Camping, Day 3

Labor Day morning, it was time to pack and head to the Sequoia grove. First, more dirt play, though.

Only half the group joined us for a walk through the amazing Sequoia grove. So big and beautiful!

Then our picnic lunch was cut short by bees (it's hard to eat and keep bees away from two kids). So we headed back down the mountain. Josiah loved the drive down--he oohed and aahed and applauded all the way until we got to the boring foothills.

Camping, Day 2

After a cold and not particularly restful night (but then who goes camping with two little ones anticipating sleep?), it was time to resume the work of digging.

The big agenda item for the day was a five-mile hike up to a fire tower with a beautiful panoramic view of the mountains.

Theoretically, you could drive up a "well-maintained" road to the trail head. Well-maintained it was not, although an SUV could make it fine. Corollas and Camrys, not so much. So we parked along the road and hiked the mile to the trail head.

Pretty view along the way

Look! We made it to the trail head! Now we're all hungry and in need of lunch.

Elijah (slowly) hiked the whole mile to the trail head while Josiah rode in a carrier on Dustin's back. Josiah and Dustin arrived at our picnic spot long before Elijah and me. I missed the moment where Josiah allegedly kicked a little dog in the face who surprised him by running up to him. Self-preservation instincts, apparently.

Apparently carrying a 25+ pound weight on my back is all I was able to manage on our hike up the mountain--no pictures to share.

After hiking two miles on the actual trail, it was time to take stock of the crew. Faster, fitter hikers chose to finish the trail (the last half mile went down and then up, up, up) and enjoy the view from the fire tower. Dustin foraged ahead while Elijah, Josiah, and I slowly, slowly, slowly made our way down the mountain with the help of friends. The others finished the trail and caught up with us before we made it back down.


Pictures of the view from the top:

The driver of the one big vehicle on the trip graciously piled the kids and parents in to drive us back to our car parked right before the big ditch.

Mileage totals:
Elijah: 2 miles
Dustin: 6 miles (3.5-4 with kid on back)
Katie: 5 miles (4 with kid on back)
Not bad for our biggest attempted hike yet as a family of four.

The hike was followed by more of the favorite activity of the trip:

Camping, Day 1

I have lots of summer trips to still post, but we'll start with the most recent: camping at Sequoia National Forest over Labor Day weekend.

Dustin organized the trip and convinced our church small group to come despite earlier trip failures of one kind or another. I highly recommend the ratio of 11 adults to 4 children, especially since our two were the only little ones. Lots of people to help make sure the toddler does not walk into the fire pit as well as plenty of hands to makes fires, meals, and do dishes.

The first day, we mostly set up camp, greeted people as they came in, explored the campgrounds some, and mostly dug, dug, dug in the dirt.

Shortly after arrival: please note how mostly clean they are...they will not be anywhere near this clean again until we get home.

Summer Day Trips: Getty Villa

My cousin and his family from Australia had a long lay-over in LA, so they decided to head up to the Getty Villa. It was a beautiful day to visit Malibu!

Museums with little ones wasn't exactly conducive to visiting or viewing together, but it was fun to meet up with family for various bits.

The outer peristyle is just gorgeous. Both boys loved crawling or running the corridor.

Elijah was delighted to find "mazes," and enjoyed jumping into them just like the little boy in Lehman's "Museum Trip."

Dinner Help

Taking Steps!

Josiah's sentence of the week has been, "I did it!" And, while he applies the exclamation to everything he does, the most exciting thing he has done is walk!

A week and a half ago, he gave up his morning nap and started showing lots of interest in walking practice (definitely correlated). He's been pushing and pushing his stroller around and taking a step or two here and there. On Tuesday, I wanted him to show off his step to Dustin, and he proudly took about five steps to Daddy! 

Practicing at the park:

Legoland

The day before Dustin and I left to see the real, non-lego version of this:

 The boys and I went to Legoland, thanks to a friend's wonderful deal. We didn't stay with the group, but it was fun to spot dear friends throughout the park. Mom and John joined us, which was especially nice since Legoland was not particularly baby-friendly.

 Elijah loved Legoland!

John and Elijah on the slow-paced safari ride, which was clearly too dangerous for a one year old:

The Lego version of Storybook Land:

 One of the Lego Star Wars exhibits:

Look! Josiah and I were there, too:

It was a fun day! We ended up staying until it closed. Elijah was excited to go from ride to ride. He loved it all and was much more adventuresome that I had anticipated.

Poor Josiah got sick while were there, throwing up on the boat ride. He spent the afternoon snuggling in the carrier or napping in the stroller. Mom graciously hung out with Josiah for quite a bit of the day, so that I could go on rides with Elijah and John. Legoland is fun for the 2+ crowd, but there really wasn't much that babies were allowed to go on. I think there were two rides all five of us could go on together.

It was amazing to see all the Lego creations. Disneyland is better, but I'd definitely enjoy going back sometime when Josiah is taller and Dustin can join us.