Cabin Time

Last weekend the boys and I joined Grandma and Grandpa up at the cabin. We wanted an escape from the Valley heat, to give Jon some quiet alone time at home, and spend some relaxing time with Grandma and Grandpa. We headed up the hill after work/school on Friday, the air conditioning in my car managed to go out halfway up the hill so we were sweaty messes by the time we got to the cabin. Lucky for us it was cooling off and hamburgers were being thrown on the grill when we arrived. We managed to play a few games before the boys went to bed. It took them forever to fall asleep and once I went into the bedroom we had a few more wake ups during the night.

The next morning we hiked around Redwood Canyon which was awesome because a ton of the trail is in the shade of giant redwoods, there was hardly anyone else on the trail, and we even stumbled upon a waterfall none of us had ever seen before. The boys did great for the two miles but were definitely ready to be done by the time we got back to the car. I managed to nap in the living room (despite having Kieran climb on and off of me), puzzles were assembled, and Grandpa convinced the boys to join him in his "redneck swimming pool" (a citrus bin lined with black plastic filled with cold water). More games were played, paper airplanes built, and a yummy pancake breakfast was had the next morning before heading back down the hill. As always we had a wonderful time and can't wait for our next trip!

 

Family Time in the Mountains

Grandma, G-Momma, and Auntie Laurie all have Birthdays pretty close together. They decided to celebrate this year by spending a few days up at the cabin with Grandpa and Uncle Peter too. We spent all day Sunday with them, but we also were able to have dinner with G-Momma when she arrived on Friday. She was pretty exhausted after a very long day but managed to keep up with the dinner table antics (including a "massage" from Reed) and play a board game with us before they headed out.

Sunday we took a stroll through Grant Grove with everyone and then went back to the cabin for lunch, more games, and a scavenger hunt. It was really cold for this time of year and we kept marveling at ourselves bundled up in June shivering!!! We had a great time and were bummed when it was time to head back down the hill.

Reed was very excited to take his camera along for the hike and it was pretty cute watching him try to fit the giant trees in his frame. He got some really great shots and picked out his four favorites to share:

Vacation to the Cabin

This past weekend the boys and I spent three wonderful days up in the mountains with Grandma and Grandpa. Their dog, Lucy, joined us as well and Jon was even able to make it up the hill for dinner one night. It was pretty hot for 5,000 feet (like 95-98 degree highs) but was much better than the triple digits we were experiencing on the valley floor. We had a great time and the boys absolutely loved getting dirty, hiking, enjoying the new cabin deck, and exploring the hills. The only problem we had was that the kids had a horrible time falling asleep, struggled to stay asleep, and neither was able to sleep in. I would have definitely preferred a bit more sleep for everyone (including myself), but since that was the only hiccup I guess I'll take it. The first day we took a hike to the bottom of the property to look at the old 1930s washing machine Grandpa had discovered when clearing dead trees, then the boys discovered the toys Grandpa had brought up the hill for them, and we had hamburgers with Jon while we tried to cool down the non-air-conditioned cabin.

After breakfast on Saturday we drove to Grant Grove and let the boys roam around and admire the giant sequoias. They were very impressed with how tall the trees were and I was pretty excited that for the first time in 5.5 years I didn't have to carry a child (in my belly, a carrier, or hiking backpack) on a "hike" - it was glorious!!! After recovering with lunch and a quick nap for Kieran we had an epic squirt gun fight that, was not only a blast, but really helped cool us all down.

Sunday morning Reed and I made pancakes for the group and then we went on an extremely rough walk. It wasn't a long or steep hike but it was through miserable sticky weeds that filled our shoes, socks, and clothes with very pokey stickers. The boys ended up being carried for at least half of the walk because the weeds were so tall it was impossible for them to make it through. The whole reason we went on this jaunt was because we wanted to see where the Rough Fire had burned last year. It was amazing to see that just a couple hundred yards from the cabin all the trees had been burnt but it was also neat to see that the hillside that had been black just a few months ago has started to regenerate and things are growing once again. Unfortunately after a quick lunch it was time to say goodbye and head home. I think everyone was sad when the weekend came to an end but we had a great time spending time together!!!