Wizards Game!

One of my good friends her in San Diego has an amazing aunt who occasionally gets free corporate tickets to NBA games in Los Angles at the Staples Center. Her aunt wasn't using the tickets so my friend asked us if we wanted to go! I have been dying to go to a game since we moved out here, so I jumped at the chance. We drove up to LA (which took double the time it should have due to traffic BTW) a little early to have dinner before the game. The traffic was so insane that we ended up eating ballgame fare because we basically got to the stadium on time. 

The Clippers were playing the Wizards that night. Casey (my friend) has a small love affair with one of the players so it was pretty entertaining to watch the game with her. She follows the NBA, so she was very educational too! Gray was pretty excited and the seats were perfect in that no one was sitting in front of us, so he could move around a bit. He passed out about 30 minutes before the game ended and slept on the way home. Overall I had a fantastic time and can't wait to go back (maybe to see the Lakers next time). Josh, on the other hand, thought the whole thing was fairly boring and has no plans to return any time soon. :)

Checking out the surroundings before the warm-ups started. 

Loving the pre-game! 

Back to San Diego!

Gray and I got on the road toward San Diego a few days after the new year began. I don't know about him, but I was glad to be almost home. It is great to spend time with family and friends at home, but in a lot of ways it's nicer to be in your own bed with all of your own stuff and not imposing on anyone. Also, heading home meant Josh would be back soon! 

We were set to meet two friends (three kids and three dogs) in two separate cars, but plans changed and Gray and I made the trip back to California with one friend in her car and her two dogs. It was nice knowing someone else was right there with us if we had major car trouble in the middle of west Texas, but the company was almost more awesome! 

We met Casey in Texas, near Houston. Naturally before we met up with her, we had a MAJOR flat tire in the middle of nowhere. I was lucky enough to stop to check it before it was totally flat (10lbs remaining) at a gas station AND be within 100 yards of a tire place. If that doesn't tell you that God was watching over us, I'm pretty sure nothing can! The guys must have felt sorry for me, because they patched the flat within 15 minutes and didn't charge me anything for the repair. Totally blessed. 

Fletch stayed in the car while the men went to work. 

Our first official stop was Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. I have always wanted to see these caverns, so I was pretty excited that Casey was into the extra miles to see it.  It was worth the trip because the caverns are huge! I'm not sure it was the best cave experience I've ever had, but it was pretty fantastic. 

I think Gray enjoyed the caverns too! 

We took 4 days to get home, but didn't make any other really exciting stops. I only took a handful of photos, so I'll share a few from the coolest rest stop ever. They had tons of random stuff to buy, but Gray LOVED the metal sculptures that were out to one side of the gas station. Fletch was also interested in them, which was kind of funny.

The horse was the first thing Fletch noticed. 

Gray loved climbing on the lizard, but wouldn't even get close to these snakes!

Now that we are back in San Diego, I wanted to count up the states we visited and miles we drove in the last 6 months. It seems that we went to 26 different states and traveled over 12,600 miles (that's over 9 days of driving time by Google's calculations). I'm not counting air travel (that would be another 2,800 miles or so) or water travel to Mexico. :) I'm exhausted just thinking about it, but we saw countless things that our great nation has to offer and made too many memories to count. 

I think my favorite things in all of that travel were Yellowstone NP, The Battle of Little Big Horn NP, Mt. Rushmore NP, Yosemite NP, Sequoia NP, Muir Woods NP, and the Four Corners Monument. Yellowstone was hands down the most amazing. If you are ever considering a trip to Yellowstone, just go. You will love every minute of it! The landscape in Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota alone is worth a trip because it's breathtaking in that part of America. BUT in the end, there is no place like home. :) 

Yucatan Cruise

My sister had the crazy idea that we should go on a Christmas vacation. Mom and I talked her out of a Christmas cruise, in favor of a New Year's cruise! We left on the 26th headed to New Orleans and got on board a Carnival cruise ship. We stopped in Cozumel and Progresso.  

Carnival has scheduled activities for kids basically every day you are on the ship (even days at port). Gray and Claire spent a few hours in the kid zone every day. We found that it was easier to have dinner without them (by feeding them first and dropping them off) and that they had tons of fun with the Carnival people. They went on treasure hunts and had a prince/princess party. They made tons of hats and had face painting,  it was so cute to see what they did every day. 

