The first real memory I have of attending a funeral was when I was 10. It was held in the little Indiana town where my grandparents lived. My grandpa was laid out in the casket, and I remember thinking he just looked like he was sleeping. But then I leaned over to kiss him and felt the coldness and hardness.

I don't know if the kids will remember it when they're older, but they attended their first funeral at the end of May this year. Steve's dad's aunt died at the age of 96. I didn't know her very well since we only saw her about once a year, and the kids met her once last year which they hardly remember, so it was a gentle way to introduce them to the idea of death.

Alexa had many questions before we went to the funeral. Will Aunt Anna look like a mummy? was my favorite. When she saw Aunt Anna in the casket, she wanted to know what they did with her legs. Jared really didn't seem to care that much about the whole affair, but when we paid our final respects, Jared asked to touch her hand.

After the burial and a lunch held at the church, we drove out to the farm Anna had owned. Her husband died about 15 years ago, and Anna had been responsible for the upkeep of the farm. She hired out someone to plow the fields and she lived at the farmhouse. We explored all the old farm buildings, most of which were in a state of disrepair, and petted the horse in the next field.

Jared started this funny thing where he'd whack at the dandelions (only those with the white seeds still intact) with a stick. He told us he was killing the Nazis. I think it's his ongoing fascination with Indiana Jones that started when we were in San Diego. One thing for sure. There's definitely not another kid out there like him.

The highlight of every trip to Missouri for the kids is seeing their cousins. We had a relaxing time hanging out with them for the three days we were there. On Sunday afternoon, we attended Emme's preschool graduation. We really wish they lived closer. It's hard to see them only once a year, but this year we'll also get to see them in November, too.

Mojave Desert, Nevada

After two great weeks in San Diego, we drove back the five hours to Las Vegas. We decided to drive back and stay one more night rather than jump on a plane right away. I don't think the kids would have done too well with that.

Traffic was horrendous driving into Las Vegas on a late Friday afternoon. We weren't sure how much time we'd have, but we decided to take a detour through the Mojave Desert and try to hike some sand dunes. We'd heard that the place we were stopping at had the third largest dunes in the United States.

Well, we didn't start hiking until almost five and didn't want to get stuck out in the desert at night, but we were able to hike pretty close to the highest dunes you can see in the picture above. We had a great treat as soon as we got out of the car when we watched a desert tortoise make his way across the road. He even let the kids pet him - sort of.

We live in the suburbs of Chicago, so needless to say we never have it absolutely quiet at home. I think it was the first time in my life that I understood what absolute quiet really meant! 

For a desert, it was breathtakingly beautiful. We saw two other people on our hike, so it felt like the desert was ours. Steve and the kids had a blast sliding up and down the dunes. Jared did wind up twisting his knee when he decided to run full force down one of the dunes. I'm just thankful it happened right as we were headed back anyways, and it stopped hurting after a few days.

We wished we could have spent much, much more time in the desert. We love to be in nature and away from crowds of people, so this last little adventure of our trip was food for our souls.

San Juan Capistrano Mission, San Diego

As the oldest standing building in California, San Juan Capistrano Mission is a must see for any history buff. The kids weren't quite old enough to appreciate all the historical significance of the buildings, and I wished we could have spent a lot more time here, but I was so grateful to have visited this gorgeous mission.

The grounds were so gorgeous. They had beautiful fountains with Lilly pads and huge coy fish the kids loved feeding.

We came during a living history day, so the grounds had a few hands-on stations set up, including a little panning for gold demonstration.

Alexa really appreciated going into the chapel with me and seeing the 16th century altarpiece brought here from Spain.

I highly recommend a visit to this mission, particularly for older children.

Point Loma, San Diego

My favorite, favorite, favorite place we visited in San Diego had to be Point Loma. It was so beautiful that we came here twice during our two week stay. I wish I could go back now and sit on those cliffs listening to the ocean, searching out the tide pools and watching the kids skip across the sand .

The second time we came we toured an old lighthouse.  Although we couldn't go all the way to the top, I had never seen a lighthouse where the rooms were set up just like when the family had lived there. If you have a chance to visit San Diego (or if you live there!), don't pass up this beautiful gem.

Maritime Museum in San Diego

What could be more fun for a kid than having their run of ships and submarine? Besides the low cost of touring these vessels, the Maritime Museum also had a great floating museum right on the harbor.

We checked out the submarine first. It was pretty impressive. Through the ship's periscope we could even see our car!

Then we boarded the Star of India, a old shipping vessel that still goes out to sea. I really enjoyed reading diary entries from the families who sailed in this ship from Great Britain to New Zealand in the mid 1800's. Jared enjoyed imagining what it would be like to go to the bathroom on the ship.

There was a fun little miniature ship in the lower deck, too, for the kids to play on.

If you've seen the movie Master and Commander with Russell Crowe, then you might recognize the picture below. After the movie, the studio gave the ship to the museum and we had the pleasure of touring it on our visit.

Legoland California & Sea Life Aquarium

Legoland was the ultimate highlight of our trip. It's something the kids are still talking about almost two months later. Jared LOVES his Lego's. He spends hours and hours building with them. At first we weren't going to go because it was going to cost $240, but Steve saw a commercial where you'd get a child's admission free to Legoland with the purchase of an adult's entree at Denny's.  So, it cost us $120 for the family and we were able to come back a few days later to Sea Life Aquarium, too.

Jared was in love with the Pharaoh's Quest Scorpion Pyramid Lego set from his Lego catalog (which he looks at every night in bed with his clip on night light attached to his bed, too cute!). So the tomb raiders ride was the first must do ride once we entered the park.

Some other rides were loved were:

the slides....

and Lego horses, but the ultimate fun was....

....looking at all the Lego Star Wars sets exhibited throughout Legoland Mini land. It was awe inspiring to think about the work and creativity that went into designing these sets. I wish we could have stayed longer.

A few days later we went back to Sea Life Aquarium which is right next door to Legoland. There were some interesting exhibits here, but it's pretty small; you could go through the aquarium in half a day.

There were even legos here in the aquarium.

If you live near a big city with an aquarium, you won't be that impressed. We live near Chicago with the Shedd Aquarium which is about five to ten times bigger, but it's not a bad place to check out, especially if you get the combined Legoland ticket.