Oh were we ever ready for spring break this year!? Between early morning seminary, Clare's dance classes in Walnut Creek and every other activity the kids do our lives are pretty busy. I know "being busy" can be a self inflicted disease and I try to not partake...but with five kids it is almost impossible to not get caught up in the spinning.
As usual, we had zero travel plans for the break. We were all going to rest! Until Sunday morning when Will decided we should take a family hike. He spent some time checking out local (and well traveled) trails but ended up picking a new place. We spent the morning watching General Conference then loaded up into the van for a nearly two hour drive south. Will had heard about Pinnacles National Park from a family friend/co-worker and was excited to check it out.
We were all excited for a new adventure. We got a later start than we hoped but still had time to enjoy the park before sun set and all the gates were closed.
Will picked out a trail that took us through a few caves and around some magnificent bluffs. It was wild to see the changing scenery. Parts of the park were very similar to Zions in Southern Utah.
Adell was pretty nervous about the caves. Even holding on to my hand and having her own flashlight didn't help calm her fears. I'm not sure what she was worried most about: spiders or tripping in the dark? Poor girl.
Wyatt was excited to tell us that his Boy Scout Troop would be spending an overnight at Pinnacles in a few weeks. He took the opportunity to familiarize himself with the trails so he could be an expert when the Troop came down.
Will was all to happy to show off his wall climbing skills. Skills he developed in the hallowed halls of his childhood trailer home.
I recently learned that taking selfies with each member of my family is going to be the only way I'll ever get into any photos at our outings. I'm not camera shy at all but I am always the one taking the pictures and documenting events so...no one ever sees that I am actually there too. Selfies to the rescue!
Lorien and Wyatt showed all the kids how to decorate their faces with "sticky monkey" leaves. I have no idea what the plant is actually called but Lorien and Wyatt learned about them in outdoor ed in the 5th grade. I am assuming Clare will learn all about it next year.
No surprise, it was a beautiful trip. Lorien had a little (gigantic) scare as we were wrapping up the hike. She doesn't like bugs at all, Lorien is as afraid of bugs as Adell is of dark caves. As the sun set scores of crane flies started lighting off the bushes as we passed. Crane flies are harmless--I always called them Mosquito Hawks growing up and thought they ate mosquitoes...Wikipedia tells me "no" on that one. Anyway, Lorien couldn't stand to see all of these big mosquito things flying around. She kind of had a melt down about it. Even with her freak out about bugs, and Adell's freak out about the caves we had a great time. Pinnacles is a really cool park. We hope to go back when we have some more time to explore.
We did have to break the Sabbath to have some frosties at Wendy's on the way home. Our ox was totally in the mire.
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