2 Part Family Vacation
1st Part - Mono Hot Springs, 3 nights
When considering a family vacation, one has to consider the children involved. This year, we have a pretty easy 3 1/2 year old and an easy going 18 month old. So I got a cabin with a few bedrooms and figured we'd be okay. This would have been fine except that the easy going 18 month old turned out to be not so easy going. He was just cranky, all, the, time and then kind of slept horribly. We made it though and all in all, had a great time up in the mountains. The cabin definitely made it doable and just not as much work as tent camping. I was able to relax and actually continue recovering.
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| Josiah relaxing by the meadow |
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| That's Caleb way up there! He was such a great rock climber |
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| Heading over to the hot springs |
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| Very warm hot springs. They had bath and shower versions right near our cabin that we got to enjoy every evening. |
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| Storytime in our cabin |
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| We took out a boat on Edison lake. All of us had a great time, save Josiah, who was completely and overly exhausted. |
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| We found a beach, threw lots of rocks, Matt and Caleb went hiking and had a good time. |
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| You can barely see them, but they are way up there! |
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| Don't let us fool you with our happy smiles, Caleb was breaking down, Josiah was in a constant whine and Matt and I were just laughing:) |
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| The porch swing, looking over the meadow at our cabin. |
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| Our "rustic" cabin. We kind of felt like we were homesteading. |
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| KAISER PASS | | |
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Part 2 - Gilroy Gardens, 2 nights
We finally got a good night of sleep! Josiah hit the hotel and was a happy camper. It's possible that the elevation was bothering him, or he just didn't like roughing it a little. Anyways, we arrived at Gilroy Gardens, a little children's amusement park/beautiful botanic gardens. It was so gorgeous and we had a marvelous time. Matt insisted on leaving for the park a half hour before they opened and since we were staying in Gilroy, going to Gilroy, we were there pretty early, the first ones there to be exact.
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| They had two different types of cars to take on a great track, full of tunnels and car washes, bridges, orchards, etc. This one had a four-seater. |
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| These were the "race cars" |
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| Caleb and Matt on the swan boat. Matt had to use his hand as a paddle to keep them moving as he made the poor swan a little lopsided. |
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| Brothers:) |
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| They even had a mini-water park |
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| The main entrance to the park. It was so pretty. |
ahh, we loved this place! We had so much fun that we came back the next day:)
