Yosemite!

We decided for our big family trip this summer, we would take the family to Yosemite National Park, CA. Wow! What an amazing trip it turned out to be! I hope you all get a chance someday to see this incredibly beautiful place. I already can't wait to go back someday. So, once again I am posting billions of pictures to show what we did on our vacation.



We talked my parents and baby sister Bug into coming along. It was so nice to have them there.
Thanks so much for coming guys! You make it extra fun!!!

The most amazing thing I saw in the park, I saw on the first day. We went to the Mariposa Grove where the giant Redwood trees are.

I knew these trees would be big, but it wasn't until I saw the first one that I realized just how incredibly enormous they actually are. I can't describe the feeling of awe I got standing next to this one! I had to stop and get our picture by the bottom of it. Then we left this one and went on to the really BIG ones.

I never could quite get the top of a tree in the picture. Can you see little Brooklyn on the trail to the right?

Here is Payter getting really close to some of the wildlife!

If this one is huge-

What would you call these ones??

Seriously, the pics don't do it justice. I thought once you saw one, they would just seem like more of the same thing, but I couldn't get enough of them. Truly incredible.

The next day's highlight was a ride on the Sugar Pine Railroad. It was a little narrated tour of the logging they used to do there on a really cool old train. The kids thought it should have gone faster.

We got to stop and explore at a place and take some pics. Grandma and Grandpa made sure to spoil the kids at the gift shop. :)

Check out this pine cone! It's as tall as Zack!

Our condo was 15 min. from the park entrance in a place called Bass Lake. Here is the actual lake, just a short walk from the condo.

Such a pretty place!

They kids went right to work building their little civilivations- I'd say WAY funner than the sandbox back home.

We had lots of fun picnics and hiked to a few waterfalls-

Behind Lukie is Bridal Veil Fall, when we hiked to it there was so much mist at the base that I couldn't even look up at it- let alone get a picture.

This one is Lower Yosemite Falls. This is only half of the falls- (yep, there is an upper) We didn't go clear to the top, but found out this is the tallest waterfall in North America.

Oh La La!

We wanted to do a few of the more strenuous hikes, but since my mom's back and little legs don't always do well on them, my parents very graciously offered to take Luke and Payter so we could get in a day of good hiking.

The first hike we chose was to the top of Vernal Fall. We knew it would be a tough hike for the kids, because the trail went up, up, & up! They were great troopers, and I didn't hear too much belly-aching.

I'm not sure if you can tell from this picture just how steep the trail was- and since we were climbing so fast, we had to keep hold of little hands to make sure they didn't get by the edge!
The trail was called the "Mist Trail" because it took us right up next to the side of the fall once we were close to the top. We got pretty wet!

The kids were so excited when we got to the top! We made it!! What a sence of accomplishment, and an amazingly beautiful waterfall and view as a reward. After a short break and some trail mix, the kids were begging us to continue up the trail which surprised me since it was another mile or so of similar difficulty- but they were sure they could do it, so on we went!

Here we are close to the top of Nevada Fall (the next destination). Zack was a trooper, but Jeff did end up packing him some.

There is another view of Nevada Fall once we were up and past it. We chose a different route down that was actually 2 miles longer, but not as steep and strenuous. We were all getting a little tired at this point. The whole hike ended up being about 6 miles. Good job kiddos!!!!!

Our second to last day my dad and Jeff wanted to do the second biggest hike on the agenda- which the rest of us opted to hang out at a beach along the river and drive there instead since it was a one-way trail you could drive to.

It was a very windy and steep road and was very cold once we got up because we were very high and it was evening. The place is called Glacier Point and it had one of the most amazingly breathtaking views I remember ever seeing. While we waited for dad and Jeff to finish their hike, I decided to take a bunch of pictures- (none of them did the view justice).

As I am snapping away, one of the kids informed me the hikers were standing right behind me, laughing at us and taking OUR pictures- They had done the hike much faster than anticipated, and were actually there waiting for US.

I know this is not the best picture- but it showed a few landmarks. On the right you can see the two falls we hiked to earlier- and on the left (with it's head in the clouds) is Half Dome. Jeff conqured that one on his own on Saturday as his own little climax of the trip. The hiking guide said it was a 16 mile 10-12 hour hike and the last part is so steep, you use two steel cables to get up it. It seemed more like rock climbing than hiking to me, but once again Jeff took us by surprise and was back in record time- it took him only 4 1/2 hours to get up and back- and that's even factoring his waiting for his turn on the cables. All I can say is Wow. He had some cool pictures, but they are all on my sister's camera. If Glacier Point was an incredible view, I can only imagine what that one was like.

Well, even though that was long, it WAS the condenced version. Hopefully my recap was not boring. It is fun to relive it as I am telling about it. What great memories. I hope my kids remember that one always!

