Vacation fun - from the mountains to the beach!

Or should we say from the rain to the sunshine................... We had such an adventure this past week and although it wasn't exactly what we had planned it was a great vacation after all. There was good food, great friends and the AMAZING sights and sounds of Yosemite. What more could we have asked for? Well, maybe for it to have stopped raining and to NOT be so freezing during the night. Yep, the weather didn't cooperate with us. We had a lot, well a tremendous amount of rain for the short amount of time we were there. In an effort to document our trip as best as possible I think I will just write it out like a vacation journal.

Thursday, April 30th - We hit the road a bit later than planned (11:30 am) but better late than never. The drive itself wasn't bad, it was all the potty breaks that we had to take. Between one preschooler, a potty training toddler and a pregnant woman we made several bathroom breaks :-o Once we hit the curvy roads of the Yosemite mountains we discovered that Benjamin gets car sick. He vomited twice in about 30 minutes - poor thing. He was a real trouper and barely cried, just said "sick momma" and "smells yucky". YES it did! We drove the remainder of the way to our campsite with the windows down. We arrived at about 7:00 pm and our friends were all there and thankfully had checked us in. The Wilson's had prepared a yummy dinner and we were very grateful to have a hot meal after that long drive. The campsite was really cool - 3 walled tents with a heavy curtain-type 4th wall. We all hung out until about 8:30 then headed in for bed. Ben and I slept in the double bed and Branden and Jack took the bunk beds. Jack was on the bottom and Branden on top. We actually slept pretty well. It started raining around 10:00 and kept it up ALL night long.

Friday, May 1st - The boys of course woke up super early, but that was okay. It was only sprinkling when we left our tent. We all went for a short walk past our camp and over a bridge. The boys were loving leaning over and looking at the swift moving river beneath. We had a BEAUTIFUL view of the mountains from our campsite and from the bridge. It was an amazing way to start the morning.

We headed back to our camp for a coffee refill and bathroom break. While standing at our camp visiting we saw two deer walking along the river. They were so close and peaceful looking. They were just walking along and then they jumped a little fence to keep on going. The boys (Branden and I as well) thought it was amazingly beautiful to watch.

After eating the yummy breakfast prepared by the Powers Family and visiting for a bit, Branden took the boys on a bicycle ride around the area. We are SO grateful to have borrowed our friends bike trailer to haul the boys in. They LOVED it! Thanks again Weems Family!

We all gathered for a nice hike to the Lower Yosemite Falls. Not sure how far it was - maybe 2 miles or so. Not a bad walk, especially since we were all together chatting and enjoying the beautiful sights. At one point our friend Jeff was pushing a stroller with 5 kids on it - 3 were his :-). It started to rain about half way into our walk, but we kept chugging along. It was COMPLETELY worth it once we reached the base of the Falls. It was an amazing sight. It was so strong and the wind was blowing pretty hard so we were getting even more wet from the falls. Ben loved it! Jack was cold and tired from the walk but I know he was blown away by the beauty of the Falls and by being so close to it. We were able to take a shuttle bus back to our camp which was a saving grace. We were able to get off our feet for a bit, dry off in the warm bus and see some more of the sights by bus. It was a really great morning!

The boys were totally pooped after the long hike and both went down for good naps :-) We were grateful! It gave me some down time, and Branden time to go to the laundry facility to wash Ben's car seat and all the yucky pucked on clothes! The rain continued to come down even harder and didn't stop. The ranger came by a few times to let us know that the Merced River, which we were less than 30 feet from was rising pretty quickly and that they might have to evacuate us (yikes!) We were all pretty much in limbo at the point trying to figure out what to do about the rest of our vacation. Thankfully we were still in good spirits and were determined to not let the rain and this news of possible evacuation ruin our trip. We all decided it was best that we eat an early dinner which was prepared by the Outten's with a little help from us (chicken fajitas and beans - yum yum!) to ensure that we weren't having to pack up during dinner. After dinner we all pretty much just stuck to our own tents since the rain was coming down pretty hard. We were VERY happy that we had thought to pack the laptop and a movie. We all cuddled up on the bed and Branden set up a movie for us. We watched Care Bears twice and Veggie Tales once during the short time we were in Yosemite. Jack and I even played our first official game of cards - war! It was a lot of fun and he is so good at identifying his numbers and determining which number/card is higher. It was really special "big boy" time that we were able to spent together.

Saturday, May 2nd - Although, we were never evacuated we knew the rain wasn't going to stop so we made the decision to pack up and drive home. It was sad but was the right decision. We didn't want to leave, but we also knew that 3 more days stuck in that tent with the boys was bound to turn ugly for all. So after a yummy breakfast prepared by the Mather Family with a little help from us (eggs and potatoes) we packed up the truck and headed home. It was LONG drive - took about 10 hours due to all the food and potty stops. Thankfully, we arrived safely and everyone went straight to bed.

We were determined to salvage the last few days of our vacation so we jumped on line and secured the last spot available at Bolsa Chica for Sunday and Monday night. So, Sunday morning we unpacked the winter coats and threw in our bathing suits and headed down to the beach . I will post more about that super fun and relaxing part of the trip soon.

Here's a link to snapfish if you want to see more Yosemite pics: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=662678008/a=33561242_33561242/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish