Mammoth 2008

For our vacation this year we took a trip to Mammoth Mountain with Jarom's family. We had a blast! It was so fun being able to hang out with each other and enjoy each other's company.

The trip to Mammoth is about four hours. I put off Ashlyn's nap time so that she would take a nice long nap in the car. I had good intentions, but Ashlyn had plans of her own. The convoy (which consisted of Jarom's parents in the car in front, Jarom, Ashlyn and I in the middle car, and Todd, Jessica, Laurel and Laurel's friend Lindsey in the car in back) finally left around three. About an hour or so into the car ride Ashlyn finally fell aleep. I had visions of her sleeping until we pulled up at the condo in Mammoth three hours later. Well about forty five minutes into nap time we pulled into a rest stop where Ashlyn woke up and then never went back to sleep. Let's just say we had a pretty cranky Ashlyn on our hands. Finally we made it to Mammoth and the fun began.

The first day we were there we decided that we would take Ashlyn on a test hike to see how she would do. We decided on a hike that wasn't too far or too hard. We set off and probably got about 300 feet before we realized that it would likely take us until the next afternoon to finish the hike at the speed we were going, so Jarom's mom Carol and I took Ashlyn to walk around the lake while the others went on. We were soon joined by Todd and Jessica, and we had a nice stroll around the lake. The weather was perfect it sure beat the 100 degree weather we were having back at home. We found a neat waterfall and couldn't resist taking some pictures.

This is Ashlyn and I with the waterfall in the background. If you look really closely you can see that Ashlyn is covered in dirt. She keep falling over and then just laughing.

Here are Todd and Jessica at the waterfall.

The rest of the week was filled with hiking, ping pong, swimming, games, and lot's of good food. We were up at Mammoth for the Fourth of July. We drove down to Crowley Lake to watch the fireworks.

This is Ashlyn, Grandpa (papa), and Grandma waiting for the fireworks to start.

It is really hard to get a good picture of the fireworks; this is the best that we did. The fireworks display was amazing and lasted for a long time. Ashlyn loved the fireworks and wasn't at all scared of them, even though they boomed twice because they echoed off the mountains right behind us.

After the fireworks we went back to the condo and had s'mores. We toasted the marshmallows over the electric stove, which worked pretty well. It was the perfect end to a great day.

This is Ashlyn eating her first s'more.

She broke it open and went straight for the marshmallows and chocolate.


As you can see I think she enjoyed it.

Our trip to Mammoth was a blast. The car ride home from Mammoth wasn't too bad. Ashlyn slept for about two and half hours and didn't get real fussy until we were nearly home. Thank you to Jarom's parents for letting us tag along to Mammoth. We had so much fun! Can't wait for next year!

I often wonder how Ashlyn can sleep just about anywhere!

Disney's California Adventure

When we went to Disneyland we had purchased two-fer tickets, and we finally got around to using them.

Everyone got pretty wet after this ride, except Maria who wore a poncho.

This was right before the ride shot them straight up into the air.



This ride was one of Josh and Ryan's (my little brothers) favorite rides.

Before a Bugs Life,

After a Bug's Life.






Still not too impressed, but at least she stopped clinging on to me.





Ashlyn was not too sure of those giant ants.








Ashlyn, daddy and Chip.








Finally a character Ashlyn liked, Sleeping Beauty.










Ashlyn, mommy and Goofy.







My dad during the parade.












Disney's California Adventure was so much fun. The weather was perfect and a good time was had by all. We were even given free passes to stay in the park for an extra hour after it closed. What a great day!

We were so excited to have my family over from England to visit. It had been about nine years since everyone was together and we had a blast. We couldn't resist the opportunity to take lots of pictures.

My mum and her sister Lesley.

All of the cousins.


The Pearce family minus Gracie ....

... who was sleeping.


The Mangerino family.


The Viehweg family.

The Happiest Place on Earth.

We were so excited to go to Disneyland with Ashlyn for the first time, and what made it even more fun was sharing the day with my family. We had such a good time (even with the rain at the beginning of the day).














Ashlyn loved the characters from a distance, but was not so sure when she got up close.






Ashlyn loved the Dumbo ride (until it started moving).



Ashlyn had lots of fun with her cousins. Gracie loved Mickey Mouse, but Ashlyn just wanted to get away from him.































It was such a great day!

Mojave Narrows

The day after my family arrived from England we all took a day trip to Mojave Narrows Regional park. Everyone had lots of fun and enjoyed catching up with one another.




Ashlyn and Gracie enjoyed getting to know each other better and spent most of their time playing in the sand.

Everyone enjoyed cooling off at the water park,








swinging on the swings,










and sliding on the slides.

Daddy & Ashlyn

Ashlyn loves to dance, and was so excited to dance with her daddy.