Yosemite

Six years ago, Jeff and I went to Yosemite for our honeymoon. We absolutely loved it and were so excited to have the chance to return for a weekend this summer!

The first day we drove to the high country along Tioga Road. We were going to do this the second day to gradually acclimate to the altitude by spending the first day in Yosemite Valley, but the weather forecast changed our minds - we decided avoid Yosemite Valley when the forecast was above 90! The only problem with that was that we didn't make all the hikes we wanted to - we became winded way too quickly. Plus we were tired from driving 5 hours that day!

The pictures do not do it justice at all, but this is Half Dome as seen from Olmstead Point. (Sean said "Big piles rocks!" and was very excited.)

Driving further east, we came upon Tenaya Lake.

Tenaya Lake had "little waves,"

so according to Sean it was safe to stick his feet in.

A rare picture of all three of us.

We look completely bored in this picture, but we were actually just enjoying a quiet, peaceful moment. It was AWESOME in the high country (we didn't go up there at all the last time we visited Yosemite - I had no idea what I was missing out on before!).

Driving further east we saw some people climbing up the face of this rock. They dropped one of their ropes and we watched it tumble all the way down to the bottom. They had to go all the way down to the bottom to get it, and I assume start over. We didn't wait to find out.

Next we came upon Tuolumne Meadows in August. Just grass. I don't think I saw any wildflowers.

We starting climbing up Pothole Dome, which I read about in a guidebook. The book said you could get to the top of in ten minutes starting from your car in the nearby parking lot.

The book forgot to mention that that's only true if you're used to the altitude! We were so exhausted from the lack of oxygen that we didn't make it. We got about 3/4 of the way up and just took some pictures. Sean likes to help me rewind the film in the camera.

Here is a shot including Tuolumne River. It kind of looks like a creek here. It would be interesting to return in the spring - I'm sure it looks completely different.

Lembert Dome.

The next day we spent in Yosemite Valley. We brought our bikes (one borrowed from our landlord, one borrowed from a coworker of Jeff's) to ride around. Unfortunately the first trail we went on was back in the woods, chock full of bugs. We got out of there so fast we didn't even take a picture! We biked on for a while, just wandering around. Then all of a sudden my bike tire was flat. We had to walk over a mile back to our tent, but we had trouble removing the tire and patching the tube, so we gave up. It was not a nice way to end our morning. I had been really excited about biking the whole day, all around the valley. We ended up riding the valley shuttle around the loop a couple of times, not knowing what else to do. since our plans were interrupted. Sean loved it, and it gave us a break for a while!

We decided to do a little hiking to the footbridge to Vernal Falls. The falls were barely going. In 2003 we were there in at the beginning of June, and it was spectacular. This was still pretty cool.

Sean fell asleep in the carrier, which he hadn't done in a long time. He wasn't able to nap in the tent because it was too hot, so I was wondering if he would nap at all that day. I'm glad he did because he was in a much better mood afterward!

Later we drove out the south entrance of the park and took a ride on the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad. It was really cool. Sean was very excited. We sat with another family who also had a 2-year-old, so that made it fun.

We topped off our trip with dinner at the Narrow Gauge Inn, which I highly recommend. We had gone there on our honeymoon and the food was so good we went out of our way to go back. Still delicious, and Sean had fun too!

Gravenstein Apple Fair

We took a little day trip to Sebastopol, CA for the Gravenstein Apple Fair. It was a lot of fun! They had a children's corner with some different activities. Sean really liked the "Musical Nails" board, I think because it involved marbles and reminded him of his favorite iPod game, Peggle. And of course I started dreaming up some crazy projects to do when we get back home! (Jeff will tell you I am always saying "That would be cool to have one at home! I could make that myself!" and then never doing it.)

Here is a little video clip of Musical Nails in action.

Sean and Dad found some gophers (I think) sticking their heads out of the ground.

There was also a little playground where Sean enjoyed sliding down backward.

And the highlight of the day, a choo choo ride! Seriously how many choo choo rides have we gone on this summer....? They have all been fun, that's for sure!

EB

EB was kind enough to visit us here in CA. We went to the Exploratorium, which was lots of fun. Pretty much everything was hands-on, which is Sean's kind of place! Also it was free that day which was an added bonus. That made it crowded, but I think everything in San Francisco is crowded during the summer anyway.

