Cousins in Escondido, California!

Montana and Bri play in the kitchen and make tea and pizza.

After a miserably long and seemingly endless drive from Merced to Escondido, we tumbled into my brother's home. Our trip took 10 hours including 1.5 hours for meals/gas stops. Our GPS had said it was just over a six-hour drive... We were smooth going until we hit LA. You would think we would remember to account for the horrid rush hour/Friday traffic since we lived in LA for seven years.

Ryan had lots of fun LEGOS.

The girls jumped right into playing with the outdoor toys when we arrived. It was tough to pull them away for bedtime because we were cooped up in the car for so long.

Saturday morning we were refreshed. We spent the morning at the house relaxing and the girls playing with all the new toys. There wasn't much interaction with cousins Ryan and Brianna at first. Once we settled in at the Encinitas beach in the afternoon, the sand pit that Donald dug brought them closer together.

My goal during this visit to the beach was to make Montana realize the fun of sand and ocean waves since she had decided to sit out in Monterey. That didn't happen this time. I held her above the wave splashing my legs for about 20 minutes. Then I quickly dipped her toes in. She got a kick out of it and we kept dipping for a few more minutes. Within no time, she was fully immersed in the water with only her shoulder and head above. She couldn't get enough of the assisted jumping over splashing waves. She easily jumped into the sand play near our towels after that, too. Mission accomplished!

Ryan and Bri jump in the waves with their daddy.

We wrapped up our beach visit just in time to pick up dinner on the way home and get cleaned up for Saturday evening church. Tana and Bri were dropped off in the nursery and Ryan and Loralynn came with us to the family friendly service in the gym (the kid's church workers had the month off). It was like no other I have ever attended, but I must say that I really liked have Loralynn and Ryan with us to listen and discuss, play games and do a craft as a family.

On Sunday morning we relaxed again. After lunch we went to San Diego Children's Discovery Museum. It was a fun time of diverse activities and play for the kids and us. We treated the kids to Dairy Queen ice cream afterwards and then went back to Donald and Jamie's house. They played outside for a while before bath time and Ryan caught a lizard for Loralynn. She was fascinated by it and must had held it for 15 minutes. When it suddenly escaped, she cried for her lost friend.

The next morning we said our goodbyes and head back toward LA. Only two days of our U.S. vacation left...

This was Tana before she discovered the joys of sand and ocean.

My cute baby girl.

Loralynn instantly fell in love with her lizard.

An adorable cousin!

Loralynn enjoys the lizard Ryan caught for her.

Scooters were popular our last evening visiting.

To Carmel with Oma and Opa

Loralynn loved building the castle and moat and watching the waves wash it away.

After our busy weekend with Oma and Opa Gosnell, we packed up and drove to Carmel/Monterery for a quick get-away Tuesday through Thursday. Tuesday was spent traveling. In the afternoon Dan, myself and the girls went to Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. We hiked along the coast and saw seals, otters, and perhaps 6 or 8 humpback whales! The whales were off in the distance, but when two of them started slapping the water repeatedly with their tails it was quite a show! We took a hike with a volunteer guide, Tana touched poison oak, and we managed to not drive our guide away with kid antics.

Tana wanted to touch the squishy jellies.

We brought fried chicken and macaroni to the beach for a picnic in the evening. Tana spent most of her time sitting with Oma and Opa on a towel. She didn't want to have anything to do with the sand or the water. Loralynn and I built and rebuilt a castle with a moat that went down to the ocean. When big waves came in, they filled up the moat and our castle sometimes stayed erect.

Wednesday morning we went to Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was chock full of fish and critters. The kids really enjoyed the rooms with the jellies bouncing about. We tried the penguin show but gave up when the girls couldn't see well enough for their attention to be captured. Later we sat outside on bleachers and watched a very different sort of live musical about repurposed materials shaped as sea life. I am always so excited about touching sea life so when I found that the touch pools were up too high for my girls to access, I was rather disappointed. They didn't totally miss out-- we held them awkwardly and bent ourselves over uncomfortably for a while so they could at least stick their hands in. The aquarium kept the girls' attention for a large portion of the day. We watched the otters playfully swim under water and saw how crashing waves affect the sea life under the water.

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve was beautiful!

In the late afternoon, we found our cars and drove to Fisherman's Wharf. We ate some inexpensive clam chowder in a bread bowl while Loralynn and Montana ate battered fish and fries. Ice cream was a special treat afterwards.

Thursday morning we ate a grocery store breakfast on the hotel's patio with a warm fire. We decided to break up our drive with a stop at San Juan Bautista State Park and Mission. It was a hot day, but the museum was fascinating. We found out that cowboys would often ride their horse right into the bar and drink and play billiards while still in the saddle. The preserved buildings interesting to tour to see how life was when the town was vibrant in the mid-1800s. We ate lunch at a small burger joint in town that served excellent hamburgers and hotdogs.

That concluded our last day with Oma and Opa Gosnell. The next morning we said our goodbyes and drove way down south.

This was as close as Tana got to the ocean in Monterey.

