My New Favorite Place

Have I mentioned that I have a new place that I absolutely love to take Zeke? Well, I'm pretty sure I've told everyone I know about it. It's the new Splash Park by my house. It's fantastic!!! It starts as a waterfall that the kids are not supposed to play on and then goes under a bridge.

The water then comes out into this great little river for the kids to play in.

It then goes into another grate where there is this nice fountain to play in. It's pretty much perfect. Toby thinks the only thing missing is a couple of small slides at the top.

Saturday, Toby finally got to come and play with us at the Splash Park. He taught Zeke how to swim by lying on his tummy and moving his arms around.

As you can probably tell from the next few pictures, Zeke loves playing here. I also enjoy it because I can sit on the side with my feet in the water to cool off.

Happenings of Late

Zeke and Toby have been busy doing all kinds of projects together.

Watching Movies

Making Salsa

Sanding the new bed

We also enjoyed Alpine Days for the first time ever. We have never been in town for it before so this was a fun experience. Zeke got to go to his first parade. The cloase proximity to our house made it hard to miss :) (even with all the people setting up chairs in our yard a day in advance)

Random

I'm pretty sure a baby becomes a person when they grow a neck.

Not a Baby Anymore

Do you ever look at your little baby and realize that they aren't a baby anymore? It just hit me... and has continued to hit me over and over again for the past few weeks.

Zeke is growing up.

He's a constant chatter box and pretty much does a running commentary of his life. He likes to help me with everything. He wants to play with all the big kids and thinks he is as old as they are. I don't have control over everything he learns and is taught. If we are at the park and I tell him not to throw the rubber chips, but the older kids are, he decides whose advice he wants to follow. What do I do? How do I keep my baby from growing up?

The Last Day of our Vacation

For our last day in Yosemite, we went for a bike ride.

I loved the bike ride. It was refreshing being able to see so many things so quickly and not having to walk from thing to thing.

Zeke thought it was pretty fun riding behind Toby.

Daniel pulled Isaac and Jacob. They kept true to their form and slept for most of the ride.

Yosemite really is beautiful.

Enjoying our last picnic before jumping in the car to head back to Kristel's house.

We had so much fun spending time with family and exploring this beautiful world we live in. I wonder what our next adventure will be.

Yosemite Day 2... Survival of the Fittest

A picture is worth a thousand words.

We decided to hike up to see Vernal Falls. The original plan was to go beyond Vernal Falls and up to Nevada falls as well making it a 3 mile round trip hike. (not really) No problem right?

The first mile was no problem. It was steep, but well paved and great for the strollers.

After the viewing point from the bottom of the falls, we had to make some decisions. We decided to hide the strollers and head for the top. The squirrels came right up to you all along the trail hoping for some food.

The trail was okay for the first little while without the strollers and the kids were having fun.

And then it got steep!


I had to take quite a few breaks on the way up the stairs. Toby was a trooper and carried Zeke almost the whole way up and never complained.


Kristel and I kept about the same pace and stopped for water breaks together. It was funny hearing people walk past her and make comments about her bringing her 2 month old baby up there.

We don't have many pictures of us as a family so it's nice to have gotten a couple on the hike... even though we aren't exactly looking our best.

Finally we made it to the top. They have a lookout where you can look right off the top of the falls. It made Toby a little nervous and he kept telling me to hold on to Zeke tighter.

The last half of our hike was enough for me and I was ready to head back down for lunch after that. As some of you might know, I am big into eating on time :) The rest of the Lander clan had another plan, however, and decided to hike up further to catch a glimpse of Nevada Falls. Lance (my brother-in-law) and I stayed behind with the kids and waited for them to get back all the while growing more and more hungry.

After listening to the kids cry for as long as I could handle, being tired, hungry and ready to go I pretty much lost it. Yep, I grabbed Zeke and headed back down the trail. Thank heavens for a perceptive husband that came back early and carried Zeke down the trail for me. We made it down much faster than going up and got on the bus to get back to the cars. Toby and I got off where the cars and food were, but everyone else stayed on. After waiting ever so patiently (not) for them to figure out the right stop to get off at, we had lunch.... Finally!

Thankfully, we just stopped at a couple lookout points to see Half Dome before heading back. Needless to say, I went to bed as early as I could that night.

Day 1 Continued

Just Kidding... day 1 isn't over yet. Zeke wore himself out pretty well and took his turn sleeping on the way down the trail.

Over my left shoulder is upper Yosemite falls.

We stopped for lunch after our hike. I'm pretty sure those ducks have been fed before because they knew exactly what to do when the food came out. Alyssa, however, thought they might like rocks instead of bread.

Toby and Daniel played a game of track ball in the water but still insisted that they didn't want to get wet. Silly boys.

Alyssa was ready to fetch the ball for them whenever it got away from them.

Here we are checking out the visitor's center. There wasn't a whole lot to see, but the movie sure was refreshing with soft seats and air conditioning. Too bad, Zeke kept a running commentary through the entire movie. "Water, tree, dirt...." It was actually pretty funny.

After the visitor's center, we walked over to lower Yosemite falls.

Unwinding at the end of the day. Zeke wanted to hold baby Jacob so we all sat together. Daniel likes to point out how big Zeke's head is in this picture.

First Day in Yosemite

The only problem with going on vacation with the Lander family is the amount of pictures we come home with. Toby and I didn't even use our camera this time and we still have 2 cd's full. So.... I am going to do another day by day account. Don't worry, we were only there for 3 days. Zeke thought he was in heaven practically living outdoors for 3 days straight. Our first hike was a short little walk to see Bridalveil falls.

I thought I had it rough hiking while pregnant, but those boys sure put in some hard work pushing all the kids around. The trails weren't exactly stroller friendly, but we made it anyway.

Daniel is the most amazing hiker. He pretty much runs up and down the trails no matter how much weight we pack on his back.

Isaac and Jacob thought the rocks and rough trail were perfect sleeping conditions.

Zeke loved playing with his cousin, Isaac.

Toby wanted to delete this picture because it was kind of blurry, but I love it so much!

We were hiking what is called The Four Mile Trail, but we were only going part way. This stream was the perfect stopping point. We all put our feet in and cooled down. Zeke, of course, was all in when it came to water.