I didn't take any photos inside the museum, but outside and across the street by the marina there was a free fair. On the way we took a couple pictures of the GGB. I really should stop asking Sean to "smile" for pictures. :)

The fair had free bounce houses, activities, music, etc. Even free train rides!

While we were waiting in line for the train ride, some fighter jets flew by. And again and again, including red white and blue smoke. We wondered what was going on. Then, there were loads of people jumping out of airplanes. I have never seen so many parachuters in my life! Sorry this is a terrible picture with a dirty lens, but it's all I've got. If you look closely, you'll notice that the jumpers formed a "T." When we got home I checked the news, and all the craziness in the air was part of a filming for a T-Mobile commercial. It was really cool to watch, as well as to ponder the amount of money a very large corporation was spending on advertising.

Here EB and Mr. Sean go for the train ride.

When the train pulled away, I saw that in the marina there was a GIANT boat/ship/yacht - something huge. AND, look what it said on the side:

Yep, that's right, there was a Notre Dame yacht in the SF marina! So of course after the train ride we had to walk over and check it out up close.

We saw that the back door was open. I was wishing that Jeff were with me to walk right on and say "Hi! I went to Notre Dame!" But I am timid so we just stood there and looked at it for a few minutes, imagining getting on the boat and cruising the bay with some rich alumnus.

*****

We hung out around the house a bit, too. Sean and EB did some watercoloring. Sean generally just keeps his bike helmet on all the time when he's outside since he's on and off the bike so much.

We did a little running in the grassy patch by the pool.

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Back to the city.... we made a trip to the cable car museum, which I had been looking forward to for a long time. There were some displays inside about the history of cable cars in SF. I didn't realize that they once went all over the city (there are now only 3 lines I think). It was kind of sad to learn that. Back in the '50s the city got rid of them because people were driving their individual cars (among other reasons I'm sure). They almost got rid of all of them altogether, but at least a few were saved.

Sean loves gears and wheels and anything mechanical, as you probably already know. He enjoyed the museum.

The cable car museum is just a few blocks from Chinatown, so we spent the afternoon there and had dinner there. I found some Chinese Checkers for $2, which I thought was a pretty good deal. It also came with another board for some game involving dice and fighter jets. Most of the stuff we saw in the shops there made about that much sense. Anyway Sean likes it!

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We headed to Napa Valley one morning to see Old Faithful of California, a geyser. Sean was kind of scared of it at first, but then became interested as it sputtered, stopped, then came back about 10 minutes later. You can tell it was really hot that morning - Sean was red, sweaty, and really not in the mood for photos.

Did I mention it was hot? This was in the shade, too!

We had lots of fun with EB! Her presence was requested often during the week. "EB play with you?" was the most repeated phrase. (Sean is still working on learning how pronouns work. "You" and "me" are confusing!)



Next up, the Gravenstein Apple Fair, followed by our big trip to Yosemite then a visit from Uncle Paul! Stay tuned....

Video update

Here are a few videos from the recent past.



The first is from the dizzying outdoor concert we went to at the library.

Next up we have a pop-quiz session that should make Uncle Chris proud.

Finally, this is a sample of how Sean prays before meals.

New bike and other miscellaneous items

Grandma and Grandpa S. wanted Sean to have a bike while we're in California. He loves it!

Just kidding, that photo is from the Novato Farmer's Market - the police department was there and Sean got to sit on the police motorcycle and in a police car.

Here is Sean's new bike:

I know, not as cool as the police motorcycle, but much cheaper and more importantly much more practical! He plays with it every day. He either rides on it or gets out the screwdrivers and wrenches and takes pieces off and puts them back on. He's quite a little mechanic.



Here are my two boys having some "guy time" outside with the new bike.

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There was a concert at the library last week so we had a picnic dinner outside. Sounds like a good idea, but Sean ate two bites then was not interested in food. He just couldn't sit still long enough to eat with all the entertainment!

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There are always ants going back and forth on the sidewalk on our patio. Sean likes to watch the "ant highway."

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Dad found this "awesome new radio!" at a rummage sale recently. The knobs and dials were a big hit. That is until Sean got his new bike. He hasn't looked back! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa S!