Yosemite July 2011

Emma, Kira and Avery, they played so well together.

Our cabin at the Evergreen Lodge, it was so nice

Our swim time at Camp Mathers

A river in Yosemite Valley

Mommy & Kinley with a view of halfdome.

A river under Bridalveil Falls

Daddy & Kinley, love

Bridalveil Falls

My sweet angel

Our family, yes we are matching because we just took a big family picture.

The night we got home, lets just say she was sooo tired.

So in the beginning of the month we had a family reunion in Yosemite with 45 family members! I know this post is a bit late, but I figure better late than never. We were apprehensive about taking the kids since they are still young, but we figured we would try it. This trip had been planned for two years and originally Kinley was only supposed to be 9 weeks, but it worked out that she was 13 and it was my last week of work off so it worked out. So we started our trip with a visit to see some friends in Stockton, which was such a blast for Avery and so nice for us. They have two girls as well and of course more dress up than Avery knew what to do with in one short night. The drive up there was such a long one and we were just so happy to be somewhere. The next day we left Stockton for Yosemite and arrived around the same time as most of our family. We stayed at a place called the Evergreen Lodge just outside Yosemite. His grandparents generously paid for half of our trip ( ours and all the other families as well)! That night we had a welcome meeting and dinner. The next day we had breakfast with the whole family set up by his grandparents (they provided three meals for us, which really helped us with the cost). We then decided to go to a local camp down the road and swim for the day. Avery had a blast with her cousins and didn't want to leave. We then had a family dinner full of very yummy pastas. The next day we drove into Yosemite Valley to check out the beauty. WOW it was soooo beautiful. It was an interesting drive there full of lots of tears, including me (we almost ran out of gas..but that is a whole other story). We then hiked to Bridalveil falls, one of the waterfalls in the valley. It was quite the task to get there with the two kids, we def. got plenty of looks with our double stroller and two crying kids :) But none the less we got there and wow, how beautiful it was. We then ate lunch and drove to see the rest of the valley in the car. We were looking for the giant Sequoias, like we thought were all over, but it turns out they are about an hour and a half away and they kids never would have made it that long. Next time for sure! That night we had a family BBQ which was really fun and yummy as well. The last day we were there the family was supposed to go rafting down the river (us excluded) but the river was too high, so change of plans. We went to Hetch Hetchy dam (no pics because we had too much to carry). We decided to do a hike to a spring that a local guide had told us about, but when we got there it turns out it was much farther than she had told us, plus most of the trails were closed. The week prior a Dr. and a PA were killed and they still hadn't found one of the bodies (so sad). Anyway we hiked with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law and their kids. It was really hot, but the kids were good sports. The rest of the day we just hung at the cabin. The next morning we left at 6am so we could try and get home at a reasonable time and we did!!! We actually drove 3 hours without stopping and got home by 2pm. It was quite the adventure with a baby and a 2 1/2 year old, but we can't wait to go back when they are older. We def. enjoyed the Lodge and can't wait to go back again. There was tons for Avery to do and it is so safe for the kids. The restaurant was super yummy too. They are trying to plan one more trip with the whole family in two years when his grandparents will be 85 years old!