Yosemite Spring Break

Spring break adventures in Yosemite, great to have Miles & Lisa join us for part of the fun, always a great excuse to make someone in California visit this amazing place in our backyard (even if it takes them 9+ hours to drive home). Boys did great on the hikes. The weather was amazing. And while we both agree there are too many people in Yosemite (and it's mid-week in April!), it's still worthy of a visit. Now we have a National Park pass and really need to come up with the next destination... might be post Labor Day, but that's okay. I'll try to add more photos when I have better wifi, but here's a few in case I never circle back.

Routeburn Hike

We took a day trip on the Routeburn Track, one of New Zealand's great walk.  This is the same hike that we walked on the other day from the Milford Rd side (we just happened to have driven around to the other side vs doing the 3 day hike).  But super proud that we got the boys to hike up to the Routeburn Falls Hut, 17.6 kilometers, taking us a total of just over 6 hours round trip.  Beautiful hike....

Queenstown

When we arrived in New Zealand we spent the first 2 nights at the Top Ten Holiday Park in a motel unit, which was a nice way to adjust to the time zone/summer/vacation mode.  The holiday park is outside of the bustling city center, which was nice because I'm not sure I could handle the downtown Queenstown scene.  We've always known that the adrenaline junkie capital of New Zealand was a busy place, but it seems that it's bursting at the seems, full of international tourists and rather action packed.  The boys went bungy jumping, the highlight of their trip.  I enjoyed the hike up the Tiki Trail to the luge and bungy area (straight up the side of the hill). 

Key Summit, Routebourn Track

I'd love to say I'll blog our time in New Zealand, but almost always I get overwhelmed with where to start, what to include.  But what's funny is that so far on this trip we've had numerous conversations trying to remember things, "Did we go to Milford Sound with Josh?  Where did we stay when we took our big trip and came this way?  Have we been to this beach before and why?"  So part of me is thinking if I take the time to write down what we did on this trip, now, in 10 years time when we can't remember what we did on which trip, I'll be able to reference this... (I still can't remember when we last did Milford Sound, but I think I was pregnant with Josh).

So, to start... a week into our adventure... today we had the chance to hike part of the Routeburn Track outside of Te Anau on the way to Milford Sound.  The hike up from the Divide gives you a chance to hike up to the Key Summit, this amazingly picturesque spot, which was well worth the adventure (even if it's a popular hike with lots of other people).  We were lucky with with weather, a little breezy, not too many sandflies.

We're excited to hike part of the Routeburn Track on the other side later this week... so more picturesque photos coming.  

Pinewood Derby

The end of an era....  our final Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby.  Dan's been running the race for the last 5 years and is stepping down from his Co-Pack Leader position in March when Josh moves up to Boy Scouts.  But kudos to both of them for creating such a unique car that Josh won Best of Show for the 2nd year!

Happy Camper- Wild Plum, August 2018

I am so behind in the family blog, that might as well start with the present and maybe work backwards?  I promised Ben a birthday post and have a deadline, so watch this space....    Our family went camping!  The comedy of errors even more entertaining knowing that our world is currently engrossed in all things camping.  A list of snafus:

• Dan made the reservation back in February and we put it in our calendar and built our work schedule around it.  Literally 5 minutes before we were about to leave Dan realized he booked the reservation for the following week.  You would think we would get these things right, but both of us just laughed out loud.
• As a result, we ended up at Wild Plum (where we were suppose to camp in June and didn't get to) instead of Lakes Basin, the original plan.
• We were able to borrow back Woody, our vintage trailer, which is now officially adopted by my mom, which meant that things weren't exactly in the place we thought they would be.  We both agree that this is the end of an era and will be in the market for our own trailer in the near future (since borrowing the ones from the motel and the campground don't seem to be working out the way we thought).
• The boys slept in hammocks and neither of them got much sleep.
• I ran out of wine.
• We went in search of the PCT and took a couple of wrong turns.

But just like all the other times we get a chance to go camping we all remember why we love it.  I ticked all my camping requirements-- coffee outside, a nap, read a book, slept in a tent.

Happy 10th Birthday

Happy 10th birthday Josh!  Way to ring in the new year with enthusiasm, energy and a spirit for adventure.  His current interests include: playing video games (Minecraft, Roblocks, Titan Fall 2), skiing, riding his new scooter, going to Woodward, practicing for his upcoming Black Belt test in Kuk Sool and eating.