The kids loved sitting in the window in our cabin. 

Our first stop was in Cozumel. Jennifer found Chankanaab Park the last time they were there, so we went to it for a few hours. They had a little show with sea lions and seals, which was really cute and the kids loved. The park also offers swimming with dolphins, but we skipped that and headed for the beach. Jennifer, Bob, and Lexie snorkeled for a little while. Gray, Clarie, Mom, and I stayed on the little beach for kids because Gray loves the water. The water is much warmer in Mexico than it is here in California, so Gray stayed in over an hour. I think he would have stayed longer, but he got a little chilled so I made him get out. (He will have full body shakes and be turning blue, but not be ready to get out of the water at home.) We left the park and did a little shopping before heading back to the boat. It was a pretty relaxing day, and everyone had fun. 

Ma'am and Gray in Cozumel. 

Gray and Lexie loved Chankanaab Park in Cozumel. 

Gray and Uncle Bob watching the seal/sea lion show at the park. 

Gray loved the little bay for kiddos. Plus the water was WAY warmer in Mexico than it is here in California! 

Our next stop was Progresso. We had plans to visit the Dzibilchaltun Ruins, just outside the city of Progresso. We did a little shopping in the market before getting on a tour bus and heading to the ruins. Good Lordy it was hot out that day, but the ruins were very interesting. They let people climb on them and we had a guide that gave some information about what we were seeing. There was a freshwater sinkhole at the ruins that people swim in. We were told it was 200 feet deep, so I wasn't even remotely interested in getting Gray close to that! It was really pretty to look at though... I loved the trip to the ruins, but wouldn't want to go in the summer because if it's hot in December, I don't want to know what it's like in July! 

Making time for a little shopping in Progresso.

Trying out the swings/hammocks. He approved. 

We spend one day at the Dzibilchaltun ruins.

The freshwater sinkhole at the ruins.

Carnival has so many fun things for kids! 

The kiddos!

Build a moose! Gray wanted a pirate moose. :)

Once we made it back to New Orleans, we stopped at Cafe Du Monde for some beignets. I'm pretty sure there is some law that says you can't visit New Orleans without getting beignets. Gray loved his first experience with them and was covered in powdered sugar before it was over with. After the quick around the Riverwalk, we headed back to North LA. 

I think we all had a pretty great time on the cruise. Plus I found out how amazing the kid zone is if Josh and I plan another cruise with Gray anytime soon.

Beignets for the road in New Orleans. 

Christmas!

Gray and I spent Christmas at 'home' this year. It was great to spend time with family and friends we don't get to see very often. I think the worst part of living in California is being away from our family and friends. Luckily we have make our own 'family' of military friends everywhere we move, so it's not like we are all alone out here. It would just be nice to be able to spend time with parents, siblings, cousins, etc on the smaller holidays or even family reunions. Alas we will stay here in California for the foreseeable future, so we just have to enjoy our trips home and visitors.

Gray loved the gifts from everyone and from Santa. Speaking of Santa, he didn't have a melt down this year! He actually smiled at Santa and sat in his lap for pictures. He refused to talk to him, but at least he didn't cry. I'm thinking next year, he may even tell Santa what he wants for Christmas! 

Photo of a photo=Not the best quality. 

Gray loved Papa's Harley! 

This was so sweet. :)

Gray and Claire on Christmas morning.
Gray had just woken up. Claire had been in hair/nails already that morning. 

Gray LOVED his dune buggy!
I just wish our yard was bigger so he could actually drive around instead of forward and backward! 

Showing Claire his new wheels! 

Uncle Chris gave this to Gray. 

Opening presents from Daddy! 

He loves the owls on the Christmas tree. And the bells. And the birds. 

One more gift from his temporary Sunday School teachers in Bastrop. 

Gray and Cayden had a little too much fun in the dune buggy.

Luckily Mom lives on a quiet street. :)

We made the rounds and saw just about everyone, even if our time was limited. I'm glad Gray was able to see so many people who love him even though he doesn't get to see them very often!

Is anyone out there?

