Our road trip plans

Everyone is excited to start this road trip. 2 moms and 7 kids in a 12 passenger van

An hour or so after we started driving, we got pulled over for speeding. But, the cop had compassion on us and didn’t give us a ticket.

We were able to make it to Four Corners

We made it to the Grand Canyon

Horseshoe Bend was free to see and worth the short “hike” to get there

Family Reunion at the Alton Lodge in Southern Utah; where 8 out of the 9 Poulson siblings attended. In total we had about 65 people at this reunion.

Grandkids and great-grandkids that attended the family reunion

Bryce Canyon…pictures can’t capture the complete beauty

Woke up early to see the Balloon Festival in Provo

Grateful to see this flag wave on the 4th of July

We were able to attend Stadium of Fire where One Republic played and then watched a great firework show

I drove up to Logan, Utah to pick up my sister and we stopped at Gossner Diary where we got some delicious long term shelf life milk that all the kids love

About 15 minutes away from Gossner Dairy is the Pepperidge Farm Factory & Thrift Store where we got the “oops” goldfish which are $2 for 2 pounds

I drove up to Heber to see a good friend from Texas and have our kids play together for a day and a half

My sisters and I said good-bye to our brother and headed off towards California

Stretching our legs and exploring the Salt Flats on our drive west

My sister-in-law and husband invited us to stay the night at their condo in Lake Tahoe and go tubing with their boat. We all had a blast!

Movie morning at 8am! The Incredibles and Ant-Man & Wasp were the reason for the early morning since all other times were sold out

I went with my mom to take in the recyclables that had been accumulating for a year. We decided to split the profit between ALL the grandkids that were in California. They all got $10 to spend however they wanted (everyone got something at the Dollar Store).

Field Trip to Sutter’s Fort

We drove by the Sacramento capital building

Family night watching the musical play “Newsies” at the Music Circus

Another field trip. This time to Alcatraz island

Hanging out at the Botanical Gardens in San Francisco

Stopped near the Golden Gate Bridge to get a photo

We had a girls morning of pedicures

For the 5 days that we were at my parent’s place, lunch/dinner time looked like this. Cousins all sitting together.

As we were leaving California to head back toward Texas, we decided to drive through Yosemite

We did a small hike in Yosemite to see the Giant Sequoia trees

We made it to our aunt & uncle’s home where our other aunt & uncle also came by to see us and hang out. The kids were happy to see their cousins again.

We made it safely home and logged in 5627 miles in 19 days!

It rained a lot in Texas and caused a lot of flooding. Luckily we stayed safe.

We attended Houston Exotic Reptile and Pet Show as a family one Saturday.

At the reptile show there was a big dog that Blake liked from a distance. But when we put him down next to the dog, he quickly retreated back to his mom’s arms.

One of my good friends that I have known since the 1st grade has been in Texas for work. We were able to meet up and spend an afternoon together catching up!

Mason loves to bake in the kitchen. One day we made cinnamon rolls together and then delivered them to his church teacher and neighbors.

We made the 2.5 hour drive to Waco to visit Magnolia Market. We are all fans of the HGTV show “Fixer Upper” and had a wonderful time in Waco. With rented Redbox movies for the kids to watch in the car, the drive wasn’t that bad.

After eating lunch at In-N-Out Burger, we stopped at the Dr. Pepper Museum. I have never drank Dr. Pepper, but it was fun and educational to show the kids how things use to be.

Before heading home we stopped at Harp Design Co. where we were fortunate enough to see Clint Harp outside when we arrived.

The rain let up and we had beautiful weather for family swim day.

My sister arranged to have us eat dinner at her home and then drive to her friend’s home and ride their horses. After all of the kids had a chance to ride the horses, the mommas also got a turn.

Kalani was the first one on a horse and she got the tallest horse.

Mason rode a couple of different horses and loved having Casey lead him around.

Blake was pretty happy with himself for riding a horse. He rode a second time while I was riding a horse as well.

Blake also had his 2nd birthday in the month of June.

We enjoyed a campfire and taught the kids some fire safety tips.

Roasting marshmallows and Starbursts over a fire was a fun activity.

Mason made a small wagon at Home Depot with his uncle Seth.

Kalani’s birthday dinner at Valley Ranch. This was the kid’s table.

Kalani made her own birthday cake. It was devoured quickly and Blake always knew where it was at.

My parents with their Texas family.

Grandparents with 10 of their 15 grandchildren.

On July 16 my sister gave birth to two healthy little girls 

Ruby Nilalei (baby #1) weighed in at 5 pounds 6 ounces and 18 inches

Goldyn Makana (baby #2) weighed in at 6 pounds 8 ounces and 19.5 inches

Ruby & Goldyn at 2 weeks old. Now my parents have 12 grandchildren with 6 girls and 6 boys…4 of them being twins

What we did while the Hansens were visiting us. Stuff for the kids, for the moms and for the whole family.

Sunday afternoon at the American Cemetery in Manila.

The kids and moms enjoyed a day at Santa Elena Fun Farm. We spent the day fishing, horse back riding, feeding animals, doing a zip line, riding a water buffalo/carabao pulled wagon, etc.

Matt’s co-workers treated us to a Girls Night Out at Palladium.

A friend took us to get our hair colored. I got purple and Makana got blue streaks through out our hair. We are the Fruit Loops in a Cherrio world.

The kids enjoyed a day at Ark Avilon where we were able to feed fish and crocodiles, hold birds and a python. Sadly, Jenny the orangutan was getting a physical so we didn’t get to meet her.

We spent a morning making sock puppets with young girls who have been abused.

The kids enjoyed playing at Kidzville where they could get their energy out and use their imagination.

Just the 2 of us went to Taal Volcano on a day trip.

We met 2 more cousins that are living in Manila and had dinner with them at a mall one night.

We had a long wait for a ferry boat in Dumeguete before we could take the Hansens to Siquijor. So we spent time at the mall getting massages, pedicures, eating, people watching and fish spa…I think she liked the fish eating her dead skin cells!

Now 2 of my siblings have been to Siquijor and visited our long lost relatives.

We all got into our cousin’s boat and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Siquijor.

We picked Mckay up at the airport and headed directly to Siquijor. He was really tired and spent most of the boat ride trying to sleep.

Mckay only had 2 days in Manila with us. So we made sure he had a spa day and then we went to Pagsanjan Falls.

The kids all loved playing with each other for 3 weeks.

I loved being with my sister and showing her around the Philippines.