Rolling Golden Hills

A few weeks ago our family was privledged to go down to an area of California where I had never been. Right outside of Sequoia National Forrest. My sister Lindsey had an internship there for the summer, so my Dad's family decided to go on a family vacation and visit her in her element! :) But unfortunately, my Dad and Stepmom were not able to come at the last minute which was really sad for all of us. We really missed them and wished they could have participated with us. All of my siblings did come however, and of course my little family. We are the only ones with kiddos, so it was an interesting experience. :)

We ended up staying in a fabulous cabin just outside of the forrest, right in the middle of the golden rolling hills of California. I had always heard that term, but never seen it for myself, spending most of my time while in Cali in very populated areas. But let me tell you, the term is right on. Those hills seem to go on forever!!! And there were a few times when all of us in the car were pretty done with the windy twisty curvy roads that go along with them. :) The cabin was wonderful however. There was a seperate little house on the property that my family stayed in, and then my siblings were in the main house. We had a pool, it was really warm the entire time we were there, and we were able to see some beautiful trees, waterfalls, landscapes, etc. Plus we got to see Lindsey in the place she loved, which was a definite bonus! We had missed her!

Some of our highlights of the trip:

We went to something called the Trail of 100 Giants. What an amazing experience. The drive there was a nightmere, and all of us thought we may throw up, but once we got there it was definitely worth it. Sequoia trees that were over 1500 years old, and HUGE! There were many that had some of their insides burned by fires, so we could actually climb and walk around on the inside of the trees. The walk was beautiful and we saw some amazing sights. We also saw some fabulous trees and scenery as we went to visit Lindsey inside the National Forrest. Where we were really was absolutely beautiful.

Our little family in front of a giant Sequoia (no...that isn't an apron, that is just Skittles inside the baby carrier! :) )

One of the other fabulous aspects of this trip was that it was really relaxed. We didn't have to be anywhere at a certain time, we didn't have anything specific we had to do....it was wonderful! We spent a lot of time at the cabin and in the pool, which the boys truly loved. I think it was nice for them to have some time with Mommy and Daddy, plus aunts and uncles, just doing fun things for a whole week!

After the kids went to bed every night my siblings, Teage, and myself played games, chatted, and just had fun together. It was honestly really nice to be with all of them, just the five of us. We really hadn't ever been able to do that in such a relaxed setting. It really was wonderful for me. And we played one HUGE epic game of Knock!...our Parkinson family game. But this one was the Knock game of the century. We just kept it going all week and continued the score. What fun it was!!! And wouldn't you know it, the winner was determined on the very last hand, after about 50 of them! Crazy fun! :)

Here are our final scores! :)

My little family had a great time with just us five as well. We spent one day on our own, exploring the parks, lakes, trails around our cabin as well as finding some fun hidden waterfalls along the way. The boys (I am including Teage in that as well) probably had the most fun just throwing rocks into the water. They would wade in near the little waterfalls, make rock walls, throw a million rocks, and smile and laugh the whole time. It really was fun to watch them.