That There is an RV: Day 4

This was the day the vacation finally "began," so to speak. Not that seeing family wasn't fun, but we came to see the ocean and some really big trees. Day 4 was all about both!

There is no way to really comprehend the size of the Redwood trees. Even knowing they were huge, it was hard to understand, because they were ALL huge, so when you're in the forests with those trees, it actually seems quite normal to see a tree that big. It's not until we got home and I saw normal trees again, that I realized just how big the treees are! But all the same, every single tree was so impressive! No matter how many trails we stopped to hike along, or how many trees we took pictures with, it seemed every one was just as impressive.

There was a lot of wondering, walking and exploring on this morning in the redwood forests. I'd actually love to go back again and spend even more time (even though, it's really all the same. Haha!). I would like to go when the kids are a bit older, and can appreciate a good walk in the woods a little more.

 Roxi was still learning to not trip over tree branches and such, and took a rather unfortunate tumble coming out of one of the burned out trees. (You can go inside some of the trees that were burned in fires, but managed to survive because of their size). Poor little thing was so dirty. But also so cute, and just a little bit funny.

I don't even remember why I took this next picture, other than I thought Noah's hat on my head was funny. Steven was taking the same picture of me, while I took it. He's a lucky, lucky man.

 As you can see, Noah was VERY much in the "Don't take my picture" stage of life. You'll see a lot of angry Noah faces throughout this trip ~ and often, you won't see his face at all, as he'll have it covered.

One of the visitor centers that we stopped at had a little outdoor theater place, with a stage. Noah had a great time dancing around on the stage. It's fun to watch this video 2 years later, because his personality at 3 years old has already started to blossom, and I can see my same Noah in this video, just younger. I didn't realize that personalities developed so much. I also can't believe how little Roxi was on this trip. She seemed so old, and yet, she was just a tiny baby! 

 This was one of the only group photos of the family we took while on the trip. And clearly, Noah was thrilled. It was so fun to be able to travel around in this RV. The trip was paid for by my Jamberry Nails job, so there are a few times I had to document to share my #becauseofJamberry moments. I really am grateful for that little nail business and all the things it's allowed us to do as a family, as well as the frivilous spending I've been able to do because of Jamberry.

 After a quick lunch (and picture to prove it) in the redwoods, we headed on down the road to see the beach and play around for a while. This was Roxi's first trip to the ocean, and I can only assume she loved it as much as I do. We had a great afternoon playing in the sand, before heading to an RV park right along the ocean for the night.

 Roxi sees the ocean for the first time.

 We let the kids play for a while, building little sand castles and dipping our feet in the water. I don't remember a lot, except showing Noah some barnacles on the side of a rock, as the waves would go in and out. He has a book called "shine a light: Tide Pools," and was totally loving being able to see some of the sealife from his book in person.

At the end of day 4, we were almost to Oregon, and stayed in a road side RV park that night. I don't remember what town we were in (and Steven didn't even remember this beach until I showed him), but I remember walking along the marina and being anxious about Roxi falling in the water the entire time. I guess it's memories like that that help me remember that she was indeed very young! :) We were all pretty ready for bed after a fun day of exploring!

~ 11 May 2015 ~