Yosemite National Park-2013

We have been looking forward to this trip for a long time. You have to reserve your campsite many months in advance. Luckily between 4 computers, we were able to secure a spot in the Upper Pines of Yosemite Valley. They go so quickly.  We left Monday morning and arrived in the afternoon. This is "Tunnel View", as you are about to drive down into the Yosemite Valley.

DAY 1:

Setting up camp. A big thankyou to my mom for helping us with some of our supplies. I thought we could get by in a 4 man tent...........I was wrong. Thanks for the large tent.

 One of the highlights of the day, roasting marshmallows.

DAY 2:

Mariposa Grove-large sequoias. These trees are huge. The photos don't do justice. Some of them can be 25 feet wide around.  This first pic is showing a tree that has fallen down. Just look at the circumference of the roots!  The second photo is of the "Grizzly Giant". The girls did great hiking 3 miles round trip. Well, we had to hold Tay some of the time.

 After that we went to Bridalveil falls. A short 1/2 mile roundtrip walk. We climbed up high to the rocks so the waterfall could spray on us.

DAY 3:

We saw lots of wild life. We saw many deer, even in our own campsite. We saw lots of squirrels, and coyotes too.  We luckily did not see any bears, but all the regular campers said they see them every year they come.  We had to put all of our food and toiletries into a bear box since they have such a great sense of smell..........hoping to keep them away from our campsite.

We hiked 2 miles RT to mirror lake. The water is so clear. The girls took off their clothes and went swimming before heading back to camp for lunch.  Yosemite has lots of programs offered on a schedule. We took the kids into Curry Village to see Ranger Ned's Big Adventure and got ice cream in the village.

After the show we went to the base of Yosemite Falls, 1 mile RT. Luckily it was a path, so we were able to push the tired kids in the stroller this time.

The Lowry Family: Noah, Katie and Lucy & Annie

DAY 4:

First we drove up Glacier Point to see this spectacular view of the Vernal and Nevada Falls as well as Half-Dome.

Then we hiked 2.2 miles RT to the top of Sentinel Dome. This is the view from the top. The dad's carried the babies in packs on their backs. 

And at the top, the girls loved climbing up and over all the rocks, making mom a little nervous when they approached the edges of the dome.

We finished up the day with an early dinner and then went into Curry Village for another children's program and to watch a Movie about Yosemite Rock Climbing at the amphitheater.  The highlight of the day was paying $5 to take a shower. Aaaahh!, what a good feeling after 4 days of stinkiness.

DAY 5:

We saved the best for last.  Our first 2 days were cooler with a little drizzle of rain and gradually got warmer and the hottest day was last, so a great day to spend on the River......the Merced River.  We started at Stoneman Bridge, not too far from the campgrounds. After almost an hour on the raft, Tay said, "Stop, go play in sand". We told her we were going to keep going to the next beach, but she just jumped out of the raft and said, "No, Tayvlee go play now".  Well, we were glad she put in her opinion. We ended up playing at HouseKeeping Beach for an hour. The girls played in the sand and swam in the water while mom and dad worked on their tans.

Kennedee really showed her bravery on this trip.  First, she was such a great hiker and didn't complain (which is pretty unusual for her).  She floated down the river by herself.

Relaxing at the Beach.  Not your typical view when you are at the beach, eh?

Kennedee continued to show her bravery by swinging from the rope into the water. FEARLESS!  Daddy went to, but he ended up so high that the rope flew up onto a branch and got stuck.  The spectators made fun of him, "BOOOO".  So Ryan climbed the tree with a branch in hand, made a huge leap into the air and swiped the branch as high as he could, and was able to unhook the rope on the first try. This time he got an applause.

And then Kennedee continued to impress us even more with her bravery by willingly jumping off Swinging Bridge into the water.

It may not look that high from this photo, but it is a good 20 feet + high. GO KENNEDEE!

Yosemite Valley has free shuttle buses all throughout, so we deflated our raft and caught a shuttle back to camp.

Oh and I forgot about Kennedee and Ryan's early morning hike to Vernal Falls. Ryan woke up early every day to go running and hiking on his own, but this morning he took Kennedee with him to this amazing water fall.

What an amazing trip and an amazing time we had as a family. No cell phones, no TV's, no iPads. Just us spending time with eachother in one of Heavenly Father's most beautiful places.
We packed up on Saturday, went to the visitor center to get Kennedee her Junior Ranger Badge by taking an oath to protect and respect the land and animals and then got the kids some souvenirs.   I think Yosemite will become and annual tradition. Who wants to go next year with us?