One wish on a bucket list.
One stellar itinerary: 2 days Lake Tahoe (for Ward's Conference), 2 days in the Redwoods, 2 days on the Oregon Coast, 1 day home.
Three good little girls, 2 DVD Screens--lots and lots of Barbie Princess Movies
Three special bags with one treat each hour for 35 hours of driving! (Thanks for the idea Charlotte, it was a hit!)
One friend and her 2 cute little girls, coming from Sacramento to play at the pool and the beach while Ward was in his conference.
Three beautiful girls on Lake Tahoe's Beach
Finally The Redwoods!
One drive through tree, and I have to admit it, one of the two melt downs we had on the trip. MaLeah did not want to see the trees that night!
One insightful husband who put his foot down and said, "We are not camping on this trip!" So we ditched my plans to sleep among the Redwoods in the KOA and booked two nights at the Quality Inn. After the girl at the Pizza Hut gave me and my unique balding some strange looks Ward went to Walgreens, bought some clippersand we shaved my head in the comfort of our private bathroom. It was good to stop shedding and I could enjoy the rest of the trip. even though people treated me a little different when they saw me--either like a biker or a cancer patient. I prefer the biker.
Time among the giants . . .
. . . to realize how small we really are.
And enough room to goof off!
Add a little tree huggin'!
Then back to the beach.
Add a little tree huggin'!
Then back to the beach.
And more lighthouses.
One random Nemo cow at the whale watching center--where we seriously saw whales! And one little crazy Maiya who posed like this in 95% of all the pictures taken of her.
And hours searching through rocks and tide pools.
One unmatched view from our hotel window. Seriously, can you believe how Hotels.com came through? The kid manning the Shilo Inn desk couldn't. He said it's amazing we got this room from hotels.com
Counting up all the sea lions, seals, birds, elk, starfish, crabs, whales and other people from with Utah license plates we'd seen. (Come on, doesn't anybody else drive to the coast?)In all, for us, this trip blew everything else out of the water. Ward thought it was being together. I agreed, but I have to add that the sheer volume of time away from everything in such beautiful places makes it what it was. I feel so blessed.
12 comments:
I am so happy you had the best time! You deserve it. What a great memory for your family. (This is Kelly Walker by the way!) Glad you are home safe and sound.
Gosh, I need to hire you guys to take my kids on vacation--but I guess that would defeat the purpose of a family vacation wouldn't it? Hmmmm. So glad you had a good time!
Anne--What a fun trip! I am glad you guys had a such a great time. I can't wait to hear all the details. I'm glad you are home safe and sound. Lets go to the park again. Talk to you soon...Jamie
Goodness your girls are gorgeous! Beautiful pictures, beautiful memories...
I loved the picture of your family on the beach. You did get in a few pictures there where your hair looked nice and thick before you had to shave it. So sorry about that. You have the cutest girls and your trip looks like it was tons of fun!
What a wonderful thing to do for your family. i'm so glad you enjoyed the vacation. You're beautiful--with or without hair. I agree with your other friend, that maybe I could hire you to take our kids on vacation. You put together such a fabulous trip. Good for you! Miss you.
I love the pictures, I'm glad I could see them again! Gorgeous girls!!! Miss and love ya.
Heidi
You really have the most beautiful family, what great pictures... looks like a fun trip!
I am so glad that you had such a wonderful trip. I have always wanted to spend time on the Oregon Coast-you inspire me to make it happen. Thanks for sharing your fun photos. You are amazing. I love you guys. You are all always in our prayers. Anne, sorry about your hair. I know that you know how I feel about hair and I KNOW the second time around is NOT easier than the first. I love you! You are truly an inspiration to me and you are never far from my mind. Good luck with this round of chemo-so glad you had a good break.
Much love to all of you!
Marjean
Oh, your trip looks like so much fun - melt downs and all. What would a family vacation be without a little stuff like that to give it "color"?? So glad that you got some time away as just your family. Nothing is better.
We'll be in UT at the end of July. Hope to be able to come and visit. See you soon!
What amazing, fun pictures! Makes me doubly wish I was headed that way some time soon. So glad to hear your back, though.
I had so much fun seeing Anne and the girls on this trip. We went swimming in 4 different pools in a matter of 3 hours. Each pool made a different little girl happy so we did what we had to do. ;-) I hope I can get a copy of this picture one day.
I miss you Anne.
Amber Wong
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