Yosemite (Day 3)

We enjoyed another great day in Yosemite! We started in Mariposa Grove this morning to see the giant sequoia trees. We only hiked the first mile or so, since we had a lot on our agenda, but we saw plenty of the gorgeous trees!



On our way back to the Yosemite Valley, we saw some cars parked along the side of the road. I pulled over to ask what was going on, and discovered some bears! We jumped out to get a good look at the Mama bear and baby cub!

Our next stop was the old Yosemite chapel, the oldest building in the valley. I LOVE old churches and try to find them whenever we travel. This was one was adorable!



We found a great parking spot in Curry Village and walked to Happy Isles Nature Center. Mimi stayed and walked around there for a bit, while the kids and I hiked up to the Vernal Falls footbridge.
The views from this VERY steep hike were amazing! Here is the back side of Half Dome...


The kids really wanted to hike all the way to the top, but the trail gets pretty treacherous beyond this point, and I didn't want to risk it. Plus we didn't want to leave Mimi waiting too long! After lunch at the Yosemite Lodge, and some souvenir shopping, we headed out for another hike towards Mirror Lake.
Normally at this time of year there isn't much water, and the lake becomes a dry meadow, but due to the high amount of snowfall this year, we lucked out. We didn't even make it all the way to lake, the kids were ready to get wet at the base of the lake down the river.

Once again, they were begging to go into the water. We should have brought bathing suits along, but didn't think of it in the morning. I told them that if they REALLY wanted to go in, they could go in their underpants, and put on their dry clothes when they got out. They thought about it for a second, and were ready to jump in! Luckily, I had an extra t-shirt in my backpack, so Zoe was able to keep her shirt on.

They spent hours swimming, climbing up the river shoot, and jumping off rocks. This was one of the highlights of their trip!

Walking back to the car, a couple of deer came running out in front of us. We saw them several times and they came close!

We were exhausted after another very long day! We drove back to the hotel, and had a quick pizza dinner before hitting the sack. We were sad that it was our last night, and had to head home in the morning.

It sure was a fantastic trip, filled with lots of fun and good memories!! Thank you Mimi...now we need to come up with a new adventure for next year!

Yosemite (Day 2)

We got up early and couldn't wait to drive into Yosemite National Park. The drive was a little long, but absolutely beautiful. We saw our first of many deer in a meadow along the road.

Our first big stop was at Bridalveil Falls. This waterfall is absolutely gorgeous. I couldn't believe how much water was still falling this late in the summer! The kids couldn't believe how close we could get!

The area surrounding the falls was beautiful too, and the kids had fun climbing around the river and up rocks.

Our drive into Yosemite Village was breathtaking. The views all around are just magnificent.

We stopped in at the Ahwahnee Hotel just to look around. This hotel is gorgeous, and in the perfect location. Someday maybe we'll be able to stay here, but for this trip, we had a quick walk through!

We stopped for lunch in the village and a deer came right up to us. We couldn't believe he would come so close!

We walked around the village, in and out of the stores. Joe had been giving us a hard time about keeping the kids safe from bears, so Mimi had to take this picture of the kids and send it to him...

The Ansel Adams Gallery is full of stunning Yosemite photographs, and we walked through the Visitors Center, the Indian Museum and Village, and the old Yosemite cemetery.

We were ready for some hiking, so we headed over to lower Yosemite Falls. There is a great loop path to walk that takes you directly to the bottom of the falls. Of course the kids couldn't stay on the path, and spent the entire time walking on logs and climbing more rocks.



The trail takes you to the bottom part of the falls, but there are rocks that we were able to climb up to get closer. Mimi stayed at the bottom and the kids and I climbed as high as we could, while still staying safe. We had the best time getting soaked from the water, and trying not to slip as we went up. We were safe from the rushing water, but didn't want to fall on any rocks!

Even with very tired legs, we kept walking around this beautiful area. Zoe was begging to go into the water, so we let them take off their shoes and wade through a bit.


Time to clean up and put the shoes back on...
We grabbed some dinner in the village before hitting the road to drive back to the hotel. We stopped at Tunnel View on our way back. We had stopped early in the day, but it was a bit hazy, so we came back around sunset to check it out. It was gorgeous! El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridalveil all in one beautiful setting.
After a 12 1/2 hour day, we were back in the room. Time to get ready for bed to enjoy the next day. These kids sure can bicker, but they sure do love each other!