Insta-Friday

Our first week of summer vacation is now complete.  Only eleven more weeks to go.

Cruising over to the pool for a swim wearing our summer best.

Savannah and her crazy cousins playing outside at Didad's house before we left for SD.

More swimming.

Then Uncle Ry Ry arrived to make the drive back to SD with us.

Arizona... and more swimming.

They are fascinated with my grandparents' house phone.  Sav thinks it's the coolest thing ever.  This (now unplugged) phone has occupied them for several hours.

Road Trippin' Like A Boss

Another road trip to California under our belt... and I have to say, the kids were freaky good in the car.  Like seriously better than they have ever been on a road trip.   The first day we were in the car for 14 plus hours and it wasn't until the last 45 minutes or so of the drive that Ryder started to fuss.  All I can say is "THANK YOU, GOD!!".  Please please please let us have a repeat experience on the drive back to Texas.  It probably helped that we were in no rush.  We stopped several times to stretch and eat and walk the dogs.  I swear that is so crucial when traveling with kids.... even just 15-30 minutes of freedom from the car is a fantastic way for them to recharge their batteries.  One of the rest stops that we stopped at along the way was super nice and even had a playground for the kids.  We ended up staying there for nearly an hour.  Even with all the stopping we still managed to make really good time. We pulled into our hotel in Phoenix around 9pm (PST) and then promptly passed out.  Kids were done, dogs were done, I was done.  The next day we met up with our friends the Reschs for some swimming and grilling.  It's nice to have friends along the way that we can stop and play for a day with.  It really breaks the drive up nicely.

Lunch time at the Pecos rest area... seriously super nice.

Stopped for dinner and to find out what "The Thing" was (spoiler alert: it's just some crusty old mummy... boring), and then Savannah asked if she could wash the windows... Uh, absolutely.  Love having a big kid.

Our day with the Reschs and their new (well, almost a year now) baby boy, Wyatt.  He was absolutely precious and so chill.  I am so glad that we finally got to meet that little man.

No, your eyes do not deceive you.  Yes, that is Ryder jumping into the pool.  I guess that the concern I expressed in my last post about Ryder maybe not being a fan of swimming turned out to be for nothing.  He was all about the water this time around.  I am assuming it was because the water was a heck of a lot warmer then any of the pools we had gone in back in Texas.

She is obsessed with underwater pictures.

I had to take video to prove that Ryder was enjoying himself in the water.  Not only was he enjoying himself, but he was wanting to enjoy himself all by himself.  He finally figured out that his little swim float will keep him above water.  Once he found that out he was all over the pool and would push us away from him.

Tombstone, AZ

On the way home from San Diego we decided to stop and do something that we have been wanting to do ever since our first drive out to California.  Instead of driving our normal distance to El Paso and staying the night, we went a little (only about 30 miles) out of the way and stayed the night in Tombstone, AZ.  We got there at around two in the afternoon... so we didn't exactly have a whole lot of time to site see... we squeezed in as much as we could before dark.  The town (with the exception of the few bars and restaurants) literally dies at sundown.  Plus it was freezing, so we were not interested in doing much walking around once it got dark.  The things we did get to see were pretty awesome.  All the historic landmarks that we all know from history lessons or the movie are now turned into museums that you can walk through.  There are shops and carriages and people dressed the part.  It was really neat to see.  Several gunfight reenactments are performed all over town.  We chose to see the one that actually takes place inside the OK Corral.  It was very cheesy, but still cool to see.  This was probably Savannah's favorite part of the afternoon.  

Eric and the kids cruising the streets of Tombstone.  Notice the soda in Savannah's hand... it's called Doc Holliday (tag line: double barrels of flavor)... this is what they serve/sell in Tombstone instead of Dr. Pepper.  Cracked me up.  Total Cheese.

Ryder wanted NOTHING to do with this picture.  The cowboy in it tried to pick him up and that set Ryder off.  The Savannah started laughing because Ryder was crying... chaos.  

Sav: "Mom, what are those?"

Me: "Caskets, it's what you put people in when they die."

Sav: "WHAT!!  There are dead people right there???!!"

Oops, probably should have explained that a little better.  Took several minutes for her to understand that these caskets were just there for "decoration".

"Mom, take my picture doing what the Indian is doing." -Sav