Almost every photo we took of Loralynn at the beach captured a big grin.

Tana loved pulling the stuffed eels out of their holes.

This is a full and happy tummy of ice cream.

Where's the toilet at this 1800s hotel? The chamber pot will take care of your needs.

There were a lot of rules for stagecoach travelers. Read them below.

Another bedroom at the San Juan Bautista State Historical Park.

Large signs at the mission said the building was not safe in the event of an earthquake.

Saying goodbye to Oma with a last story.

Tana packed a purse with Opa. It was time for us to say goodbye.

Visitors at California Oma and Opa's house

Montana and Loralynn watch baby Haley as Oma holds her and talks to Katrina.

We arrived at Oma and Opa Gosnell's house Friday night and just the next morning visitors stopped in. Dan's college roommate, Ryan W., and wife Joslyn and kids came from Porterville to hang out and visit for the day. Their two girls, Gracie and Katelyn, immediately connected with our girls and started giggling and playing together. We hung out at the house for lunch and then went to Kiddieland downtown for the afternoon. The carnival rides were free and the kids had a blast! Afterwards, we walked through the small Merced Zoo. The animals were very active despite the heat and it was so fun to watch them. We enjoyed a home-cooked meal together before they departed for home.

We attended Sunday school and church Sunday morning and shortly after lunch my childhood friend Jennifer came to visit with her husband Rocky. They were married last August and this was the first time for all of us to meet her husband. During the afternoon, my sister Tiki and four of her kids also stopped in. We had a grand pizza dinner all together.

Keeping up the busy pace, we went into JCPenny's for portraits of the girls and Oma and Opa Monday morning. Later that day, my high school friend, Katrina J., stopped by with her 10-day old baby Haley. Tana kept asking over and over to hold the baby, so I sat down with her on the couch. I was sure the holding would be short-lived, but when I asked Tana if she was all done she said no. She held Haley for a good amount of time and touched her fingers and toes and nose. Loralynn also held Haley in my lap and was amused by the experience.

Gracie W. and Loralynn eat lunch. They really enjoyed each other's company.

Katelyn and Montana ride in a car at Merced's Kiddieland.

Jennifer and Rocky R. are newly married lovebirds.

Montana loved holding baby Haley.

Loralynn took a turn holding 10-day old Haley.

Proud mama Katrina snaps our picture.

Dancing with the Cousins

Montana, Loralynn, Andre, and Marcello dress up to go ballroom dancing! (See video below)

After a brief stay back at Oma and Opa Wilson's house for Dan to recover, we took our adjusted flight from Chicago to Los Angeles. We stayed overnight in a hotel then drove to the Montanez house for another fun visit with cousins. We were so excited to be able to stay the night in their new home even though they hadn't finished moving in. Loralynn and Tana jumped right into all the activity of the nine cousins. I tried to get pictures of everyone but the two oldest were scarce (Mondo just had all four wisdom teeth removed and Alicia had college orientation to attend).

Swimming in the pool was a hit and jumping on the trampoline was fun when the sun wasn't blazing. Dressing up Polly Pockets never got old. When kid-sized dress-up clothes came out, I could see the girls light up with excitement!

Is it fun to play in the gravel when it's hot outside? Sure is!

Fun in the treehouse

Lareina and Andre looking adorable

Joseph cutting strawberries

Alanna and Uncle Dan playing chess

Tiki reading to the kiddos

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Uncle Dan sharing pictures with the kids

Cassondra looking cute in the rocks

Uncle Dan, Alanna, and Antonio smiling for the camera

It looks like Alanna, Antonio, and Cassondra have done this before.

Andre and Marcello reading on the kitchen floor waiting for the pumpkin pie timer to go off

Loralynn and Marcello dressing up for the ball

Wilson cousins reunite!

Cousins Nolan, Kara, and Loralynn loved their time together (Tana was sick in bed at the time of this photo).

We had a short stop at Circus World Museum just after we left Wisconsin Dells. The girls saw old circus artifacts (cage cars and carriages) from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey, and we saw a magic show and Big Top Circus. Loralynn loved the herd of white ponies running around the ring. Tana and Loralynn also really enjoyed the dog tricks (done by all rescue dogs).

After lunch we hopped in the car for a long drive to St. Charles, Missouri. Our next destination was visiting our Wilson cousins. Saturday was spent with Dan's brother and family. Kathy is due with baby #3 any day now. The morning was filled with lots of new toys to play with at their house for Loralynn and Tana. We ate lunch at a new BBQ restaurant and then hung out in the cool temperatures of the house. I stayed behind with Kathy and sleeping Nolan and Tana while Dan and David took Loralynn and Kara for great fun at the Myseum. We ate a yummy dinner in and called it an early evening.

On Sunday, David and kids Kara, Nolan and Loralynn were the only ones to make it to church. I spent the morning cleaning up Tana and the car after a large throwing-up episode. We had to say our farewells in the hotel lobby when David came to drop off Loralynn after church. We wish we could have met baby Wilson #3 before returning to Europe, but we will look forward to seeing lots of pictures!

Pictures from the circus museum: