Fishing Camp

The boys had a successful week at Fishing Camp. This was Will's fourth year attending the camp and Alex's first year. They each had friends that were in the camp as well. They learned about native fish to Michigan, made lures, had a fish fry and went fishing every day. On the final day, they went to Kevin VanDam's house to fish in his pond. They both came home with a bucket of fish which we donated to the Grindalls since we were heading out of town.

Weekend at Grann's

The boys spent a fun weekend at Grann's. They saw Toy Story 4, swam with the cousins, and did a very cool ropes course/zip line. While they were in West Bloomfield, we went up to Traverse City.

California Trip - Day 10: Time to Go Home

On Wednesday, it was time to head home. We had an early flight out of San Francisco and arrived in Detroit ahead of schedule. Our luggage was waiting for us and we caught the shuttle to our car within a few minutes. We decided to stop in Ann Arbor for a late lunch/early dinner at Zingerman's before heading home. We did run into some holiday weekend traffic but made it home by 7pm. We unpacked and found that all our souvenirs made it back in one piece. It was a wonderful and memorable family vacation but it does feel good to be back home.

Alex's Souvenirs:  snow globe, Alex pen, Yosemite marble, bottle of gold flakes

Will's Souvenirs:  bear snow globe/sculpture, carved bear, bottle of gold flakes.

Coffee Cups and Coasters for the Adults

Yosemite and Sequoia Hiking Medallions for the Boys' Hiking Sticks

California Trip - Day 9: Oakland

On Tuesday morning, we packed everything up and played a few last games of air hockey before hitting the road. We stopped in Mariposa again for lunch and wandered the town a little bit. Then we went directly to the Oakland Coliseum for an A's game (stadium #12). We had great seats - first row, right next to the bullpen. The boys were disappointed they didn't get a ball during batting practice but we did luck out and had a foul ball roll to us later in the game! We were all pretty excited about it. We purchased the boys souvenir little bats and saw an exciting game with lots of home runs.

Entering the Parking Lot - Free Parking on Tuesdays!

Outside the Oakland Coliseum

Great Seats

Watching Batting Practice

Twins Pitcher Warming Up

Foul Ball!

Foul Ball!

California Trip - Day 8: Sentinel Dome Sunset

We promised the boys some time in the pool on our last day at Tenaya Lodge. Phil decided to take one last hike along the Chilnualna Falls in the morning. The Chilnualna Falls started in the town of Wawona which is inside the park. It was an 8.2 mile hike with views of the falls and the Wawona Dome and Wawona Valley. While Phil did his hike, the boys and I went to the game room for an air hockey tournament and then went to the pool. The boys swam for almost 5 hours stopping only for a quick lunch. Then we got dressed and drove back to the Sentinel Dome Trailhead. We took the short 1.1 mile hike back to the top of Sentinel Dome. From there, we watched the sun set over the Valley. It was cool to see the shadows climbing up the side of Half Dome and the sky and mountains turned a beautiful pink/purple color. We started to hike back down shortly after sunset since we didn't want to be hiking back in the dark. The views along the trail were still amazing!

Chilnualna Falls

Chilnualna Falls

Chilnualna Falls

Chilnualna Falls

Shadows on Half Dome

Shadows on the Mountains

Watching the Sunset from Sentinel Dome

Sunset in the Valley

Half Dome Started to Turn Pink

After Sunset While Hiking Back Down the Sentinel Trail

After Sunset While Hiking the Sentinel Trail

Sitting on the (now dead) Jeffrey Pine Made Famous in an Ansel Adams Photo

Sitting on the (now dead) Jeffrey Pine Made Famous in an Ansel Adams Photo

Top of Sentinel Dome

Top of Sentinel Dome

Top of Sentinel Dome

Sunset on Sentinel Dome

Sunset on Sentinel Dome

Sunset on Sentinel Dome - Nevada Falls in Background

Sunset on Sentinel Dome - Yosemite Falls in Background

View from the Base of the Dome