Say What?

The other day my 4 year old told me I look like a sea lion.  Yep, straight-up, boldfaced honesty.

I have to put it in just a little context. 

Thursday morning at play group we were walking along a wharf where we saw a bunch of sea life.  Em was very excited about this particular large sea lion: 

She exclaimed, "Mom, that is a BIG sea lion!  That is a mommy or a daddy sea lion!  Mom, that sea lion looks like YOU!!!" 

Maybe she was making the connection that since the sea lion's a mommy and I'm a mommy, we must look alike.

But still, she said I look like a 300 lbs. wet pinniped with whiskers. 
It kind of hurt.

So, somewhat insulted but somewhat amused, I shared the quip that night with Benny Boy.  "Yeah, can you believe Em said I looked like a ginormous sea lion?"  I mean, I know my body's changed and all since having children, but really?

Well, tonight when I came home from the RS broadcast, Ben was all pumped to tell me that he had taken the girls to the store and while in the magazine aisle Emily pulled at him, "Dad look!  That one looks like Mommy!"  And this is what she was pointing to:

Ok, all is forgiven.  I guess this was Heavenly Father's way of blessing me for going to the broadcast.  Or we can just conclude that Em is a horrible judge of look-a-likes.  But who can resist such sweetness?

Yosemite has been on our bucket list since we've moved to Monterey.  We couldn't leave here and NOT visit one of the most beautiful national parks in the country!  So we finally carved out the time to go.

This was our maiden voyage camping with the girls so we played it safe and camped for just one night (at least that's my excuse).

My favorite thing about this trip is that it only cost $20 (if you don't count gas)!  Free entrance with military id, packed in all our own food, and spent $20 for the campsite.  Can't beat that!

I like to get shots of us as we first start out fresh... this is about 3 minutes into our drive

Yosemite or bust!

Our first stop was Mariposa Grove to visit the world famous sequoias.  We went on a .6 mile hike, I repeat .6 as in POINT 6.  It was the longest .6 miles of my life, as we quickly discovered what lousy hikers we had for daughters.  Seriously frustrating.  C absolutely refused to walk, and Em walked but at the pace of a snail whining and pouting the entire way.  As a former employee at Zion National Park and Philmont Scout Ranch, I could not claim them as my own!! 

Pretty amazing, eh?

So it turns out all they needed was some fruit snacks (or a downward slope).  Then ran almost the whole way back to the car. 

We stopped along the way and watched a chipmunk gather acorns for the winter.  The girls were absolutely fascinated, as I'm sure you are not.

This was the spectacular view as we drove into the valley... El Capitain on the left and Half Dome on the right:

Tent living:  thanks to our neighbors we had a ginormous tent.  The girls just wanted to be in here the entire time.  C was in heaven with her safe little haven.

Roasting smores.  This cracked me up because Em kept her marshmallows about 3 feet from the fire.  Yeah, it took quite awhile for those marshmallows to roast.

Reading Frog and Toad by flashlight.  Em was in heaven.

Bonafide French toast breakfast.  First time using the propane stove, pretty proud. 

We went for a bike ride after breakfast.  This was the funnest part of the trip, and the most scenic.  Yosemite Valley is very bike friendly, which we loved!

They love being pulled around in their "chariot."  You can imagine the state of C's blanket by the end of this trip. 

That's me!

Some of the sites we stopped at along the way:

Love that reflection

Stud Muffin

Pretty bone dry here in the fall: If you want the spectacular rivers and waterfalls you have to come in the spring and early summer. But the trade off is you have humungous crowds. We had no glorious waterfalls, but enjoyed the not so crowded feeling.

Coudln't resist putting this one in

Cooling off in the river near our campsite:

This was by far C's favorite part of the trip:

I came, I saw, I conquered

Picnic Lunch:

They loved climbing on the rocks:

And finally before going home we hiked a mile up hill to Vernal Falls.  A mile doesn't seem long at all, unless you have a 2 and 4 year old.  Luckily, Em redeemed herself on this hike.  She helped push Caroline in her stroller up the mountain.  She was tough!  

