Cliff Diving at Crater Lake

For a last hurrah for Summer, we went to Crater Lake the weekend after school started.  We wanted to go on the boat cruise to Wizard Island, but had been misinformed about the reservation system and so we were unable to get tickets.  We went ahead and hiked down to the lake though and enjoyed cliff jumping into the water and doing a little swimming.  The water was pretty cold, but Dan had brought his goggles and it was fun to try to see to the bottom.

 Ben

 Emma

 Gideon

 Eliza

 Gabriella (She didn't cliff jump, but she did get in the water.)

 Dan

 

Jenn (I was fully clothed so I didn't want to go again when Dan missed the shot.)

 

Planking squirrel

Yosemite on Fire!!

At the end of august we had our last hurrah for the summer and went to Yosemite. We knew the fire was going on down there, but researched it and decided to go anyway. Our trip was different than we had planned, but we still had a lot of fun and we were glad we went!

 We ended up spending two night in Tuolumne Meadows.  We spent Tuesday hiking in the area and didn't even drive anywhere! We hiked Lembert dome (on top above, from the bottom below).

 We also hiked to Elizabeth Lake in the afternoon. Dan and the kids all waded in the water and walked over to a rock island (Dan carried Gideon and Gabi).

After dinner we went on a hike to Soda Springs where Emma, Ben, Eliza and Gideon all tried the naturally carbonated water.  Emma said, "Soda Spring water is even more carbonated than soda. When you feel the sizzling of the carbonated soda on your tongue, you know that it was worth the risk." Eliza said, "I didn't feel it." They didn't get sick or die, so I guess it was okay.

 This was a picture we took on the hike of the sunset.  The smoke made for a pretty picture.

 Wednesday we moved to Bridal Creek Campground.  They were closing the 120 and we wanted to get over to Yosemite Valley before we were cut off. We got a picture of the fire on our way.

 After getting settled in our new campsite, we drove to the Mariposa Grove of Sequoia.  We enjoyed seeing the massive trees. I think we liked the Redwoods better, but it was still fun to see them.

On Thursday we did our biggest hike of all.  Dan dropped us off at Glacier Point and then drove down to the base of the Four Mile Trail.  He then ran/hiked up the trail.  The kids and I waited around Glacier Point for about an hour and a half and then started our hike along the Panoramic Trail. Dan joined us and we did the 8 and a half mile trail down into the valley.

 Half Dome near the start of the trail. A little smoky, but not too bad.

 Half dome from the Panoramic Point on the trail.

Here are the kids in front of Nevada Falls.

 

Overall we hiked about 26 miles across four days and we were feeling pretty proud of ourselves. Gabi did all of those but about 2 where Dan carried her. She was a trooper. All of our conditioning paid off and we'll see how far we can go next year!

Eliza is 10!

Eliza wanted a camera for her birthday.  We were able to find a pretty decent one online that was within the birthday budget.  She was super excited and has really enjoyed taking pictures

 She wanted a bat birthday cake.  She drew it on the white frosting with a toothpick and I outlined and colored it in with chocolate frosting.  She loves to draw and is very artistic.

We ran out of candles, but used matches to give her 10!

James, Kristy, Jaden and Joey visit!

James, Kristy, Jaden and Joey came and visited us in August.  We took them hiking along the Link River trail. We saw many birds.

 

We then went up to Collier State Park to the Logging Museum.  We learned a lot about hoe logging has evolved through the years.  We also went on a short hike to see the springs that make up Spring Creek.  It was a very pretty area and the cousins had fun being together. 

 

Jaden went and babysat with Emma Saturday night and then they left Sunday morning.  We enjoyed seeing them.  It is nice to live closer to family so we can see them more often.

Emma's many looks

Our Young Women in our war put a modesty fashion show on for the activity day girls.  Emma had a lot of fun with it.

Everyday Emma

 

 Sporty Emma

 

 Summer Emma

 

 Going to Church Emma

 

 Winter Emma

 

Fancy Emma

 

 Crazy Emma

 

Everyday Eliza

After the Young Women did their show, the activity day girls had their chance to walk the catwalk.

 

Fun times!!



Corvallis

Towards the end of July, we went to Corvallis for Dan's 20 year high school reunion and to visit with his parents.  The reunion was interesting for me.  This was the first time either of us had gone to a high school reunion and we weren't sure what to expect.  It was fun to meet some of his high school friends and to see a part of what he may have been like as a teenager. 

The kids had fun hanging out with Joey and Jaden at the Willamette River.  They rolled around in the mud and played with Grandma and Grandpa's kayak.  We also had fun picking blackberries and blueberries.  It was a quick trip, but we had to get home for Dan to go to work because he had gone with Ben to scout camp the week before.

There was a u-pick blueberry farm not too far from Grandma and Grandpa Blake's house.  Here we are picking:

Redwoods

In June, we went to the Redwoods. Our first day, we did a 6 mile hike! We enjoyed the beauty of the Redwoods. We started at Jedediah Smith State Park and drove the Howland Hill Road to the Boy Scout Tree Trail. We hiked to Fern Falls, but the falls weren't great.  

Banana Slugs!

Our Treehuggers

In front of Fern Falls

At our campsite in what the kids dubbed Fort Blake

Corkscrew Tree

Salmonberries

The girls

We camped Florence Keller County Park near Crescent City. It cost $15 a night and had flush toilets, but no showers. There were lots of bugs in the bathrooms, but it wasn't too bad.  The best part was our campsite.  We got one with no neighbors on either side of us and behind us was about 5 acres of old growth redwoods with a creek running through it. We were near the group picnic area, but nobody used it while we were there. We had a blast playing infection tag.  The kids enjoyed climbing the redwoods and hopefully we didn't do too much damage to the undergrowth while we were playing.

On our second day we drove to Prairie Creek State Park and did some hikes.  We stopped at an overlook where the Klamath River flows into the Pacific Ocean. We spent some time at the beach, walking along the ocean and playing in the sand. On our way back we stopped at Tolowa Dunes State Park. We hiked a trail and saw a site for an old dairy farm. There were even some old nails. The weather was really nice and we enjoyed our trip!