Yosemite Aug 11-13, 2009

Growing up, our most common summer vacation was going to Utah for a week. We loved spending time with our cousins. I remember cramming all 7 kids in the back of our 12 seater van. Dave and I usually shared the back seat. I would stair out the window, and he would lay down and sleep, propping his legs up in front of me. I remember talking a comb and combing his long leg hairs. Strange, the things we remember. Anyway, every once in a while we would break the mold and go to Yosemite. We went every couple of years. We'd camp by the river a raft down it. It was the only time we would ride our bikes, since the hill we lived on was too steep. We would have a great time riding down it, but could never get back up. So mom would have to come pick us up, or we'd have to push it all the way. I loved spending time with my family in the great outdoors! My brother, Scot, has fond memories as well, so he arranged a family trip this year. We were planning on camping, but last minute I got a little nervous about a new born in a tent and all these young kids. I had nightmares of them waking up in the middle of the night and falling into the river while we slept. So, my mom arranged for us to stay in one of the tents/bungalows. Scot and Brittany and Becky's family had sites next to the river, so we would go done there to play. It was absolutely gorgeous, and the kids had a blast!

Our first morning there, we went fishing. I guess Grant really likes fishing. I never knew! So we drove all over trying to find a good spot. Parked our car and hiked around a bit. Yosemite's not really known for it's fishing, so we (I mean Grant), just had fun in the process. I think we saw one fish the whole time we were there. But there were a whole bunch of guppies. After "fishing", we walked back to our car. Turns our we fished just down the hill from where we parked! lol!




Grant preparing the line.


Teaching the kids a thing or two!


Abby having a go!

Later that day we went "hiking". If I had my choice, I would do the big 14 mile hikes that take all day. That was my favorite part of girl's camp growing up. I even did the over nighter, sleeping under the stars, digging holes to do yo business. Man, some day we can take all the kids! But this time around, we did small 1 mile walks!

The kids loved the shuttle rides!


We ran into Mike, John, Mitch, and Zach on the shuttle. So they joined us! Thanks for taking the picture, Mike!


Our cute family in front of the water fall! (Gunnar's under the blanket-in case you couldn't figure that out!)


My fam and cute nephews!

We climbed to the base of Yosemite falls and had lunch with the squirrels!



"I'm the queen of the world!"


"Oh yeah!"



After a tiring day of hiking, we hit the water!




You WISH you had those glasses!


Cute cousins!





My sexy river guide!



We usually ate dinner together with the whole clan and then had a campfire, complete with skits and s'mores!





Here are pictures of our awesome tent! All of our food and smelly items had to be kept in these bear boxes. One night Grant heard some "kids" eating cereal at 3 in the AM. The next morning we found out it was a bear that had gotten into someone's food. They got in big trouble from the ranger for leaving their box open.



Now THIS is what I call camping!