Yosemite

We spent the weekend in Yosemite National Park. 

Yosemite has been on our California bucket list since before we moved here. 

I am still amazed by the beauty of God's creation and so thankful I was able to see it in person. 

We left Friday morning around 9am and by 2:30pm we were in Yosemite. 

I hope you enjoy our pictures... there are a few but I just couldn't pick any to leave out. 

This is the West Entrance off of 140.
We stayed at a hotel 2 miles from this entrance along the Merced river.

This is Bridalveil Fall.
We made it to the park when all of the waterfalls were at their peak.
By August or September they will all be dried up. 

This is Yosemite Fall and the Merced River. 

This area is called Swinging Bridge.
It was a beautiful spot in a meadow in the valley floor. 

Another picture of Yosemite Fall. 

The boys had to see how cold the water was.
I was amazed at how calm the river was here compared to other places. 

Off on a walk. 

We hiked to Lower Yosemite Fall. 

This is the lower falls. 

MJ really wanted his picture taken.
It was really windy and we were getting hit with the mist from the waterfall. 

Micah is picking up the boys but if you look closely above his head you can see a rainbow.
I hope you can see a rainbow because I see one... but I could be seeing things. 

Lower Yosemite Falls. 

Photo op climbing on rocks on our way back down. 

Grant is making a really funny face.
Here you can kind of see Upper Yosemite Fall and Lower Yosemite Fall. 

This is a better view of both falls. 

This is called Tunnel View.
On Saturday we took a 2 hour open tram tour of the valley floor.
We learned a lot about what we were looking at and the history of how Yosemite came to be.
It was really interesting and the boys did a great job, it helped that we got out a couple of times. 

Here is a better picture of the top, middle and lower Yosemite Falls. 

In this picture there is North Dome, Washington Column and the Royal Arches. 

Here we took a hike to Happy Isles where you go from island to island in the Merced River.
The boys (including Micah) had fun stepping from rock to rock.
MJ got his shoes a little wet but he said it was worth it. 

This is taken in front of the Yosemite museum. 

This is taken in the Mariposa Grove.
This is the root system of a giant Sequoia.
Mariposa Grove is located near the Southern Gate into Yosemite. 

MJ just wanted to walk through a tree... he got his wish.
They are hard to see but Micah, MJ and Grant are standing in the tree. 

MJ and I outside of the tree. 

We took this just to show how incredibly big these trees are. 

This is the view from the patio at our hotel.
There were really high railings keeping everyone safe.
This is the Merced River, the same river that goes through Yosemite valley. 

We took 120 home which is more of a scenic route.
It was very curvy but we saw some really cute towns and ate lunch at a great restaurant in Placerville.




We had a great weekend and didn't even see a third of Yosemite. 
The boys didn't want to go home. 
MJ wanted to stay and go for a trail ride on the horses.