We arrived in Yosemite without any issues, thank heavens! Yosemite was absolutely beautiful & the park was full & was unique in that it was filled with people riding bikes everywhere. There was a creek by our campsite where the kids played every day. We stayed 3 nights & had the most beautiful view from our campsite:
The kids were so excited to see deer right by our campsite, & then later a raccoon came walking through.
But this picture was perhaps the most glorious moment in Yosemite for me. After days of no cell reception, I was sitting outside our camper & I heard my phone start to ring. Cell service! In the middle of a National Park! Hallelujah!
Starting the hike to Yosemite Falls
The kids loved this rock "slide" & climbed up & went down time & time again. Nature's playground.
Yosemite Falls in the background
This was such a fun hike! We had to climb up boulders for much of the way & Noah was so terrified at first. At one point he sat down on a big rock & refused to keep going. "I'm not going any further! I'm just going to sit here & wait till you guys come back!", he said. Despite the tears, Tyler made him finish the hike so we could at least get to the Lower Falls. And when we did, Noah cautiously started to explore & then was waist deep playing in the water. He didn't want to leave when it was finally time to go & it ended up being his favorite part of Yosemite. I loved seeing his confidence grow & how proud he was of himself for doing something he was afraid of.
Such a beautiful view!
The next day we rode our bikes & then hiked to Mirror Lake where we swam & played in the cold water with Half Dome as our backdrop.
On our bike ride back to our campsite, Tyler started shouting to get Noah in the bike trailer (he was on his balance bike at the time). I didn't know what was going on & then heard Tyler yell, "Bear!" I could hear Ruby up with Tyler crying hysterically as I rushed to get Noah in the bike trailer as quickly as possible. Sure enough, there was a bear right on the side of the road that was making its way up a tree trunk after it saw us, & then came down & started wandering through the trees. All of our hearts were racing & then I understood why there were bear boxes for food literally all over the park. Yikes!
The next day we hiked to Vernal Falls which was a hike that was entirely uphill. The kids were amazing - they had their moments, but they both made it up without being carried. There were so many adults high-fiving them & saying, "Good job!" as they made their way to the top - I was really proud of them.
We made it! I can't believe how much we walked, hiked & biked in Yosemite. It definitely wasn't as family-friendly as some of the other parks. The kids were troopers the whole time. The last night we were there, we carried our huge bag of laundry to the laundromat in the park that we thought was really close. It ended up turning into quite the adventure that took hours, & once again reminded me how much I love the convenience of my home. But as we sat on a bench reading books to the kids & eating ice cream & trying to do anything to pass the time while our laundry was going, I felt grateful. Grateful for Tyler for always being such a great leader in our family & planning such a great vacation that couldn't have been more outside of my comfort zone. He put up with my emotional breakdowns when our toilet was backed up & when I desperately just wanted to be surrounded by modern-day conveniences. I've never been much of a crier, but I think I had an emotional breakdown about every other day or so. In fact, I think Tyler may have seen me cry more on this trip than he has the past 15 years of our marriage. But there were also lots of highlights - I loved watching our kids make fast friends with the little kids on the bus & try to speak the other languages they were hearing all around them. And I loved being in such tight quarters with our family & spending every moment of the day together. Then we headed to our next stop - the Redwoods!
