Sequoia National Forest and Magic Mountain

We just returned from a trip to California. First, we went to the Sequoia National Forest in our motorhome with Todd's mom and stepdad, Kay and Bob. We had a great time, even though it doesn't look like it in this picture. For some reason, Zane and Weston didn't want to be in the picture. But, here we are, in front of the world's largest tree, General Sherman.
This is the "Auto Log", named that because people used to drive their cars up on it.
Here is the bottom of the Auto log. The size of these sequoias is amazing and beautiful.
Sierra and Zane posing in our campground. It was gorgeous up there!
Wes and Dad taking a siesta in the hammock.
Zane is standing in a "footprint" of General Sherman.
Wes playing in a tunnel carved through one of the trees.
Zane exploring the fallen tree.

Back at our campground, the kids were having a blast riding their scooters and tricycle. ...Until the rangers came and told us they couldn't! Party Poopers! Bikes were okay, but not scooters. Go figure. So, Wes could ride his trike, but the older ones could not ride their scooters or the waveboard. I guess they fall in the skateboard category. Oh well. We still had fun.


Grandma and Grandpa cruising along on their scooter. Since we didn't want to travel around the forest in the motorhomes everyday, they brought their scooter and car (towed behind their rv) and we brought along our scooter. That way we could all travel around more easily.


After our stay in the forest, we headed south. We were planning on going to Knott's Berry farm, but when we realized that Magic Mountain was much closer we changed our plans. Above, Zane is giving Wes a piggybackride in the park. We had spent the night in the Walmart parking lot after the long drive down. In the morning, we drove to a city park where the kids could play. Todd made us biscuits and gravy for breakfast. YUM!
Here are Wes and Zane riding Thomas the Train at Magic Mountain.

Weston and I had fun on the teacups while the big kids and Todd went on a roller coaster.
Sierra and Zane on the bumper cars.
There are two reasons why this picture is here. One is below - Wes was PETRIFIED of all the characters. It was rather amusing. He didn't want anything to do with them...even the more "human" looking ones like Wonder Woman. He would hide behind us and start crying if we got too close. The second reason is Todd's childhood memory. I tried to get Todd to pose with Wonder Woman, but he refused. I told him that I could still blog about it anyways. In fact, I'm going to have to find his picture and scan it in:). When Todd was younger, Todd's cousin had a wonder woman outfit. Todd tried it on and, what's worse, posed for a picture in it. Wig, tights, and all. Talk about funny. Yea, he must have a thing for Wonder Woman...or woman's clothing and tights:). Kind of scary, huh?! Oh, I love my man. I'll just say he's not afraid to be in touch with his feminine side. hee hee

Overall, we had a wonderful trip. The sequoias were beautiful. It was great to spend some time with Kay and Bob. The kids enjoyed playing card games with Kay. She is always so good about spending some one on one time with each of them. (I guess it's a good thing we didn't have eight kids or she'd be really overwhelmed:). The big kids were brave and rode all the big roller coasters at Magic Mountain. Even Zane went on the X2 - the newest ride...very scary. At first, he seemed so freaked out and mad, but he says he' d do it again. He says he thought it was the best...after he had some time to regain control of his senses. And Wes was a great trooper - loved the little kids ride and waited patiently during the big rides. Wes' favorite was the swinging pirate ship. He'd raise his arms up and giggle when it swung up high. The weather was on the hot side unfortunately, but it made for small crowds. Sometimes, there wouldn't even be a line for the roller coasters. We decided having to deal with the heat was worth not having to deal with long lines for each ride.

I almost forgot to put these in....a couple movie clips from our trip. Above, Lance is trying out his new yo-yo trick. I guess Papa was quite the yo-yoer back in high school. He was kind enough to teach the kids some of his "skills." Lance practiced the most, so here he is doing the "Spank the Baby" trick.

And, here is Weston following in Zane's goofy footsteps. He likes to be just as silly and corny as his big brother. While we were waiting for the big kids at Magic Mountain, Wes heard the background music playing over the speakers. He couldn't help himself, he just started jammin' out.