Mormon Battalion Historical Sight

 One of the things I knew I wanted to take the kids too was The Mormon Battalion Historical Sight.  This was actually probably one of my favorite things we did in California.  I love church history and it was very cool!  JD found a dollar shoved up inside the barrel of the cannon.  He was so excited.

 JD was in heaven with all of the war places that we visited.

 Cute kiddo's!  The museum itself is very cool.  The pictures on the walls moved, just like the pictures in Harry Potter.  My kids loved that.  You go from room to room and watch the movie.  Each room was decorated for certain cites and they were incredibly well done.

 Tyson volunteered to get dressed up as a Battalion member.  He was being so cute and shy about it.

 And then, they gave him a musket!  Happiest kid around that day!

 After the tour, the kids got to go out and pan for gold.  We spent over an hour in that kid area. They loved it!

 Look! She's rich!

 They had some great interactive activities for the kids.  Making bricks and stacking them.  I loved this one of the bricks falling down.  Pretty funny.

 JD was a gold panning expert.  He had to pick out 2 peices to keep, but I had to take a picture of him and his pile.  Both of us wish it was real!

It was such a neat experience to have with the kids.  They learned a lot about the church history and some US history.  

I love this picture!  They take your picture at the end of the tour and email you a copy to keep!  You don't see mom in pictures often so this was a lot of fun for me to get as a keepsake!

The Star of India and Dos Pecos Park

Just up the street from the Midway was an other set of ships.  These were merchant ships from back in the 1800's.  The larger of the two was called The Star of India.  It reminded me of a pirate ship.  It was very beautiful and the kids enjoyed running above and below deck.

Me and my sweet babies!

Part of the admission was the chance to walk through 2 submarines.  One was a midget sub, The Us Dolphin and one was a Soviet sub. They are incredibly cramped.  I don't know how people live  under the ocean in them.  I would be extremely claustrophobic.  JD was totally in his element and loved every second of it.

This was the second ship that we went on.  I can't remember it's name.  The kids loved all the old rope and the sun designs on the sides of the ship.  They really did seem like pirate ships.

JD climbing in the tree in Grandma's front yard.

On Sunday we went to Dos Pecos park in Ramona.  My cousin Amber, Chad, Aunt Gladys and Willie's girlfriend's little girl all went with us.  It is a magnificent park. So beautiful and so much fun.  We spent 3 hours there hanging out.

I'm such a bad mom.  I kept saying, "go higher, it's make a really cool picture."

Cute little Tyson!

They have this beautiful pond area, where you could feed the ducks.  The boys found a duck in the reeds that had fishing line wrapped around it.  They were so worried.  They stop and told everyone who walked by about it and then Tyson, Aunt Gladys and I walked up to the ranger station to let them know.  They were so cute about giving him a bunch of bread and watching him to make sure he was safe.

Cute kids!

Afterwards, we went back to Grandma's and had a bbq.   The kids played basketball and blew bubbles and had fun hanging out.

USS Midway

Our first day in California we went to the USS Midway Aircraft carrier museum in San Diego.  This was pretty much just for JD, because we all know he is a military nut!  Everyone had a lot of fun though. 

The kids worked hard for those wings! *Ok, Aunt Gladys and Grandma did Tyson and Pipers, but don't tell*

Grandma Phyllis

 Over Spring Break we went to Ramona, California.  What's in Ramona?  My Grandma Phyllis!!  We spent a few day's there visiting and seeing the sights.  I especially love this top picture.  Four generations of awesome women!

Everyone was crying when we left.  It was so sad.  I wish we lived closer.  We just need to make it a priority to get down there more often.  Grandpa was in the house.  He has Alzheimers and wasn't sure who we were, but he did pretty well with all of it.  So glad that we got to go and visit.

The Narrows at Dixie Rcok

 The day after we went hiking at Dixie Rock, we went back for more.  The kids wanted to take Josh up there, because they didn't think he had ever been there.  Never mind the fact that he has lived here his whole life! 

Josh was showing off on the rocks and took a fall.  It was hilarious afterwards, though it scared it me at first. 

 Piper and her daddy!

 There is a little canyon, for lack of a better word called the narrows.  It's a tiny crevice in the rocks that you can hike up through and climb out on top of the rocks.

 Piper was freaking out.  Don't blame her.  I am seriously claustrophobic and wouldn't have been able to do it.

 Look how narrow that is!  The boys loved it!

 Jumping the Narrows.

 Oh, look!!  I am a part of this family.  You just never see me in pictures, because I am taking the pictures.  Self Portrait!

 I spy with my little eye, a good-lookin' guy!

I love this picture.  She is so beautiful!

Dixie Rock

My children have a new obsession.   Hiking on Dixie Rock.  This kid is like a mountain goat!  He scares me a little bit with the places he will climb.

Pipster stays close to me and likes her picture taken.

I love this shot.  Look at Piper!  Such a diva.

Such cute kids.  We went there two days in a row to hike and play. It's way fun and the kids love it.

They thought this "Indian" cave was really cool.  It's actually a cave that was made to be used for Scout award ceremonies.

Me and two of my lovies.

There are hardly any pictures of this kid, although it's not for lack of trying.  He just doesn't stay close enough to me.  He's off doing his own thing.  I guess that is what happens when your almost 10!

A Fort

Well, a fort of sorts.  Tyson has been collecting all sorts of wood to build a fort.  I think every neighbor boy withing a mile radius came to help build it.  I wish I had gotten some pictures of it before the wind blew it all down.  It went from this to about double the size.  It included a play gym, a lot more plywood, an old picnic table, some old trellis and some tarps.  It was lovingly nicknamed "the garbage fort".  The kids sure loved it for the 2 weeks it stayed up!