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.

Clare's Wedding Weekend

Clare got married last weekend, and we made the trip up to Woodland to celebrate with her and Andrew and of course the rest of the Cunninghams. It was hot up there and pretty busy with people, both of which made the kids somewhat out of sorts (mainly Zi). But the mornings were cool, quiet, and peaceful and Eden was in heaven running around with the pups, feeding the chickens, working in the garden, and getting some extra special attention from her Grandma Kathy. 

This picture and the one below is just such a classic Zion moment. He is very intrigued by animals but somewhat deathly afraid at the same time. Below he just can't take Rogers proximity any longer and just breaks down.

This month we decided that we had held out long enough in feeding Zion fruit. He now has full access, and as you can see by the pic below he greatly appreciates it.

This was Eden's second attempt at being a flower girl in a wedding. This time she made it down the aisle which was a vast improvement from our last attempt. It's hard to tell from the picture but below you will see that all of the flower pedals ended up at her feet where she stood. None down the aisle. Oh well, at least she seemed to have fun. At one point she said being the flower girl was her favorite part of our trip. Thanks Clare!!

Dragon Fruit In Bloom

This evening we had returned from a long afternoon down in North San Diego, at the botanical gardens  and visiting Nanny, to this beautiful dragon fruit bloom. We have been growing this strange looking plant for years now hoping and praying for it to give us some of its delicious fruit, and we had just about given up on it when Eden spotted what looked to be starts of a blossom on it at least a week ago. The dragon fruit is a night blooming flower so each night we have looked for its flower but each night we have been disappointed to see nothing. Tonight it finally bloomed and it was well worth the wait - I just wish Jon were home to see it. 

I am also posting pics of Zi from the gardens today. I just can not believe that he will be 1 next month. He is getting bigger and bigger, but the older he gets the more I begin to really see that he will always be my little baby, even more so than Eden is. I suppose that is inevitable with your second and your last. In any case I am in no hurry for him to grow up, Jon would probably disagree but I have a feeling that I should freeze him right at this stage before he gets a chance to grow up and move out on me.

Eden is 3!

It is unbelievable to me that Eden is 3 now. She is one little ball of magic this one is and we are so unbelievably blessed by her each and every day. We celebrated her in a big way this week. With a big birthday party at SanO on Monday and then a big lunch at Ferrels with Grammy, Grampy & Daddy (who actually took a couple hrs off of work to attend). 

Eden thought it was so cool to have candles on her french toast that she made me do it again this morning. I'm trying to figure out how to not make this a thing.

One of our friends let us borrow this super cute birthday hat. Thank you Kate!!

Eden's new favorite activity at the beach: Digging for sand crabs - turns out it's a favorite among all the kids.

Her other favorite activity: boogie boarding. Once I brought out the boogies I couldn't get her off of them.

So many kids made it so much fun for Eden!

Thank you pinterst for this cute cake design

At Ferrels - Eden was pretty pooped from her big party the day before.

It was Eden's big day but this little guy was kind of stealing the show from these two!