Coming Home

 Every year when we come home from Yosemite we have the choice to go out the west or take some time and head out to the eastern sierras.  This year we did just that and head east out of Tuolumne Meadows. This is my favorite part of the park.  We got to Tuolumne Meadows we ditched the car and trailer and went for a hike.  I love this part of the park it's so peaceful and beautiful. 

 Marmot Family

 

 Taking our family hike.

 

 Oh It is so beautiful up here. Just so peaceful.  

After are morning in Tuolumne we headed down the mountain and back to real life.  Daddy's brother and sister in law were able to get us a camp site where they were for the night.  We learned just cause it looks level doesn't mean it is. Daddy always amazes me with his ability to level out our trail in any situation.  See what I mean: 

 See the front of the trailer it's almost sitting on the ground. But wait till you see below.

 Not much to do on this side (this was the higher side of the site)

Aw yes this is the lower side one wheel had 4 levels of orange blocks the other wheel 5 levels.  Always an adventure camping on the side of a hill. :)  It was a fun visit, even if it was just one night.

Our Yearly Hike in Yosemite

For the last several years we've gone to Yosemite on vacation.  This year was no different.  Last year we hiked to Upper Yosemite Falls. This year we hiked to Nevada Falls via the mist trail going up and then we took the John Muir trail coming back.  Oh how beautiful it was.  Here is a picture of Nevada from Glacier Point. The day we did the hike I didn't bring my camera.

 Looking at Nevada Falls from Glacier Point.

Looking at both Verna Falls (lower fall) and Nevada Falls (upper fall) 

 Vernal & Nevada Falls Vernal Fall footbridge: 1.6 miles/2.6 km round-trip;1.5 hours with 400 ft./122 m elevation gain
Vernal Fall: 2.4 miles/3.9km round-trip; 3 hours with 1,000 ft./366 m. elevation gain (via Mist Trail)
Nevada Fall: 5.4 miles/8.7km round-trip; 5 to 6 hours with 2,000 ft./610 m. elevation gain (via Mist Trail)
 It was a great hike, and came as close as I will to Half Dome.  :)  Beautiful country for sure.  Wonder where we will go next year???

Happy 6th Birthday Buddy!!

This year we didn't throw Monkey a birthday party with his friends for good reason.  We were on vacation and I didn't think that his friends would drive 9 hours to celebrate.  Nani and Papa were with us so we had a little party for him.  I even made his cake in our trailer.  Not my best work but I tried.  So what did we do for Monkeys birthday we rode the bus around the valley floor went out for pizza walked around the valley and had a campfire. :)  One happy birthday boy for sure.

 Hanging out on a tree stump.

 Wearing Papa's hat while riding the bus around.

 Birthday dinner pizza!

 Getting the camp fire going.

Opening gifts from Wiggles, Nani and Papa, Mom and Dad.

 

Swim Lessons

So what other way do you start summer then with swim lessons of course.  Well actually it was the only way we could get the kids in the pool and have a refresher before we went on vacation and swimming in the river.  So thankfully our friends were free so they could do swim lessons with us again. YEAH!  I didn't take too many pictures this year so you'll just have to enjoy the few I got.

Happy Birthday G

 Happy Birthday G!!! So after a very busy end of the school year we started the summer with a bang!
We went up north to help celebrate G's birthday.  We had a great time visiting and Wiggles enjoyed the Music Man and Girl who came to entertain the kids.  G wanted to be on the move. :)

 With my parents gone we don't see much of my side of the family so while my Aunt and Uncle were at the party I made sure to get a picture of the kids with them. Their Great Aunt and Great Uncle. 

 

Last day of Kindergarten and 2nd Grade

 I'm still trying to catch up on our blog here.  Lots has happened so I haven't had time to blog. Since I have some down time I thought I'd try to blog as much as I could so I could try and catch up. 

 Wiggles with her 2nd Grade Teacher Mrs. D (best teacher for 2nd grade)

 Monkey with his Kindergarten Teacher Mrs. B (Awesome K Teacher Ever) 

So the kids had a field day and had lots of fun for the last day of school as a tradition we go out for dinner for the last and first day of school.  We always pick a Mexican Restaurant. We (Myself and Daddy) did this as kids and we just decided to keep the tradition going. This year for the end of the year we asked some friends to join us.  As you can see it's very hard to get 5 kids who are hungry to all look the same direction and smile for the camera.   We had a blast reflecting on the year we had just finished and talked about what summer plans we had. A wonderful time for sure. 

I think this was the best one. What do you think? 

Indian Princess' Family Camp

Just like Indian Guides, Indian Princess' has a family camp so that the Mom's can see what the Dad's and Daughters do.  WOW what a difference.  The girl's tribe is from the boys, I would attribute that to the girls being of similar age and all being little moms and making sure no one is being left out. They stick together for the most part and include everyone.  Awesome job!  So we went to a man made lake for the girls trip.  We saw much more wild life and one little Princess or should I say Warrior made sure to kill intruding insects. See below for that pic. 

One day we went to the beach (lakes edge) It was a grueling 1/4 mile if not more of walking down to the edge in rough sand and the heat well it was HOT!!!  So much that I forgot to take a picture.  Funny story: Monkey caught his first fish and I missed it.  He did it with his bare hands too.  Course it was dead and it smelled so I'm not all that sad that I missed it.  I went up to get a back massage that was offered to all the moms (yes I'll take a free massage any day) as long as I have a buddy to come with. Anyways while we were gone in that 1/2 hour Monkey "caught" his fish.  I couldn't believe it EEWW.  He thought it was totally funny of course.  Wish Daddy would have taken a picture. Oh well. ;)

 Our tent lovely 4 person.

The kids sleeping in. 

 Daddy setting up to make breakfast.

Chef Daddy.

Finishing up breakfast. 

The girls taking care of each other and remembering to include the littlest in the tribe. 

 Our tribes leaders daughter making sure Monkey is included and taking good care to make sure he's getting his beads traded and looking out for him in general. 

 Checking in on Monkey to make sure he's got it down. Awesome little gal. 

 More bead trading with the tribe.

 Dad's hanging out.

 Wiggles and Monkey after a day in the sun. Got a little sun.

 Our Warrior Princess