All About the Gosselins: Summers in Yosemite

Getting to spend a week in the summer with my Tante Be in Yosemite

was often the highlight of my year when I was little.

She would pack my sister and cousin and me, with all our stuff

into her Buick and drive us the 7 hours it took to get there.

Everything still sticks out in my mind. The music we listened to, the hotels we stayed

at along the way, that first breath-taking view we saw as we pulled into the park...

all the way down to the foods we ate and the things we did and saw.

Taking my kids here last week and having them experience what I did,

and taking photos of them in the very same spots that I did was such a cool

and humbling experience. I loved it. I was inspired to take out my old albums
and post some photos from my Yosemite past to compare to my kids'...

They saw tons of squirrels, bears and deer on this trip...

They got to swim in the river under the shadow of Half Dome which was kind of amazing.

The road trip was relatively painless. They each had their meltdowns but it
was tolerable. The movies on laptops and Nintendo DS' helped keep them busy.
Thank god for them...

First order of business?? A photo right when we entered the park through the tunnel.

Me and Kassie

After getting settled into our lodge room, we booked a tour of the valley.
In retrospect, not a great idea. The kids were restless from the long drive and
sitting on a 2 our ride with a bunch of adults was not a great idea for them.
We managed to make it through and they were lucky... we got to see a bear!!

Yosemite is breath-takingly gorgeous.

A hike to Lower Yosemite Falls.

Most of us enjoyed the smell of the redwood trees...
Ella was slightly offended by it. She kept saying that she was tired of smelling trees.

Me, Taylore and Keeny

Being surrounded by the great trees and waterfalls and rocks was such a great way
to spend the day. As a kid I was always afraid of climbing down the cliff and rocks to wade
at the bottom of Lower Yosemite falls. My 3 are fearless! They had no hesitation
skimming down there, whipping off their shoes and jumping from rock to rock.
I followed suit and it was actually freeing. We spent the good part of the afternoon there.

It was really refreshing.

Hiking...

We managed to lose our shirts along the way... It was a hot day.

Us walking down the street through the campground. I'm in the middle...

Shuttle Bus...

Squirrels in the restaurant?!

Swimmin' in the river...

Note the fanny pack... yes, friends, I rocked one of those.

Interesting story behind these 2 young girls in bikinis...
They were wrestling across the river. Needless to say they had
the attention of every male within a mile radius. INCLUDING my boy.
He was watching them, with this smile on his face. He was entranced...

Here's the funny thing though...
When we asked him what he was looking at, he stuttered... then he pointed up
and said to us, "I'm just looking at the trees... "

It made me laugh...
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Pizza and Ice Cream in Curry Village