We started our summer off with a quick three day trip that included sights that are unmatched in the world of nature. First up was Yosemite. Having lived in the Sacramento area for a big portion of my youth I was fortunate enough to have visited and experienced Yosemite a few times already. For the rest of our gang, this was the first time.
Missy and I had been trying to figure out local adventures that the whole family could enjoy. Since she shares custody of Gabby and Lucy with her ex we had to figure out a time when we had the big girls before making any plans. We normally get the girls three or five days a week depending on the work schedule of her ex. Rarely are those days consecutive. After getting the months schedule we, or should I say I, decided to make plans for our trip. I chose Yosemite as our first destination, then Mono lake, Bodie Ghost Town, Columbia State Park and Calaveras Big Tree's as our destinations. It took me only minutes to realize that planing a trip to Yosemite just two weeks in advance most likely meant paying top dollar for a room or that we would be staying a ways away from the park. None the less we made it happen anyways.
After finalizing our plans and booking hotels I decided to put together a quick power point to show the kids our planed trip. Missy sat back and giggled while I went around the house taking pictures of odd things like a clock with the time 5:00am on it, and Evey's stuffed animal "Monk" (monkey) with her blanket. I have learned that the more information I give the kids when it comes to trips or events, the better. And why not make it fun with items of familiarity and comfort to get the kids relaxed and understanding. No doubt I take it a little far, but that's part of the fun. I even placed 7 chairs around the computer so that everyone could watch it together. I had no idea that the words "Ghost Town" would create such a stir amongst the kids. The quick power point turned into a twenty minute discussion about ghosts and the uneasiness from the children about them. Gabby, the oldest at nine, continued to say "I don't like ghost" for the remainder of the presentation. The presentation made an impact however, because the kids couldn't stop talking about our upcoming trip. They told family members and friends, and they asked questions and watched the presentation several more times. It was a helpful way to show them what we had planned and to get them excited and involved.
After mapping out our trip I came up with all the driving details. Now since I'm a bit anal and I have some extra time on my hands, I decided to make a travel book for each of the kids to take along on our trip. This was not the first time we had done this. I start it off with the details of how long the trip will take, how many miles it will be, where we are headed and where we are going to stay. With the internet I was able to pull pictures of our hotels as well as pictures of our destinations. I wanted them to know we were going to go see rocks, lakes, trees, waterfalls, abandoned buildings and rusty cars. I'm a bit of a realist so I wanted to make sure they were prepared for the realities of our trip. The book included coloring pages specific to our destinations, a few word search, some details and the history of the locations we were going to visit, a list of things to search for and find on our trip as well as how long we will be in the car driving converted into how many half hour T.V. shows it equates. Truth be told we don't watch much T.V. so the use of one show in the realm of time was well understood.
Missy and I packed the car the night before, we had each kid get their bag (an 8 inch by 12 inch fabric sack) and we told them to pack it with whatever they wanted to bring. The rule is, after the travel book and a box of crayons are put in the bags each kid can bring anything that fits inside the bag. Nothing else is allowed in the car except necessities. It's amazing how much stuff can be crammed into those bags. The day and night before the trip if always full with cleaning as well. I, as well as Missy (man I love you) have always cleaned the house before going on a trip. That way when we return home the house is in perfect order and all we have to do it unpack, do laundry and put it all away. I know another ridiculous aspect to my already out of control anal-ness.
Trip day starts off with getting everyone in the car and hitting the road. We pull out of our neighborhood at 5:10am, a huge success with six kids in our eyes. We hope that the kids are able to fall back asleep for another hour maybe two but it's a gamble. This time we get only one to sleep a bit more, Cody is able to block out the noise of his siblings and to push aside the fact that he was just yanked from him warm bed and thrown into his car seat. The other five start slow and quickly erupt into a full morning, wide awake and excited for the trip. Obviously with a family of eight our options are limited on the kind of vehicle we all can fit in. Our suburban becomes our home away from home for the trip. We have enough room for eight including the three car seats.
