Reuterskiold Family Blog

Last weekend I headed up to Yosemite for what was supposed to be a wilderness backpacking trip.  Unfortunately, there was too much snow 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!

Carina and I drove down to Atascadero for a surprise party for my Grandma last weekend.  The party was a blast and Carina enjoyed playing video games with Grandpa Spencer and her cousins.  The following day we hung out with Grandma Laural.  Carina’s favorite part of the day was going to the Farmer’s Market in Templeton.  Grandma gave Carina $2 to spend.  She bought three avocados for a dollar and then grandma split a bunch of carrots with her (which we later had for dinner).  On Sunday, Carina went on her first fishing outing!!  My dad got her a fishing pole for Christmas (pink, of course), but with this wet weather we’ve been having, fishing just never worked out.  I was worried Carina might only last 10 minutes, so we decided just to head to Atascadero Lake.  Uncle Danny and Grandma Tammy were there too.  My favorite part about fishing with my dad…..I don’t have to do any of the dirty work!  Here he is helping Carina get her pole ready.

Watching Grandpa

Well, Carina just LOVED fishing.  Yes, she took a few breaks to play on the rocks, check out the birds, and play in the dirt, but she really enjoyed it!

Fishing!

She got two bites on her line and was super excited each time…. unfortunately, no fish were caught.  After two and a half hours, it was time to go get some lunch, but Carina didn’t want to go.  I had to really convince her to get back in the car.  So, we’ll definitely be going fishing again soon – maybe even get out to Santa Margarita Lake!

Dave was at home that weekend and went on a hike to the North Peak of Montara Mountain.  The view from the top was pretty nice.

Looking NE from Montara Mountain's North Peak

In Fetus 2.0 news…I had my first regular doctor’s appointment this past week.  Everything is going well!  I’m trying not to be paranoid about my blood pressure, but seeing a normal reading on the machine makes me feel good.  The doctor says I do have a chance of preeclampsia with this pregnancy also, but that it would probably be similar (or better) in terms of timing and severity.  This is good news!  I got to hear the heartbeat which is always fun.  My weekly pregnancy update e-mails tell me that the baby is 3.5 inches tall – hard to believe that is all considering how defined everything looks on the ultrasound.  Three and a half inches is definitely big enough to make my clothes not fit!  I had to pull out my bin of maternity wear this week.  Luckily, I had a pretty good selection of non-maternity wear that is just a size up from normal.  These should hold me over for awhile.  I also started feeling the baby move this week.  My first instinct was to reach down to my tummy, but then I remembered that in the beginning you can only feel it on the inside.  Still exciting!  Next up:  the big ultrasound on June 2 where we find out the sex.

Well, another reason that the blog was a bit behind……

Another Reuterskiold on the Way!

We’ll be adding another little Reuterskiold to the world around late October/early November.  This pregnancy has been similar to my first – no nausea, but VERY tired!!  Just starting to get a little energy back in the last week.  We haven’t told Carina yet – we figure we’ll hold out as long as we can…six months is an eternity to a three-year-old.  We are very excited – check the blog for pregnancy and Carina updates!

Well, Carina turned three two months ago now and I’m finally just getting around to blogging about it.  What can you infer about this?  Yes, life with a three-year-old is BUSY.

Carina’s birthday party was a ton of fun.  She picked the orange/pink theme all by herself – complete with pink cupcakes and orange frosting.  We had the kids make door hangers with foam stickers and we played with the bubble machine outside.  She loved having all of her friends over to help her celebrate her special day!

Getting ready to blow out the candles!

Another big milestone: the dentist.  Carina had her first trip to the dentist.  She did such a great job and Dr. Natalie said she was fantastic.  Here she is taking a picture with her new tooth brush for her special dentist book.

Carina's first trip to the dentist!

A few other highlights from the last couple of months:

Helping Mommy make brownies…

Licking the spoon!

Disney on Ice with the Streepers….

After the show.

Easter morning looking for eggs….

Finding chocolate inside a plastic egg.

Carina continues to delight us with her vocabulary, smarts, and overall cuteness.  She likes to play games now which is fun!  She loves to play I Spy in the car, but at home we even have a couple of board games that she enjoys.  We’re looking forward to a fun spring!