Rolling by the Dozen

Monday we filled up with gas and headed up the winding mountain roads to King’s Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.

We don’t always research ahead of time, but I’m so glad we did a little this time. We were planning to just visit Sequoia Monday and to visit King’s Canyon another day. During our research, we found out that vehicles over 22 feet long are not allowed to drive through a portion of Sequoia. Our van is 21.99 feet long – no joke. We decided we didn’t want to chance it.

We entered the parks through King’s Canyon at the Big Stump Entrance. There we learned from a ranger the best way to navigate through to Sequoia. The ranger told us the portion not recommended for vehicles over 22 feet has 120 hairpin setbacks. Yeah. We were definitely glad we did not enter where we’d originally planned.

We didn’t see much of King’s Canyon as we were set on seeing the big sequoia trees. It was about an hour and a half drive to get from our RV park in Sanger to where we wanted to stop in Sequoia National Park. Once we entered Sequoia, we knew it. We were amazed by the massive trees!

We parked at the Giant Forest Museum and walked the Big Trees Trail. This was a perfect trail to walk with kids. It was stroller friendly, and there were so many huge sequoia trees to see along the walk.

The base of this tree is the size of our family spread out holding hands in a circle.

Each national park is so different. Mesa Verde was fascinating. Zion was gorgeous everywhere we turned. Joshua Tree was interesting and had such unique plants and trees to see. Sequoia left us in awe.

Pictures really can’t show the greatness of these trees.

The weather was nice and the park is so shaded by all the trees.

There were interesting trees and logs that were hollow laying alongside the trail. Our little girls loved these.

After we finished the Big Trees Trail, we drove a short distance to the General Sherman Tree parking. The General Sherman Tree is the world’s largest tree, measured by volume. We walked a half mile trail that was easy to do with kids but not stroller friendly. There were quite a bit of stairs going down.

This is the footprint of the General Sherman Tree. The base is over 36 feet in diameter.

The General Sherman is massive, and it was amazing to see.

We had to leave through the same entrance we entered to avoid those 120 hairpin setbacks. We hoped to stop in King’s Canyon as we made our way back, but we lost daylight quickly.

We saw the sun set and fade as we rolled, literally, down the mountain. No gas needed for probably 15 miles.

Many of our kids started piano lessons at pretty young ages. Eventually we added some guitar lessons. Then ukulele, drums, bass, electric and mandolin.

Our boys’ guitar teacher, Paul, had the idea of helping our oldest five kids start a band. He taught them weekly and really helped them learn to become a team – to play together and work together. He taught them how to play different instruments. They named their band More Than Conquerors.

The practicing in our home started to sound better and better. Before long, Ryan and I were amazed. We enjoyed music made by our kids booming throughout our house daily. Now we enjoy it booming outside the door of our RV. Many of our neighbors seem to enjoy it as well.

Our kids in the band are young – Manning (12), Rhythm (12), Tapestry (11), Cherish (10) and Liberty (8). It’s not super polished, but we just love the album they’ve released of 6 original songs.



They worked together to write the songs – music and lyrics. And then they worked hard practicing and recording with their teacher, Paul.

Manning is the lead vocalist and also plays both the acoustic guitar and the electric guitar on the album. Rhythm plays bass guitar, electric guitar and sings. Tapestry plays drums and sings. Cherish plays keyboard and sings. Liberty sings.

Jesus (In My Time of Desperation) and Love were written by all 5 of them. Your Love Surrounds Me and Heaven’s Going to be So Fun were written by Manning. Sing Loud was written by Manning, Tapestry and Cherish. Fear Is Not the Boss of Me was written by Manning and Rhythm.

You can check out their album on iTunes or most other popular music streams. It’s also available for purchase and download here.

Friday we took our kids to the beach for the first time!

We went to the highly recommended La Jolla Cove. The weather was warm and sunny. It was a beautiful day to be at the beach.

This beach is known for having many seals. We saw seals hanging out on rocks and swimming in the ocean.

