Reuterskiold Family Blog

We headed over to the “Rose, White, & Blue Parade” near our house for Fourth of July.  It’s not much of a parade really, but Carina likes it and she gets to wave her “United States of American” Flag as she calls it.  We were all decked out in our red, white, and blue….even Fetus 2.0….

5 Months Pregnant

Speaking of that little lady, she’s doing well in there.  Kicking like crazy and so far keeping her Mommy’s blood pressure normal.  Yay!!

The following day we headed to Moran Lake Beach in Santa Cruz with our friends the Streepers.  It was COLD!  That didn’t stop Carina and her friend from putting on their swimsuits and playing in the sand though!

It's a Little Chilly!

And, the cold didn’t stop us from stopping by our favorite ice cream place, Marianne’s, on the way out of town!

…and I know how to use it!

When Dave was in Yosemite he called me up to confirm the fact that I had never been there.  He was correct.  I was born in California, have lived here my whole life, and had never been.  I’ve wanted to go, of course, just never got around to it.  Dave said, “We’re coming next weekend.”  So, he booked us a yurt (sort of like a cabin) for the following weekend.

We had a great time!  Our first hike was to Bridalveil Falls.  We knew we’d get a little wet from the spray off the falls, but we weren’t really expecting this….

That's not really what I had in mind when I said I wanted to see waterfalls.

I think it was on this first hike that Carina discovered her newest passion in life though: rock climbing.  We have a pretty strict “No Carrying” rule while we hike.  This means that hiking takes awhile since we have to slow down for Carina’s breaks and dawdle time.  On this hike it was all about the rocks….every one she could find, she climbed up.  She was pretty good at it too.  Next, we did our best to dry our clothes and we headed over to Yosemite Falls.  The hike out to Lower Yosemite Falls is nice and has lots of rocks…

Rock Climbing with Daddy

The waterfall is beautiful, and luckily for Carina, the spray was not quite as dramatic…

Family Photo

We had worked up quite an appetite, so we found a nice spot to have our picnic lunch.  Carina was a little worn out so we decided to drive up to Glacier Point so she could have a bit of a nap in the car (and maybe Mommy had a bit of a nap too).  The view from Glacier Point was amazing…

Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point

After a visit to the small museum and gift shop, we headed back to the yurt for hotdogs and s’mores.  Yum!  The following morning we headed over to the Happy Isles Nature Center.  There is another little museum and nature center with lots of interesting information.  My fourth graders finished up the year with our unit that covers rocks, minerals, and erosion.  I kept thinking about what amazing natural forces shaped the valley and was happy to learn more about it.  Then we did the Happy Isles hike which was the best place yet for toddler rock climbing…

So happy!

The hike covers two small islands in the Merced River.  The river was running very fast, but we found a small alcove perfect for playing in.  Carina had fun taking off her shoes and socks and playing in the mud…

That's some COLD water!

After that it was time for lunch.  We found a nice little spot in the woods and ate…

Yum!

We made a final stop at the Tunnel View lookout area and then started the drive back home.  Carina passed out pretty quickly in the car and slept for quite awhile.  Overall, we had an amazing time and are already looking forward to a return trip!

Last weekend I headed up to Yosemite for what was supposed to be a wilderness backpacking trip.  Unfortunately, there was too much show on the ground in the area where we were planning to be (Glen Aulin).  Since there were no campsites in the park available last minute, we grabbed a campsite outside the park and just drove in in the mornings to do some day hiking.

Day 0 (Thursday):  We arrived Thursday afternoon around 3:30.  After investigating the available wilderness permits and deciding to just camp outside the park, we drove into the valley.  We most just checked out the area, but we did stop at Bridalveil Fall for a quick look.

Bridalveil Fall

Day 1 (Friday):  On Friday morning we started with a quick trip up to Lower Yosemite Falls before starting the longer hike up to Upper Yosemite Falls.  It was a good day for a long climb (3000 foot elevation gain).  We stopped about 3/4 of the way up for a sandwich and then continued up to the lookout point over the falls.  The view was spectacular.

Yosemite Falls

Upper Yosemite Fall

Don't Feed the Squirrels

Day 2 (Saturday):  On Saturday morning we drove up to Glacier Point which has some of the best view in the park.  From there, we hiked to Sentinel Dome (a 360 degree view) and then to Taft Point.  I’m not big on heights, so I stayed a pretty good distance from the cliffs, but some of the other folks scooted up for a closer look.  The then made our way back past Sentinel Dome to our car waiting at Glacier Point.

The Crew on Sentinel Dome

Taft Point

Day 3 (Sunday):  We decided to get out of the valley on Sunday so we took Tioga road up to Tuolomne Meadows, stopping at Olmstead point and Tenaya Lake on the way.  From the Tuolumne, we hiked out to Dog Lake where we sat an the bank and ate our lunch.  There was a fair amount of snow on the ground and the trail was hard to find in places, but we used our compass and map and reached the lake successfully.  After hiking we decided to drive down to Mono Lake and have a look around.  We had dinner in Lee Vining before driving back up to Olmsted Point to watch the sunset and do a little stargazing.

Lunch View on Dog Lake

The Moon and Venus from Olmsted Point

Day 4 (Sunday):  We wanted to get on the road home by mid-afternoon, so we decided to take the short hike up to Vernal Fall via the Mist Trail.  It was wet, as you would expect, but it felt good on the warm day.  After the hike, we hit the store for a few minutes and then drove back to civilization.

Matt and Vernal Vall

Dave has been doing a lot of hiking lately in preparation for his big trip coming up, so we decided it was time for our first family hike.  We drove up to Huddart Park just outside of Woodside and hiked the Chickadee Nature Trail.  A very short loop hike that we thought would be a good starting place.  Here we are just getting started…

Beginning of Trail

We were worried Carina would do a lot of whining and not much hiking, but she did a great job.  Yes, she asked for us to carry her a lot, but she was very good when we told her that on hikes everyone walks on their own.  She liked “keeping her eyes peeled” for wildlife and even enjoyed looking at the plant life.  The only bummer was about 2/3 of the way through when we discovered the bridge was out and had to turn around.

At the end of the hike….

I loved hiking!

Then we grabbed our sandwiches and had a little picnic lunch before heading home with a napping toddler!  A great day!