Saturday, August 4, 2007

Our California Vacation

This summer we decided to take a trip to sunny Palm Desert California. It was VERY HOT! We spent a lot of our time swimming in the pool to cool us off. Kaylee loves swimming and was always asking when she could get her "swimmin' soup" on and when we were going to go to the "swimmin' poool".





We left for our trip on July 15, 2007. We went on the trip with Kristin's parents and sisters and brother as kind of a celebration of her brother Andrew returning from his Houston, Texas mission. We all piled in a big gray van and headed off on our vacation. Our first stop was Las Vegas. Kaylee was sooo excited that we got to stay in a castle! It was just like her Disney princesses! She still asks when we are going to go back to the castle. In Vegas we shopped, saw the sights on "the strip" and ate at The Rainforest Cafe.







While at the Ex Calibur Castle you always have to take a few minutes to go down and play the "Fantasy Fair Games"! Kaylee had a lot of fun and thought it was very neat that she got to participate in the games. We walked away winning three new little stuffed animals which Kaylee was very proud of!





We packed up on Monday morning and to all of Kaylee's dismay had to leave "the castle". We jumped back in the van and headed off to Palm Springs, California.





Back to the pool! Kaylee, Janessa, and Nicole's favorite spot. We stayed at a Marriott resort in Palm Spings and the resort had an amazing pool area. There were three large pools, a kids pool, two hot tubs (which in the 120 degree weather did not get used much), and even a grill and drink shack in case you got hungry or thirsty. Laying by the pool was very relaxing and a lot of fun!



Here are the girls. Kaylee is attached to her aunt Nicole and Janessa at the hip. They are definately her best friends and she is always happiest when she is spending time with them. They are three peas in a pod!





It was SOOOO hot in Palm Desert! You couldn't lay out for long without jumping in the cool water. We were all pretty shocked and excited when even mom got in the pool - she never gets in the pool!



Two of Kaylee's favorite activities on the trip - eating and laying out in her lounge chair on the patio. She would love to go out onto the patio, sit in her lounge chair, and watch the people swimming at the pool. If she couldn't be at the pool I guess she figured the next best thing was to watch others swimming :-) We would hear her out there singing and trying to talk to the people at the pool.





One day on our trip we visited the Children's Museum in Palm Springs. It was very cute and the girls completely loved it. There was a lot of fun activities there for kids including a bungie maze, a pulley system to pull up your own weight, an art center, a mini grocery store, a pizza parlor, and a dress up room.



Daddy and Kaylee. Daddy got some bicept workout pulling up not only his own body weight on the pulley, but Kaylee's as well. Kaylee thought this was a very fun ride!





This picture makes daddy a little nervous as Kaylee looks a little too comfortable using the credit card! She is a true shopper at hear just like her mom!



Hey! Look at these two motorcycle roadsters! Even mom and dad got to get in on the fun seeing what it would be like to ride on a police motorcycle. (Pretty sure Dan was wishing it was a dirt bike motorcycle or one he could actually take on a spin and show off his skills on!)



Lookin' good! Who are these two cute girls all dressed up to hit the town?! Both Kaylee and Janessa love to play dress up at home so this dress up room was a dream come true for them.



Here is Kaylee playing vetrinarian on a stuffed animal cat. She thought it was very fun to do a check up on all the pets there. She loves her little animals (puppy and monkey) and as we left the children's museum she had gained one more stuffed pet to go home with us. Nanna and Pappa bought Janessa a new kitty and Kaylee a new adorable puppy. Kaylee loves her new friend!





Well at the end of our week we had done a lot! We had drug Kaylee all around Palm Springs and she was a real trooper. But, as you can see, by our ride home she was totally pooped! Kaylee spent most of the ride home sleeping, Kristin spent her ride home reading the final Harry Potter book, and Dan slept and got caught up on some reading as well. We had such an awesome trip but it was good to be heading home. I think we need a vacation from our vacation!