Riley isn't quite the 20 pound minimum for turning her seat around
but I knew that the long drive would be better if she could see forward.
We arrived to our camp spot in Upper Pines just before dinner and quickly set up camp and then had a yummy Sloppy Joe dinner.
Riley was banished to the crib while we set up.
The boys took of to explore and climb a big rock near our campsite.
For our first day of fun we floated down the Merced River. My mom found a couple of boats at a yard sale to use and unfortunately they both had holes in them. We patched them up the best we could but still had some leaks. The boat Kam and I were in lost air pretty quickly so we had to take a portable hand pump with us to keep us afloat.
The rope swing near swinging bridge.
Riley fell asleep while going down the river so we had
a good rest while the kids played at Sentinel Beach.
Sentinel Bridge with Yosemite Falls in the background.
The next day we did a little hiking. We hiked up to both Yosemite Falls and Bridalveil Falls.
Lower Yosemite Falls
Hiking cousins with Bridalveil Falls in the background.
Bridalveil Falls
When you go on a trip you are pretty much guaranteed to forget something and on this trip we forgot to bring Riley's little highchair. It was really hard to keep her from getting messy, but then again we were camping and she still doesn't walk, so she was a mess anyway.
Later in the day we took a bike ride around Yosemite Valley and the neighboring campgrounds to scope out where we want to camp next year.
Riley fell asleep on the ride and it was a good thing too since she refused to nap that day.
On the third day of our trip we decided to let the kids play and swim at Sentinel Beach. A few of us floated the river down to the beach. We picked the better of the two rafts but still found ourselves sinking a little.
Riley and Navy were pretty funny together. They loved
giving each other kisses and helping each other out.
Riley was in heaven playing in the sand.
Carter was too.
Kam and I with El Capitan in the background.
Every night Riley got a tub (somehow I don't have a picture of her in the little tub) and the boys got their faces, hands, arms and feet washed but by day 3 the boys were pretty stinky so I made them get clean in the tiny tub.
On our last day in Yosemite we hiked to the top of Sentinel Dome. Most the kids fell asleep on our way up to the trail so it took a minute to get them into hiking mode. The hike was so pretty and really fun. Carter struggled a little with the distance and had to be left of the side of the trail for a while before we could convince him that it was worth finishing.
The kiddies with Pappy and Half Dome in the background.
The Cathedral Rocks and El Capitan in the background.
Carter was super excited that he finally made it to the top and
happily kept that good attitude for the hike back to the cars.
Later that day we rode our bikes over to a beach near North Pines campground to play.
The next morning we got up and started packing up. We were all ready to head out but Grammy's car died. We got it jumped and then headed to Yosemite Village to let the kids pick out a little souvenir.
On our way out of the park we stopped for a quick picture at tunnel view.
We were also going to stop and take the hike through Mariposa Grove to see the big sequoia trees but Braden got car sick driving through the canyon so we just kept heading toward home.
We had such a great time with our family and enjoyed the great beauties that our Heavenly Father has blessed us. Some of the big highlights besides the incredible picturesque views were climbing on the rock near our camp site, the free showers after 10 pm each night, having bears visit our camp during the night scaring us to death (not really, the kids didn't even wake up and luckily they only wanted to play with our water and left us alone in the tent.) We will definitely be coming back and most likely on an annual basis!
No comments:
Post a Comment