About an hour down the road we get our first, "I'm hungry". We normally wake up between seven and eight in the morning during summer so breakfast at 6:00am doesn't sound like the right idea yet. I tell the kids to wait and on we go. Here comes my first mistake. I fall into the category of alpha male when I'm hungry and I'm not always pleasant. So when I get hungry twenty minutes later I stop for my favorite road trip breakfast, a McDonald's Mc-Muffin and we get Missy some coffee. Thinking the kids still need to wait before eating I hit the gas, head down the highway and with a mouth full of food I tell the kids you need to wait to eat. About 45 minutes later my decision of making the kids wait backfires with our six year old Dylan throwing up in the car. At least the seats are vinyl and he was still in his pj's. We pulled over on a two lane road right in front of someones gated drive way. After cleaning Dylan up our new parking spot became a restroom for four of the kids. Now I should have know this would happen with Dylan. He has always had a week stomach when it comes to long drives, especially when they are a little or a lot windy. After that we were back on our way. As we get closer and closer the road gets more and more windy. Along a steep windy stretch of road our two year old Evey unleashes a monster puke. It takes me a little to find a safe spot to pull over and once I do Dylan starts yelling I need to throw up. We got him out of the car just in time for him to paint the side of the street a new color. We do a quick clean and regroup and down he road we go. Dylan is now at a window seat by the door with a fresh clean trash bag in hand just in-case. By the time we get to the bottom floor of the Yosemite valley Dylan has thrown up an additional four times. He quickly became a pro at getting it all in the bag, something I was not only excited about but grateful for.
Our first stop was Bridalveil Falls. It's the first real pull off spot for sightseeing on the valley floor and it was a welcome location to get the kids out of the car to stretch their legs. This year was a late winter which led to a large run-off later in the year. The walk up to the falls proved to be exciting and difficult. Because the falls were so full the mist coming from the water hitting the rocks at the bottom created a sensation of rain. The walkway up to the waterfall was covered in moving water. At one point the water on the paved pathway was over the toes of my shoes. We carried little ones on one arm and held hand with the other to get to safe and comfortable spot to experience the fall. Yet because the mist was so thick you could barely see the top of the waterfall as it rolled over the edge. On our way back to the car we encountered our first gawker. This has become quite normal for us since we have six kids, nine and under. The woman, her husband and another couple take quick notice of all of us and start the counting of heads. Missy and I are well aware of what's about to come next. Our hope is that it goes positive, because it doesn't always seem too. The woman asks, "are these all your kids" with a high reflection of amazement. I have many canned answers for this question with my favorite being, "yep, if it feels go do it. Right?" Yet none of the rude or funny ones feel like they will fit, so I go with the truth and say they sure are. The two ladies now show extreme interest and one asks, "are any of them twins?" After we say nope the first woman calls her husband over to take video of us and the kids. She tells him quick get a shot of all these kids. Once we get to the car the lady starts asking the ages, they can't believe how close in age they are. One lady then goes over to the car to open the door while saying, "is it unlocked? I got to see how you have this set up in here for all of them." She opens the door and calls her friend over to check it out with her. The video continues to roll for a little bit longer while the ladies get a good look at the car and ask questions about what I do for work in order to support such a large family. The ladies engage the kids in some light conversation about having so many siblings which keeps the kids attention on the conversation. One of the ladies says she had two children both of whom God has taken from them. As a widow, I cringed at this comment. Since day one when my wife, Jen, passed away I never said anyone took her. I never explained that kind of view to the boys. Missy and I both felt the mood of the conversation change and we pressed for the kids to say good-bye and to load up. The two couples wished us luck and on we went. Once in the car Dylan asked why God took her kids away. We had an honest discussion about the words people use and how sometimes they don't really say what they mean. He hinted at the possibility of God taking his mommy away which resulted in a discussion about that.
