The Redwoods

Big Trees and Beautiful Hikes

 It really is hard to capture in pictures how enormous these trees are.

 The kids love their hiking backpacks.  I think they look adorable carrying them.

 Teaching us all to skip stones.

 We played in and on many trees.

 When hiking in southern Utah we are frequently stopping to play on a cool rock or in peek-a-boos, but here its on fallen or hollow trees.

 Even Charlotte was amazed at the size of these trees.

Banana Slugs

The first day in camp we found these poor banana slugs.  The kids collected them and put them on this stump.  Gave them a few leaves and tried to keep them there.  Needless to say I felt bad for the slimy little guys.

 After multiple escape attempts the kids tried to build a wall to contain them.  It didn't work.  We left for our hike and returned to find the slugs had abandon their stump.

 The kids learned a banana slug dance from the Junior ranger booklet.  It kept us laughing through the trip.

Delicious. 

"I think there's something on your hat, Dad."

Fern Canyon

 Muscle man in the ferns.

 A beautiful place to collect rocks

 and run and splash around.

 A natural teeter-totter

 and some tickling.

Some Oceanfront Trails and Beach Time

 Wedding Rock

 The farmers

Clara had one so Charlotte wanted one too.  Only, it's hard to bite grass with only sparse front teeth.  She finally figured out how to do it with her lips.

 A beautifully perfect day at the beach.

 Dig a hole, and she will come and sit in it, invited or not.

We have finally figured out a good way to work the beach into our trips. Some of us have a hard time spending the whole day at the beach, which is what others want to do. But after a good day of hiking unwinding at the beach for a few hours pleases everyone.

The Wet Day

Honestly we had great weather.  The first day couldn't have been more perfect.  The second day it rained a misty rain in the morning and cleared up by afternoon but the day we headed out it poured.  We squeezed in one more hike before driving home and we are still drying out.

 It was green and beautiful, but very wet.

 Did I mention it was wet?  The kids hiked so well, they loved played Star Wars down the trail(you know that part in Return of the Jedi on the speed racer things?).

 On that wet day Luke was the only one who insisted on bringing his backpack.  Usually we will give them their own rain gear, water and a snack to carry, but we were wearing our gear, and weren't going very far, so the girls didn't bring theirs.  I peeked to see what Luke brought along...

 his favorites.

No trip to the redwoods would be complete without a drive through a tree.  We fit, barely and the picture is less than perfect, but we did it.