Varvel Family: Spring Break Trip to CA!

Me and Bailey went to California for spring break again this year. We had been looking forward to the trip since we left there last year, and we had a blast! We both LOVE my mom's ranch, and Bailey said, "I need to live here" just about every day that we were there. She is definitely a cowgirl at heart. We arrived late in the afternoon on Friday and just visited with my mom and Rick that night. Saturday is when the fun started! We went to the ranch first thing in the morning. It only took Bailey a matter of seconds until she was cruising around in the golf cart. She told me that I don't need to buy her a car, a golf cart would be fine :)! We rode the horses around the ranch trails for the first day. We could tell right away that all of Bailey's riding lessons had paid off. She was so much better and more confident than last year. That night we went to dinner with my Grandpa and Uncle. They are a crack up, and I wish we could see then more often.

This is the ranch we love so much.

Crazy golf cart driver! The dogs would follow her around in the cart, because there was always treats for them in it. Pepper didn't have any problem pushing me out of my seat and riding around with Bailey.

She even took Elder Varvel for a ride!

Horses! This is the main reason she loves it there so much!

This is Max! He was her best buddy for the week.

Riding at the ranch.

She loves him!

After the ride, Max got a make over. He was a good sport about it.

Lookin' good Max!

We went to our traditional dinner at Bongiavoni's with my grandpa and uncle. Bailey taught my 94 year old grandpa how to take selfies. It was so funny! Then I look over, and all the adults were trying to take them. I was laughing so hard! The next day I got an e-mail from my uncle of a selfie grandpa had taken. Hahaha, next year she needs to teach him how to make good faces in the selfies. How cool would it be to have a picture of grandpa doing duck lips :)!

Four generations!

My Grandpa is seriously the cutest guy ever!

Selfies with great grandpa!

I looked over and saw this going on! I seriously about died! They need to have a teenager around more ofter!

Here's grandpa's selfie! Not too bad!

On Sunday we trailered the horses up to Cuyamaca to ride. This was Bailey's first 'real' trail ride. She loved it and did awesome. It was so fun to be back in my old stomping grounds. After the ride we hung around the ranch and she shot the bow and guns. She loves the bow so Rick said she could have the one she had been using. She's pretty excited! She does really good with the guns too, but she can only shut one eye, so she has to shoot left handed.

Bailey spent a lot of time just hanging out in the corrals with the 6 horses. She would get her phone out and take pictures with them. Four of the horses didn't care about the camera, but Max and Nova thought it was great. If the camera was out, they wanted to be in pictures. It was pretty funny.

Bailey and Max!

Bailey and Nova!

Riding in Cuyamaca! This was always my view growing up, and I miss it!

Grandma and Bailey.

She loved shooting! She gets that from her Dad!

Pretty darn good!

Target shooting!

On Monday we drove clear past LA to go to Magic Mountain. So worth the drive! This park has some of the best roller coasters in the country. She was a pretty fun ride buddy! Mostly she just laughed at me the whole time. We totally need to go again next year!

The X2 was our favorite ride! It is so intense! I laugh so hard on it that I can barely breath. Bailey ended up all tangled up in her seat. SO FUN!

She had the dumb idea to go on the river raft! I didn't really want to, but I was being a good sport. I ended up soaked, and she barely got wet at all. Figures...

Waiting in line! Lines used to be so boring, but now phones make it much better.

We saw Batman, but he looked like a creeper, so we settled with a picture of his car.

Goliath was great! I remember that last time I rode this with Mark, he almost passed out. The drop is HUGE and goes underground. Then the Gs are some of the strongest I've felt on a roller coaster. I was curious to see how Bailey would do. When we stopped, she started laughing and said, "Let's do it again." She's a girl after my own heart!

Full Throttle was our second favorite ride. It doesn't look like much from the picture, but it is AWESOME! They shoot you off so fast, and you do the inside of the loop. There is some serious hang time on the loop. You can't see the part of the track where they stop you and send you backwards. So fun! Then you do the loop again, but over the top of it the second time. It was so great!

We didn't get to ride everything, because the park wasn't open very long. We were so sad to leave! We are totally going back!

Tues. was cold and rainy at the ranch, but sunny and beautiful on the coast, so we headed to the beach. We love LaJolla Shores. We didn't go see the seals this time and I kind of wish we would have. We just did our run on the beach, and then hung out in the sun and in the water the rest of the day.

Beach running is the best!

Elder Varvel came to the beach with us!

Haha! Oh the things we do to be able to send good pictures to Sawyer!

Spring break 2014!

After the beach, we went to dinner with Craig, Hunter, Lori, and Haylee. Bailey hasn't seen Craig since she was 1 year old. It was good to catch up with him. Him and Bailey have a lot in common, so I was pretty sure they would hit it off, and they did!

Uncle Craig!

Bailey and her cousin Hunter! I wish we lived closer, so these two could run together.

Dinner at Phil's BBQ. Haylee, Lori, Craig, Hunter, and Bailey.

Me and my bro!

On Wednesday it was cold and rainy, so we had to stay inside. We looked through old pictures of me growing up. Bailey got a kick out of that! I can't wait till she has kids and they look back and laugh at the way she dressed and did her hair :)!

Bailey did so good on the first trail ride, so on Thursday we trailered again and did a longer ride. We went 9 miles in Descanso. She did awesome again! Max even fell and went down on his knees, and she stayed on and stayed calm. My mom was very impressed :)! That night we went to dinner with Mark and Jamie Gassert. Mark was my soccer coach growing up, my Ride and Tie partner, and the guy who I ran my first marathon with. It was so awesome to see them and catch up. He hasn't changed a bit and is still as crazy as ever. We walked out of the restaurant and Bailey said, "I LOVE them!" We have already made arrangements to see them again next year.