We had a lovely evening with Gram and Aunt Linda at the Citrus Classic Balloon Festival in Santa Paula. Seeing those hot air balloons all lit up at night is beautiful. It's fun being there as they set them up too. You never know what way they are going to sway, actually Georgie didn't like that part, it scared her a little bit.
Jacob didn't want any part of any of it. He'd had a busy day with two birthday parties already and he was grumpy. (total understatement!) He whined the entire evening about how he wanted to go home. He wanted to know where his friends were. He didn't want to eat his dinner. He was tired. On and on and on... he was really fun to have around.
Headed to IKEA with Gram today to pick up a few things. The kids enjoyed walking through all the 'houses' and looking at the kid section. They enjoyed their mac-n-cheese lunch in the cafe. They REALLY enjoyed the ice cream at the end of the adventure.
And Naomi had her first experience sitting up in a stroller. Initially she was in the babyhawk but one of us (not sure if it was her or me or both of us) was just too hot and sweaty and she was completely uncomfortable and mad and wanted out. She's still so young I worried that she wouldn't be able to sit up very long in the stroller so we used the babyhawk for extra support. She absolutely loved being able to see where she was going! {although her riding meant Georgie had to walk... which she wasn't always so happy about!}
We've been wanting to break Georgie from her pacifier for months now. Our original plan was that it'd be gone before she started nursery (18 months), but that's when she started weaning and I didn't want to do both at once. Then she decided to potty train... and then Naomi was about to arrive and it seemed like too many changes to make her deal with so we waited.
We waited, but as paci's were lost they weren't replaced.
For the past few months she's had two. And held onto them for dear life.
On our drive to Yosemite she chewed through one of them- making it a choking hazard- so I tore the tip all the way off and gave it back to her. Of course she quickly realized something was wrong with it and gave it back to me. I told her it was broken and we'd have to throw it away.
She was ok with that because she still had her "pink paci".
This past Thursday she chewed through her pink paci too. And again, I tore off the end and gave it back to her, but this time she knew what would happen so she continued to use it anyway.
Friday around nap time she was frantically looking for "my pink paci" but we couldn't find it anywhere.
{I planned to take a picture of it Friday morning and write this post.}
And three days later we still haven't found it. I have no idea where it is, but I'm sure its here somewhere.
I asked John if he tossed it. I even called him at work on Friday to see if he knew where it was, she was that upset about it. But he had no idea either.
She's gone 3 days without it now. Bedtime hasn't been a problem. But she did ask for it on the way home from church (when she usually falls asleep).
One of these days it's going to show up, hopefully John or I find it so we can quickly throw it away without her seeing it!
We've been inside pretty much all week. I haven't felt like getting out and my kids have been totally content (although completely insane!!) staying home. I knew we needed to be outside, doing something, but was too lazy to do anything about it and honestly, didn't really feel up to it myself.
Heather called this morning to see if Jake wanted to play since they are heading out of town for a week. Of course he did, but once I told him we were going to feed the ducks... he changed his tune. He started whining and crying about how he didn't want to go, how he didn't want to play with Kyle. I knew immediately that he was scared, something about 'feeding the ducks' wasn't sitting comfortably with him.
We talked it through (which pretty much means I said, "Jake we're going. You don't have the feed the ducks. Now stop crying.") and he put on a brave face.
Once we got there Jake & George jumped out of the car and ran over to see the ducks. He'd totally forgotten that he was afraid. (Thank goodness because I was done for the day with his nonsense.) When Kyle got there he was so excited and told him all about the ducks.
We spent a little while there feeding the ducks, watching the ducks, and (Heahter & I) doing our best to keep the little ones from falling in and then we headed to Golden Spoon for frozen yogurt.
After that we came home for a few hours.
Later this evening we met the Keil's at the park for a little dinner/evening in the park. It was really nice.
These kids are so stinkin' cute together. I love that they've become such good friends. I dread the day when they're separated.
We took another road trip this weekend. This time we found ourselves in Yosemite National Park. It was absolutely amazing and beautiful and exhausting and fun. We met a few friends from our ward there, they were camping all week and we, along with the Keil's, joined them on Thursday. It was fun getting to know the Illum's and Jeff Bartley better.
