Family Vacation to California - Next Stop Yosemite

Our next destination on our California vacation was Yosemite. We found a cute little cottage to rent in Clovis through Airbnb which was about 45 minutes away from the park. The cottage was located on a small farm and had goats and chickens which made Hannah happy.

It took about 45 minutes to get to the gate at Yosemite, then at least another hour to get to a place where we could park. It was very crowded, but we were told it would be worse on the weekend. We ended up using the shuttle service inside the park to get around.

The first hike we did was to Vernal Falls. We only went to the bridge which was
about a two mile hike round trip.

The Vernal Falls trail was a pretty steep hike. After that, we chose to follow some of the easier trails. I had read an article about Yosemite's 10 Best Easy Hikes prior to our trip, so we decided to use that as a guide.

Our next hike was Lower Yosemite Falls. It was just about a mile round trip and was a pretty easy hike.

After this hike, we went to the gift shop and purchased some souvenir t-shirts, then ate a late lunch/early dinner. We decided we had time for one more location, so we decided on Glacier Point since it was number 1 on the list we were following. We also decided to drive there because the shuttle didn't go where we wanted to be. It took over an hour to drive there. We did stop along the way when we saw some snow.

The views from Glacier Point were amazing!

If you look carefully, you'll see the rainbow.

By the time we finished at Glacier Point, it was after 8pm and we were exhausted. We would have liked to have seen more, but we only allotted for one day at the park. This is definitely some place we want to come back to one day.

Family Vacation to California- Los Angeles

James graduated over a year ago, but last summer, we didn't have the extra money or much free time, so we didn't go on graduation trip. Better late than never! We let James pick our destination. He really wanted to go to Alaska or somewhere where he could see the Northern Lights. Those options were a little (a lot) out of our price range. We discussed different options in the US, and he chose California. He was particularly interested in seeing National Parks and Alcatraz.

Flights were significantly cheaper flying in and out of Los Angeles, so we added LA to the trip, too.

We stayed in a Super Eight Hotel in Long Beach for our two nights in LA. It was really challenging to find hotels on the trip. Our teenagers are adult sized and 2 double beds won't cut it! We chose this hotel partly because of the price (it was pretty cheap by LA hotel prices), but the room had 2 king sized beds. We had a corner room which was very large. The shower was a little on the short side for Chris & James, but we were only there for two nights. Plus, breakfast was included which is always nice.

While in the Los Angeles area, we discovered Echo Park.

We went on a tour of Warner Brothers Studios.

We did the Hollywood Walk of Fame & Grauman's Chinese Theater.

We got to catch a glimpse of Will Ferrell on the Jimmy Kimmel Live Show.

We went to Griffith Park for some hiking and to see the observatory.

We managed to cram in a lot during our short stay in LA.

Pumpkin Patch

This past weekend was the first free weekend we've had in a while because of marching band. Hannah has always enjoyed fall activities, so we decided to take her to Pettit Creek Farms. They have pumpkins and a petting zoo, plus it was only half an hour away from home. Most of the good pumpkin or apple farms are much further.

Hannah enjoyed feeding the goats, sheep, and alpacas.

The corn maze was more of a walking path rather than a maze, but it was enjoyable. We've been to serious corn mazes and this was not at all like those.

Hannah got to ride a camel. She said that was on her bucket list.

There was a nice hay ride (minus the hay) that went around the property. There are all kinds of exotic animals on the farm, such as zebras, kangaroos, and emus. 

There were two feeding stops on the ride, so we got to feed camels.

We let Hannah pick out a couple of mini pumpkins too. 

We had a very nice afternoon. We ended up spending about two hours there. It was a little chilly when we first arrived, but it warmed up while we were there. Hannah wants to go back there at Christmas time to see the lights and reindeer.

Off to College

My last post was of my baby boy's graduation. Fast forward a couple of months and yesterday we dropped him off at college.

The last few days were a bit emotional for this momma. I think the thing that has hit me the hardest is knowing that things will never be the same again. Yes, he's going to be visiting us. He's going to be spending holidays and summers with us. He may even live at home and commute for some of his college years. But it's going to be different. It's the realization that he's an adult now. He's moving forward and that's tough.

I'm wondering if I have prepared him adequately for everything. He's ready, but am I?? I don't think I'll ever be ready, but it's too late now. We dropped him off at his dorm yesterday.


The van is all loaded. It doesn't look like much, but the back seats were down and the whole back of the van was full - it was just a single layer of stuff. It is a lot less than I took when I moved into college though!

I got teary eyed a few times this week. This was the worst - it was when James said goodbye to his cat, Scout. 

His dorm - he's living in one of the older dorms on the Marietta campus of KSU. 

Check-in was really easy. They had carts so it was really easy to move in. It just took one trip from the car.

It's a traditional dorm room - 2 beds, 2 dressers, 2 closets, 2 desks. The bathroom is across the hall.

It's a small room. Aren't most dorms? The guys have their closets/wardrobes up against the foot of their beds, facing their desks.

Here's James and his roommate.

Here's James and Hannah. She helped set up the dorm room for her brother.

Yes, he is only 15 minutes away from home. However, I felt it was very important for him to get the dorm experience - at least for the first year. It's all part of the growing up experience. We will see him today because we have to drop off some things he has decided he needs.

We're proud of you baby boy!!!

Graduation Day 2016

Today my baby boy graduated from high school. It was an emotional day for me!!! My father and his girlfriend drove down for the event. Chris' mother flew down. We invited our good friends, the Washburn family, too. Eric Washburn happens to also be our personal photographer. Here are some pictures from our day.

The day started with some light rain. The rain stopped about 10 minutes before the ceremony began. And then it was hot & muggy! Graduation started at 9:00 am. There was at least one medical emergency in the stands. I was pushing water bottles on our group so no one would get dehydrated. T


My eyes were a little teary during the processional. Because James hasn't had a hair cut in a few months, he was easy to spot because of his hair.

I had to use bobby pins to get hold his mortar board on him. He bumped it as he exited the car and never got it straightened again. So throughout the ceremony, his cap was tilted way to one side.

Another teary moment for me was the recessional. I did okay during the rest of the ceremony.

There were 550 graduates. The whole ceremony was finished at 10:30.

We had everyone over for brunch afterwards. Eric took some family pictures for us there.


James with his Grandma Pat. (Chris' Mom)

James with my Dad, Grandpa Karl.

The family

Brother & Sister

James and parents

The four of us

Another family shot

James and his friend, Tyler (son of our photographer friend)

James with his kitty, Scout

We are so proud of this guy!!!!