Yosemite, Day 2

 Our budding birder.  She is pointing at a blue jay on the rock in the center of the photo above.

 Yosemite Falls.  It is a nice paved walk up to the lower Yosemite Falls.  Many people were playing in the water so we took off the kids' shoes and let them wade a bit until Eliza needed to go potty.  We cut our visit to the falls short and headed back down to the bathrooms.

 Yosemite Falls.  Boy, it was a hot day.

We parked our car in the parking lot and then walked all over the valley with the kids in the stroller or walking.

 We crossed one of the many bridges over the river and stopped at a little beach so the kids could play in the water.  Coulson fell asleep before we got there and slept for 3 hours in the stroller.  I couldn't believe it.  The boy was tired.

 Eliza LOVED playing in the cool water.  We stayed at this beach for at least 1.5 hours.  Next time we are bringing inner tubes!

 Eliza has started dancing around and smiling whenever we pull out the camera.  She is so funny.

Coulson is asleep in the stroller in the background.


After our relaxing stop at the beach we walked through the Valley back to our car.  By this time Coulson woke up so we got in the car and drove to the other end of the valley to see the Happy Isles trail and the runoff from Vernal Falls.  We sat at the bottom of the very steep trail for several minutes contemplating whether or not we could make it up there with the kids in the stroller.  The hike was .8 miles.  It was a very steep trail...reminiscent of the hills I used to climb in Minas Gerais, Brazil:

Finally Cody decided we could do it, so up we went.  Up, up , up we went.

 As we scaled the mountain I started to have visions of our return hike down those steep, steep grades.  I could see Cody slipping and the kids rolling off the side of the mountain in the stroller pulling Cody over with them.  I am a bit paranoid, if you can't tell already.

We got more than half way and then I talked Cody out of it.  I did not have a good feeling about it and because I believe that God loves us and communicates with us through the Holy Spirit through our thoughts and feelings, we decided to listen to that voice and start our descent.  As soon as we turned to go down the trail, I felt a literal weight come off my shoulders.  It was one of the most distinctive promptings I have ever had.  So what did I do??  I told Cody to never mind, let's continue up the trail, I felt so much better.  What a dummy.  After a minute or two I realized that I felt better because we listened to that still, small voice and that if we were to go contrary to it, we would deny ourselves the blessings of heaven.  So down we went.

 The view was beautiful and we enjoyed the rest of our hike down and back to the car.

 On our way back to camp we spotted a pretty little beach by the river so we pulled over.  We were all exhausted, hot and sweaty from the day.

It was the perfect end to our day.  The water was so clear and refreshing, it rejuvenated all of us.  Please ignore my hideousness, we were camping, ok.

 The kids absolutely loved it.  Water and rocks-- the perfect combination.

 Cody dunked his head.  So did I!  It felt so good!  We had the best time just splashing around and enjoying the water, it was a blessing.

Did you notice the kids are in different outfits in these pictures?  The water was so relaxing they both required new pants.  Nice.  I think we went through an entire thing of wipes on this trip.

We dried off and headed back to camp to make our bag of soup and go to bed.  The kids were asleep before their heads hit their blankets.  I slept much better.  And Cody, not surprisingly, slept like a rock.  We saw several deer.  No bears.  No mountain lions.  Thank goodness!  The park ranger that checked us in said there was a mountain lion 9 miles down the road near another campsite.  And I saw a bear as we drove into the valley earlier in the day so my paranoia is not completely off base here!