On the way into Palm Springs, via CA-111, we passed a place along the road that had a bunch of quads out front with a rental sign.  Offroad Rentals has a bunch of private acreage that they have turned into a nifty ATV park.  Max, Lucy and I trekked out there and had a great time.  It was a bit pricey, but worth it.  Lucy was a little nervous at first, but the lady that did the instruction was nice and helped her out.  The throttle was a bit stiff for Lucy and so she had to take frequent thumb breaks.  Max eventually got the hang of shifting.

Desert Quad riders are too tough to smile.

We went to The Living Desert Zoo in Palm Desert.  This is a zoo that houses lots of animals that are native to a desert environment. 

They also have an extensive model train display.  It was Roly’s favorite exhibit.  Although, he did enjoy the shows and exhibits that featured birds.

And, of course, the obligatory zoo carousel.

We are having a great time in Palm Springs.  We are staying at the Palm Canyon Resort.  They have a really great pool with a super fast waterslide and a kiddie waterslide.  The rooms very big.  We have a mountain-side room and our balcony opens up into a great view. 

Poppa and YaYa down the hall with their friends the Milehams.  They had a bit of trouble with their original room (2 bdrm, but only 1 bath).  Yaya was originally told that she had to call an 800# to get the room changed, and this turned out to be difficult.  The resort staff onsite was great and they were able to change rooms, no problems.

Part of the difficulty for YaYa was that the cell phone call kept dropping.  The cell coverage in the rooms is spotty, and the internet access is not free. 

Part of what Toby *really* looks forward to on vacation is to be able to sleep in.  So my job is to keep the kids quiet in the mornings.  Our routine is to eat breakfast and then head down to the pool when it opens at 8a.  We spend an hour+ at the pool while mom gets to gradually wake up.

Roly likes spaghetti

Easter service for Reality was at SBCC’s La Playa Stadium again.  It was a great event attended by all 3 central coast campuses of Reality.  There were about 9,000 people in attendance.  2 of our 3 students attended with us, and Lizer (Venezuela) brought 3 friends. Toby signed again for the band. She is the left most choir member (with the stand) in the pic below.  There are lots of other pics at the Reality website http://www.realitysb.com/easter-2012/

After the service there was a funzone with taco stands, bounce houses, snow cones and cotton candy.  Lucy and Olivia (Korea) enjoyed the cotton candy.

Then there was the traditional lunch / dinner / Egg hunt at Granma Seal’s house.  This was the first one that Roly could hunt for eggs, and he was very interested in the first egg he found.  Not so much in any of the other ones that had been placed low for him to find.

Roly liked riding on the antique dolly.