Yosemite - final - finally

Hello friends. I'm back to give you the final pics from my (now long ago) family trip to Yosemite. Our kitchen renovation is winding down (well, still a couple weeks to go) but I promise, the reveal post will not disappoint (so so excited).

Ok, wrapping up Yosemite....
On the next to last day, we took an (uphill) hike to Vernal Falls. Have you ever taken small children on an uphill hike? Not going to lie, there was (a lot) of complaining. They all did great and they all made it to the top in one piece. It was a great first official hike hike for the family.

(note: Hayden still hangin' loose)

These were the rapids that greeted us at the top of the hike. Yikes.

We were holding on to our kiddos super tight on this bridge.

After we got down to the bottom, it was time for a tasty treat :)

After our treat, we spent some time exploring Happy Isles. Lots of little streams and beautiful scenery all around us.

There are these gorgeous dogwood blooms all over the valley. I couldn't get enough of them.

 

 

Next up was Noah's favorite part of the trip...riding the free valley shuttle. lol.
Happy kid!

Keepin' it real. Me after 3 days without a shower. Eek!

We took the shuttle back to camp and spent the rest of the time relaxing before dinner. My sis in law even did a craft with the kids (I know, she's amazing).

Inspired by pinterest, they made these soda bottle firefly's. Once it got dark we filled them with glow sticks and the kids had fun flying them around. Hayden used hers as a night light :)

After dinner which were super yummy chili dogs, the grandparents entertained the kids while the adults relaxed by the fire.

Ultimately, Hayden made her way to my lap and crashed.

Shhhhhh.
(love her crossed hands and ankles)

The perfect end to a perfect trip!
So, there you have it. Our super fun annual Yosemite trip. I hope I didn't lose you out of boredom along the way :)
I highly recommend that you get to Yosemite some day. It really is an amazing place!!

Stay tuned. Kitchen mania is ALMOST over. YAY!!!!!

Yosemite - Part 2

Helllooooo there. How's it going!?
I wanted to share some more of our Yosemite pictures and also perhaps a teaser pic of our in-progress kitchen remodel. If you follow me on Instagram (arichardson79) you are probably sick to death of my in-progress kitchen posts. lol.

Now, on to Yosemite :)
After our camp was all set up, it was time to start relaxing. My sis in law and her family were in charge of dinner the first night. We had deluxe (like bacon wrapped bleu cheese) sliders served with baked beans and macaroni salad. Yum!

The next day, we took a short hike to the (wet) base of the infamous Bridalveil falls.

It's seriously so beautiful in Yosemite that we stopped every 5 feet to snap a picture.

 

These kids were SO done with us taking their picture by the end of the trip.

After our short hike, we headed down to Sentinel beach for a picnic. The kids played in the {snow melt} water for a bit too.

(Hayden was hanging loose the whole trip...no idea why - lol)

Brrrrrrrr.

Seriously SO beautiful!

Yosemite Falls in the distance...

After our fun at the beach, we headed back to camp to make dinner. It was our turn and we were serving yummy nachos :) My favorite! Everyone got to doctor up their chips and heat them over the fire.

Here is Josh's masterpiece...

Goober.

And the rest of the night was spent relaxing by the fire
(artsy "ring of fire" pic provided by Noah).

Hang in there people, we only have ONE more Yosemite post to go. I just love it there so so much!!!

Oh yeah - here's that kitchen teaser pic for ya.....

2 words for you - IN LOVE.

Stay tuuuuuuuned!

Yosemite - part 1

Hello friends! How are ya!? I know there have been crickets chirping over here but there are many future posts in the works. We are in the middle of our kitchen remodel and we just got back from a family camping trip to beautiful Yosemite. I'll break up my Yosemite posts a bit so your eyes don't cross from picture mania. If you have been there before, you know how beautiful it is. If not, you MUST put it on your bucket list.

We picked Noah up from school at lunch on Friday and got on the road. We had about a 4 hour drive ahead of us to get to our hotel. We broke up the drive so we could all stay sane (and we weren't due to check in to our Yosemite campsite until Saturday at noon).

After a fun night in the hotel (my kids love staying in hotels), we made our first stop just outside Yosemite valley at the historic Sugar Pine Railroad...

Cousins :)

after the 45 minute scenic train ride, the kids got to pan for gold. Real gold! They were so excited :)

They each got to keep a bottle of about $5 worth of gold flakes. Talk about an awesome souvenir :)

After the train/gold stop, we headed towards camp. We always stop to take in the beauty at tunnel view. This is seriously one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

The picture doesn't even do it justice. Just standing there before this great beauty is truly magical. It's hard to believe that beauty like this really exists.

After that, we headed to camp to get set up...
Umm....yeah. This is how we do it ;)

My sis in law and I got together a few days before we left and made these campsite buntings :) a must!

Our tent...

Sis-in-Law's tent...

Cute, yes? Cute!
After we got settled, we got right to it. Yummy dinner (sliders) and fun at camp :)
(day 1 and already tired of the photos - lol)

Hammock...

Fire...

and glow bubbles....

 

I will leave you here so you don't get a headache. lol. Don't worry, I'll be back :)