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!!!
