Vacation 2009

All I can say is we had an amazing trip. Our trip began with a drive through the Sequoia National Park. That was an amazing drive. We stopped and walked through an area of trees that were so unbelievably huge. We looked like little ants standing next to these trees.

This day also happened to be Scott's 36th birthday. The kids and I made sure we sang really, REALLY loud in the car on the drive up. We took him out to dinner after we left the park. Of course he enjoyed his favorite sandwich (California Chicken Burger) from Red Robin.

Our time in Yosemite was so much fun. We went on several challenging and beautiful hikes. One of our favorite hikes was to the top of Vernal Falls (2 miles, up the mountain, one way). We were unaware at the time that this was one of the more challenging hikes in Yosemite. The kids were amazing. I had no doubt either of them would make it to the top. There were 600 steps near the falls we had to climb. The mist from the waterfall completely soaked us! It was a spectacular thing to see though.

We spent a day at Bass Lake which is outside of Yosemite. The funniest part of that trip was running into one of Mady's Girl Scout friends. We realized that day how small our world really is. We just happened to pick a very small, secluded beach to stop at because there was only one other family there. The family ended up being her friend. The kids spent the day playing in the lake on rafts while Scott and I enjoyed relaxing on the sand.

We ended our vacation with a short visit to San Francisco. We had so much fun there and plan to take another trip so we can see more. We drove in on the Bay Bridge (this is the one that collapsed during the earthquake many years ago). Needless to say that scared me a lot. We also drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. We decided to take a drive to Golden Gate Park and stumbled on the King Tut exhibit. This was truly spectacular. I am so glad we found this because it was something Scott and I both learned about in school and something the kids will eventually learn themselves. Both kids loved the exhibit but Mady was the most drawn to it. There were ten rooms to visit and she read everything on each exhibit. She was completely fascinated by what they were able to create so long ago. The rest of our time in SF was spent walking through the streets and enjoying the BEST hot fundge sundae we have ever had!

Our 2009 vacation was another adventure we were able to take as a family. We had such an amazing time making some incredible memories together. We laughed so much during out trip. The best part was being able to do all of it together!