This beach is unlike any beach Ryan or I have been to before. There wasn’t much of a sandy shore. But we found some sand and had a blast anyway.

Our kids were amazed by the seals, the waves crashing against the rocks and the feel of waves sweeping over their feet.

We had a few kids get knocked over by the waves, which created some laughs and some cries.

River was pretty intimidated by the ocean. For some reason she latched onto Liberty and didn’t want to leave her side.

Bravely loved seeing the ocean, but she wasn’t so sure about touching.

Everyone loved searching for and collecting seashells. We decided we’ll collect some from each beach we visit. When we settle back into a house someday, we’ll fill a jar with our collected shells for decor.

The water was cold but not freezing or unbearable. There were even people swimming there, which surprised me.

When we finished playing on the beach, we found a shady spot with a great view of the ocean to sit and eat the snack lunch we packed.

It was a great first trip to the beach. Several of our kids have placed the beach in their top favorite experiences so far.

Wednesday we visited the San Diego Zoo.

It’s considered one of the best zoos in the United States. We really enjoyed it, though, both Ryan and I like the zoos in Houston, TX and Waco, TX better overall.

It is so expensive. I cannot fathom paying regular price for our family to go to this zoo. Tickets are $56 for adults (ages 12 and older) and $46 for children ages 3-11. In October, kids get in free. Both Manning and Rhythm are 12 years old, so we paid $224 total. Even that we consider pretty pricey.

There were not as many different types of animals as the Texas zoos we’ve visited, and the directional signs were confusing. It wasn’t too difficult to navigate, but it was not as simple as those other zoos.

All that aside, we really did have a great time! The kids all loved it.

There were some unique animals we had never seen before, like the koalas.

There is a double decker bus tour that seemed pretty neat. I believe it is $10 extra per person. We did not do it.

There is also a Skyfari tram ride that is included with the basic ticket. That was fun! That and the bus tour are the things we found to be unique about the San Diego Zoo.

This zoo is very shaded and was so much more enjoyable to walk through than Texas zoos – unless you go to one of those during the winter.

We loved seeing the bears. I don’t remember seeing as big of a variety of bears at any other zoo.

We were there for about 5 1/2 hours, and that felt like the perfect amount of time.

We got there right after lunch and brought snacks with us, but we forgot those in the van. No one complained about being hungry, so we stuck it out and waited until we got back to the van to eat our snacks. We’ve learned over the years that buying food at places like the zoo is just too impractical for our family size. It’s expensive. It’s hard to carry it all. And it’s typically hard to find a place to sit. We bring snacks that are low cost, somewhat healthy, filling and easy for little ones to eat even if we are standing or aren’t at a table.

Parking was great. There is a huge parking lot with plenty of spaces and it’s not a long walk to the entrance. Houston Zoo parking is crazy, so we were very happy with San Diego in this arena.

River (age 3) has a tiny stuffed flamingo, so seeing the flamingos was her favorite. She said, “River’s mingo!”

Bravely (age 1) was adorable. She was so amazed any time she saw an animal move. She would perk up, point and start jabbering excitedly.

We were really happy that we were able to go during October, when kids get in free. Again, San Diego is a great place to visit with kids in October. We had a really good time!

Tomorrow we will be heading toward Fresno, CA. We plan to visit Yosemite, King’s Canyon and Sequoia national parks next week.

On Tuesday we visited the Museum of Making Music. It’s around a 35 minute drive from San Diego. The ticket prices aren’t too pricey, and the museum does offer free entrance to children under age 12 the whole month of October. It cost $20 for our family of twelve.

It’s a small museum. We walked through and got to see instruments and listen to music from different eras.

As a family who loves music, we really enjoyed the museum. If you don’t love music or play an instrument, I think you could feel the museum is too small and not very interesting. If you love music, it’s worth your money and time.

Most of the older instruments were display only. Those were very neat to see.

Other instruments were available to play.

The last room in the museum is full of instruments, both unique and ordinary, that can be tested and played.

