Whirlwind Summer Part 5: Taking it Easy!

When we got to California, we took a couple of weeks to unpack, get adjusted, be together and relax before Mike started work.

Caleb's 3rd birthday was a couple days after we arrived in California.  The kids made birthday crowns for everyone.  I had ideas about a cute cake with a fun theme, but with craziness all around, we opted for simple but delicious.  Caleb didn't seem to mind.  He helped Mike make a chocolate cake and I made peanut butter frosting.  We had a few simple gifts for him: new flip flops, Diego underwear, and wooden alphabet self-correcting puzzles.  We wanted to find him a used bike, but we didn't find one until a few weeks after his birthday.  He was thrilled with everything.

The kids (and I) loved having Daddy around to play. One day they made some super cool blanket forts and read books in them.

 

 We took a weekend trip to Calaveras National Forest and stayed in a cabin with Mike's younger brother and his family.  During the day we played in a nice private spot on a little lake.

The kids loved playing on the playground there.

 

 So did Daddy.

We visited Calaveras Big Trees State Park.  It was my first time seeing giant sequoias (also called sierra redwoods).  They are quite breathtaking.  We started out taking pictures as we hiked, but pictures really could not capture the size and majesty of the trees.

Below we are standing on the stump of the "Discovery Tree" which was felled in 1853.  It is over 25 feet in diameter (the picture, of course, does not do it justice).

Since there wasn't a saw big enough, the tree was felled by using tools of the 1800s.  You can see (below) in the part of the tree on the left there are the lines left from the augers they used.  It took five men 22 days to drill all the holes, the several days later it fell.

There were a few places along the hike where you are permitted to step off the boardwalk.  The fallen tree below was hollowed out after time.  The kids had fun running around in it and sticking their heads out of the knot holes.  Josh even got a little snack inside.

We also celebrated my birthday and our 7th wedding anniversary, but I don't have any pictures from those.  It was really nice having Daddy 100% of the time before he started work!