Yellowstone: Grand Canyon of

This morning we drove to "The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone." Now, full disclosure, I was born in the Grand Canyon State (Arizona, for you non-zonies), so my expectations were not high for GCoY. I mean, after you've seen the real Grand Canyon, what could possibly compare? Uh, I was wrong. Wasn't the first time, and definitely not the last, but wow, was I wrong! It was spectacular!

 

The parking was a bit tight, but our fearless leader managed to parallel park in a safe (and fairly level) spot. It was fun to see our rv from way across the canyon. 

My baby turns 4!

We celebrated little L's 4th birthday this month. I seriously can't believe my "baby" is 4 already. I remember the day he was born so vividly. I was laughing as he was born. Yes, it's true. My OB was hilarious, and my husband joked about something...and little L came into this world into a room filled with laughter. It's really appropriate, as he's been a little joker ever since. He loves to make his older sisters laugh, and can get us all roaring with laughter at his antics. As a baby he was our earliest "laugher" and has always had a great sense of humor. We just can't imagine our family without this little guy.

So, when he asked for a beach birthday party with Spider Man, Lego Ninjago, fishing, and Star Wars...I had to figure out how to make it happen.

Natural Bug Sprays

I've been wanting to try these for a while, and our last very buggy trip to Yosemite pushed me to actually go for it. I used Wellness Mama's site for the recipe and just picked several essential oil combinations to try out.

 

Best Campfire Starters

A great and easy way to get a campfire started is by using these handy (and lightweight!) homemade fire-starters. Just keep your empty cardboard egg cartons and fill with dryer lint. I keep my empty cartons right in the laundry room, and when my lint box gets full, let the kids make the fire-starters. It's a great way to get the kids involved in trip preparation, and those little fingers do a great job too. Simply place one fire-starter under your firewood and light it up. The carton flares up and creates a good, hot heat to help light your bigger pieces of fire wood.

Happy Camping!

Santa Cruz, California

"Life is a Journey, not a Destination"--- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Taco Salad

Okay, I know many of us make taco salad. For me, it's a quick, delicious dinner that the whole family loves. I especially enjoy it during the summer when it's so hot outside. But, this time, I stumbled upon a happy accident that put a fancier twist on our taco salad. Here's the finished product-

Yosemite, to cleanse my spirit

I've been kind of in a blah mood lately. We've recently lost a friend very unexpectedly. It's been a very difficult loss, as he was an awesome person, great friend, great dad, amazing husband. And it was so unexpected. And he was so young. And we miss him. And we live far away from his family, so we don't get to see them often. And when something like this happens, you question things. And there are no good answers. And that is hard. Especially for someone who likes answers, and fixing things. So sometimes, you just need to get away and go somewhere that makes you stop thinking so much. And for us, that is going deep into nature.