August Faces of Isabel

Yosemite National Park

This last weekend's adventures took us to the spectacular Yosemite National Park. Since we are going to be moving to Bozeman Montana next spring I really wanted to see this National treasure while it is still (fairly) close by! We spent the weekend with the Spositos and Jeff's mom Roxanne and her husband Jack.

Upon driving into the valley our eyes were greeted by the astounding views of the granite cliffs that framed the pine forests, river and waterfalls below. It truly is a magical place where you see the glory of God surrounding you.

A forest fire made the sunset especially spectacular!

The first night we stayed in Curry Village in this sweet wall tent! There is even a cleaning service. Its not really roughing it, but with a baby we didn't mind :-)

We were able to get super close to this big fat mule deer. He sure eats good!

The daddies ready to go hiking with their little girls to Vernal Falls!




Isabel was such a trooper! She didn't fuss at all during the whole hike, but loved looking around. Seeing all the sites was tiring for the little one, and she took her nap right in the backpack!
Trying out sweet potatoes. As you can see, she wasn't a big fan...

All it takes is for mom to turn her head for one second and then Isabel is getting into something!

It was easy to see why Yosemitte National Park is one of our country's greatest natural treasures. We definitely want to go back some day and hike up half dome. But one thing you wont ever see us doing is climbing up the face of this rock, El Capitan.

Lake of the Woods!

Last weekend we went camping at Lake of the Woods! Isabel is the 5th generation on my dad's side of the family to enjoy the pleasant shores and fresh mountain air of this wonderful destination. My great grandpa, Fred Geoller bought a summer cabin in the late 1920's or early 1930's on the east side of the lake when the Lake of the Woods resort was brand new (it was established in 1922). We have photos of my grandma as a teenager snow skiing on the lake in her bathing suit in winter time and sailing with a mysterious male "friend" during the summer. Like my dad, I have been camping at the lake since before I can even remember. Even my mom and the Perez family would camp at the lake in the summer when my mom was a kid. She remembers my Abuelito putting frogs into the girls' tent as a practical joke and was actually quite the expert at water skiing! That boat was one of the only "toys" my Abuelito ever spent his hard earned money on. My own childhood memories consist of riding bikes down to the lodge to buy an ice cream, my Abuelito starting campfires with diesel fuel as he basically would put a whole tree trunk into the fire pit! Making smores every night, swimming in the lake and getting freak out by the slimy rocks (I still don't like them!), and lot of yummy camp food!

The best part of this camping trip was that the WHOLE family was able to come! Even Tia Olivia and Maria were able to come out for a night. Our wonderful Pam was even able to stop by for a little while in the afternoon and chilax on the lake shore! Originally it was just going to be the rendezvous for us taking Tia Rosa home (she spent a week with us in Sonoma), and it turned out that everyone was able to come! David wasn't originally going to make it because he had a songwriting competition Friday night. But I was able to guilt trip him into driving up Saturday morning. We were all super glad that he did, because we had one of the best campfire jam sessions ever!

While we might not be able to head to the lake ever single summer, I'm excited for the memories that my kids will establish at this place that is so near and dear to my heart.

Lake Hayden

After the wedding festivities we got to spend 5 days at wonderful Lake Hayden at Auntie Annie's family lake cabin in Northern Idaho. The Spositos also came, so it was wonderful to get to relax and enjoy lake life with some of our closest friends! While we were there Auntie Annie and Auntie Sam did the long bridge swim! It was 1.76 miles! I was supposed to do it too but wasn't able to get any training in. I was happy to watch from the shore and cheer the super mamas on! Our days consisted of laying out on the docks, napping, boat rides and lots of baby time! Isabel and Rowan had a blast playing with each other! We were so blessed to have the O'Neil family let us come stay at their wonderful lake cabin. We can't wait to go back again!

*Disclaimer* Sorry the photo quality isn't that great. Our camera ran out of battery and of course we forgot to bring the charger with us on the trip, so all these photos are from my phone.