Our entire day at Yosemite was met with people stopping and asking are they all yours or what are their ages. It's become a normal part of life for us. Amongst the many questions we had a great picnic lunch by the river filled with butterflies and birds, and cookies and giggles. We strolled along the river bank, we looked for climbers on El Capitan and enjoyed the wildlife. The day was perfect and the kids were fantastic. We talked about the force of the water rushing through the river and over the water falls. We explained how the cold temperature of the water was very dangerous if anyone was to fall in. We made it a learning situation in ever way possible so that the kids would respect nature and the forces it creates. 
After Yosemite we drove to the town of Lee Vining for the night. The main interest in this little highway town is Mono Lake as well as it's a place most people go through to get to Bodie Ghost Town. The town had a creepy feel to it. It was interesting and had some nice scenery, mainly the view of the lake, but it just felt off. We walked to a local park before it got dark for the night so the kids could play. Both Missy and I felt like any of us could vanish at a moments notice and we would have been like, "yep that's about right." I noticed a lot of the trees had an ashy white color, which is caused by the large amount of salt in the soil and water. It's that same salt along with other minerals that cause the "rock formations" called Tufa's that are sticking out of the water in Mono Lake.
The next day we drove to Bodie Ghost Town where we walked through the abandoned city. While exploring the town we were asked a few times, "are these all your kids?" It became apparent that the thought of six kids was just too much form most people to handle. We heard a few people say, "my two are more than enough for me, I don't know how you do it with six." The Ghost town was a hit with the kids though.
Our last day we stopped by Columbia State park on our way to Calaveras Big Tree's. We walked through old main street, looked for gold and the kids made candles. It turned out to be a perfect stop just to get out and stroll a little before we strapped in the car for the next two or so hours.
I will say to end the trip at Calaveras Big Tree's was perfect. I find a good interest in nature, not to say that I love to spend days and nights in it, I just find it fascinating. To see these huge gigantic trees that are thousands of years old that dwarf any living thing you might have ever seen is powerful. The kids did great too. We started in the south grove of the trees where we had a picnic lunch and walked down to the river and over the bridge. It was a short walk to that point and from the research we had done that was as far as we should go with our groups little legs. After that we drove to another spot and hiked for about 20 minutes. The path started as a beginner path but quickly turned into a more advanced hike. We went a bit further allowing the path and the difficulties to become a teaching tool of teamwork and listening. After that we went to the north grove and walked through the path they have laid out. Here the path is flat as it winds around the forest taking you right up to some of the giant sequoias. The size of the trees were absolutely amazing, stunning Missy and I along with the kids. It should be a must do for everyone that comes close to the area.
The trip was a huge success. The kids as well as Missy and I had a blast. From the power point presentation to the last dirty sock being removed before loading up to drive home, it was well worth it. Interesting enough a few weeks after our trip I read an article that talked about three people who had lost their lives after being swept over the falls in Yosemite. We had the kids sit on the couch while I read to them the story of the three people. The article stated they had ignored the barriers and warning signs about the strong current as well as the people expressing their concerns about their actions. One after the other slipped and away they went. It was extremely sad to read and discuss, yet a perfect teaching tool to enforce our reasons for being strict with the kids when it came to the water in Yosemite. We know it's okay to have boundaries and rules when it comes to raising our children and most importantly it's okay to say NO to them. We have found it's honest and respectful to tell the kids no when we aren't comfortable with something they want, are doing or are wanting to be doing.
My Favorite Part
I have been told that I'm a freak when it comes to the things I enjoy doing. Laundry is one of those things. Yes it's true, laundry is something I truly enjoy. I find it to be a great time for personal thought. Whether it be day dreaming or day planing, I use the personal time as a way to connect to my inner voice. In addition my anal-ness drives a need inside of me to have things clean and in order. Thanks to "up-chuck Evey" and "barfing Dylan" I had plenty of things to wash the first night. Luckily there was a laundr-o-mat within walking distance. I found myself doing more than just the puked covered clothes. When it was all done I had done three loads of laundry the first night of the trip. In my defense I did the throw up clothes alone, then the darks finalized with the whites. I found so much joy in my new found mecca that I took a picture. I hope it brings you as much joy as it does me!
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