Some Family Pics

So, I'll bring our Spring 2011 travelogue to a close here...so many pictures to choose from, so many good memories. We're not sure where our next vacation will take us, but I'm sure we'll start itching to hit the road again soon. We just might make it back to Yosemite this winter for some snow play and hot chocolate in the Ahwahnee dining room! Anyone want to join us?

Life in Camp Curry

Two Handsome Boys

We had a picnic lunch with a view of Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls in the background. In fact, seems like most of our photos from this trip have one waterfall or another in the background! I tried getting a shot of both boys together at this spot and also in another place with a view of Half Dome in the background, but that's a tricky business!

Binoculars

After much debate, Parker finally chose the perfect souvenir from the Mountaineering store in Curry Village: a pair of honest-to-goodness binoculars. We all were able to enjoy using them (well, except for Levi), and he felt pretty proud of himself carrying his real binoculars around with him on our adventures. I'm not sure if he really ever saw what he thought he was looking at when he looked through them, though...??

Baby in a Backpack

We got this baby carrier / backpack when Parker was ten months old and we went to Oaxaca, Mexico for Christmas (it's called the KangaKid, by Deuter). It's much more comfortable to use than the frontpack now that Levi is such a fatso, and since it's also an actual backpack, you can use it to bring a few things along with you and your baby on your adventure. Levi and the backpack got a lot of attention during our trip--I think it's kind of a funny sight because it really looks like you just stuck your baby in a backpack and zipped him up! Levi is also super adorable, and his cute little head sticking out of the top of a backpack will make anyone smile--he's sure to turn a lot of heads either way. 

Our Little Explorer

Parker was in such a good mood when we first set out exploring in Yosemite. We didn't have much time before dark on our first day, so we went for an easy walk from where we were staying in Curry Village out to an area called Happy Isles. The Happy Isles are a few islands in the river that are connected by bridges, with trails and some small sandy beaches. Parker was pretty amped as we started our walk, using his "map reading skills" to navigate the way for us. He was constantly distracted from our mission by the huge boulders along the path, wanting to climb up every single one multiple times--and often wanting to slide down the smooth faces into Jared's arms! Parker talked a lot throughout our time in Yosemite about wanting to climb huge rocks--he said he has been practicing his climbing skills on the monkey bars at school, and that he's really good at it already :) I would be happy if he really did want to learn how to rock climb--maybe on a future trip to Yosemite he can try out their climbing school and see what he thinks.

Off to Yosemite

After three days in Gold Country, we said goodbye to Grandpa Geoff and headed to Yosemite. I hope that we are able to visit the park at least once a year--last year we spent a few days in the Valley right around New Year's enjoying the snow and the relative peace and quiet as it wasn't very busy. This year we visited the weekend before Memorial Day weekend, and it was much busier, although not too bad. The water falls were amazing thanks to a very snowy winter in the Sierras; next time we come back, we will try to camp if it is warm enough (this time we stayed in a tent cabin in Curry Village) and bring our bikes. We'd also like to try to do more real hikes in the park sometime, as Parker isn't much of a "hiker" yet.

Mercer Caverns

I thought that we should really try to visit one of the cavern sites in the area since it seemed like they would be pretty cool, and I thought it might be a neat experience for Parker. Actually, I wasn't really sure if he would think it was amazing or totally scary, but I hoped it would amaze him. Personally, I wasn't so sure that I wanted to walk down sixteen stories underground and then cruise around down there for almost an hour, so luckily it was Levi's nap time and I bowed out! I'm not really sure how it would have been going down there with Levi in the baby carrier, anyway. But Geoff, Jared, and Parker toured the Mercer Caverns near Murphys, and I think they enjoyed it--Parker didn't get scared, and it sounds like he did a good job negotiating the steep stairs up and down. 

Visiting Grandpa Geoff

Although we had fun mining and exploring caves, our main reason for traveling to Gold Country was to visit Grandpa Geoff. Parker was so captivated by Geoff's tales of finding bits of gold on his property, that within seemingly minutes of our arrival Parker had begun his own little mining operation, gathering rocks and smashing them apart with a hammer--he had gold fever! He didn't find any gold, but we did bring some rocks home with us just in case. Geoff got to meet Levi for the first time, and we all spent lots of time together eating and talking, both at Geoff's house and during the next full day as we all spent the day together exploring. 

Gold Country

After a few days exploring the San Francisco area, we headed east to Gold Country to continue our pursuit of treasure. Parker was super excited to go "gemstone mining" at the many caverns in the area--he literally was thrilled, saying he had the best day ever after finding all of these gems in his bag of sand. It was quite the highlight of the trip for him! He would shout to anyone walking by--"Look at how many gems I found!!" And he's not usually one to solicit the attention of strange passersby.

Jared + Paige

Ah, yes, there are moments where we can focus on each other and ourselves and not just the children, although they do seem to be few and far between. Here we are with a great view of the northern San Francisco Bay, heading down the hill after our walk in Muir Woods and getting ready to hit the road to Gold Country--Part Two of our vacation, coming up.

Muir Woods

We were so close to Muir Woods that we just had to stop by for a walk on our way out of the San Francisco area. The rain had stopped, but it had made for a beautifully damp and fresh forest. Parker wasn't much in the mood for walking, so we struggled a bit to get past that and still enjoy ourselves; he did shake the grumpies off a bit, though, when we got to a few "novelty" trees that he could climb inside--and the gift shop at the end, of course, also perked him right up. 

A Submarine Expedition

Parker and I toured a submarine in the bay while Jared and Levi took a little break. I don't think I've ever been on a submarine before, so it was really interesting to see--the officers' quarters, with their own private bunks, dining room, bathrooms, and food prep area, were particularly interesting. You can tell that Parker was pretty excited about the whole experience by his willingness to pose for photos throughout our adventure--he's pretty in to blasters and such. I was a little worried that I would get claustrophobic down there, but it wasn't too bad--although Parker got pretty freaked out about halfway through when we got to a dark room with only a red light on that we had to pass through in order to make it to the exit. He kept insisting on turning around and heading back out the in door to find Jared, but we persevered and made it out the other end. It was especially worth it since Parker got to pose with the cool torpedoes at the end.