We are definitely that family. You know, the one that loads the car well beyond capacity and sets of to LA at 6 am in order to avoid traffic and be the first ones in the park. :-) My husband sang the Beverly Hillbillies theme song as we drove out of my parent's driveway with the stroller and several suitcases on top of my mom's car, seven people and several more suitcases, a case of water and enough snacks (have you seen the food prices at that place!?) to feed an army for a week on the inside. My poor children had about 12 inches of personal space in the back seat and stuff crammed on every side of them....it was a bit ridiculous! And, yes we could have taken 2 cars, but what fun would that have been!? :-)

My girls and I in Fantasy Land.

Emma, Lauren and my mom coming off their third round of Thunder Mountain. The highlight of this trip (other than packing the car!) was that Lauren loved the roller coasters (well, except Space Mountain) and rode them with her little hands up in the air while laughing uncontrollably every time. Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain were definite favorites! Sometimes she really surprises us....for all her shyness and aversion to people, she can be quite the little dare devil!

Always a favorite part of our trips....hugging Pooh Bear!

Jason, Michelle, Emma and I in Snow White's dungeon! :-)

Cameron and Lauren on Dumbo....thanks to Auntie Christie we don't have to wait in line for this one. The park was extremely crowded this trip and that was a bit disappointing, but 3 days gave us a chance to go on everything we wanted to at least once. Gone are the days when we would sit on a ride (I'm thinking specifically of the Pooh ride when Emma was 3) and keep going and going until I would finally scream, "Please let me off now! I can't take it anymore!!" :-)

I think the best part of any vacation is the people you spend it with and we are truly blessed in this regard! Cousins, Jason and Michelle have been going with our family for the last several years and we couldn't imagine going without them! We had so much fun and can't wait for next time!

Spring is here....

There are a few, short weeks in Shafter when it is really beautiful.....and this is it! All of the almond trees are in bloom and it is truly breathtaking!

The girls and I took advantage of the beauty around us and had a picnic in the orchard behind our house. We ate our lunch, read some chapters in Anne of Green Gables, named our picnic spot (just like Anne and Diana would have) "Almond Blossom Way", and the girls collected blossoms from the ground and threw them in each other's hair. :) Did I mention that I loooooove the country?!?!

AWANA Grand Prix Night

Wednesday night was the grand prix at AWANA....a favorite night of year in our house! Each of the girls painted a car to race. The cubbies do not participate, much to Lauren's chagrin, but she made one anyway and was allowed to race it afterward.
This is the race track. There are four lanes and each car is raced on each lane.

Emma and friend, Meah, after Emma's car went.....and was first!

A very proud Emma with her trophies:a second for design (everyone goes home with a design trophy) and a fourth place for speed out of all the Sparks. Her dad is very proud and although it was simply dumb-luck, took great pride in telling the other dads what they should do next year to have faster cars. ha! This is the second time she has received a trophy for speed - the first year she got first place overall.

Lauren and friend, Caleb, waiting at the finish line for her car to come down. Lauren's car did not have the weights on it and it still beat Emma's car in speed. Dad says she is using it next year....but she cares more about painting it than racing it! :)