I realize most of the people who check in on me here on the blog from time to time must think I have abandoned blogging all together, but the truth of the matter is we have traveled a minimum of 10,000 miles in the last six months PLUS Mom had no (I repeat. NO) internet in her new house for basically forever. As soon as the internet was set up, we had Christmas festivities to enjoy then got on a Carnival cruise ship for a week. I'm finally back in the real world and have had a little time to catch up on some sleep. I have been packing up my bags for one final trip (until at least February). I'll be posting more about our travels in the next few weeks, but Gray will be on the road for roughly a week before that happens. 

Hope you had a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Road Trip.

I've been rather shady in the last month because of a large amount of Christmas shopping, packing, and traveling (again). My latest travels included Mom flying out to San Diego to ride back to Louisiana with Gray, Fletch, and I. Naturally we went a little out of the way to see some extra sights, but we made the trip in 5 not totally full days.

Gray and Fletch on the road.

I picked Mom up from the airport around 5pm on our first day of travels. Naturally I was about 20 minutes late to the airport because I was trying to pack for 2 months away (including Christmas gifts) PLUS get the house clean enough for guests. Otherwise the trip went smoothly. We drove into Arizona before stopping for the night. We saw the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City then were off to the next thing on the list. 

The London Bridge. Lake Havasu, AZ. 

We drove along Route 66 for a while so Mom could see some of little towns along the way. Including lunch in Kingman, AZ right across the street from this HUGE steam engine. Gray thought it was one of the coolest things on the trip easily. 

We made it to the Grand Canyon around dark, so we had dinner and went back to the hotel. It was pretty cold, but luckily there wasn't a blizzard like our last trip to the Grand Canyon! This may be the first picture that Gray has ever deliberately looked at the camera and smiled. It only too 2.5 years... 

Fletch was super excited about getting out of the car for some sightseeing!
He wasn't as thrilled with Gray holding the leash...

We decided to head north toward Monument Valley after leaving the Grand Canyon. We saw some wild horses, lots of beautiful scenery, and a little place where John Wayne stated multiple times while filming movies in the area. We shared some green chili soup and some Indian fry bread for a quick snack at Goulding's (I LOVE southwest food!), then headed north toward Moab! 

We weren't originally going to go this far north because Mom had to be back home within a certain number of days. We made good time (and I think she secretly wanted to see more awesome National Parks) and decided to add a few miles to the trip and see Arches National Park. Arches is a great park, with lots of different landscapes to see. There are tons of walking trails for visitors to use, but with Gray we decided it was best to stay close to the car. Plus I left the Bob stroller at home (for space concerns) and many are too long/strenuous to expect a 2 year old to keep up or at the least enjoy it. Luckily the roads take you right past most of the formations, so little walking is required to hit the high points. Just outside of Arches, there are many different examples of petroglyphs and pictographs. I could have spent hours/days checking out these rock art locations, but alas we had to get back on the road after seeing a couple (and a dinosaur track). 

Flat Daddy made it to Arches NP! 

Rock Art! 

We left Moab in just enough time, because we made it to the Four Corners just as they were closing. We didn't have to pay to get in and were there with about 5 other people. They actually had to re-open the gate to let us out. We missed the Native Americans that are there with crafts, but we had already done lots of craft shopping while near the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley. I had already gotten a really fun Christmas ornament, a little piece of pottery, and some bookmarks or I may have been bitter. :) 

Gray in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado at once! 

Our last stop on the trip was the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. Apparently there is a lot more to this place than Cadillacs begin partial buried. This started as a representation of the evolution of the car line (like the birth and death of the tail fin). The cars are buried nose-first at an angle corresponding to the angle of the Great Pyramids of Giza. The cars have been moved and are currently on private land. The cars are preprinted white periodically, and the spray paint art is actually encouraged. I decided to Google Cadillac Ranch that day to tell mom more about it and Wikipedia had a wealth of knowledge (which is where i got that info above from). I'm a little sad we didn't have any spray paint to tag one of the cars. :) It was so windy and super cold, so I recommend a coat if you visit! My ears were burning by the time I made it back to the car, but Fletch loved running around the cars in the open field!

Cadillac Ranch! 

From Amarillo, we made it home in a few hours. It was a long trip, but we had fun seeing tons of new sights!