Where the deer and the children play...

 Just a few more pictures from our first day in the snow at Yosemite.  We had a great time and were ready to go celebrate Bill's birthday in Mariposa at Happy Burger.  While we were sitting waiting for our food to come, Uncle Bob walked in the door and surprised everyone!

 I have heard from other people that live outside of Southern California that deer are almost like squirrels... not a big deal.  They were a big deal to our kids.  They couldn't believe that the deer came so close to them.  This particular one walked right up to them, hopped the fence and crosed the street.

Here's the tree house!  It was an amazing house nestled in the tiny town of Midpines, about a 20 minute drive from Yosemite.

 We enjoyed roaming around the property, swinging, playing horseshoes, exploring their garden, going to the "chocolate pond" (a mud filled pond) and watching deer, squirrels, and turkeys wandering around!

 At one time, this garden must have been amazing!  After years of neglect, it still provided a backdrop for the kids' imaginations.  One of my favorite things to do is watch the kids pretend! 

                            Here's Grammy trying to get Caleb to come over and talk to the scarecrow!

As soon as Uncle Bob got there all the kids knew exactly what they wanted to do with him... play in the snow of course!  More pictures of our second full day of snow in Yosemite coming up!

a place to play

 "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. " John Muir
Before we left for Yosemite, the kids and I read a couple of books about how Yosemite became a national park and all of the hard work put in by a man named John Muir.  Without his love for God's earth, and desire to save it, Yosemite might not still be the same beautiful place here for us to enjoy.  I found myself spending so much of the trip reminding the kids that every step we took in this place was a gift from God.

 We started the trail to go see the lower Yosemite falls, and began a series of snowball fights which would last for the next two hours!  I think Bill had the biggest one of all!

It's funny because you can't see where this picture ends, because it just blends in the white background!

 This picture makes me so happy.

 While the kids and dads were throwing snow, I just kept taking more pictures.  I had never seen anything like this before in my life and I found myself just continually being in awe of God's creation.

 Needless to say that the waterfall was amazing!  You could hear it from a long distance away and the spray from it hit us all the in face but no one seemed to mind!

 Dylan didn't seem to notice or care that is sweatshirt was soaking wet from making so many snowballs!  My kids kept talking about the "Arthur" episode in which D.W. takes home her snowball and puts it in the freezer.  I knew they were trying to come up with a way to keep their snow...

 Those who know me well know that I am always cold!  Thanks to Joy I had a super warm ski jacket and snow boots.  I never once felt cold and I was so thankful!

 Can you tell they are having fun?  They carried around these snowballs and even named them!  Bill kept telling them not to get attached to the snowballs because we weren't going to be taking them home!

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in..."  John Muir
That was what was so awesome about this trip. We had time to play and time to reflect and pray together. 
More snow pictures to come!

snow, snow, snow!!

 I'm a Southern California girl who has never spent much time in the snow.  My kids have never seen snow, other than a little pile in a parking lot at Bob's Big Boy in Apple Valley several years ago. Needless to say, they were pretty excited when we drove in the entrance to Yosemite and saw SNOW! Not just a little pile either.  Snow everywhere!

 Their first impulse was to run out into it and plop down to make snow angels!  It only took 10 seconds for Luke to throw the first snowball.  I was so thankful that Joy gave us lots of jackets, scarves, gloves, hats, socks and boots for all the kids. It made such a difference for them not to have cold feet.  They were able to run, jump around, throw snow, and climb up the trail to see the Bridalveil fall.

 Caleb didn't like the snow very much.  We didn't have snow boots for him and he didn't like the way it felt on his legs so Bill carried him up the trail and back. 

 

By the end of the trail, I finally caught Caleb smiling!  His hair looks wet because the snow was falling off the branches of the trees and hitting us on the head as we came back.  The fun was just beginning! More snow pictures to come soon!