Day 1: Kaitlin and Daniel do central California and a little bit of Mammoth.

We left mid-morning, ready for hours and hours of driving excitement.



We met my friend Emily for lunch in her hometown Palmdale, catching up on her end of college and beginning of career point in life. Sadly, we took no pictures with her (I hate being that awkward person who asks for pictures of inauspicious occasions, but always regret it later anyway). We did get a picture of the awesome rocks that line the highway on the way out of Palmdale.



There were a lot of fantastic rock formations on this leg of the trip.



And a lot of flat land. I started getting a little antsy with all the flatness. Daniel mocked me for being overwhelmed by the sublime. I told him there was nowhere to hide.



I did pass this oasis with care.



The mountains rose higher as we neared Mammoth.



We stopped by a bona fide earthquake fault and peered into the unnerving blackness of the little crack.

Between the curves on the 1 near Big Sur.

Sallying fourth.

We always say we're going to take pictures of the four of us, and this time we actually did it. Angelica and Shannon just happened to look like models here. Cute.



Homeschool pose. You can tell I was homeschooled the longest.



It took an embarrassing number of tries to get this photo. I've spared you the less successful ones.



After church, we drove out to Canyon Lake for a celebration with Mom and Dad's friends from their Messianic Bible study.



There was so. much. wonderful food.





The four of us were challenged to a young v. old bocce ball game.



It was quite serious, as you can tell. We had the lead for most of the game, but the more mature ladies pulled it out in the end, 10-9.



We jumped in the neighbors' pool for a bit.







Water volleyball!









A group gathered for a rousing game of chair volleyball after dinner.



We were willing spectators.



Shannon was coaching Mom on how to take a good picture. "Anyone can do it, Mom!" See?



The only reason I'm not in this one is that I took it.



We watched fireworks on a pontoon boat out in the middle of Canyon Lake.



You can't tell from the photos, but there were hundreds of boats floating out there with us, and the shoreline was filled with celebrants blasting the Beach Boys and Lady Gaga. It was quite festive.



We were really, really close to the fireworks.





I will confess that I actually don't like fireworks at all, so I concentrated on taking pictures and texting.



I captured the smiley face!



It was a really fun way to spend the evening.





Our gracious hosts. They know how to throw a party!

Angelica's birthday festivities, part II.

The beach Barrs met up with the desert and mountain Barrs for a belated birthday dinner for Angelica on Saturday.



Rachel was actually happier than she appears.





We had hamburgers and oven fries and a small portion of this giant cake.



Shannon is a master of the what's-on-your-plate pic.



Angelica got a lot of clothing for this birthday. She picked out the shirt she's wearing (and a couple of other things) at a random and delightful $2 sale we happened upon one night last week as we were grocery shopping.





After dinner, Mom and Dad gave us a tour of their flourishing garden. They've been productive with their daughters away.



They have some absolutely gorgeous produce.







Mom weeded and Angelica watched. I took pictures.



And drank coffee and posed with Rachel. Sisters!