Yosemite

If you want to see my jaw literally dragging on the floor you should watch me walk, or drive, or bus, or hike, or basically do anything through Yosemite. And what is the cause of my scuffed little chin? 

This:

and this:

and oh my goodness, this:

and those trees and that water, gosh this:

See what I mean? This place is absolutely marvelous!

I was Everett's age the last time I was in Yosemite and while I remembered loving it I was not prepared for how awe-struck the adult me would be and how magnificent it really is. Someday Everett will probably feel the same, except for instead of remembering how much he loved our trip together he'll remember how "dis was da wowst twip evo!"

Yes, I'm pretty sure most of our conversations with Ever Knight went something like this:

Ev: I hate hiking.
Me: Ev, we're not hiking. We're literally just walking through a field of wild flowers.
Ev: WELL DEN I HATE WALKING!

Yes, he's our golden child when it comes to physical activities!

Joking aside though, I had SUCH a great time in Yosemite. We did a couple teeny hikes and a few good walks and it was just enough for our little family--this time at least. We took the free bus around the whole valley floor and then on our drive to Mammoth that afternoon/evening we saw Tuolumne Meadows which was more gorgeous than I ever imagined. Even the boys decided to put down their Pokemon in favor of looking at the fields full of deer, snow-covered peaks and incredible valley views. That's saying something for sure!

Yosemite, our first meet and greet was a rousing success. Let's get together again soon, m'kay?

The funnest girl I know by a long shot. This girl is becoming more three everyday and I really think it's looking good on her. More adventure, more reason, more sweetness and still just the right amount of fierce. We love our Quinny-Cat!

How fun that Chase, Meghan and Hunter were able to come party with us in Yosemite. They were moving to LA with a pit stop at our place so they joined in on a few more days of vaca with us. 

There's always got to be one and our one almost always is our third!

Where he leads, we will follow, anywhere, that he tells us to. (Alternate captions: currently binge-watching Gilmore Girls or We chased Chase really high).

No stick left behind.

Both Chase and James thought I was pretty irresponsible for letting T do this and maybe I was,  or maybe I'm the coolest Mom ever and he learned lessons that will serve him for his whole life. You know, because how not to fall off a ten-foot high log beam is a life skill.

All the heart eyes for half dome. Oh yeah, and for my family too!

Uncle Chase spotted a fish in the current and was giving the boys a good look. 

This hike was not a walk in a field of flowers and Everett sure let us know it. There were a few more hills than even we were expecting and finally I told Ever that he needed to really pay attention to everything so that when he had kids someday he'd be able to tell them every detail of the horrible hike his parents made him do at 6 years old. He loved this idea, and mostly loved to count all the ways this hike "was howiffic!" It started to pour right as we reached the Vernal Falls footbridge and even he couldn't help but smile when T starting singing, "Summer rain, Summer rain" to the tune of Purple Rain. Thank you Mother Nature, there might just be a silver lining to the story told to my future grandkids after all!