4th of July in California

We celebrated the 4th of July with Jason's family in Redding. The weather was hot--I mean scorching hot. We Oregonians are not fond of temperatures above 85 degrees and so getting into the 100's is not our idea of a nice summer day. Not only that, but our summer in Oregon has been wonderfully mild with only two days or so above 85, so we weren't seasoned enough to appreciate the burning desert that is Redding. Suffice it to say, we spent a lot of time in or around a pool!

We took the kids to the water park the first day. Mariah, Dallin, and Grant were brave enough to try the water slides and they couldn't get enough! They had an area called the Lagoon where you could ride on innertubes, sort of like floating down a river. We all floated together and Karina even fell asleep on Jason as they lay together in the tube! It was cute!

Jason and I got to leave the kids (minus Karina) with Grandma and Grandpa while we went to Jason's hometown, Mt. Shasta, for their annual 4th of July celebration. They have a 2-mile walk in the morning where everyone gets together and walks through the town in a "race." They have stages set up along the route with singers, dancers (the belly dancers are always a hit!), entertainers, and even food for the participants to enjoy. It's really fun! Then we walked around the booths and stayed for the parade. The fireworks that night were great and it was a nice, relaxing time together. We stayed with our sister-in-law's parents and really enjoyed ourselves!


Then, we did the unthinkable.....we left for home without our kids! Yes, we had only Karina with us for the ride home. It was fabulous! We arranged for Mariah, Dallin, Grant, and Kyle to stay with Grandma and Grandpa for the week. Jason said to me as we left California, "You know, without the kids we can do whatever we want!" So, we stopped in Ashland on the way home. I've never been there and it was nice to shop along downtown and see the town. We ate lunch at a great little cafe with really yummy food and even yummier ice cream! And the best part about our trip home was when we exited the car in Estacada and found ourselves in 57 degree weather! Aaaahhhhh, back to normal!