Yosemite

Here are some pictures from our Yosemite trip. Birch and I celebrate our five-year anniversary this summer and this was our unofficial "celebration." Trevor stayed in Flagstaff with both sets of grandparents. Thanks again for watching him!

First we drove through Sequoia National Forest. These trees aren't as tall as Redwoods but they're definitely fatter!

It felt like being in the movie "Honey I Shrunk the Kids!"

We actually camped at Bass Lake and drove an hour into Yosemite Park every day to hike. Here is a view of that valley (a little smoggy from the CA fires).

The first day we hiked the Mist Trail to find two waterfalls. We were stopped at one point because a mama bear was 20 feet off the trail, glaring at hikers as she protected her cubs. Everyone waited for her to leave and when she didn't we finally walked past VERY QUICKLY. But look at those cute cubs in the tree at the top!

We were soaked with mist from the waterfalls. It was a nice break after doing this "stairmaster" hike for a few miles.

On every hike I would look behind me to make sure Birch was there and often found him in some obscure place taking a picture. Here he is on a rock ledge while the rest of us follow the regular path.

Nevada Falls, the end of our hike on the Mist Trail.

Here's some of our gourmet camping food: pineapple pizza!

Another hike in Tuolumne Meadows took us to this creek and a lake where we ate lunch. I've never seen such a beautiful place!

Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better!

A few days ago I was shocked when Birch announced he was going to run on the treadmill. This is the guy who loves to be active but won't move unless a ball is involved, which also implies competition.

He decided to run since he hadn't played any sports in several weeks and needed to do something active. Birch started up the treadmill, jogging as I walked in and out of the room putting away laundry.

Once when I came in he casually asked, "So how fast do you usually run?" I didn't have any idea what his speed was on but told him I ran between 5.0 and 6.0. "Hmmm," he said. "4.5 does feel pretty slow."

Birch gradually increased his speed until his feet were pounding on that poor treadmill. Right before he stopped he went as fast as he could go, then got off after 15 minutes total.

I couldn't help but smile when I saw him breathing so hard on the couch afterwards. I asked him how fast he was running and he answered, "It was 9.0 at the end, but I'm sure I averaged around 7.0." (Translation: Anything you can do, I can do BETTER!) Love you, babe!

Have any of you ever been "beaten" by a man?

Back to Work

I went to lunch with my mom this week at Sizzler so we could say hi to my brother Kenneth. He has worked there as a dishwasher for years now and LOVES it! When he saw we were visiting he came out to say hi, but quickly added: "Oh, Camille, I have so much work to do." Glad to see one of us learned from all those chore charts growing up! What a great worker!

Trevor Tricks

We haven't gone crazy with baby sign language, but we did teach Trevor a few signs that we thought would be helpful to us: eat, more and finished. Here's a picture of Trevor showing his more sign:

Lately he's started using his signs in situations other than mealtime. When we were in swimming lessons Trevor usually made the sign for "finished" in the middle of our class. Sorry bud, I know you LOVE the water but we can't get out yet! He also likes to say he's finished in the middle of a diaper change. Again, nice try.

What does work is using "more" when he wants to do something again. A few nights ago he was falling asleep in his carseat while my sister-in-law, Stephanie, stroked his face with her fingers. As soon as she stopped the "more" sign came out. But when her husband Kai tried the same thing, he got a swat! I guess he knows a lady's touch.

Birch introduced Trevor to the treadmill last week and now he wants "more and more" of that! He can actually go pretty fast while Birch holds his hands. His top speed is 2.5, I hope that doesn't beat anyone out there!