For our mini-vacation #3 we headed up to Yosemite for three nights--this is our fourth time staying there in the tents in Curry Village, so I suppose this is becoming a Prindle Family tradition! We left too late on our first day to make it all the way to the park, so we stayed in a comfy hotel in Fresno and jumped on the beds and watched The Little Mermaid--now that's its own kind of fun!
We kept the nine-hour drive exciting by promising the kids that we would do our best to find them snow when we got there. Turns out this has been a very dry winter! We managed to find some leftover snow covering the golf course across from the Wawona, and seized the opportunity to put on our snow gear and break out the sleds. Levi wasn't too thrilled with how hard and icy it was--definitely not something you want to fall too hard on! But it was fun nonetheless--and we made good on our promise :)
Levi had come down with a yucky cold and cough the day before we left, and cried and coughed throughout the night at the first hotel, so we decided to spend our first night in Yosemite in a room at the Yosemite Lodge to spare the other "campers" our drama and noise (we also were afraid that blasting the tent heater all night to stay warm would really exacerbate his cough). Although the room was ridiculously expensive for what it was (as all hotels in the Park are), I was relieved that it had been recently updated and was really nice and comfortable (there are as many "terrible" reviews for the hotel as there are "excellent" reviews on TripAdvisor, so it felt risky). It's still always a treat for me to stay in a "nice" hotel--it feels so cozy and novel to have the kids playing in the room and watching cartoons and movies in bed.
We rode our bikes around the Valley the next morning and had a picnic lunch looking out at Half Dome. Parker really wanted to spend a night in Camp Curry, and Levi was dying to go "camping," so we decided to chance it and get a tent cabin for the night. Both boys were really excited to play in the tent, and they both actually slept amazingly all night long. Jared and I were cold and kept awake all night by other campers traipsing around outside after midnight. Happy New Year's Eve to us! (Don't get me wrong, it was totally worth it for the kids to have so much fun.)
We left around lunchtime the next day and headed out to Rail Road Flat to pay Grandpa Geoff a quick visit. It was fun to see him and check out the progress on the sailboat that he is building in his garage up in the mountains. We're looking forward to spending more time with him down here this summer! We began the long drive home and spent the night in Stockton (even hitting the hotel hot tub before bedtime) before making the long, boring, very busy drive all the way to Oceanside. We were all really happy to get out of the car by dinnertime!
All of our mini-vacations made this feel like a very long and full Christmas break. We went out sailing every day in the Montgomery for our last three days here at home before real life begins again tomorrow, which was also a treat in itself.
Our first hotel in Fresno--Levi packed up his new suitcase from Grammy and Grampa with Christmas toys and took it with him everywhere on the trip. It was so perfect and useful!
Coloring in undies after bath time at the Yosemite Lodge.
Playing Bananagrams--a stocking stuffer from Christmas.
More TV time--Charlie Brown's New Year's Eve.
Presenting: the tiny bit of snow we found in the Park--we had been talking up snow for the entire drive, and the kids were dying to have some snow play time. We did our best with what we were given! It was pretty hard and icy, but the sleds moved a bit and it was cold :)
Riding bikes in the Valley--our snow gloves came in handy here to stay warm!
Half Dome
Levi's hands were utterly freezing--here he is in Daddy's snow gloves.
Bike helmets also make handy rock climbing gear.
Giving the little cougher a lift up the trail.
Celebratory bed jumping in our tent cabin.
Testing out their beds.
Looking for animals.
First order of business: make bed. Second: unpack every single toy and surround yourself with them.
I love this picture of them!
Jared made this family portrait for Levi. He was so enamored with it--we hung it over his bed that night, and he ran over and gave Jared a big thank you hug.
Animals!
We couldn't leave Yosemite without getting some photos in our usual spot. I want to be able to see the kids grow up over the years here!
Super sleepyheads--after a late night in our hotel in Stockton. I think this was at almost 9am! I love that we can have a "kids' bed" and "grown ups'" bed now when we travel! Despite how much they drive each other crazy when they're awake, somehow they are able to share their personal space quite peacefully come bed time.
We tried to stop at In-N-Out for lunch in the Middle of Desolate Nowhere along the 5 on the way home, only to find a line of literally 50 cars waiting at the drive through and not a single place to park within sight. So we hit the road and found this taco truck on Yelp instead--parked next to a tire repair shop on the side of the road. Believe it or not, this made for a much more pleasant lunch experience.
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