For my Mom's Birthday (it was a special one but i won't say which one), we surprised her and made a family trip to Yosemite. My Dad took her to the Ahwahnee to stay a few days in Yosemite for her Birthday. Little did she know, we had planned this trip for months! My sister and her boyfriend, Chris, drove from San Francisco. My brother, Amanda, Nate, Emily, me, hubby, and Logan caravaned from Temecula really early in the morning. The drive wasn't that bad, especially since we were so excited!
The Temecula gang left on Friday around 5:30 a.m. We arrived in Yosemite Park around 1:30 p.m. It took us another hour to make it to the Ahwahnee Hotel from the entrance where we entered. Towards the end of the trek through the Valley, a green jeep pulled up next to us. . . it was my sister and her boyfriend! So, entering the Ahwahnee in our cars were Julie and her Chris, me and my fam, and Chris and his fam (in age order. . . very strange). We unloaded the cars and entered the lobby all together. Across the lobby we spotted. . . my parents! Seriously, we could not have planned this any better! It took a minute for my Mom to make sense of it all but she was so thrilled! She seemed to run across the lobby and hugged each and every one of us in disbelief.
My Mom was very surprised to say the least! She couldn't believe we all came together to share this special weekend in this amazing place. We spent the next few days hiking, sharing meals, and just spending time together. I still can't get over how beautiful Yosemite is! As a child I didn't appreciate it the way I do now, really seeing the beauty as an adult. Yosemite has always been a special place to my parents and my Mom's family, especially my Grandpa B. It's nice to go back and really appreciate what he saw.
I had never been inside the Ahwahnee. It was just as I had hoped it would be. Chris and I had a room with a small balcony on the first floor (which wasn't ground level, it was just the first floor above the lobby and great room). We spent most of our time on my parent's deck. Yes, deck! They had a room on the 4th floor with a huge deck. We spent every night sitting on the couches outside talking, laughing, and listening to the Yosemite waterfalls in the distance. It was amazing. I wish we could have stayed longer. I know we will cherish this trip together. We even had professional photos taken of the family on one of the mornings. I will post some of those when we get them. The trip rapped up with a Sunday brunch for Father's Day. It was a great way to end our weekend together. It was perfect. Just too short. Here are some photos we took on our trip. :)
entering the valley through the tunnel
half dome is in the distance to the left
Yosemite Falls
we viewed the falls from all of our hotel rooms
The Ahwahnee entrance
the kids running around on the lawn
loges and his nana
the cory's watching a deer
my kid checking out rope
cousins exploring
em: "hey loges, where are we?"
loges: "i don't know, but at least we are together."
the boys up to no good
ready to go to dinner the first night
we took the bus
by far, logan's favorite part!
"BUS! BUS!"
another view from the hotel, breathtaking in person
juju and her chris after dinner
on the run
the next morning, during our photo shoot
on an adventure
"SQUIRREL!"
(logan was obsessed)
logan and his papa
taking the stairs with auntie juju
half dome (amazing!)
my brother and nate
some mommy time
the rivers were the fullest i'd ever seen
caveney with the boys
logan getting dirty (loved it)
"watcha doin logie?"
"that looks fun"
this girl would jump into the water if we let her
more run off
"i'm happy"
the gang
(juju and chris were hiking vernal falls)
em
nate
hubby
my daredevil
"CAVENEY!"
"hey, how does he know how to walk with a stick?"
"aww. . . that's cute. . . thanks nate"
the shirt says it all
Yosemite Falls
we hiked to the bottom one
(with two 2 year olds and
1 five year old. . . enough said)
hiking back
attempting a swim at The Ahwahnee
"thanks auntie!"
having a great time
splashing auntie
happy birthday mom!
we love you!
