We pass a gas station every hundred yards for a thousand miles, but when you really need one, you end up walking your butt off. This is no way to run a desert!

Do not be jealous that part of the vacation did include us *almost* running out of gas on a nice long car ride in the mountains.  It did not help that we were in a rental car.  You know how when you are driving your own car, you kind of have this knowledge of when your car should be out of gas?  Even with the gas light turning on you say to yourself--meh, I've got like 30 miles left on this baby.  But, when you are in a rental car that is telling you that you have 130 miles until empty and then 30 miles later says you have 80 miles until empty, that can be slightly unsettling.  

But that gas story is something that happened during our trip.  The drive there was mostly uneventful--nothing terribly awful except for the speeding ticket that Angie got us because of her lead foot.  Not her fault, though.  Apparently, according to Bert, since the cop had a mustache we did not even have a chance of getting away with it.

We arrived at the Burney cabin Sunday afternoon.  The area was beautiful and obviously Grace was thrilled about her new surroundings:  

I...

....love...

....Burney....

...California!!!!

The next morning the family fun continued.  We journeyed on to the beautiful Burney Falls and hiked down a path to the waterfall.  It beautiful and surprisingly chilly down by the falls.  It was really weird to go from 97 degree heat, down to a chilly maybe 70 degrees.  

Here we are while it's still 97 degrees.  Notice how only the grown-ups will  even pretend to pose for a picture in that kind of heat.

Jackson is only holding still because he is worried that Brady is going to pop his knuckles.

Grace woke up in time to show how unimpressed she is with the waterfall.

You can tell it is cooler down here....

...because now someone is in the mood to photo bomb our family picture!

If we smoosh her head in between ours, we can get her to face the camera better.

Once we got down to the falls, there was a outlook ledge that several people decided to hike down from and actually get into that polar ice water.

Angie thinks that just because she hiked down there that makes her a champion...

...but the real champions stayed behind and watched the horrible toddlers.

After the hike, we spent the day at the beach at the lake.  I don't have any pictures from the lake, but it was a lot of fun just relaxing in the cool water after a long day in the heat.  Once we got back from the beach, Grace, Walter, and Bronson played with the one toy that was at the cabin.

If you want something...pretend to be their friend first

Then try and just take it.  See if they will resist.

If they resist...

Try and distract them.

Or shove their face into the carpet.

 After dinner we had an Iron Chef dessert competition.

Did somebody say Iron Chef??

Come on, Mary.  This is SERIOUS!

Looks like Landon will be the toughest judge to please out of all of them.  

While we waited for the verdict, Mary spent time embarrassing her baby.

The next day we went on another hike, but first Brady took Grace out on a ride.  She loved it.

Especially the times when he would let her steer.

So, this is the afternoon we took a drive through Lassen National Park and hiked Bumpass Hell--or as Brady called it "A hike to smell a giant fart".  This was the day that we *almost* ran out of the gas.  Our car and Angie's car split from the group and filled up.  We met them while they were on the way back.  Mary said it was easier once we got around the ledge we passed them at.  Mary is a liar-pants.

Whoever smelt it, dealt it.

Yes this is a fart-smelling fog.

A nice rest on Dad's head at the end of the hike.

The next day was a hike through the Subway Cave.  Grace kept herself entertained by shining a tiny red light into our faces.

The next day, the girls went shooting in the morning while we waited for Mom and Dad to come.  We went back to Burney Falls that day and the lake so that they could see it.  Afterwards, we came back to the house and played some more family games.

Then we came inside to plan the next day.

Jon and Bert pontificating.

The next day we took a hike around Manzanita Lake.  

It is always a good idea to blind the person who is giving you a piggy-back ride.

Grace and Bronson--world's best hikers.

This is where we let the kids get a drink of water.  All the grown-ups were smart and brought water bottles.   

 Here are the steps of making a horrible mess.

First, hand your mom your hat.  

Second, get your hands as wet as possible.

Then shove your fingers into the mud and dirt.

 Here are steps for cleaning off kids hands:

hang them upside down 

only let their fingertips touch the water and then yank them back out

Grace had so much fun that day that we had to drag her out of the park.  (k, we didn't do it, we had Jackson do it so she would think that Jackson was the bad guy)

That night was Grace's birthday!!

Hooray for being terrible two!

Sticking your tongue out is classy.

Obviously her favorite part was when everyone sang.  Just kidding, that was Landon's favorite part.

Grace was so glad she didn't have to open these presents on her own.

Bronson was just as excited as she was.

Bowling set from Mary and Jared!  YEA!!!!  (Just so you guys know, we have it set up in the playroom and she loves tackling the pins)

Baby!  Is what Grace says when she gets this one.

Bronson's just wondering if there will be more than just this lame doll.

But Grace seems to like her okay. 

The next day was going home day.  

We definitely will miss this view from our room.

On the drive back, we stopped in Reno and stayed a night in the hotel.  We went out to Mexican that night and then took Grace to an arcade as a little extension of her birthday.  Then we let her stay up late eating junk food and watching movies:

We had a blast in Burney!