Muir Woods

I was really excited to have a mini-trip in the middle of our family trip to California.  We had a little mishap in the morning as we were trying to head out the door.  The boys were at Nana's house while we had all the little girls at Wendy's.  The cousins were all outside exploring when all of a sudden Ashley comes running in screaming that she had been stung.  Then we realized that there were still yellow jackets swarming around her.  Greg and I tried to help her and get the wasps outside.  Eliza, Callie, Abby and Violet all ran inside and headed upstairs and hid under beds with the doors closed. Wendy came downstairs to utter chaos.  Poor Ashley was screaming and running around.  Greg was trying to swat the bugs outside and I was trying to calm Ashley down...and then Annabelle came running in screaming, bringing more wasps with her.  It was extremely frightening and surreal.  When we thought we had all the wasps out a couple more flew out of their hair swarming again. AGH!  Annabelle got at least 8 bites and Ashley had about 6.  The poor girls were quite shaken up and paranoid for awhile.  We gave them some Tylenol and benadryl and my family headed off.
The drive was a little tricky and then we arrived at Muir Woods the parking was insane!! People were parking more than a mile away.  We decided that we would head down to the beach first and hope that there would be more parking later in the day.

 Luckily we still had a bunch of snacks in the car from our initial drive and that was our lunch.  It was a gorgeous day and cool enough that they kids weren't bummed they didn't get to swim.  Everyone put their toes, and maybe their knees, into the water.  Annabelle was still a little wary of any flying insects but she felt a lot better and only itched a little.

 After driving around the 2 parking lots three times we were able to grab the perfect spot in the closer parking lot.  That was definitely a blessing as so many cars were looking for spots.  Greg and the kids had never been to a Redwood Forest but I have great memories of Northern California with my grandparents and family.  While we didn't make it all the way up North, Muir Woods was just perfect for our family at this time.  I love that they ask people to be quieter while in the forest.  It made it very peaceful and calming, exactly what we needed after parking craziness.

 

 I loved spending time with my favorite people out in nature.  I wish life wasn't so busy and we could do this a lot more often.

California Here We Come

 I love that I am finally learning how to french braid, and I love that the girls let me practice every now and then.  It makes driving so much easier and hair so much cleaner.  We stopped at our traditional spot in Winnemucca--Burger King.

 We were SO excited to make it to Nana's house and be surrounded by grandparents, cousins, and of course a puppy.

 We stayed over at Wendy's while we were there and had lots of fun in her new loft.

 We went and bought more pool toys for Nana's which was fun but made the pool a little crowded at times.

 For the most part everyone got a long great and enjoyed each other. Swimming, playing games, reading, watching movies...we did it all!

 Everyone likes to play around with Grumpy's wheelchair, even Daddy.  We went and picked up a new patio table for their backyard.  We had to get rid of some black widows, but it was a great asset while we were there, allowing the kids to eat outside most of the time.

 My mom finally pulled out her wedding dress (so that Wendy could get it all up for baptism dresses) and I was so excited that I got to try it on.  What a beautiful dress.  It was a little snug, but I was able to zip it up.  Wendy was also pleased that she fit her wedding dress from 12 years ago!  Mine is still in a box in my basement.  Seeing my girls try on my mom's dress definitely made me think about getting mine out sooner than later.