Our Camping Trip

And we're back! We survived our camping adventure in Yosemite with my brother and his family and a friend of his (and his family). It was a great week but, as always, it is also great to be back home. I think I finally have all the dirt out from under my fingernails! And oh how I love my bed, my glorious bed!

I am still surprised that all we had fit in our truck, even though we could not see out the back or check the blind spots. Next year we will have to get a pod or something to go on the rack on the top of the truck. But then again next year we won't have to haul a pack-n-play for Isabel either.

We left Modesto Monday morning and caravaned up to Yosemite. Everything worked out with our camp sites and we even managed to be altogether. Praise God! When we were checking into our site the ranger lady told us that the bears were horrendous this year. Yes, she used the word 'horrendous'. When we got to our site our 'neighbor' told us that the night before a bear got into one of the bear boxes a couple sites down. I think most of us were a little nervous about the bear situation but we were good about putting all food and toiletries away (we even went at far as pulling out the car seats so a bear would not go after the crumbs and leftovers that manage to lodge themselves in our vehicle). One night as we sat around the camp fire we heard a man yelling 'get away bear!' several times! He was not too far away either! I am thankful that the only bear we saw was in an open meadow and from the vantage point of a bus!

We rented bikes one day and took a great ride around the valley floor. We had to rent a bike with a trailer for Caleb and Isabel, and helmet rentals were required for the trailer. Poor Isabel....the only way she could see was to hold the helmet up! It was cute but I can only imagine that it was tiresome for her (maybe that is why she fell asleep as we headed back to camp).

Another day we hiked up one of the trails to Vernal Falls. We didn't go all the way up, only to a bridge that gives a great view of the falls. It is a popular stopping point with drinking fountains and bathrooms. We took a nice break there before heading back down. Ryan was not able to join us that day since there was no way to take Isabel. She is too big for the baby back pack and we only had room for the umbrella stroller (which is not trail-friendly). I must say though that the gym must be doing me some good! The next day I only felt a little bit of soreness. I had expected to be entirely sore, but that was not the case. Whoo-hoo!!!

The kids did pretty good. Although Ryan was pretty worn out from keeping Isabel in camp! She likes to wander around. A lot! You know you're not doing such a good job of keeping an eye on your kids when one of your 'neighbors' says 'You may want to get Isabel, she's running out of camp!'. Yes, by that point she knew Isabel's name. I think Isabel made her mark on the camp site, for sure! She could be heard early in the morning saying/yelling 'Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!' Another fellow camper, not in our group, responded from their own tent one morning and said 'Daddy, would you get that child!' Oops! Sorry lady! Overall, though, the kids did great. They got dirty, they played with the other kids, and actually didn't do too terribly bad with going to sleep at night.

It was a great week. I loved being able to spend time with my brother and his family. I am so grateful for the opportunity to take this vacation. We continue to be blessed with our move to Southern California and being closer to family. I look forward to having more times like we had this past week.