Pictures and Thoughts from the Fall...

Greetings from Whitney and her entourage of animals and babies!  In the above picture she has gathered five of her favorites and arranged them for a tea party.  Throughout the fall, Whitney has been constructing increasingly elaborate gatherings of animals and bringing them all sorts of treats from her tiny kitchen.  

Greetings from Lyell, hard at play counting corn here in Preschool.  Lyell loves the world of numbers, especially when that world collides with activities like organizing his Halloween candy and figuring out how many more minutes he gets to stay up at night.  

Greetings from Kim and Matthew, taking a final summer camping trip to Wawona (which included a nice dinner at the Narrow Gauge Inn.)  We enjoyed an Indian Summer all of September, which included many trips to the river to swim and fish and make lots of sand structures.  

Here we are in Wawona with Grandpa taking a ride on the historic stagecoach that has been driven by Burl (in the red) for 30 years.  Whitney is developing a love for horses, so this was a a special trip for her.  While it looks overcast in this picture, that is actually the smoke from the Rim Fire, which raged through Yosemite at the end of the summer.  

What would the end of summer be without a few Lemonade Stands?  Thanks to some prolific lemon trees near Nana and Grandpa's house, Lyell and Whitney were able to develop their first business enterprise selling homemade lemonade at the end of our driveway.  Lyell was a big fan of collecting and counting money, Whitney was a big fan of pouring herself multiple glasses of lemonade.  Shown here; some of their customers paid in pomegranates.  

And then it was back to school… Our Preschool took a field trip to Yosemite and took part in a Junior Ranger program.  It was a proud moment for all of us mountain mammas as our little kiddos had answers to almost every question the ranger posed about Yosemite animals and rivers.   

We were so excited to have a visit from Aunt Patty and cousin Georgia in late September.  It was hard to get a picture of Aunt Patty as she was out running multiple miles in marathon training!  

We also had a fabulous visit from Aunt Jeanne and Uncle Dale!  The kids loved showing them our house and of course reading all their favorite books.

We got to show them Yosemite and have breakfast at the Ahwahnee before sending them off on their Wine Country vacation.  

In early October Lyell and I took a trip to Jackson Hole and Salt Lake City.  In Jackson, we visited my dear friend Joanna and her family.  Her son, Karsten, is the same age as Lyell, and we marveled as they became super buddies in the few days we spent with them.  

Karsten, daddy Chris, and Lyell eating pizza and being silly.

We then drove down to Salt Lake City to visit Josie and her new baby girls, Zoey and Ruby.  Lyell got a taste of what our life will be like soon with a tiny baby in the house.

While Lyell and I were traveling, Whitney got to be an only child for a week with Nana and Grandpa.  She loved it!  Here they are at the Monterey Bay Aquarium checking out the eels.

Nanna and cousin Leandra took Whitney to get her very first haircut!  Here she is with her super stylish (and tangle free!) hairdo.  

We all returned to sunny El Portal just in time to visit the Pumpkin Patch and get ready for Halloween.   

We got to feed the baby goats and go through the hay mazes.  

Hay maze smiles!

We had a blast going through our costume box and choosing this year's costumes.  I was hoping that Whitney would go with this Indian princess outfit we found for her, but she chose to be a….. 

Gorilla!  She rocked it!

Lyell was very interested in traditional Halloween ideas this year and chose to construct his own bat costume, as well as his own ghost costume. He alternated between the two as we had multiple trick-or-treating events.

Potluck Preschool trick or treating at the offices of NatureBridge (can you find the ghost?)  This picture amazes me, as fifteen years ago I walked up these same steps for the first time as a new employee of NatureBridge (called Yosemite Institute back then.)  My first year in Yosemite I lived in a dorm-type room on the second floor right above these steps.  If someone had told me then that fifteen years later I would be bringing my two young children to this building in their Halloween costumes I never would have believed them.  

Autumn is the "secret season" up here in Yosemite.  It is stunningly beautiful, mostly warm, and very uncrowded.  We have been able to take many hikes, bike rides and explore new places on the Valley floor.  

Unfortunately, our National Parks were closed for almost 3 weeks this fall, denying thousands of people the opportunity to visit.  We took the above photo during the government shutdown, when most tourists were denied access to Yosemite Valley(we were able to go in because we were local residents on a "grocery shopping trip".)  It was so sad to meet and talk to people who had come from all over the world on their planned vacations and were turned away.  The hardest hit were the local small businesses, who depend on tourism, and lost three weeks of business.  It was a sad time for all around here.


On a different note- yes, I am still pregnant!  Seven months and counting, feeling the baby kick as I type. Besides some mildly annoying side effects, I have been feeling quite healthy and miraculously sleeping like a rock.  I remember when I was pregnant with Lyell hearing many times from other moms, "rest now, while you can," and feeling too excited about it all to sleep well.   Now, having been through multiple years of sleepless nights, I think my body is truly taking that advice to heart.  I am also collecting words of wisdom from families of three (or more) on how to seamlessly glide through the next few years- so send all your tips, tricks and favorite anecdotes my way!

Love to All, Kim, Matthew, Lyell, Whitney and Sprout