California--the journey to Santa Rosa

Our California journey began in Needles, CA, right over the Arizona border.  We stayed at a great RV park there called Desert View RV Park.  The hosts were so sweet, the sites separated by beautiful oleander bushes, the internet super fast, and they even had a pool, fenced in dog run, and little driving range.  It was calm and quite...until we go there.  The boys immediately started playing one of their favorite games--stomp on the table while shouting and looking at ourselves in the mirror.

The next morning, Judah watched cartoons while Sawyer stepped on his head.

While that was going on, I worked and Mark went to the laundry to wash the sheets.  I thought Holden looked so sweet back there, so I took a picture.  Just as I was doing that, Kira walked through the shot and barfed on the clean mattress pad.  Ahh, life...

Then she chilled out with Judah and let her stomach settle. 

The boys ate breakfast and then we went to the pool.  The water was sooo cold, so I was the only one who went in, but it felt amazing!

Then Holden watched as Mark got things set up outside and we headed out.  Next stop, Boron, CA.

Boron lived up to its name.  There was nothing to do.  Not even internet or TV stations.   Plus it was 90* out.  So we turned on the air conditioning and Mark and Judah read a bunch of books

while Sawyer ate some chapstick

and stomped on the table

and I cooked.  I stocked the fridge with a quinoa salad and egg salad and made spanish rice and enchiladas for dinner.

While I was cooking, the most exciting thing of the whole trip happened...Judah pooped on the potty!!!  This is huge for us.  While he has been tinkling on the potty for almost a year, he has only pooped on it a handful of times. That makes for a lot of frustration and laundry.  A while back he claimed that he wanted some moon sand.  I told him that when he pooped on the potty we would get him moon sand, and I would make him a chocolate cake.  It was finally time to cash in!  But there was no place to buy moon sand, and we didn't even have the ingredients to make cake, or a place to buy them.  So we walked over to the circle K and he got a push up, which he ate before dinner, and we promised that we would find the other stuff the next day... 

So the next day we left early in search of a Target.  It was also going to be our longest day of driving to date.  The navigation claimed it would take us five hours, which means it would actually take us about seven, but we were ready to get to Kate and Greg's house, so we decided to do it. 

Sawyer supervised.  Then he joined Judah outside to play doggie and help Mark get things ready.

Unhooking...

while Beans drops rocks into the holes of the tow bar.

We did find a Target and got moon sand and a fireman costume, plus the ingredients we needed for that chocolate cake.  We made a lot of stops, so the drive was manageable.  Plus it was really beautiful--so many different types of scenery in one day.  

Judah was pretty pumped about his costume. He wore it while we were driving and even fell asleep in it.  When he woke up the sun had been steaming him in his plastic outfit and he was so sweaty hot 

so we got some delicious popsicles to cool down and help us make it through the final stretch. 

When we finally got to Patterson, CA, we were all so excited to be out of the car.  Luckily, there was a playground there.  We took advantage of that, cleaned the house, and bathed the kids.  Then we slept hard to rest up for some serious cousin play time the next day.

At breakfast the next morning, Beans was flashing the most perfect look--the "I am the sweetest little thing ever", but at the same time, "I will destroy everything I see" look.

After breakfast, I worked and the kids played some more, and then we were off to Santa Rosa!!!