yosemite!

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!

someone is missing

on our way to yosemite, logan started off sitting behind me in his carseat. at one point i looked back at him and along the way, my eyes caught the empty seat next to him. i remembered my sister-in-law, amanda, saying a few weeks ago she felt someone was missing in our family. like we weren't complete yet. as much as i can't picture life with more kids than logan, i do feel like my mini-me is missing. what would it feel like to have a daughter sitting next to loges? while we were in yosemite, at one point, i looked around and saw my brother with nate, amanda with emily, and my husband holding logan. all with their own mini-me's. i know if we have another son, a daughter will follow. i just know it. i hope it isn't as difficult as it was for us the last time. but now that we have logan in our lives, it is definitely all worth it. no matter how difficult our path or how long it takes. it is definitely worth it. logan will be a great big brother. i know he will. someday. (and no before you ask me, we are not pregnant. i just wish we were).

june

in june, nate spent the night again. logan was in heaven. they played together before they went to bed and then again when they woke up. the night before we had taken them to get ice cream, which caused bedtime to be a bit late. it was worth it though! logan just loves his big cousin!

auntie dawn came to visit. we took her to legoland

and the sealife aquarium. it was fun!

on the slide at the aquarium

building with the big kids

concentrating . . .

under one of the bubbles with daddy

"look! meno's!" (aka nemo's)

the fam at legoland

riding the boats with mama

auntie dawn entertaining the kiddos

they love her!

my very first friend, michelle, also came through town to visit us and meet logan. logan fell in love with michelle very quickly. michelle is honestly the sweetest person i know. we loved having her visit us!

logan and michelle paying blocks

"hmm. . . really? i can do that?"

friends for 30 years!

saying bye :(

my big boy

on friday, my day with logan, i put him down for his afternoon nap. i layed him in his crib. kissed him nite nite, blew him kisses, and closed his door. then i went into my room to sort laundry. my usual friday routine.

two minutes later, logan walks into my room holding his blankie and says, "hi mom" with a look on his face that told me he knew he had done something he shouldn't have. this was the very first time he had climbed out of his crib. i was relieved he was not hurt and wondered how he had done this and so quickly.

i learned later how he did. logan had quickly learned to put his right leg on the top of his crib and hoist himself up. then he used the rocker chair next to his crib to climb down and out the door (which he knows how to open as well). dang it!

needless to say, chris and i scrambled to figure out what to do. do we get him a tent and keep him in his crib? do we put him in a big boy bed? what do we do? we decided to get him a big boy bed and hope for the best. we found one and bought him buzz lightyear sheets (his favorite). here are some pictures of the transformation.

he loved the buzz bedding. here he is hugging it.

the last time in his crib. :(

he's demonstrating how he got out.

right leg up. . .

and over. . .

safely onto the chair.

helping daddy take his crib down.

such a big helper!

building the new bed

patiently helping daddy

"where does this one go?"

"mom, enough with the camera"

this is me crying. . . how did this happen so fast?

logan literally jumping on his bed.

chris and i are laughing at this point.

"nice job dad."

logan with the giggles

at least he's happy about this.

"it'll be ok mom"

checking out his sheets

(that's an oreo stuffed animal tail he has, not the real oreo!)

seriously. . . he fell out playing. no harm done.

nite nite sweet pea.