3 Men & A Little Lady: {Yosemite National Park}

Thursday, June 21, 2012

{Yosemite National Park}

We just returned from one of the most beautiful places on earth and to think it is only 6 hours away from us! I can't believe we have been living in California now for 8 years and this was our first time to go to Yosemite National Park. Now that we've been there, we will definitely be making it a yearly event.

We were lucky to have my parents meet us in Yosemite to begin our summer vacation. We needed all the hands we could get as we took turns lugging Mya and Owen on all the hikes. From the moment we arrived at the park, we were all in awe as the trees just got taller and taller! The giant sequoias were our first adventure.

The Sequoia groves have trees that have lived for over two thousand years. Their trunks can reach over 25 feet thick! They are the most massive trees on earth and were amazing to explore.

Here are the roots of one of the giant trees.

Ge & Grandad at Faithful Couple tree, very fitting name for both of them!

Our Family Tree!

This tree looked like it had arms instead of tree trunks!

Our next stop was to Glacier Point to take in the majestic view of Half Dome. Half Dome is a sheer granite wall that we could see people climbing on with our binoculars. We decided our boys are too young to climb it now, but it is on Drew's bucket list for later!

Owen taking in the beautiful views.

My mom, Owen, & I

Our canvas tents were we soundly slept in Curry Village.

The next day, we set out early for our big hike up to the top of a waterfall. The hike was to the top of Vernal Falls which was 4 miles and was considered strenuous with a 1,000 foot gain in elevation.

We went half way and decided to send Ge and Mya back down, while the rest of us tackled the 600 granite steps in the mist to the top of the falls. It worked out well for us not to have Mya to haul, however she did not make it easy for Ge. Ge took her screaming and kicking all the way down the mountain yelling, "Mommy!" According to my mom, people looked at her as if she had just abducted this small girl! She had to keep telling everyone that this was her granddaughter, who was very tired, and needed a nap. Luckily for my mom, Mya cried herself to sleep in her arms, which made for quite a workout for my mom! We owe you one mom!

My Dad, Mya, & I

Half Way There!

Next the 600 wet steps...we loved every minute of the climb!

Beautiful Rainbow

almost there....

The last 100 steep steps!

WE MADE IT TO THE TOP!!!

Grandad is 61 years young and still able to keep up with the boys!

This was one of the most amazing, beautiful hikes I have ever been on. I can't wait to do it again....

We also were amazed by the wildlife we found in Yosemite. Drew loved feeding the chipmunks from his hand, Kenny was shocked by how tame the coyote was, & I got up close with the deer!

Kenny, Drew, & Ian hiked to the bottom of lower Yosemite Falls.

The boys loved climbing all over the rocks to get up and close to the waterfall.

My kids loved being in Yosemite and thought it was the perfect start to our vacation.

Drew loves to be out in nature, so Yosemite was perfect for him. He climbed up every rock and tree he could.

The bigger the rock, the happier Ian was to climb it!

Owen loved playing in the dirt and drumming away on the rocks!

Every fallen tree or trail of rocks became Mya's balance beam!

She did find some rocks her size to climb!

We made special memories in Yosemite and were so grateful to experience it with Ge and Grandad! Next stop...San Francisco!

1 comment:

Summers Family said...: Finally pictures! I want to go camping with you.; June 22, 2012 at 12:15 AM

Post a Comment

They say the cutest things.....

Mya, my little girl, said in her prayers last night, "Please help us to be strong and healthy like the Hulk!"

Owen almost ran straight into a woman as we entered a dark parking garage. As I told him to watch out, he quickly yelled, "Well she's all black!" Coincidentally she was African American! She was wearing a black dress, which is what he was referring too!

Owen told me today, "You are the best mom I ever had! I love you all the way up to Jesus!" He also loves kissing and told Kenny, "I just want to stay home from school and kiss mom all day!"

