Little Rowland Buggies: February 2011

After visiting Nevada and our surprise visit to the snow, the boys kept wanting to re-visit the snow. Luckily, the weather was on our side and we had a bit of rain (and snow in the mountains!) so we HAD to visit. Two years prior, we attempted to visit the snow and our hour drive ended up being about 4 hours total due to all the traffic! We were very lucky to not have to deal with that this time around: we left early, knew exactly where we wanted to go, and didn't stop in any of the high-traffic areas. Wrightwood is becoming our place of choice for snow day-trip visits! Hopefully we'll be able to rent a cabin in the future and let the boys wake up to snow on the ground. Sounds magical, doesn't it?

Jackson ready to get going!

Charlie is modeling for us :)

Jackson super excited!

Mama driving up the mountain! We found SNOW!

A great view of the snow on the side of the road.

Beautiful!

Charlie checking out the DEEP fresh snow!

Jackson and Mama wading through the snow on the side of the road.

Dada and Jackson enjoying the snow.

"Look, Ma!"

Daddy and the boys

Mommy and the boys

Our Little Family :)

In late summer 2010, I had an idea of gifting Sean with a 'bachelor' weekend - meaning, he could have a weekend to play games, sleep in as long as he'd like, watch tv, etc... without kids or wifey around. In order to do this, I recruited my mom to take a road trip to Nevada to visit family with me and the boys. Here are pictures from our awesome trip!

Day 1: Pit stop at Peggy Sues Diner!

Jackson is really excited about eating lunch at Peggy Sues!

Charlie is really not wanting to sit in his high chair

Grandma trying to keep Charlie out of the water

Grandma, the boys and the dinos!

Jackson on the other side of the river with a duckie

Jackson and Charlie on a turtle friend. I love Charlie's expression! (It was SO windy!!!)

Charlie ready to hit the road again, ice cream in hand. NEVADA or BUST!

"Oh Noes! We're Leaving California!!!"

Grandma enjoying her ice cream. On to NEVADA!

Can you see the "Welcome to Nevada" sign? Yes?! We made it to State Line!

Make-shift playground: An empty part of the state-line McDonalds!

Beautiful Sunset

Day 2: Playing Tourist at the Strip in Vegas

THE BELLAGIO

Jackson and Charlie checking out the flowers

Jackson taking pics on his camera

Photo Op with Mommy and her boys (and "Jacksons" boat)

Jackson was very excited about the huge coins

More decorations for the Chinese New Year

Hedge Bunny!!!

Mama and her boys near the Giant Bunny!

Jackson and the pretty Fused Glass ceiling

Sparkily Horsie

MGM GRAND

Jackson and Charlie checking out the lions (who were, as usual, sleeping)

Vegas Yoda is he.

M+M FACTORY

The boys were SO excited to see a giant M+M!

Colors of M+Ms - notice where Charlie is looking!

THE COCA-COLA FACTORY

The Coca-Cola factory bear was not the boys favorite character on the Strip. Jackson didn't even want to get out of the stroller. Here I am torturing Charlie (who is hiding) so I can get a pic with one of my kids and this giant white polar bear.

Logandale, Nevada

It was a wonderful visit to Nevada. Can't wait to visit everyone again soon!

The boys wading through the tall grasses

Aunt Molly watching Jackson ride his tricycle around the house

Charlie and Jackson playing with sticks around the house

Uncle Ralph's old green pickup truck. The boys were very excited about the truck but very concerned about the flat tires.

Uncle Ralph and Grandma feeding walnuts to the chickens. One of the chickens is named Jabberwocky! These chickens were so cool - they will eat right from your hand.

Charlie checking out the land with his car!

The boys playing in the only mud puddle they can find. Of course they found it.

Jackson hanging out with Uncle Ralph and his chickens

Jackson found an eggie that was freshly laid by one of the chickens! He was SO proud of his little eggie. He carried the egg all the way inside the house and put it in the fridge. Then he got really concerned about his egg and just had to hold it, but unfortunately he dropped the egg shortly after getting it out of the fridge and was so sad. Aunt Molly was so gracious and told Jackson that this is what happens to eggs when they are dropped and assured him that it was Okay.

Jackson and his eggie!

Aunt Molly with Jackson and his egg

After Jackson dropped his egg, he made "cookies" with some cinnamon and circus animal cookies. Grand-Aunt Molly had so much fun "cooking" with Jackson!

A good lick of the spoon from Jacksons "cookies"

On the road back to Vegas from Logandale. The city sure has grown!

Day 3

Our Third day was traveling from Vegas to Pahrump to visit Aunt Rose, Uncle Jim and (Meredith's) Cousin Lindsey and Lindsey's family. It had rained the night before, so the mountains were pretty snow-flocked, but we weren't sure if we'd be seeing any snow. As we made our way up the mountains, signs were posted stating that we would need chains (which we did not have) and that the mountain pass might be closed. Snow started to appear in patches on the side of the road and pretty soon we were at the top of the pass. Luckily, the roads had just been plowed and there was fresh snow on the side of the road! We found a not-so-scary road to turn off and enjoy some of the lovely white fluffy snow for a little while! The boys were very excited!

Jacksons first snow angel in FRESH snow

Even though it was overcast - it was VERY bright! The snow was pretty deep for Jackson and Charlie's little legs. Their rain/mud boots came in handy, yet again. We didn't have gloves though - but guess what, socks can do the same thing when you're in a pinch!