Zion's 1st Pony Ride

I took the kids to Zoomers a week or two ago and Zion went on his first pony ride! Zion has really seemed to turn a corner when it comes to animals. For a while he was incredibly afraid of all animals. He would shake and cry if a dog or cat came near him. Now he is still quite timid but getting much more brave. He will try to pet them then loose his nerve and start crying. It is actually pretty cute and endearing. Anyway, he was incredibly brave about the horse ironically. And seemed to really love going on the pony ride. This is something that Eden would have never done at his age. Pretty interesting how they can be such different souls. Where Eden is too brave around animals, Zi seems too shy (with the pony being an exception), and in terms of accomplishing feats Eden is often very reserved while Zi is often too daring. 

Happy Birthday Grampy!

Last Sunday was my Dad's birthday. We spent the day with Grammy & Grampy, cousin Easton, Aunt Jenny and Uncle Terrik. I left the kids at my parents house to go to a wedding in San Diego that afternoon. When I left Eden was so busy playing with Easton that she barely said good-bye. I love the way she and Easton play and wish he lived closer so we could play together more. Eden and Zi also had a blast spending the night with Grammy and Grampy. I couldn't believe how well they both slept. Eden loves her little room at Grammy's house, and Zi did great in the pack and play. 

Mammoth Camping Bliss

After the wedding last weekend we headed up to Mammoth to camp for the week. We were very apprehensive as to how it was going to go. Zion was super fussy from the overstimulation of people and heat at the wedding, and the car ride to Mammoth took about 4 hours longer than we had anticipated. Part of us felt like we may just keep on driving till we got home. But once we got to the mountains the kids were automatically transformed and I think we both knew that everything was going to be alright and we were gonna have an amazing time. And we did, it was absolutely amazing. You know, it rained for at least an hour or two almost every day, and it was the absolute dirtiest camping I have ever encountered (with a crawling baby no less), but it was amazing! We paddled and swam in the lakes, did a lot of rolling around in the dirt, rode our bikes into town (and took the trolly back!), Eden went horseback riding, Jon and I got to climb a bit, we hiked, we fished, swam and paddled some more, it was awesome! Each time we go camping it seems to be more and more fun. We were all a little depressed to come home. I think part of all of us felt like we could almost just stay up there forever. But then we came home to beautiful 80 degree weather at the beach (which almost never happens) and we spent our first evening home swimming in the ocean and playing at the beach. Zion caught his first boogie board wave from way out in the line up and seemed to keep begging Jon to take him on more and more till we finally had to go home cause the sun was setting. All that is to say that I guess we kind of like it here too. And no matter how much the mountains call us, the ocean is in our blood, and we can never stay away for too long.

LAKE MARY

This is lake Mary where we were camped. That is Jon and Eden - out for an early morning paddle.

Zion started waving to anything and everything on this trip. I can't get enough of it. 

Jon and Eden headed out to go fishing.


CAMP

Zi did A LOT of this. All the loose dirt was sort of making me crazy,  but what can you do?

The dirt on Zions face became something of an art form to me.

Eden was not completely immune from the dirt either.

RIDING

The bike paths were amazing! We could bike all around the lakes and down to Mammoth village.

Taking the trolly home was a huge highlight for Eden (and Zi)!

It rained for several hours one day, finally we just went for a ride, Eden fell asleep and proceeded to sleep in the rain back at camp for quite a while. 

CAMP

Back to playing in the mud

Getting ready to cook smores (another highlight for Eden). Eden is convinced marshmallows are mochi. (:

We spent several evenings down by the lake as the sun set.

CLIMBING

These pictures are taken by Eden. We let her entertain herself with the camera while we climbed. Next I will have to make a post of some of the pretty interesting shots that Eden took on the trip.

Zion mostly napped in the car while we climbed. But once he woke up he was stoked to explore.

20 LAKES BASIN

We took a boat ride across Saddlebag lake to the 20 lakes basin, such a breathtakingly beautiful place.

Klamath is not the best fishing companion. This picture captures the fishing experience with Klamath very well. He is about to try to pulverize the little baby fish.

Jon kept the fish safe though

Zion was pretty into climbing.

Where's Walla? If you look closely you can fin the kids and I somewhere near the right side of this shot. 

Baby Golden Trout - the State fish

Rainbow

JUNE LAKE AREA

Rush River

June lake which we called Duck lake for Eden's sake. She was obsessed with this place and could have hung out here all day every day.

She got pretty into paddling here.

Zion was into climbing onto rocks.

ROCK CREEK

Our last day we hiked out of Rock Creek. It is the same hike we did with Eden when she was 6 wks old. I hadn't remembered it being so beautiful. I think I must of still been in a bit of pain when we did it with Eden. This time I was captivated and so disappointed when it was time to go.