Day 3--Upland, Ca.: This other life...

Ever since I can remember I have loved taking pictures, and although technology and my cameras have changed throughout the years, I love it more than ever--someday when I have a little more time I intend to pursue the wonderful world of photography even more. I can never thank Daren enough for stepping outside his comfort zone and learning to deal with his wife wanting to be a camera geek when he bought me a digital SLR for Mother's Day a couple years ago. It changed my picture taking life and I love it! I have always thought that my life would best be told through pictures, and especially for today, that is true. I'm always looking for a great picture to remember a moment or two, and I know I have a long way to go to figuring out how to really capture that moment, but hopefully I'll be able to show you what it is that we love so much about this other life we live when we are in California.

I took this picture to show what the boys do the first thing when they walk in the door at Gma and Gpa Airplanes house--they pull out all the train tracks, put them together, and play for endless amounts of time. It's also the first thing they do when they get up in the morning, at least until breakfast or when they are ready to go outside. There is nothing like watching the boys immerse themselves into playing trains and having fun together--but that usually doesn't last too long before they want to play with some train which one of the other brothers have, and then the nice, cooperative, loving play is replaced with a fierce battle...boys, you gotta love them!



When they are ready to go outside they open the garage doors and pull out the most sought after toy--the red go-cart. My parents live literally at the base of a mountain overlooking the Inland
Valley, so there are hills everywhere, including the road right next to their house. The boys love to take the go-cart to the top of the hill and ride it down without using the brakes. It scares us to death, but fortunately we have had no major crashes...yet!



This is their other favorite toy--the yellow Tonka Mighty Dump Truck. The whole revolution started three years ago when we bought one for Ben's birthday. It didn't take long before the twins each got one for their second birthdays just so there would be some peace around our house because they would fight about the one truck so much. (We have since learned that there are just certain things you have to buy in triplicate, no matter how painful it is!) The next year for their birthdays we bought three more trucks when we were in California, just so we could leave them at my mom and dad's for them to play with when we come down. Then just this past Christmas we bought them three more because they had literally worn the other three out. I would say that each set of trucks were worth every penny spent! It will be a sad day when they finally outgrow the yellow dump trucks.

These are some other fun things to see and do around the yard--the mountains are literally their backyard and it is a young boy's playground paradise! Gpa grows a great garden-we just missed their strawberries-but Ben and Gpa were able to find some boysenberries, I think. My dad has something growing year-round here in Southern California. His green thumb didn't wear off so well on me, but I keep trying. I rushed to plant my garden just before we left. which includes pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers, and a couple of herbs. I'm sure the birds are going to have a fewst on our strawberries while we are gone!

Ben has always loved this little hammock-swing which hangs from an apricot tree in the yard, especially when it's Grandma swinging him.

Ben loves to find secret doors, and he found one in the laundry room, which is located on the ground floor but is considered the "basement." He and Jake explored what was behind the door, which is actually just a storage room, but with the help of Grandma and their imaginations, they were working on all kinds of self-made mouse traps for at least an hour or two. That earned them a trip straight to the shower after, and I'm still wishing I had taken a picture of their filthy dirty faces!! And all this took place before 11:30am!

We cleaned up and drove up the mountain to Mt. Baldy, where Grandma Waterwheel lives. We ate lunch at the Mt. Baldy Lodge, a nice old-time lodge which has been around forever. The boys played horseshoes after lunch; Jake understandably got to move up quite a bit but still couldn't hit the stake.

Will got a hold of my camera, and besides pictures of the sky, grass, and a sand volleyball court (aka: the greatest sandbox for kids), he took this one of Jake and I.

This is a picture of me with two of the most amazing women I know--(Great) Grandma Waterwheel (Cottrell) and Grandma Airplane (Peel), in one of the most amazing places I know--Gma's house in Mt. Baldy. She and Gpa moved there in 1973 (when I was 3), and I have loved going there my whole life. To me it is one of the closest things to heaven there is on earth--it is so peaceful and relaxing. I have so many fun memories there, and now it has come full circle as I see our boys explore and have fun the way I did. Grandpa Waterwheel passed away just about a year and a half ago, but I'm glad our boys got to know him too, and still remember him. Grandpa lived an incredible life--he had a charming personality and the ability to make friends wherever he went. He was very successful in life because he was so willing to help others in whatever way he could. I feel it was an honor to be his granddaughter and to know him the way I did.

This is a picture I took of Grandpa and Grandma Waterwheel about 4 months before he passed away--it was the last time I ever saw him in this life, and I can't wait to see him again someday.

Will couldn't wait to get to Gma Waterwheel's house to play on Gpa's old tractor. Gpa used to give us rides on this when we were little, but now it just sits, ready to be played on by any and all boys. It's a favorite of all the grandkids.

I had to put in this funny story: Ben, Jake and I were out for a hike by Gma's house, and we had already crossed a stream, a bridge, and another stream to hike up in the rocks. We were getting kind of far from Gma's house, so I suggested we go back. They both protested that idea, and continued up the rocks for another minute until Ben found a big ol' pipe. As you can see, it was a fairly long pipe which was very dirty inside, and when I told the boys they couldn't go in it Ben said to me, "You don't like adventures, do you Mom?" It did make me laugh because there we were, out on this awesome hike and he pulled out something like that because he was mad.

Tonight we went to Mission Viejo to see my brother, Eric, his wife, Jenny, and their kids. My niece and nephew were playing in a middle school orchestra concert, and then we went to their house after. Another nephew, Matt, got home just before we left, because he is an explore firefighter (I think that's what its called). He really wants to be a firefighter, and it's quite impressive to see him working so hard toward a career goal at such a young age (15). This is a picture of my dad, Matt, and Eric.

Now it's so late, and I know this was a big trip down memory lane today, but it's fun to share about our family and what makes us tick. So much for putting a few pictures in and calling it good! We are here until Monday, when we continue on our journey. Bye!

Total mileage to date: 805