Yosemite.

Oliver, my Godson.

Mike and I were lucky enough to spend the last week in Yosemite National Park with our good friends the Cardons.  They happen to be family, too, but we are lucky to count them as both.  I had never been to Yosemite before and was absolutely blown away by how beautiful it was.  I grew up hiking in Zion National Park and was used to vast spreads of red and orange, but I loved the subtle grays and dramatic rock faces of this beautiful area.  We arrived late Sunday night (we left after church) and set up camp, ate hamburgers, hot dogs, and s'mores, and hung out with the Lillians (not sure of the spelling).  They are the Cardons' friends from dental school and we were happy to meet them!  They're hilarious.

Day 1: The boys hiked Glacier Point and the girls sauntered over to Mirror Lake with the kiddies.  We had a great time playing in the water, climbing on rocks, and meeting two out-of-this-world, perfect-looking children named Maximus and Apollo.  We had amazing spaghetti for dinner.  I don't like typically like pasta but this stuff was delicious.  Isn't everything delicious when you are camping?  We finished off the night with s'mores, of course (have you tried Kinnikinnick gf "graham style" crackers?  Not too shabby)!  Oh yeah, I also inhaled a carrot chunk Monday night and nearly went into a full-on choking fit.  It was awful.  A woman walking by happened to be a nurse, thought I was having a full-blown asthma attack, and tried to come to the rescue.  Naomi also happens to be a nurse so I was in good hands.  Mike also thought it was time for the Heimlich, but luckily Naomi stopped him because I was still making noise (intense high-pitched wheezing).  It was kind of ridiculous. 

If you look closely you can see little orange specks...there were literally thousands and thousands of lady bugs flying around this afternoon!  I don't know if they had all hatched, or were migrating (do they do that?), or what, but it was pretty incredible to see them all!  It was also a relief, because if they had all been flies I would have felt really grossed out.

Day 2: We hiked to Vernal Falls and considered hiking up to Nevada, but due to time constraints and stomachs, we decided against it.  There is a gorgeous pool near the falls (and natural water slides!) that are off-limits.  After hiking straight up about ten million stairs in the heat, they seemed like a mean joke.  But considering that two people fell off the falls earlier this year, we decided to be safe and just look at the pool.  

Dinner that night consisted of chicken tacos.  And more s'mores, and yes, I'm going to tell you what we ate every night.  We also introduced the C&N to Munchkin that night.  The game is pretty easy once you get the hang of it, but it takes a while to get the hang of it...so after we all sort of figured it out, we went to bed.

 Half Dome.  I'd love to hike it someday!

Day 3:  Mike & Curt were nice enough to take the kiddies for the day so Naomi & I could hike Glacier Point.  It's about 5 miles up with a 3,000 foot elevation gain and provides unparalleled views of Yosemite Valley.  It's kind of funny because it is literally uphill the entire way (with tons of switchbacks), but when you finally get to the top, there is a store and tons of tourists that took the bus to get up where you hiked.  I'm glad that the view is accessible to everyone, but I think we may have appreciated it more.  After hiking back down, we all went to the river to play in the water with the kiddies.  Dinner that night consisted of vegetarian chili and...you guessed it.  More s'mores.  We also played Munchkin late into the night and ate lethal amounts of snack food (kettle corn, Nut Thins, Peanut M&M's, etc).

 Rhys is headed over the edge...

 We love this family!

Day 4: We had to go home.  It was really, really sad.  But we did go to this gorgeous view point on our way out of the park.  And we stopped by In-N-Out on the way home, which is entirely overrated (especially in comparison to 5 Guys), but still delicious just the same.  And please ignore my puffy allergy face.  I can't help it that I'm allergic to everything.

 Ryland looks like he's on fire!

Tarantulas spotted in the boys bathroom!

  

Trip Favorites:

- Realizing we don't get sick of the Cardons.  You always fear that you'll get sick of each other, and it's always a happy surprise/relief when you don't.  

- Little boys peeking under our rain fly and into our tent every morning.

- Watching how much those little rascals love my husband (and how much he loves them).

- Delicious food every night.

- Incredible scenery.

- Monkey bites.

- Not working.

- Running in Yosemite Valley.

- Spending entire days with my love.

- Watching parents that don't stop having adventures when they have children.

We loved Yosemite and definitely want to go back!  Thanks to the Cardons for inviting us!