Family trip

Yesterday we got back from our annual family trip, including all but one of the grandparents (my Dad is in Alaska on a fishing trip). We went to Redding Wednesday through Friday of this week. (Just a warning... there's a lot of pictures in this post!!)

We got a little swimming time in before dinner on Wednesday.


Then we went to Chevy's for dinner. There was a girl going to the tables and making balloon animals or hats. J.T. asked for a cowboy hat. See any resemblance? He didn't think it looked anything like a cowboy hat!

Abigail asked for a butterfly....

Our waitress thought the kids would get a kick out of pretending it was their birthdays so they could get the birthday song, sombrero and dessert. Abigail said she was "embarrassed."

J.T. was not too thrilled!

We all took turns trying on the sombreros... yes, I am aware we look tipsy in this picture! Too bad we weren't! ;)

On Thursday morning we headed to Waterworks Park for the day. We had such a good time. Everyone got in the spirit and rode on the water rides. The pictures aren't the best because I just took my little point and shoot. I wanted to enjoy the day, not be worried about my big camera getting wet or stolen.

J.T. took a little while to warm up to things so he played in the kiddie area for awhile. This is the "mole hole" slide.

Andy, Abigail and I rode on the Raging River right away....

Abigail had a great time running under the water mushroom in the kiddie area...


It took awhile to talk J.T. into riding on the big water rides, but once we did.... he was into it!! He even rode on a single tube down the Raging River... Even though the picture isn't that great, you can still see the big ol' smile on his face!

Abigail did also ... and backwards into the pool too!

We finally got the kids talked into riding on the Cyclone (a.k.a. the toilet bowl), which was my favorite ride. I went up to the top and took a couple pictures. Here's one of J.T. and Charlie... The kids (and adults) loved it!

Here's the bottom of that ride where you come out... If you can't tell, that is Pam and Charlie.

That night we went to Cattlemens for dinner. We were surprised, but thrilled, to find out that they only serve Harris Ranch beef. For those of you that don't know, Harris Ranch Beef Company is where we sell our cattle. And the steaks were fantastic! J.T. even ate his entire 5 oz steak!


Our last activity before leaving Redding was lunch at Chuck E. Cheese.




We had a great time. We're talking about adding an extra day to the trip next year so we can enjoy some of the other fun things that Redding has to offer....