We spent a lot of time in this room, each rotating through different instruments.

There is also a side synthesizing room that was interesting to explore.

This was a great, low cost activity that was right up our alley.

Guess what? Kids get in free tons of places in San Diego the month of October! This was such exciting news to us. It enables us to be able to do so much more than we’d have chosen to do otherwise.

Today we visited the USS Midway Museum. It’s an aircraft carrier, formerly of the United States Navy.

Many of the employees are retired Navy SEALs. The kindest men took us in and showed us around, told us stories and showed us how things worked. One even purchased our souvenir photos for us.

The flight deck was really awesome. It was full of aircrafts.

We all loved seeing the planes and especially checking out the interiors.

We got to see in person things I’ve only seen in movies.

After exploring the flight deck, we went to check out the living quarters on the ship.

The kids just loved getting a little glimpse of what it’d be like to be in the Navy.

We learned that there was far more laundry done on this ship than is done at our home.

Our kids thought the sleeping quarters were awesome and that the beds were comfortable. Coming from RV beds, I suppose they compare fairly well.

(Bravely had a diaper leak and ended up with wet pants. I am the mom of 10 that has never carried extra clothes in the diaper bag. You’d think I’d have learned by now. Ha!)

This ship is so huge, we could not imagine learning our way around it.

Each link in these chains attached to the ship’s anchors weigh 160 pounds. I don’t think I’d want to be in charge of letting those anchors down.

Our kids loved that they were given permission to touch and push buttons.

There are some places we take our kids knowing that it will be fun and interesting for them. I chose this museum thinking that it would be interesting to Ryan and our kids. Turns out that it was all around interesting to me as well. Bonus.

It is a bit pricey, but I’d say definitely worth the price for most families. We have to pick and choose our splurges as a large family. I am not sure we would have chosen this museum without the free tickets. Knowing what it’s like now, I think it’s worth a splurge.

We got there pretty late. If you go, plan to stay at least 3-4 hours. There is plenty to see and do. Some things we missed.

We now have kids very interested in the Navy. And we all learned so many new things.

Yesterday we went on the most beautiful hiking trail we’ve experienced thus far.

We had to pay an entrance fee to get into Indian Canyons. It was $9 per adult and $5 per kid ages 6-12. Ages 5 and under were free.

Someone we met, I think in Walmart, highly recommended this place. We decided to try it out, but we did not expect it to be so wonderful.

There was a stream of running water alongside the trail.

There were awesome rocks to climb.

There were beautiful palm trees.

And there were snakes. Yikes! Manning and Tapestry came right up to this rattle snake. Tapestry let out a scream and our big kids quickly started shuffling back my way. It didn’t rattle or try to strike, thankfully!

There are different hiking trails at Indian Canyons. We chose to hike the Andreas Canyon as it sounded the prettiest that would be easiest with kids.

We were able to push Bravely in the jog stroller through the first half of the trail. It got too steep and rocky the second half so we carried her for that portion.

Our kids loved walking on the rocks scattered across the stream.

Most of our kids had not hiked prior to moving into our RV. It’s a new found hobby we all really enjoy.

We loved visiting Joshua Tree, but I have to admit that we loved this even more.

This was a great way to end our time in the Palm Springs area.

We’ve now moved on to a park near San Diego. Have you been? What did you enjoy here?

We’ve been staying at an RV park that feels in the middle of nowhere. There are tons of towns surrounding us, but we have joked that it feels a bit like the twilight zone here. It’s like beach meets mountains and desert.

Our RV Park is nice. We love all the palm trees, the pool, the game room and the basketball court. Our RV spot has an awesome patio and is nice. But the space for our RV is so narrow it was like playing Tetris getting our RV to fit between the patio awning and the electrical box, and making sure the patio polls weren’t blocking our outdoor kitchen or door. We had to re-hitch more than once. Fun times – ha!

We had a couple down days after all the birthday celebrations. We worked on school, laundry, cleaning, etc.

Today we visited Joshua Tree National Park.