Hooray for Yosemite!

And I have to add my favorite quotes from the trip:

As we're sitting around the fire, C pointed to the neighboring campsite where a woman was eating by the light of a lantern  "Look!  There's Rapunzel's mother." 

Em as we're roasting marshmallows: "Why do marshmallows ALWAYS get in my hair?'

And Ben, the best for last:  After going on a huge rant about how evil crows are and how they are taking over Monterey, "And you know what else about the crows?  They're starting to rape the seagulls.  I've seen some pretty jacked up looking gray seagulls lately.  Have you seen them too?"

And another from Ben because I know my mom just loves the way Ben puts things.We were talking about step-mothers since the girls' favorite movie is Tangled. 

Ben:  Step-mothers are always mean, huh?
Me:  That's why you're never allowed to re-marry.
Ben: shoot, if the girls ever had a step-mother who was mean to them, I'd punch her in the face.  And that would end that marriage, RIGHT AWAY.


Good to know Ben's got their backs. 

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

So for the past several nights, C has been insisting on sleeping in Em's bed instead of her crib.  Her request usually evokes a deep sigh from us because we know she's not serious about going to sleep. She just wants to party.  

Do these girls look serious about going to bed?

So for the past several nights we've told Caroline she can sleep with Emily as long as she doesn't get out of bed.  She eagerly agrees, "Ok!"  And then after we creep downstairs to finally unwind after a long day, we hear little pitter patter noises from up above.  When we go to check, sure enough... C is out of bed wreaking havoc in Em's room...  

So, in our efforts to be consistent parents, we have to follow through on our said consequences and put her in her crib.  By her ensuing reaction you would think we've just set Blanky, Sheepy, Smoke, and Bunny Rabbit on fire (see previous post).  It's not pretty. 

But finally the other night.....

Success!!

Isn't that sweet?   

This marks the beginning of many many years of sisters sharing a bed.  

Today we did a lot of hanging around...

(lame pun, I know)

Em had fun:

But C had her doubts...

Ben graduates in December and we still don't know FOR CERTAIN where we are going.  We were told Romania, then England, and now Germany.  But we don't have orders yet, so nothing is official.  Yes, the waiting is killing me.  

In the meantime, we do know that we will be leaving this area in just a few short months.  Yesterday morning I had several tedious errands to run, and what would have seemed to be an otherwise mundane Monday morning, was really quite lovely with the two girls.  The sun was out in all its splendor and that cool fresh breeze from the ocean always makes me happy.  Monterey is a small community so traffic is never an issue, it is easy to get from point A to point B.  And the girls were happy to be out of the house.  We stopped at Province Bakery next to the Verizon store where I went to get Ben's phone fixed.  I love that there is a little French population in this area, and thus several yummy French bakeries.  Em is eating a delicious chocolate croissant, and C, in typical fashion, is sticking to her Ritz crackers.  Some day she'll see the light.   We're excited for what's around the corner, but as I sat watching them eat like two little ladies out for lunch, I couldn't help but think how much we'll miss it here. 

And just a few random picture from family night last night.  You can tell which child has the better attention span.  

Meet Caroline's entourage:

It includes Smok Wawelski, known as "Smoke" (you know... the dragon that lives under Wawel Castle... common knowledge people!), Sheepy, and Bunny Rabbit.  It also includes TWO blankets... her pink soft snuggly one and the yellow hand crocheted one from Nana which is cute, but kind of heavy and big and not one to really drag around everywhere, which Caroline does anyway.

Where ever C goes, these guys go too.  Every morning when I get her out of the crib and she's still in that groggy sleepy state, she amazingly asks for each item one by one. She starts with her blankie, which I hastily hand her hoping it will be enough to satisfy her, but then she yells for Smoke, and then Sheepy and so on until she has all of her belongings.  She leaves no man behind!!!  She would make a great soldier.  

By the time she has everything in her arms, her mass of stuffed animals and blankets are bigger than her fragile petite self and of course she demands to walk down the stairs on her own.  I always cringe anticipating she'll snowball it down the stairs, but so far she manages on her own!.