Drew lost a tooth at school when he bit into his apple. He felt the tooth inside his mouth as he was chewing and when I asked him about it, he said, "I didn't realize it was mine and I wondered if it was one of the workers!"

While at church, a teacher asked the kids what happened to Jesus right after he was baptized and brought up from the water. Ian enthusiastically raised his hand and said, "He asked for a towel!"

After a long struggle with my boys, to get them inside, bathed, and into bed, I yelled, "I am done, go to sleep!" Owen looked up at me and said, "Mommy I'm sorry you're sad, but the problem is that you don't beat up Drew and Ian. Just beat them up and I will be on your team!"

We are not a family who eats beans, so when Drew went to a friends house to play and eat dinner, he was hesitant to eat the burrito that had refried beans in it. When I picked him up he said to me, "Mom she put mud inside the burrito!"

Aunt Connie pleaded with Owen to shoot his daddy with the gun instead of her and his response, "No, he's the best daddy i've ever had!"

I begged the boys to quit fighting and Drew looked at me and said, "Its not Mothers Day anymore mom!"

Owen got kicked in his "man hood" and said, "Oh, I hurt my Tenders!"

Drew asked this morning, "Mom in 2011 can we get a cat?"

Everytime I feed Mya prunes, Owen comes up to me and says, "Me like chocolate mom!" I give him a bite and his face turns to total disgust.

Owen ran up to me after wrestling the dogs and said, "Me see Cassie's boobies!"

While I was nursing Mya, Drew walked in and said, "Is she done drinking from your boob?" I replied, "No and it is called a breast, thats the proper way to say it." He looked at me puzzled and said, "No thats the Spanish word for it."

Kenny opened the fridge and said, "Something in here stinks." Ian looked at him and said, "Dad, sometimes I toot over there!"

Last night as the boys were saying good night to Mya, Drew looked up at me and said, "Mom, Mya has a boy haircut!"

Drew was reminding me about how when we saw macaws in Hawaii, that one of the macaws was chewing on a woman's hair. He said, about the macaw, "Thats not very nice, it's not choosing the right."

My favorite word Drew and Ian used to say when they were toddlers was, Laddie- for water. I thought it was such a cute word. Owen comes to the fridge and points his little finger and says, "Wa-Wa" for water. So cute!

Last night Kenny went in on a call to deliver a goat and Ian came into our bed. He climbed in and snuggled up beside me, he usually snuggles into Kenny. I asked him why he was snuggling with me and he said, "I can snuggle you because daddy isn't here mom!" He is such a daddy's boy.

Ian is such a daddy's boy. The other night Kenny had to go to the clinic and Ian was sobbing for him for a good twenty minutes because he wanted to go too. When I asked him why he was so upset he replied, "I just want my daddy, he is my favorite boy!"

Birthday parties celebrated in California are usually BIG! There is always a huge jumper, pinata, food for the whole family, and tons of presents. Well we went to a party last night and the boys spent 2 hrs. jumping in a big jumper. On our way home we saw another party going on that had an even bigger jumper with a slide attached. Ian asked, "Can we go to that party too?" I replied, "We don't even know who those people are. " His response, "Well lets just go ask them their names."

As we prepared to go to the Glenwood Springs pool in Colorado with Kenny's four sisters Drew impatiently said, "Come on girls, you're taking too long!" Kenny told him, "Get used to it, this is what men do, wait for girls to get ready."

Much to my dismay I found black ink all over our white sheets on our bed. I of course went straight to Ian and asked very sternly, "Did you write on my sheets with a pen?" With an innocent look he replied, "I was just trying to write my name."

Drew was watching me as I divided my hair into sections with clips to straighten it. He looked up at me and said, "Wow, you look beautiful!" Then when I was completely done with my hair he said, "You're a cute little mommy!"

Ian was dipping his finger in Kenny's contact solution and then touching his eye. I asked him what he was doing and he replied, "Just putting my eyes in mom!"