Muir Woods

Today we took Grammi and Grandpa Mike to Muir Woods for a walk through the Redwoods. It was a chilly morning so we stopped at the visitors center for a little coffee and hot cocoa. There were chipmunks everywhere so the kids enjoyed chasing them around. Then we headed onto the trail to explore. Finn decided he wanted to run through the redwoods, but Kenzie was happy to hang back and explore. She was very into looking for burls on the trees and finding hollowed areas to climb in. At the end of the trail we saw a pair of deer playing in the brush. Amazingly we managed to stay quiet long enough to watch them. On our way out we revisited the visitors center to chase the chipmunks again. Kenzie decided she and Finn should take home a pair of stuffed chipmunks to remember our trip. She was so happy to get her new lovey and bring him home.

Santa Cruz/ Thomas the train

This week Grammi and Grandpa Mike are in town visiting so we decided to head to Santa Cruz. We spent the afternoon playing at the beach and then headed on to the board walk to check out the rides. Our first stop was the carousel always a favorite with Kenzie. Grammi was excited to revisit this ride after almost 40 years. She sat on the outside so she could toss the brass rings. The rest of the time was spent with the kids riding airplanes, boats and spinney rides ( Daddy's favorite). In the evening we headed out to the pier for a seafood dinner. Kenzie had requested shrimp for dinner and we were happy to oblige. After relaxing for a while we headed back to the boardwalk to use up our ride coupons. Jim and I had one request...the roller coaster. Since we have been together we've always enjoyed going on roller coasters, especially the wood ones. When we first moved to San Francisco we visited Santa Cruz with friends and road on "The Giant Dipper".  It was just as much fun this time. We laughed so hard all the kids around us were staring. Its happened we've become "the parents on the roller coaster"! It was just the diversion from our daily lives we needed a 5 minute date on a classic "woody" roller coaster.

 
Our second day was spent visiting Thomas the Train at Roaring Camp Railroad. Finn is our lover of Thomas so he was ecstatic about this part of the weekend.  We rode in the front car right next to Thomas and we were one of the first people on the train. The car was an open top so the right ended up being really pretty. We headed into a state park through a redwood grove. After we finished with Thomas Finn and Grandpa Mike rode on the shuttle train for a couple of runs. It was a great weekend for our family especially my little man.

10 months old

Emme turned ten months old during our vacation, so her update is a little late. She's definitely the third child and doesn't want to be lost in the crowd. When the other two start yelling, she yells louder. She is standing up and steady on her feet. She loves to make motorboat sounds with her mouth by raking her fingers over lips and she's discovered her tongue. Her and Daddy play a silly game where they move their tongues from side to side while humming. Things she's been interested in lately: dog water, toilet paper and stairs. A very mischievous little girl. I think her and Finn are going to be double trouble!

Yellowstone to Grand Tetons National Park

Today we headed south past Yellowstone Lake and into Grand Tetons National.  As we headed into the park there was a dramatic change in the landscape. Snow capped mountains and beautiful green meadows. Our first stop was Jackson Lake lodge. We went out to the back deck to enjoy the panoramic views. Then we had a picnic lunch on the lawn while the kids ran around playing games and working on their cartwheels.

view from the lodge

 Our next stop was to the visitors center. There we got to learn about the history of the park and play with antlers from different mammals that live in the park. The one animal we had not seen yet was a moose. So I decided to ask the rangers where the best place to find them was. She pointed us to a boggy marsh area and told us to come back around dusk. So after we checked into our hotel and had dinner we went on a moose hunt. They were cleverly hidden but luckily there were other people out doing the same thing. So we just followed the tourists. We were able to find two Mom's both with their babies. They seemed to have no fear of everyone and we were able to get really close. Probably too close! Well unfortunately this was our last night of vacation and it was time to start the long drive home. It was a great two weeks!

big horn sheep

Yellowstone National Park: Day 3

Today we took the road from Norris to Mammoth country. We stopped along the way to see the Sheepeater Cliff, Obsidian Cliff and the upper and lower terraces.  Then we headed into Mammoth for a picnic lunch and walk through the visitors center. 

We spent the afternoon walking around West Yellowstone. We took Finn to the Yellowstone Museum to learn about choo choos, yellow buses and teddy bears. He was so excited to see all the taxidermy.

Yellowstone National Park: Day 2

Today was Geyser Day. So we headed to the Old Faithful section of the park. Some of the places we stopped were lower geyser basin, Firehole lake drive, and course old faithful.

Yellow bus Beep Beep!

Celestine Pool

mud pots

stinky mud!

White Dome Geyser

waiting for the geyser to erupt

double trouble

Old Faithful Geyser

 

After an ice cream stop at the Old Faithful general store we headed back to Canyon village to see Artist point. We took the walking path to a scenic overlook. Here we found panoramic views of The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and lower falls of the Yellowstone River. On our way out we pulled over to watch a family of Elks eating on the side of the road. 

  After we finished at the falls we decided to have dinner in a picnic area along the Yellowstone River. Well as we started to cook a storm rolled in. First a sprinkle, then steady rain, then lightening and hale! Jim and Mike were troopers, They used and umbrella and the tablecloth to cover themselves and the grill and kept cooking. Luckily the storm passed quickly and it was probably the best tasting meal we ate the whole trip. Sorry no pics of the event, didn't think hale would be good for the camera. I did get a nice reflection shot from our picnic site.

After dinner we made a stop in Hayden Valley. This was supposed to be a great place for animal sitings later in the evening. As luck would have it no animals appeared here. But on our way back to the hotel we were greeted by a few buffalo and a large family of elk hanging out by a stream.

my favorite sign