vacation - day 1

Friday, May 1st, found us waking up at 3am, gathering the last minute stuff, (hygiene bag, cooler, and all the forgotten stuff that I thought of as I tried to sleep Thursday night...) loading the kids into the stuffed to the brim van, and pulling out of town just before 4am. I had worked really hard all week to get everything ready and was slightly disappointed by the fact that I still felt like a "last minute Susie" trying to get out of here, but oh well, such is life.

Friday we drove to Richard (Tim's bro) and Kathy's house in San Diego. It was long drive, but the kids did well. We spent Friday night visiting, swimming in the pool. Truth be told, it was a bit chilly for that, but the kids just "HAD to." (for the record, I didn't even bother putting on my suit. I wasn't getting into that COLD water!)

Here are some pictures of the day:

Welcome to Arizona... we are on our way...

We stopped to eat lunch in Baker, CA. Little did we know that there is NOTHING in Baker. Not a park to be found. we found a patch of grass (more like weeds pretending to be grass...) behind a gas station and there we ate.

Aaron of course found a tree up he went...
Katrina and Caleb eating - Caleb wants to climb like big brother

Aaron found this dog print "fossil" - they were all pretty excited about that... and pretty much devastated when I said we couldn't take it with us. I am such a MEAN mother!Katrina and Bryan taking a quick run through the sprinkler before loading back into the van.When I see this bridge, I get excited 'cause I know we are ALMOST there!!!

Aaron and Bryan ready to dive in.
Tim and Caleb - bbbrrrrrrr