Yosemite - Day 2

On the Saturday of our Yosemite trip the kids woke us up bright and early, as usual. "Mom! Dad! The sun is awake!" The bright side is that we beat the crowds into the park. It was busy when we arrived, but parking was a nightmare by afternoon. One thing we would do differently if we went again would be to get a bus pass so we wouldn't have to worry about stalking people walking through the parking areas.


Our first stop was at Bridalveil Fall. It was only a little chilly to start out but as you approached the Fall, it became pretty cold. There was also a lot of mist floating through the air, which was really pretty but didn't translate well to picture and may have been the cause of our camera malfuction later in the day. We couldn't even follow the path all the way up because it was covered in flowing water. It wasn't deep, plenty of people were walking up, but we decided it was a bad idea to try with the kids.



Here we have El Capitan. I think. After a while everything blended together for me. It didn't help that we took over 4oo pictures and for some reason the dates are mixed up on them. Anyway, El Capitan is big. The end.


And here we have Ribbon Fall. Or Horsetail Fall. Either way, it's still big. I mean, I'm used to waterfalls in Ohio. Ohio waterfalls consist of a dribble pouring over an edge and falling about three stories. All of the waterfalls in Yosemite were pouring and high and just listening to them amazed me.



See? It's pretty.


On our ride to the hotel we followed a road next to a river. At one point we had to wait at a light and go over the river and follow a one lane road. When we glanced over we saw why - there had been a rock slide that had absolutely covered the road for big stretch. I tried to take pictures but they didn't come out great. So here is another example. Big cliffs. If you look toward bottom, center of the cliff you can see rubble. Then realize the rubble is higher than the trees.

Here's a close-up.


Now at this point we were on the trail at the Swinging Bridge. Josie was a bit cranky and did not want to be in the backpack anymore. Xander was doing okay with staying with us and only trying to pick up every other object that caught his eye. We decided to head to Yosemite Fall next. It was near lunch time and this is when parking became a mess. We took a quick break for lunch and then headed in.


Yosemite Fall is the one that has two levels, Upper Yosemite Fall and Lower Yosemite Fall. We took the path for the Lower Fall and boy was it crowded. With the kids running amok we had to constantly dodge around people and apologize. Despite that, Josie received so many compliments for how cute she is. I'm surprised her head didn't inflate (but I don't think we could tell with that hair). There was one group of young women on the trail that saw her a couple times and finally just asked to get a picture with her. By the end of the walk, she was asleep in the backpack.


I didn't get to see much of Lower Yosemite Fall due to Josie issues, but Chris's pictures sure made it look nice.


We decided the kids needed a break, so we loaded up into the car to head out of Yosemite Valley and south to Mariposa Grove. As we drove, we found a lookout called Tunnel View. It had a gorgeous view of the valley. But since the kids had just been buckled up, I wasn't about to get them back out of the car. So Chris jumped out for a few (dozen) photos.



Our plan for a peaceful drive with children who took naps backfired but we made it to the giant sequoias in Mariposa Grove.




There was a surprise for us - snow! It was still cool and shady enough that some of the snow had stuck around. And there we were dressed for sixty degree weather. Poor Josie was shivering by the time we left.


We walked on some trails, took more photos , chased some mule deer and ended the day at the souvenir shop. Xander walked away with a puzzle (he cannot get enough of them nowadays), Josie has a new prized raccoon named Mariposa and I have a lovely wood bookmark.

Then we headed home and slept.

Yosemite - Day 1

Chris took off the day before his birthday, Friday, so we could have a three day adventure in Yosemite. After lots of searching and debating, we were going to stay at a hotel just outside of Yosemite called Cedar Lodge. Turns out you need to book like a year in advance to get a hotel in Yosemite. Since we left all of our camping gear in Ohio, camping was not an option (which it was too cold for anyway). We left late morning and planned on a stop for lunch and then the kids would sleep the rest of the ride (yeah, that didn't go as planned).

By the time we arrived at the hotel at around 3 I was getting a migraine. It was too hot (wait, didn't I say it was too cold to camp? wait for it) and the curvy roads and trees flashing by just did me in. So I tried to sleep it off for an hour.

In the meantime Chris took the kids around the property on a bear hunt. There were 30+ different bears on the property. The website had a handy map, so off they went for a while.

Roar!

They checked in on me around 4 and then took off to Yosemite, leaving me to fend for myself (which was probably best).

Chris, Xander and Josie didn't do any hiking or go on any trails. Instead, Chris just pulled over and let the kids run around while he enjoyed the views. I can not tell you how many pictures we took on this trip. I'm really trying to keep it toned down and focus on the kids here.

Josie, the rock was this big!

Run away, run away!

I forget which waterfall this is, Chris could tell you though.

Chris kept trying to get the kids to appreciate all of the mountains, cliffs and waterfalls.

When Josie walked to the end of this log she found a lizard at the end of it. I guess it darted away and she just started screaming! I wasn't there but I'm sure Chris comforted her and did not laugh.

