Travel Pics

First of all, I must brag on my husband. He is the master truck packer. He was able to fit enough stuff for eight people, including a wagon and pack n' play in the back of our truck without having to use a car top carrier. I think that is quite impressive.

Here is his work. He says it is like playing Tetris.

Preparing to leave at 6:00 AM. Cody is not looking forward to the long drive.

I couldn't really fit everyone in the picture.

Here is how they sit:

Laila, Cody and Isaiah behind the driver's seat

Abby, Lauren, and Sam behind them.

Our driver. He drove the whole way!!

We woke Laila up to take this picture. We just had to get everyone in at the first state line.

Needless to say, we regretted that decision. Her "power nap" and sudden waking caused her to stay awake for many miles afterwards.

We spent the night in Cedar City, UT. Some of us slept better than others. The kids enjoyed doing the hotel thing. They don't get to do that very often. We ate dinner at Chilis that night. We ate 5 baskets of chips and ranch and salsa. They totally lost money on that purchase.

We decided not to make the same mistake twice.

We have proof of being in AZ without the price of a fussy baby!!

When you gotta go, you gotta go!

A potty break in the middle of the desert.

We missed the sign going into Nevada. It came out of nowhere and was hidden by another sign. Cody said that Las Vegas was an "evil, dark, pathetic place." He was disturbed by the slot machines in the 7-11 where we stopped for gas. He said he never wants to return. I will never forget having the 5 big kids in the back room of 7-11 waiting to go to the bathroom and Isaiah kept saying, "Anuddah(Another) Bean," over and over because he had watched VeggieTales Lord of the Beans about 4 times up to that point. I hope that Rick and I can go back to Vegas some time. I want to check out all those amazing hotels!!

Below is the proof that we did go through Nevada.

This sign was way smaller than I expected.

Most of us were asleep as we entered California. No pictures of that sign either. I was surprised at how mountainous and brown it was in CA until we got near the coast. I have never driven, just flown.

The kids had never seen the beach(Cody was 3 and Lauren was 1 when we took them to a TX beach, but they don't remember it at all). Everyone was so excited. Abby said she had been dreaming of what it would look like. She said it looked just like in her dreams. I think she loves palm trees as much as me. She has been practicing drawing them all week.