Day 5 - Orchard and Swimming

We dropped Jason off at work this morning so that we could have the car.  After a stop at the store for goggles, a raft, and pool rings, we headed back to the hotel for breakfast.  You thought I was going to say "swimming" right?  Well, that came later!

After breakfast, we drove through the California Citrus State Historic Park in Riverside, CA.  Turns out, this place isn't far from where Jason is working, so we could have planned it better to avoid extra driving.  And I'm going to put a plug in here for GPS - one of the greatest inventions!

There were tons of orange trees, and we saw some grapefruit trees, too.

This crate trailer was parked near the trees...

The girls thought that was pretty cool.

There was a fruit stand on the corner selling 25 pounds of oranges for only $6.00!  I wanted to buy some so badly!

When we returned from our short excursion, we went swimming.  We had the pool to ourselves for a while before a few others joined us.  It was a great afternoon for swimming!

The hotel served cheese enchiladas and rice for dinner, so we ate there after getting Jason from work.  It wouldn't be my first pick, or even my second or third.  But it was free and simple and filled our bellies.

In the evening, we went to the mall where there is a huge JC Penny Outlet store.  The kids and I will probably go back there this week while Jason is working.  I'm also seeing another trip to the American Girl store in our near future, since Emily still has money and both girls are dying to go back.  I'm trying to find fun things to do that are unique to this area, but all the kids are interested in is swimming!



Day 4 - Fun in the Sun...

Well, not really.  The kids had fun but the sun was behind the clouds most of the day.  It didn't stop us from swimming though, even though the temperature was only about 68 degrees.  The pool is heated and feels good, thank goodness!  I got in the hot tub a couple times, which is right next to the pool.

Katie's nose began to bleed while she was in the pool.  She immediately got out, holding her nose while finding her way to a chair.  The only thing I could think to do was to grab a towel, dunk it in the water and hand it to her.  She sat for about 10 minutes or so and when it stopped, I cleaned her up.  I let her get back in the pool but wouldn't let her jump around or go under for a while.

Since Jason drove the car to work, the girls and I ate our leftover pizza and fruit for lunch.  Having a full kitchen in our room is really nice.  Having a maid to clean up after us every day is even nicer!  Although, when she came today, I told her she could have the day off from cleaning our suite!

When Jason got off work, we hung out for a little while and then went for a drive and out for dinner.

That's it.  That was our somewhat boring day.  And the only pictures I have to show for it are on my phone and were taken at dinner.

Day 3 - Hiking

It was a bit chilly and overcast in the morning, so I wasn't sure how the day would pan out.  We ate breakfast, and then drove to the San Bernardino National Forest to see the mountains and hike a couple trails.

Once we got there, the fog started to lift, and the sun began to shine.  It turned out to be a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine and a nice breeze.

Katie found herself a "hiking stick," as she called it...

We hiked upon an interesting tree.  Its bark was really smooth...

and its limbs were windy... 

This was part of a huge bush at the foot of a mountain...

The kids had fun finding and throwing rocks in the creek...

We saw lots of lizards... 

Then we went to the Morman Rocks Station of the San Bernardino National Forest.

Scientists believe that these huge rocks were formed from seismic activity "millions" of years ago.  This provided an opportunity for us to talk to the kids about the Great Flood and and that the smooth surface on the rocks suggest that they had been submerged in water for a length of time.  It seems to me that if an earthquake caused these rocks to form and move into the position in which they sit today, then they would be jagged instead of smooth.

One of my favorite pictures... 

After hiking, we got some Krispy Kremes and drove back to the hotel, relaxed for a little bit and then went swimming.  We had the pool to ourselves today which was really nice.  Katie invented her own "sprinkler" system (again, self-named) by twirling her wet hair in circles, thus sprinkling everthing around her.  She's silly.  Emily kept jumping in the pool with her legs bent a spread out like a frog.  She's silly too!  After more a few hours, we cleaned up and went to Boston's for dinner.

It was another great day in California!

Day 2 - Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and American Girls!

After breakfast, the kids were dying to go to the American Girl store in L.A. but we went to Hollywood first.  We knew that if we went to the AG store first, we would never make it anywhere else!

I thought Hollywood was pretty cool.  We walked down Hollywood Blvd. and looked at many of the stars on the sidewalk.  We went in a couple shops, and walked by the Kodak theatre.

The Kodak Theatre... 

The Hollywood sign is barely visible in this picture.  This was taken near the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

Shirley Temple carved this into the cement.  Her footprints and handprints are to the left and right of the word "ALL."  This block was made in 1935. 

Billy Graham's Hollywood Star... 

Emily & Katie kneeling by Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen's Hollywood Star... 

Wax figure of Marilyn Monroe.  It looked so real! 

Huge palm trees... 

Beverly Hills was amazing.  It really is lots of hills!  It seemed that we were always either going up or down.  We passed many of the stars' homes, which were all beauitful.  Then, we took the girls to the American Girl store, which was the highlight of their day!

They were too excited!

Katie was sorting through all the things she wanted...

Emily, holding her purchases... 

Katie, holding her purchases... 

The store is located in an area called The Grove, which was very pretty, full of shops, and people were everywhere.  I loved the atmosphere and the weather was fantastic. 

Before heading back to the hotel,  we drove to the Hollywood sign - as close as we could get, anyway.  I'm pleased with the picture I got...

It was a great day!  The girls played with their dolls the rest of the evening (except for the short amount of time they spent in the pool).