Southern California

One day Ed asked Miranda where she wanted to go for summer holidays.  Miranda said Mesquite NV.  She loved staying in the Casa Blanca a few years ago.  If you're going to Mesquite, you have to stop in Utah for Cafe Rio and a visit with cousins.  And there's no way you can miss the Bellagio in Vegas.  So if you go as far as Vegas you just as well continue on to California.  And what do you in California except go surfing? From there it's only 6 hours up to San Francisco so why not tour Alcatraz?  From there it's only logical to come home through Reno and see Lake Tahoe on the way.  That spits you back out in Salt Lake for another completely necessary trip to Cafe Rio.  From there it is just a hop, skip and a jump up I-15 home.
So Ed planned a two-week holiday to sunny southern California with stops in Utah, Mesquite, Las Vegas, San Diego, San Francisco, and Reno. 
When the holiday was proposed to the rest of the family, these were the responses.
"I don't want to go - I need to get ready for school."
"I don't want to go - too much driving."
"I don't want to go - unless we can fly."
"I don't want to go - unless we can go to Cafe Rio at least 10 times."  (That was me)
"I don't want to go unless I have a book to read."
Now I don't know about your family, but our family is a democratic dictatorship and even though we all voted to not go, Edward said we were going - in our car - not a plane - and we would stop at Cafe Rio at least once and take books to read.  He is so diplomatic.  I tried to take pictures of only the fun parts.

Here they are.  Enjoy.

These nieces may be look adorable and sweet on the outside... but underneath their quiet demeanors you'll find brilliant conniving minds at work.  They hatched a plan to take Miranda on a walk while the rest of her family packed up the car and left for California - sans Miranda.  Then they would have her for a whole week to play with.  Note to self - kidnappers can come in all sizes... 

The BYU life sciences museum is the coolest thing ever.  Tons of complex displays of life-sized animals.  Warning:  your husband will not be entertained as long as your children... 

 The Mormon Batallion Visitor Centre in Old San Diego alone was almost worth the drive .  The kids whined and complained and finally begrudged us 30 whole minutes off their surfing time to go visit.  Guess who spent longer than 30 minutes...  I highly recommend it if you're in the area.  If not - take a road trip.  Very well done in a Harry Potterish sortof way.

Panning for gold.

This is Fred.  He was sitting outside a restaurant and I think the kids were a little afraid of him as he would talk at random.  I finally talked Lincoln and Miranda into posing with him. 

Surfing at La Jolla...

More surfing at Corona del Mar. 

Follow Miranda's progression as she tries to catch a wave...  

Uh-oh.  Looks like the wave caught her.

Here is a "soul-surfer".  She is crocheting while her kids swim.  I was knitting as well and she kept casting surreptitious looks my way.  Yeah, she was probably jealous of my knitting ;P

All in all, a very fun day in the sand and the sun in sunny south California.  Click Here to see how we've changed in the last few years...