Beliz

I can't seem to move on with my blog-life or pictures without posting this momentous trip. Ryan and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary with a trip to Belize. It was awesome. A little bit of beach, a little bit of jungle, a little bit of central american culture, a little bit of history, and a little bit of luxury. Looking back now, (it's the end of May and we went in March), I see it as a sweet adventure with my best friend, the man I am lucky enough to call my husband. I love that when we get away from everything, we still thoroughly enjoy each other's company, laugh together, and adventure together just as well, if not better, than we did when we first met, a little over 11 years ago. 

Little Eyes, Big Wonders; Part 2

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Favorite Moment: 
The art galleries and the lively plaza were unforgettable, as was seeing the countries oldest building and church. I don't now though, all those things were right up there with an awesome chillie-powder infused Mexican Mocha I ordered from a little local coffee shop. I'm telling you, it was unforgettable...I'm drooling now.

Least Favorite Moment: 
Driving from Sedona to Santa Fe,  the world ended, I mean a semi overturned on the freeway and everything came to a halt. (We were just 30 minutes away from Albuquerque, with about 4 hours behind us!!)The only way around was a 6 hour+ detour through the mountains (glad we asked about that before we headed out for the "short cut" on the map). Semis and cars were pulled over on the side of the freeway, blatently ignoring the livid police who were driving by and yelling at them to "Turn around and drive 50 miles back to the nearest Indian casino and spend the night"  or go backwards to get in the equally long line on the frontage road.  

Not a favorite moment. However, the kids and I unbuckled, stretched and played games in the van, Ryan almost started making Brinner (Breakfast for Dinner) on the side of the road, and the rain made for a fun change of scene and cooled everyone off. All and all, we chalked it up to the stuff Adventures are made of.

 The Plaza

 The Country's Oldest church.

One more Favorite Moment: 

When we were out to dinner Josiah discovered that he LOVES drinking both rootbeer and water at the same time. He likes putting a straw from each cup in his mouth at the same time then drinking them together. With homemade rootbeer, how could you go wrong?! 

One more Least Favorite Moment: 

I'll tell you how you could go wrong. We discovered that we were really, really glad we had put a precautionary towel down on the kid's beds at the rental house we were staying in. Then we got to spend some quality time at the laundry mat the next morning.

Arches National Park

Favorite Moment: 

No need to explain, the arches were awesome! I particularly loved the double arch and the entire drive through the park was beautiful. Moab itself was also a really cool town.

Least Favorite Moment: 

 This was our first unreserved night. I wish we would have had a campspot in Arches. Instead we went to a private camping spot. It was pretty nice, and it had free, unlimited-time hot showers so I'm not complaining. 

My kids however complained/screamed/cried/sobbed loudly the entire time when I tried to take all three of them in the shower at once. Donovan was cranky, poopy and slippery as a greased pig when he was wet. Kaila took one step in the shower, slipped and fell hard flat on her back, whacking her head on the ground.  Josiah couldn't seem to take a step without tracking every ounce of clothing he had in the puddles of nasty-public-shower-water that were rapidly accumulating all over the floor. 

Not to mention that no-one had flip flops so I was grimacing at the athlete's foot we were sure to bring home (none so far, glad to report). But with about a full week of camping to come and no showers in sight, it had to be done.

We were all getting soaped up, scrubbed down, hair washed, 

...and I was going to shave,  dammit!!!

So there it is. Dont judge me for swearing. Sometimes that's the type of gumption that'll get you through to the cozy pjs and book by the fire at the end without breaking into tears. 

  

Mesa Verde National Park

Favorite Moment: 
We did the Cliff House tour. We had to walk along ledges, climb ladders and carry the two little kids in backpacks, but we did it! They did great! 

Our tour guide ranger took his job seriously. He gave the tour in a David Attenborough-inspired voice. He told us the history of the pueblo people and the cliff house in the form of a traditional Native American Story, complete with the "Spirit of the Wind" talking to us and everything.

Least Favorite Moment:  
Well, this was the coldest part of our trip. The nights were in the 30's and it drizzled and rained off and on almost the entire time. We switched campspots about three times trying to find a sheltered spot. The van worked out great though. Turns out merely reparking your car  to "move campspots" isn't that bad. Plus we cranked the car heater before bed and we were all cozy as can be.

Adventures To Be Continued...

Little Eyes, Big Wonders; Part 1

For those of you who are new to our blog, Ryan and I have always loved our adventures (see our super old posts). We have backpacked in the backcountry, and did urban backpacking around europe, mexico, central America, the US...

Since then, we've upscaled a bit. Our two bodies have multiplied into 5. Our little backpacks have been exchanged for a van. This was the first year we have been able to pull off a legit adventure since the kiddos have come into this world. We spent 2 weeks camping and living out of our converted van (with the exception of a few VRBO nights for the cities etc) as we traveled around and experienced some of the most amazing National Parks and cities our country has to offer. 

I began by cautiously, prepping myself mentally to be happy going however slow we needed to, trying not to get my expectations too high for what we would "accomplish" on the trip. After all, our little ones are 4 1/2, 3 1/2, our baby is only 7 months old. We would all be sleeping in the van with predicted temperatures in the 30s and rain...We would be keeping track of kiddos in cities, there would be long traveling days and unpredictable travel "road bumps," the second week of our trip was completely unreserved...etc, etc. the list of doubts goes on and on.

But after spending months in advance creating our little van-home, we were off! First stop? The Grand Canyon.

To keep it short, I'm putting my "favorite" and "least favorite" moments under each area. Some of the least favorite moments actually were miserable, and some were just "bad" things that are really kinda funny, especially in retrospect.

After a quick night in Tehapeau (thanks Rhiannon), we got on the road early, drove and then pulled off somewhere in the middle of the desert for a pit stop and some breakfast. As we hunkerd down on the side of the road eating our hard boiled eggs, yogurt and granola, I couldn't help but admire how our kiddos don't even question the wierdness of all this. Yesterday you ate breakfast at the breakfast table like a normal person, today you're squatting on the side of Interstate 40 in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Obviously. Cuz that's life, right?

 First Stop:

Grand Canyon

 

Favorite Moments: 

For myself, I went on a run along the canyon rim early each morning, by myself. It was so, so beautiful, I practically cried in awe of the hugeness of it all. 

For the fam, the kids really did love it. We were following a "fossil walk" ranger-led tour when it started to rain pretty hard. I stacked Josiah and Kaila on top of eachother in the stroller for warmth and sprinted to our waiting, warm van.  Our family huddled in the van, turned the heater on, listened to music, ate a sweet little lunch and watched the storm roll in over the canyon from our front row parking spot. It was a sweet time together.

Least Favorite Moment:

As we sprinted back after the fossil walk with the stroller in the rain, (kicking myself for not bringing their big jackets), the big kids started saying "my hands are blooded" (now repeat... 500 times). Apparently blooded means "freezing cold and turning numb" pretty accurate right? Dont worry, Donovan was cozy warm taking a nap back with Ryan.

 

Tuba City-Dinosaur Footprints

Favorite Moments:

We got to put our hands and feet in real dinosaur foot prints and see where the dinosaurs actually walked. It stirred the awe I had for dinosaurs since I was a kid and reminded me of how my dad shared his love of science, geology and the earth, with me, when I was a little girl. 

Least Favorite Moment:

I hate to say this, but there's a good chance our Native American "guide" was a bit stoned. Don't get me wrong, there were other guides that were super knowledgable and had awesome information and experience. If you go, just try and get one of those ones. : )

Bell Rock-Sedona, AZ

Favorite Moments: 

This hike may be one of my hands down favorite hikes we did the whole trip. Thie kids, Ryan and I had to scramble up and then back down huge rocks to hike up this rock. We were traversing ledges, sliding on our bellies and bums, and using cracks and crevaces to ascend the rock. 

Least Favorite Moment: 

We had just finished telling the kids to watch out for rattle snakes and how they can be really dangerous and you'd have to go to the hospital. The words had literally just finished coming out of Ryan's mouth, when Josiah's eyes got huge, he screamed, literally lept backwards, and Kaila pretty much lept 4 verticle feet up into Ryan's arms, Josiah yells in terror "A RATTLE SNAKE!!!!"

He has a great eye, it was a mid-sized gopher snake about 3 1/2 feet away from him under the bushes. 

 (and...end of day 4, more to come!)

Valentines Day, Gettin Cozy

As an official family of 5, I thought it would be fun to celebrate our love together with a little family escape to a beautiful place.  My mom and dad had given us a gift certificate to the Big Sur River Inn for Christmas last year and Terra coordinated and invited us all to go at the same time.

I didn't expect it to be romantic, just beautiful and cozy. 

However, one member of our family had big expectations for a cozy, loving, Valentines Day that I was not aware of.

It started off just fine...

 

We stopped by the Elephant seals on the way up, and got quite the show! They were fighting, nursing,  flopping up and down the beach, breeding, and yelling. They were more active than I have ever seen them! (There was so much..."match making" it seemed quite fitting for Valentines Day.)

 

We Enjoyed the Big Sur River at our cabin with my sisters,

 Then we went out to dinner on the river. Not to be left out, Big D. decided that he wanted to eat the whole time we were eating. Thankfully he is my third baby, so it didn't phase me too much. I enjoyed my seared salmon and wasabi potatoes while nursing the entire time. They were delicious.

 After dinner we went back to our cabins, had dessert together and played a game or two. Then we headed off to bed.

 This is when things got interesting.  I know what you're thinking, Valentines Day night, beautiful scenery, cozy cabin...

Well, you're right. Someone was hopin' to get cozy on Valentines Day.

It wasn't me. It wasn't Ryan. Nope, it was Big D. 

Hopin to get cozy ALL. NIGHT. LONG. 

 Normally, he sleeps pretty well but this night he was uncomfortable and woke up the moment we put him down. He just wanted some sweet lovin'.

(Additionally, we didn't want to let him fuss at all for fear of waking the other two kids.)

 So our little man got his Valentines Day love and was held, cuddled, (I) nursed,  coddled and rocked  non-stop from 10pm till 7 am.

We were captive and he knew it. 

His little 4 month old brain knew he could bask in cuddle-glory to his heart's content, and so he did.

I should have seen it comin. He's a lover through and through.

(In his defense, he also had a cold, it could have been because of that ;)

 The funny part was when we woke up after sleeping somewhat soundly from 7am to 8am, Ryan and I looked at each other and admitted that we really didn't feel much different than every other morning.

Yep. Tis the season. Baby season.

So off we went, and enjoyed a great breakfast at the Big Sur Bakery,

 Hiking to Julia Pfieffer Waterfalls

...and on back down the coast Sunday afternoon. 

Valentines Day, it was about how I expected it to be. Not really romantic at all, beautiful, with just an extra dash of unexpected cozy thrown in.

Donovan's First Camping Trip

 Donovan's first Camping Trip, Refugio Beach with our homegroup!

 The kids officially outnumbered the adults, and we had a blast! 

It started with a dream...

It started with a dream, then we made it happen. 

We bought a little red, 4 wheel drive pickup, with 135,000 miles on it for $4,000. It was dinged up, the upholstry was ripped, it only had a tape deck...it was perfect. Ryan custom built out the back for sleeping and storage, I made curtains and we traveled and camped in the back of our little red truck countless times. To date, the truck has over 200,000 (rough) miles on it and is goin strong.

Somewhere in Baja..

Then we had kids and bought a house. A three-seater truck wasn't working for us anymore and we needed the truck bed for home improvements etc. So we took the camper part apart and now we use it around the house.  

Pretty soon we were having those discussions that almost all my friends with (multiple) kids have...

Tent or Trailer? Van or SUV? 5 seats or 8?

Enter...the CamperVan

They offer the upgraded convience of a trailer and the seats to bring friends.

No, I don't mean this kind. 

Honestly, I'm too prideful to be seen picking my kids up from school in this. Plus, I want my kids to have friends and I don't know if parents would let their kids get in this van.

Actually, I don't know if these vans are even allowed to lurk wait outside schools looking for kids.

Then there's the classic California VW.

As surfers, Ryan and I love the "stlye points" that the VW Campervans have. They have great seat layouts and a ton of cool ammenities. However, they have a terrible reputation for breaking down and being expensive to fix (you can only buy their parts from special dealers). Not ok in our world. We want vacation to stay vacation, and we don't want to worry about our car breaking down.

Then there's this...

 It's the Sportsmobile. Built in the body of a full sized van (your choice of several vehicle types), it's been called the "Ultimate Adventure Vehicle." This would be our car of choice. When outfitted, you can rig it to be a sleeper, have a 4 wheel drive, stove, fridge, sofas, tables, whatever you want. The problem with this? The price tag. Think $30,000 to $110,000+, used.  No Thank You. 

That started the dream.

The Sportsmobile is often built on the Ford E150-350 van body. These vans are full sized, they carry 8 to 15 people, and they get from 12-18 miles per gallon. They are reported to be lasting in the 200,000-300,000 mile range. They're dependable, inexpensive and easy to fix, when necessary. We have dreamed of getting one and outfitting it to be our poor man's version of a Sportsmobile.

Now we're making it happen. 

Yesterday, we bought a Ford E150 8 passenger van in perfect condition with 100,000 miles, racks and a tow package, for a measely $6,000! Here it is.

The goal?

 To create a camping car that will make camping even easier and more fun, and to have a car for special occasions so we can take our kids, friends, and family in it. It's kind of like our family-version  of our little-red-truck dream.

Check out the trunk space with 8 seats in it! Think, two bench seats w storage against the sides and a table that converts down to a bed in the middle...

 Probably one of my favorite parts about this is Ryan and I dreaming together. We are now in the process of dreaming up interior layouts and adventures to have together with our kids and our new van.

It started with a dream, and now we're making it happen...again ; ).