Trouble....

I got in 'trouble' for the last post. (maybe this will inspire Jeff to write about his own experiences - haha!) Jeff DID actually dig part of the sand-pit, castle, whatever you want to call it. He claims to have a scar from a blister that was incurred while digging. 

Pictures only tell part of the story I guess. :) And you may have noticed only 3 of the 4 kids were in pictures. The mother-in-law offered to stay at the cabin with Ammo so he didn't have to be outside in the wind - darn ear infections.

That's all. :)

THE Sand-pit?

The Sand-castle. This is serious business. These guys do not mess around. :) You see that is not your run of the mill shovel. Nathan brought it from home - 3 of them.

First you gotta plan - I guess the plan involved seeing if they could build something to withstand the waves....ummmm, good luck with that.

This is more my speed of digging in the sand - a pink bucket and shovel.

Trying to give myself a pedicure with the sand by burying my feet and trying to stay warm.

Luke helping on the front lines of the castle and watching the waves very closely.

Abbey was content to stay as far away from the water as possible.

 The Sand-castle was starting to look more and more like a Sand-pit.

 Anna and Lea digging with plastic shovels. 

 At one point, the kids had to get out of the middle. A wave came crashing through and was a little too high when it filled the hole. Can you see the little red-heads just barely above the walls??

Crushing the clusters of sand with his BARE HANDS! So strong! :)

Seriously!?  I thought she'd grown out of eating sand......at least this sand gets washed every day. The playground sand is just plain disgusting.

 Every time I looked up at the progress, Steven was the only one digging. Jeff and Nathan were admiring their work.

 Again, Steven slaving away and Jeff just watching the tide come in. :)

there was some Ninja fights with the waves

hiiiiiiii - ya!
Lucas digging in and trying to get warm from that freezing cold water.

 Abbey relaxing on her 'sand-pillow' she built

 An Ocean-away-inator (courtesy of Dr. Lukenshmirtz)

 AGAIN! Just standing around. :) oops, got caught taking a picture.

 searching for buried treasure (sand toys)

 ALL DONE!

 you can't see Jeff in the next picture - his hair color matches the sand and he's sitting farther down than the above picture.

 It's a bit cold!

 not loving the cold water.

 seriously, it's really cold!

 Fine. One more picture, but hurry!

 It was cold out of the water too. The girls wanted to sit on the edge, not in the water. Jeff and Uncle Steven were nice enough to build seats for them, then bury them in the sand to keep warm.
They were less than thrilled when we had to rinse off the sand in the ocean.......did I mention it was COLD!? But no way was I taking back part of the beach with us in the car.

 Happy digging!

Drive-thru tree

The only thing I remember from my last/only trip to the Redwoods was driving in our huge brown and tan van (not even sure where we were going - probably LA) and I asked my dad if we could drive through one of the trees. I think it was one of those moments for him - a clever thing to think, but not really true by your funny kid. I have those moments a lot for my kids. :) But when we got there, there it was! A tree you can drive through. Our van however was too big, so we got out and stood under it for pictures. I couldn't find any of those pictures - must be at my parents house. But I still remember that and I wanted my kids to see it to, even if I couldn't be there. Lea promised to remind Jeff to do that. Well I remember that and A LOT of really, REALLY BIG trees. Pretty sure they were still there and I didn't need to see them again.

And here it is!!! The Drive-Thru tree. Okay so it has a real name - it's called the Chandelier Tree. 

It's $5 per car and Jeff's parents took their own car. So there was some discussion about whether or not they were going to go with Jeff, Steven, Lea, Lucas and Abbey. And because they're all cheap as they come, they weren't about to pay $5!!! just to see a tree you could drive through.......finally convinced, they moved carseats around and all fit in our van to go see the tree.

 The van would ONLY  fit if the mirrors were folded in. This was part of the problem with my first trip there - didn't have foldable mirrors back then.

