and it hit Chlo right in the eye. She bawled and bawled, and I felt bad because I didn't take her bawling very serious. Chlo bawls often. Anyhow, when we got to Needles her poor little eye was all swollen. Poor Chlo. I was way glad to get out and let the kids run around the farm ground in Needles. I must admit that I want to buy that farm ground. It is right on the Colorado river, the fields next to it are gorgeous, and my kids would have irrigation ponds to swim in. It is also near three cities so it isn't in the middle of nowhere. Perfect spot, I say. Anyhow, one of the tribes was having a powwow and so all of the rooms were gone. We went and got the kids some Chinese food, and ate it on a fake beach at a Casino. This was all great and good, but then the kids got throwing dirt. Most of the kids left with their hair chock full of sand.
We decided to camp out because there was really no other choice, and it was a nice evening. We made thr kids a bed in the van, and Ryan and I took the one sleeping bag that we had and Ryan found us a spot in the middle of a brush/stick farm. I was questioning his logic. What was I supposed to do when Mo woke up bawling? He explained that there was no way that Mo was going to fit in the sleeping bag with us. He was right too, no room for Mo. Anyhow, he started one of his bawling fits at about one, and by the time that I finally emerged from our sticker/brush maze, he had peacefully fallen asleep on Sagers neck. She complained about it in the morning, but thankfully it was her neck and not mine. He had slept on my neck the whole trip.
We visited awhile the next day with Ammon, Cliven and families and then we left for home. Mo had pretty much had it by the time we reached Mesquite. We toyed with the idea of staying at the ranch, but I was out of clean clothes, and I was really homesick. We did make it at 9pm. We decided that Mo just cannot handle it if I drive. He throws huge tantrums about it. Poor Ryan has to drive the whole way. I had to pull over by Mesquite so Ryan could drive. Home is great. I am glad to be cooking and cleaning up. It was a great trip. We had our moments, that is for sure. I got a little upset at Rooshkie because she used a whole package of baby wipes on her feet, and Chlo looked like she had been in a bar fight...her eye was black and swollen. Mo also bit the dust at the national park and had a streak of road rash on his face. We are happy to be back.
Brinklee and Mo
This pool was way cold...they were kind of ridiculous to be trying to swim
Oak was all tuckered out and didn't care about laying down at someone's booth
This is Mo eating ice cream on his dad's shoulders....he dripped it all over Ryan's head.
Chlo and her shiner
Mo and his road rash
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