Sunday, August 16, 2009

Yosemite

We spent a week camping in Yosemite just before Linnea's first birthday. She was a great camper, and seemed to really enjoy it!

In front of Yosemite Falls.

Dad spent the second day river rafting the rapids, while Linnea and I hiked to a pretty lake and went swimming.

It was tough to get Linnea to nap in the tent at first, especially since she quickly realized she could get our attention by waving at us through the mesh, which invariably cracked us up. But she got the hang of it eventually!

She spent her afternoons working in the coal mines to make us a little extra money.

Linnea and Mom at Glacier Point, with Half Dome in the background.

She has learned to make a very silly face when she's tired of us taking photos of her. It works!

Having a picnic at Glacier Point.

Half dome in the sunset.

Where to next? Linnea 'helping' us pack for our backpacking trip.

What were we thinking? All of the stuff we had to carry for our four-day backpacking trip. And it was bear country (as we quickly learned in person) so we had to bring bear canisters for everything, including the diapers!

Linnea decided to have a snack while Mom and Dad packed the backpacks.

All loaded up!

And we're there! Our gorgeous campsite at Upper Cathedral Lake.

Linnea gave her seal of approval!

And promptly took a nap.

Goofing around in the tent.

Our campsite from across the lake.

We stayed there for four days and did dayhikes from there, including this one out towards Yosemite Valley. The wildflowers were beautiful.

Linnea loves to steal and put on Mom's and Dad's sunglasses, but refuses to wear her own!

Contemplating a pinecone.

Playing at camp.

We taught her to scrub the cooking pots. She was a quick study!

Marmot!

More wildflowers on the way up Echo Peak.

The view from almost-the-top of the peak.

Picnicking at Budd Lake.

Linnea's little friend.

The happy adventurer!

Hugging Mom.

The whole family.

Linnea slept the whole way home.

Exploring Cathedral Lake.

Trying to eat the grass...

Dad swimming in Cathedral Lake...with a monster thunderstorm/hailstorm brewing in the background!


Reading bedtime books after a (very) long day!

More pictures of our gorgeous surroundings.


Sunrise at Cathedral Lake on our last morning (Nea was kind enough to ensure that we were almost always up by this beautiful time).

Minnesota

In July we went to Minnesota for my Uncle John's memorial service. It was a very sad reason to go, but good to see the family, especially Linnea's two most recent cousins that are both within six months of her age. Unfortunately none of us remembered to take a photo of the trio!

Linnea 'sharing' her rocks with her cousin Madison at the lake.