Family Camping at Tuolumne Meadows

Back in March, I went crazy and made a bunch of reservations in Yosemite. I really couldn't help myself. There were a lot of openings, and I knew we were going to want to come anyways. Hence, we headed up to Tuolumne Meadows for this trip. 

We got to see Half Dome from the north, offers a much different view. You can almost see the cables that people use to climb to the top. I'm going to cross this off my bucket list next weekend.

The Finn-Man was so happy to get out of the car and stretch!

Madie was really enjoying the rocks and stumps around. Our campsite was at 8,600 ft. elevation. It got down into the 30's at night! Luckily these kids have warm little bodies, they did great.

Madie had fun running around, but she was really anxious for her friends to get there. The Paradise family got in a little later.

Finn was enjoying the fire.

Mal made these homemade gram crackers that were perfect for smores! The best part of these is they don't crumble when you bite into them.

A keepsake from my morning walk.

The facial expressions here are pretty amazing.

The kids playing in the bear box. There were some tears shed with all of them wanting to open and shut the door. Lots of pinched fingers didn't make any of them happy.

Amelia is probably one of Madies favorite people, next to Jessica Blanscett.

We went for a walk in the meadows, though the meadows are pretty much done for the season.

The kids loved playing in the Tuolumne River. You can see the clothes slowly coming off...

We ended up leaving for a slough of reasons, all of which mounted to Madie having a major melt down and becoming the star attraction near Soda Springs. We had to force her to put on her clothes, and put her into her backpack. I then carried a crying/screaming Madie 1/2 a mile to the car. Then, she fell asleep for two minutes until we arrived back at the campsite. Parenthood....got to love it.

Katriana and Finn were getting fresh with each other. She kept taking the initiative and was holding his hand.

Madie was in a much better mood and read the babies a book.

Madie and Amelia loved playing in the driver seat of our car.

Finn at the visitor center. Finn slept really well the first night, and not so well the second night. He was so happy to be home.

Bethany & Katriana with Mallory and Finnegan.

We went for a small hike near the overlook. The kids loved climbing all over the rocks.

Loads of granite!

Madie was so sweet on the way home. My favorite memory of her for this trip will be her trying nectarines for the first time. We have been quoting Green Eggs and Ham a lot to encourage her to try new things to eat. After refusing to eat dinner, we offered her some options: nectarines or salad. After we had all tried to convince her to eat something for 5 minutes, everyone was distracted with other conversations. I was standing next to Madie and holding a nectarine in one hand. Madie reached out and grabbed it from my hand and took a bite. I said "Saaayyyy, I like nectarines! I do! I like them Sam I am!" Then we were all quoting it and congratulating her. Now, she is sold on nectarines. Though she doesn't get close to the pit, she still skins the outside. A milestone for Madie.