A few May highlights

This was an extra eventful month for us as I'm sure it was for many of you. Lots of activities the kids have been involved in have sort of wrapped up for the summer, and because of this we got to go to several programs, presentations, ect.
Being the hair-brained person I am, of course I didn't remember to take my camera along to some things, but I was able to document a few.

Here we go- in no particular order...

Kobe and his dad worked hard in the wood shop and made an awesome car for the scout Pinewood Derby. He dubbed it "Midnight Driver" (or something like that-) Kobe inherited that ultra-competitive bone from his dad and I could tell he was disappointed that his car was not the fastest, but I was able to get a smile. His car did get an award for the sleekest body. Look how aerodynamic!

What Kobe was excited about was his 'Fifth Place' medal in the second grade spelling bee. Nice how I never knew anything about it. I guess the study list never made it out of the backpack. He has informed me he would have taken first place had he studied.

Of course we had all the fun last-day-of-school stuff on Wednesday. It's funny how excited I was for school to get out! I thought you didn't get that once you personally were out of school! Brooklyn had her kindergarten singing program and a little party afterwards. She had a great time this year and loved her teacher. Oh well- on to first grade!

Gymnastics wrapped up for Lexie and her class got to show off their stuff for the parents. Also, Lexie worked hard on a big class project where they worked several weeks reserching an animal, making a poster, and doing a presentation. She chose the raccoon and was really excited because Unkie Moyd let her borrow his raccoon skin to use as a visual aid. We got to go to the school and see her give her presentation. She did awesome! Sorry no pic.

End of year means piano recital for Lexie and Kobe. They've been working extra hard and performed 2 songs each. We were very proud of their efforts! I was also proud of the little kids in the family for attempting to sit quiet during a long and late recital. Of course, my camera went dead during the first song I tried to record, so I made them do a mock recital at home after and just took pics by our piano.

Spring Soccer wrapped up for Brooklyn and Kobe. I didn't get a pic at Brooklyns party. I am always relieved when soccer is over, but the kids really have fun doing it. I guess that's why we do it again. (and again...) Kobe was chosen for the Select team which he is really excited for. We are excited for him also, but it has its drawbacks- like Jeff no longer being able to coach him, doing some traveling for games, more involved practice schedule, more $$$$$, (am I sounding negative?)

Okay there is no story or event to go with this, just a picture I thought was too cute :)

And last thing to report tonight- Yeah Brooklyn!!

Since Brooklyn no longer needs those training wheels, we have been able to do some fun family rides now that the weather is nice. She picked it up so quick, we should have done it sooner! We did the Green Belt- which for those of you who are not familiar with Boise- is a walking/biking path which follows the Boise River for several miles and goes through a few of the big downtown parks. We had so much fun! Too bad I forgot my camera.

The kids also got up early for the last 2 weeks of school so they would have time to ride their bikes to school. Jeff goes with them and he thinks Brookie drives like a pro!

Okay, I have to give last Saturday it's own post because I took a ton of pictures. We spent most of the morning doing yard work- which I was very excited about. Jeff even had Lexie and Kobe mowing the lawn. I thought it was cute to see so I took a picture. Notice Kobe's face? Now there is a look of determination!! (actually, for some reason Jeff didn't tell him about the self propel lever- )

Here is the future of Safari! Notice how much more fun when your Mom clues you in on one little minor detail...

Before lunch hit we headed up to meet some friends at our favorite river spot on the Payette. When we got there the river was higher than we had ever seen it and there was hardly any beach. I was so bummed and thought we were just going to have to turn around and go home. Our friends were such good sports though, and we made the best of the situation, and it actually turned out to be really fun.

We had to share what little beach there was with 3 Russian dudes who sat and fished and smoked the whole time. Jeff thought it was awesome and brushed up on his fluency while I was secretly hoping they would get annoyed by all the kids and leave :)
They were pretty tolerant of our crowd, however, and even gave the kids a little fish that was the highlight of the afternoon for most of the kids. No one even cried when we had to let it go.

Here's Payter's sweetest face after like her second or third handful of licorice...

Lukie had a ball- I can't believe how much sand he had on his HEAD by the end of the day...

I know I am not the best photographer and I shouldn't flaunt it, but this pic cracked me up, so on the blog it goes. Our dog, Molly, apparantly LOVES the water and would freak out trying to bite it if you splashed her. It was pretty funny...

Everybody was pooped after. I bet Lexie is glad she sits on this row with the sleeping babies-

And not on this row. (I'm glad I'm not back there)

On the way home we stopped in at the storage units. I have never actually took pictures of it, so I thought I'd get a few.

Our purpose in stopping was to let the kids (and us) do some weeding. Jeff told the kids they could earn some $$ if they did billing for Safari or yard work for Storage 55. They did awesome! Especially considering we forgot gloves.

This is the view from Hill Rd.-

Here is the gate going out-

And here's a few cute kids I found locked inside who were happy to pose for a picture!