On Thursday we causally made our way to the park. We stopped for lunch in Fresno and met up with the Keil's for the drive into the park. Our first stop in Yosemite was the Mariposa Sequoia Grove to see those amazing trees.
Our next stop was Tunnel View.
Breathtaking.
Then we made our way into camp to set up, have dinner, and chat by the fire.
Friday we were up bright and early on our way to see Lower Yosemite Falls. So impressive.
Next we made our way to Bridalvail Falls... and got soaking wet.
Then it was back to camp for a quick lunch and then off again to Sentinel Beach to cool off and play in the river.
And back to camp for some dinner, "wipeout", play time, & a bear sighting.
We ended the evening with a hike to Mirror Lake. It was a nice hike but after seeing that bear in camp and knowing he was being pushed toward Mirror Lake I was a little nervous the entire hike. I tried my best to be brave and courageous for Jacob though. He was scared to death and asked to go back to camp the entire time!
Finally, after a busy and fun-filled day it was time to head back to camp for bedtime. Thankfully our kids were absolutely worn out and fell fast asleep so John and I could visit with the other adults by the campfire.
I didn't sleep very well that night for two reasons: one, I was constantly aware that there could be (and probably was) a bear nearby, and two, our air mattress was as flat as a pancake and I was on the hard ground.
The next morning, Saturday, we were up even earlier than the day before thanks to our kids falling asleep from pure exhaustion the night before.
We knew we had to be out of camp by noon so we quickly packed up a few things, grabbed our backpack, and headed out for one final hike. We decided to go see Vernal Falls. The hike was about as far as the others we'd already done, but it was so much harder. There was a time there when I thought I wouldn't make it. It was a really steep hike and we just kept going up and up and up.
Before the hike really got going there was a sign listing how far each of the destinations were. We stopped there for a minute to look it over and commented on how only crazy people would do the hike to Mount Whitney via the John Muir Trail that was 211 miles.
After we started our hike I kept thinking about who would possibly do that, especially since Heather said that from the trail head to Half Dome was pretty much straight up. Who would possibly be that crazy?!?!?
As we got to the footbridge and experiended the incredible beauty and force of the Vernal Falls we took a rest. I started chatting with the girls next to me... and they were those "crazy people". They were on their first day of the 211 mile John Muir Trail to Mount Whitney. They said it would take them about 3 weeks to do... and that they only had 8 days of food with them. My thoughts kept oscillating between being in awe of their adventure and thinking they were insane. I sure hope they make it and enjoy their journey.
On our way down Georgie fell asleep while John carried her.
Poor John, he had to carry her on almost all of our hikes. He had a heavy load. I carried Naomi, he carried Georgie and, thankfully, Jacob walked.
Once we got back off the trail it was time to head back to camp and pack up. Our adventure in Yosemite was quickly coming to an end. While we were loading the car a fellow camper stopped and asked John if he knew we'd had a bear in our camp last night. He said that around 10pm he was walking his dog and saw the bear. Apparently his dog spooked the bear because he says the bear puffed up and ran off into the trees. I am so glad we didn't know this last night because we were all sitting by the campfire and our kids were sound asleep in the tents... right where the bear was. I NEVER would've been able to go to sleep had I known last night!!
As we made our way out of the park we stopped in Yosemite Village to get some souvenirs and then made our way to see the valley floor from the top of Glacier Point.
By the time we go there Jacob and Naomi were out cold, but Georgie was awake and wanted to see the valley. (She commented the entire time we were in the valley about the mountain next to our campsite -- which was Glacier Point -- so she was very interested in seeing it from the top.)
John says the view did not disappoint.
We had a wonderful, but exhausting, time in Yosemite! It was fun to be there as a family, as well as have such good friends with us. We can't wait to go back!! Especially when the kids are bigger so we can go further on the hikes... and not have to carry them! :)
This is the video slide show Heather made from her pictures. She is so amazingly talented!!
He's hiding under his new blanket.
TheFeministBreeder