We entered through what appeared to be the back entrance. It was a little confusing where to go and how to get around the park. I definitely recommend going with a full tank of gas. We went with about half a tank, so we really had to cut out seeing certain areas.

This park was very different than Zion. There were way less tourists, which was nice. But it also seemed less organized and not quite as easy to navigate.

Once we got the feel of the park, we ended up really enjoying Joshua Tree. We liked exploring on our own, just driving and stopping at places that looked interesting to us.

We thought the Cholla Cactus Garden was very interesting.

Our kids especially loved climbing the large boulders.

And, of course, we were fascinated by the Joshua Trees.

There are plenty of hiking trails and other areas to explore. These were just the ones that most stood out to us.

Tomorrow is our last day in this area. Then we’ll be heading toward San Diego. We really love both exploring outdoors and city life. Traveling is quite an adventure!

Today we celebrated Cherish’s 10th birthday.

We started the day out with yogurt and granola at Cherish’s request.

We gave her gifts and read her what we each wrote to her in her journal. Then we went to the pool at our RV park.

Cherish was so happy to have the perfect weather for swimming.

We all had a great time!

After swimming we went for a late lunch to Chipotle. Chipotle is probably our favorite restaurant. Chick-fil-A is in the running as well. Cherish got to pick anything she wanted and got a special drink. Being a big family, we typically give lower cost options and we just drink water. Cherish loved choosing her food and drink.

Then we went for a much needed grocery run. We do not all go to the store together often. In our pre-RVing life, Ryan grocery shopped most every Sunday and took 1 or 2 kids with him max. Shopping as a family of 12 is definitely an adventure – not a speedy adventure. We had fun with it, though, and we are learning to enjoy shopping together on occasion. Yes, we were looking cool or nerdy or interesting in our matching shirts. We got plenty of stares and lots of conversations. Haha.

Cherish got to pick a dessert. She chose a variety cheesecake, which we all enjoyed this evening.

Happy 10th birthday, Cherish!

I can’t believe you are double digits! You are such a sensitive, loving, kind and caring girl. You are a friend to any and everybody. You happily play with each of your brothers and sisters. You adore Bravely and want to hold her and care for her as much as you get the chance. You just love River and love to tell us all the cute little things she says and does. I love watching you worship – singing, playing piano and ukulele. It’s fun to watch you walk on your hands for a lengthy amount of time. You aren’t one for a lot of pretend play. You enjoy sports, being outdoors, and you love having deep and real conversations with people. You really are just such a thoughtful, precious daughter. Your name fits you so well…you cherish others. I hope you know how cherished you are by God and by us. I love you so very much, and I am so happy to have you as my daughter!

Yesterday we made it to California. California is big and has so many great places to visit. We plan to be here for awhile.

We’ll still move from place to place within California. There is just a lot we want to see and do here. I’m loving all the palm trees!

Today was all about celebrating this guy! It’s his birthday.

We went to a rock climbing gym and had a blast. Except Bravely, we all climbed.

Ryan is a really fun, adventurous husband and daddy. He likes to overcome challenges and tackle obstacles. This was the perfect place to celebrate him.

Mercy (age 5) and Treasure (age 4) amazed us as they climbed high with little to no fear.

All of our children really like trying new things. Most of the time each will push past any fear or hesitation and give something a try.

I was really excited to be able to climb. Repeated pregnancies have limited my activity over the past 13 years. When I get the opportunity to do something like this, I go for it. Even if it’s harder than it would have been before birthing 9 babies. And it was definitely harder. Ha.

Climbing high. Living life passionately, to the full. Pouring all he’s got into his family. That’s Ryan.

I am so happy we are his and he is ours!

We ended the day trying In-N-Out Burger, Ryan’s choice. The burgers were really good, the fries looked just like Texas fries but somehow tasted so different – not as good to us. Ryan loves ice cream, I mean, really loves it. Chocolate shakes were the grande finale, leaving a big smile on Ryan’s face.

Tomorrow we will celebrate again. Cherish turns 10!