They headed back for dinner in the hotel room with me (where I only sipped a 7-Up) and settled in for the night.

Xander was disappointed that he didn't get to go swimming. Because that is why you go to a hotel, to go swimming.

How to Tour a National Forest with Children

We took a three day trip to Yosemite National Park over the weekend of Chris's birthday. I am very happy we went but it was still a very....arduous... trip. Chris and I wanted to see the sights but the kids were busy trying to play (read: pick up everything, climb everything, run). I'll give more details in another post but since we have so many pictures I figured I'd dedicate one post to what the kids did at Yosemite.

So here is how we kept the kids entertained!

1) Make them pose for pictures.






2) Chase the wildlife.


3) Meet interesting new people.



4) Discuss the size of the sequoia trees.


5) Play Ring-Around-the-Tree


6) Pretend to pinch each other.


7) Check how cold the waterfall really is.


8) Jump up and down.

9) See things from a new perspective.


10) Pick up things.



11) Get caught playing with random stick that was picked up.


12) Hop down the lane together.


13) Make Dad do the work.


14) Listen to sounds from the wilderness.


15) Pretend your belly is a drum.


15) Give up and turn on How to Train Your Dragon.

Nose Tapping

When Xander was first learning manners he would say "Bah" instead of "Please." We didn't have a problem with this since we understood the intention. He did often need reminding though. He would come up and ask for something, "Cup!" I would look at him and wait. No response. So I would say "Xander, look at me," and tap my nose. When he'd look at me I'd ask "What do you say if you want something?" "Bah!"

This slowly evolved into a shorter form. I would just say "Xander, look at me," and tap my nose. "Bah!"

"Xander," followed by a nose tap. "Bah!"

Finally it just became a nose tap. Xander would walk up and say "Cup." Nose tap. "Please." (He did finally learn to say 'please' correctly.)

Now it's Josie's turn. Instead of saying 'please' she will say 'mease'. It's very adorable, especially because she taps her nose when she says it.

It turns out that it has become habit for me to tap my nose while waiting for the 'please'. So Josie thinks that she should just tap her nose if she wants something. The 'mease' is optional, she usually says it unless there is an entire sentence we are trying to have her repeat.

"Cup, mease." Nose tap.
"I want orange juice." Nose tap.

Like I said, it is freakin' adorable (but I'm willing to bet it's not correct sign language).

Planting Seeds

You have to love the dollar area in Target. They have it by the front door and it's always loaded with seasonal items that you either don't need or are so cheap they fall apart. I try to walk by it, but sometimes I'm just sucked in. Like when there are tiny planters with seeds to start a variety of plants. So I picked up dwarf sunflowers and chalked it up as a lesson for the kids.

First we mixed the soil pellets with some water and waited to let it expand. Then we put the soil in the miniature planter. Then we scattered some seeds on top. We put the planter in the garden window and would excited check on it and water it every few days.


Within a few weeks, there were plants! They needed to be replanted outside. Since I have no gardening tools here (have we mentioned how Chris had to kick down the thorny tree branches growing at Josie's eye level?) so I grabbed a couple big spoons from the kitchen and we headed to the back yard.


There are lots of bushes and trees out back, but also some bare dirt stretches that weeds keep trying to grow in. We planted four sunflowers right along the house. Xander waters them religiously and Josie also wants in on that fun. She usually just causes a moat to form along the edge.


Since then, one of the plants disappeared overnight but the remaining three are growing steadily.

In light of that success I decided to pick up more mini planters of daisies, zinnias, tomatoes and grass. The grass is just for me to have inside. The tomatoes are for Chris. The daisies started to grow but then gave up. The zinnias grew fanatically but seemed sort of depresses about being split up when they were planted out back.

Whether they grow or not, it has definitely been fun for the kids. I suppose that is what is important, right?

Headlines at Henry Coe Park

We went for a family hike at Henry Coe State Park on Easter Sunday. It's a pretty big park where people hike out and with the tents, fishing poles and guitars strapped to their backs. We only wandered in about a mile or so and then let the kids run loose to scare off the wildlife. Here is some of our adventure.

Boy Teaches Father to Read

Sister Teaches Big Brother to Read

World's Larges Pinecone Found

Little Wanderer Ponders "Which path is the one less traveled?"



3 Year Old Knocks Down Tree with Kung Fu

Rock Collection Grows at Exponential Rate

(Josie was making me carry rocks by the end of the hike)

Pleasant Weather Tempts Hikers

Children Practice Sulking in Preparation for Teenage Years

Josie fell as we were walking back to the visitor center. She started running downhill and fell right into a rut, banging her head on a rock. This led to sobbing for Mom and Mom having to hike uphill with Josie on my shoulders for a while. Her forhead was swollen and scabby but not horrible.

Upon returning to the visitor center, Xander and I tried to find our first geocache stash. Unfortunately the cache seemed to be missing. Granted, I've never tried geocaching before, but the hint was rather straight forward. Xander a little distraught that a stranger found the treasure first and left with it.