We were beyond blessed to get to stay in the Ahwanhe Hotel for a dental conference. Yosemite is a place that my soul feels fed and rested and I can marvel in the creations of an amazing God who loves nature and things that are beautiful and peaceful. The hotel was old and not a typical four star, but you're in a National Park so what do you expect? :)
The one and only time the kids swam since it was a bit too cold without a hot tub to get out. :)
Isaiah was mad that I forget his swim shirt.
Eventually Noah gave him his and then they both decided it was WAY too cold so they got out for a pretzel break.
We took a bike ride with Grandpa while Phil was in class the first day.
We went to the Visitor's Center and these two didn't want to watch the movie so we had a snack outside.
Then we explored how the Indians lived by crushing acorns with rocks in their old rock holes--I know there's a real word for them, but I can't recall it for the life of me.
Later that day we went and climbed Yosemite Falls. The water being GONE is a fun treat this time of year...
I think Elijah should be the poster boy for the park with the shirt and all. :)
We decided to make Phil try and get IN the picture...
Hooray. It was pretty funny seeing him have 10 seconds to clamber over the rocks to get to us.
This view is beyond amazing. That little pond is what is left of the waterfall run-off.
The two above came with me back to the footbridge while the two below headed with Phil to the base of the falls.
A place that not many have been and Phil had to see.
huh?
They were out of site for a while...
When they came back we were building things with rocks in the bed of the river. This is usually the place where we would die. I find it so strange to be able to be there.
This kid could NOT get enough climbing. In fact, I had people commenting on "that kid" being so amazing and good at that. Please don't let it be a future goal to climb El Capitan.
Some of our artwork. Phil in his usual need to take pics of me. :)
Grandpa and Grandma had a nice break on the log while we climbed. We're sure glad they got to be there!
Rock tower building.
Bathroom break. haha
We went and watched the "walnuts or wall nuts" on El Capitan. How do they stand this?
I can't imagine sleeping in those?!
We took a tram tour of the valley.
I mean really. That is breathtaking. This is the spot where at age 14 Ansel Adams took his first photograph. Pretty cool. ;)
I showed the kids the Indian face on Half Dome.
Each time the bus took us past this Elijah wanted to go explore it.
So we did.
On an evening bike ride we ran into a lot of bucks and does.
We found a natural slide.
She got up there 3-4 times and cried each time that she didn't want to have to go down. ? We couldn't get her to quit going up. haha
On the last day we took one last ride (almost 4 miles!) and we hiked to see the landslide from a few years ago.
We found feathers, and this. Yes, that's bear scat, we think. It was pretty new so we ran back to the bikes.
I mean it doesn't get better than this.
Isaiah was EXHAUSTED by the end. He doesn't look happy because I don't think he was. He just kept saying, "I'm going to go back to Grammy." Emi was wise and stayed with Grammy. :)
Noah had a hard time at the end, but he was still happy he did it! :)
This kid, with his bike with gears, rocked it.
Goodbye to this view from our room…it was hard to leave.
One more stop on the way home to Knight's Ferry covered bridge.
Emi decided to bring this hat. I decided to have a Downton/Gatsby moment. :)
Seeking a geocache…which ended up being IN the bridge. Oh well. :)
Take my picture, Mom.
Don't let Elijah touch me. He beat me across the bridge.
Those are genuine happy smiles from all. Phil might have mentioned a certain Professor's name which might have been Dumfart. That got us all giggling every time. :)
