California Vacation

I have to break this up into 3 parts: The drive there, the actual trip and the drive back.....
Day 1 and 2: Mom flew to Dallas to drive with me to California. We made it in 2 days, 30 hours, stopping in Phoenix to sleep at Aunt Joan's. The kids did so well and in El Paso we met up with Aunt Andrea at a park so the kids could get out and run. The kids mostly watched movies and played with their Leapsters. We love technology!
In California: We went camping at Camp Nauvoo. That was a lot of fun! Especially the water fight that Daniel, Noel and I got into! Great memories! We had a blast seeing a lot of old friends although we were very sad to not see everybody we wanted to! We got to visit Drake's grave 2 times, one time when we got there and once before we left. That was really special. Thank you everyone who took us in while we were there!
Trip Home: We heard that Grandma and Grandpa Bowers were going to be in Turlock so we started our trip home heading there to see them, 1.5 hours. BUT there is a catch--I inherited my 2 awesome nephews to drive with me and stay with us for the month! YAY!!! So here we are 1 van full of 6 kids and myself. In Turlock we went to the park and Grandma Bowers bought cupcakes so we could celebrate Brinnley's Birthday. She loved them! W ewere so happy to see them! Then we went to Phoenix--12.5 hours. Back to Aunt Joans. We got there early enough to swim and play. The kids had so much fun and when I asked them what their favorite part of our vacation was, Autumn and Jaxon said "Aunt Joan's house!" They love going there! I had a great time visiting shortly with Kat and spending some woman time with Conessa. The next morning we were going to be on our way to El Paso, BUT Aunt Joan asked if I wanted to have their dog Meko. OF COURSE!!!! That is an opportunity of a lifetime to have a trained dog of Aunt Joan's! We were all so ecstatic!! So now we head to El Paso, 6 kids and a dog! We got to Andrea's house in about 7 hours. Had a great visit with her and the next morning was making th trip from El Paso to Dallas--10 hours. Of course that was the longest 10 hours because we were all so anxious to be home. I got pulled over about 3 hours from home and when the officer saw my load of kids, he must have had sympathy because he let me off. So I traveled what felt, VERY SLOWLY, the rest of the way home. BUT we made it! When we got to Cedar Hill, Brandon and I had a lovely reunion! And Camille took all the kiddos swimming so Brandon and I got to start laundry and get unpacked. Thanks Cam!
OK, that's it, and here are a bunch of photos!