  Had to climb out the windows in order to leave the car parked there for a photo-op. I would have like a picture of Jeff's 'Duke's of Hazzard' exit from the van. :)

Good-bye Redwood Forest and good-bye Chandlier Tree! Thanks for the trip down memory lane and new memories for my family.

Walk tall

As much as there were times at Girls Camp that I didn't enjoy - caterpillars EVERYWHERE, bickering, less than desirable food because we got to cook it :). I always remember those spiritual moments where I knew, I know, this to be true. I made new friends and strengthened friendships already there. This song reminds me of those times and is something we all need to be reminded of.We are each precious, even on days where we feel less than precious. The Lord loves us and doesn't leave us alone.

Redwoods - place with REALLY BIG trees

So if you can't tell, this was one of the best family vacations we've had. And not just this one - the whole trip (3 weeks) was so fun!! Maybe it's because we had our own space or maybe it was because I didn't go on any of the hikes (not really my thing) or maybe it was because my husband was actually there this time?? I've been to at least one Risenmay reunion without him.......I took my nephew Dallin with me instead - a mini-Jeff actually.

Maybe it was because my kids were older and I didn't have to worry about them as much AND this is the first time I haven't traveled with a NEWBORN. It was the first trip where Jeff wasn't stressed about work, studying for the CPA or stressed about work....did I say that already? Well whatever the difference was, it was AWESOME!

On this day, a trip to the Redwood Forest was scheduled. Having already been there - I think I was 8, again I opted to stay put with Ammon. It had been another long night and I needed to find out how to get a prescription from our AMAZING!! Dr in AZ via voicemail to a pharmacy 30 miles from me that I couldn't find the phone number for - anywhere!? I didn't have a computer, so no internet access - I only have a plain ole phone. Anyone with a smart phone was gone. So, I called my mom. She looked up the phone number for the pharmacy in Fort Bragg, CA. I then called the Dr's office in AZ, left a message for them to call in a prescription. Several hours later I called the Pharmacy and they were filling the prescription! Then texted Jeff to pick it up on their way back from the Redwoods - hoping they'd make it in time before the Pharmacy closed.

Technology is so wonderful!!!

Off they went on a 3 hour drive.........one way. yuck. Here's what I did all that day (Aside from making phone calls to get a prescription):

cleaned the floors

did laundry

Ammon slept A LONG TIME!

made myself lunch and actually got to eat it in one sitting

enjoyed an NCIS marathon - the place had DirecTV - oh how I missed that!? :)

And indulged myself from a week long break of soda with an ice cold Pepsi. It was fabulous!

I forgot how much could be accomplished with one kid!?

I think I even managed to get dressed and did my makeup - must have gotten bored by that time. haha!

Enjoy the beautiful trees and good times my family had together!

 There were lots of trees that had burned through the inside, but the tree was still standing and still living - just had these massive holes in them. Big enough to walk through.

 This is the root system of a tree that fell over. HUGE!

 One of those burned out holes

 

  

This is the back side of the stump they at sitting on in the next picture.

  It's automatic - we find water, we must. throw. rocks!!

 This is how high the tree was - the oldest tree ever to have fallen down.

 the view down from the 'top' of the fallen tree

 tree huggers. ;)

 so cool! this is the inside of the tree in the above pictures. Jeff is standing IN the tree, looking up!

 

 more roots

 this was carved in the tree 'N Riz' - haha (Jeff's older brother is Nathan) and is called Riz. So is Jeff.

 Jeff's dad, just enjoying the day

 I think this is where a lady told Jeff 'your kids are too loud. We come out here to enjoy nature and enjoy the quiet'
Jeff wanted to throttle her!!!
Steven wanted to follow her around for the rest of the day!

 

 

  This girl loves to pose!

 What's that nursery rhyme? There was old woman who lived in a shoe.....had so many children she didn't know what to do. (I feel like that sometimes!) :)