Calaveras

Audrey trying to fish at Beaver Creek.
Family minus Wyatt. Kirsten was nice enough to take him back to camp so we could enjoy the walk. Otherwise we probably would have been carrying him most of the way.
These girls love to pose! Check out Audrey!

Sassy Addie!
Pregnant Me
Beaver Creek. Jerm was trying to fill in the pool a little better. But Wyatt was undoing it as he worked! Dam! :)
Cozette and her Daddy
Hercules (the tree, even though I know you were all thinking Jeremy)

Wyatt is trying to say "Cheese".
Our one rainbow trout that we caught by default. Jerm and I were out canoing with Wyatt and Cozette when we saw this live fish stuck under a branch. We realized he was caught on a line that got tangled in the branch, so Jerm pulled it up. We even ate it that night, thanks to Gramma doing all the dirty work of gutting it and stuff. It was very good and mild. Cozette liked when my Mom put the rope through it's mouth when it had died so she could "walk" it around in the water. It looks small in the picture, but it was about nine inches long.
A giant tree!
Cute Isaac on the way to Jr. Cubs (they taught the kids about butterflies that day)Atalie

Atalie and her fish that we let go. We weren't sure if you could eat them, so we just did catch and release.
Wyatt casting in the water

The meadow Kirsten trying her hand at fishing at Alpine Lake. It was about 8,000 feet up and very beautiful. We even saw a bald eagle.
Wyatt and Jerm on the way to Jr. Cubs.

Our trip to Calaveras Big Tree State Park was really nice. We left Camarillo on Wednesday and made it up there by 3PM to find that it was at least 95 degrees! Luckily we got to go swimming at this little reservoir. Thank goodness for water. The air was a bit yucky due to all the fires in Northern Calif, but the pine tree smell was still very prevalent.
Atalie caught her first fish that afternoon after only a few casts into the water. Wyatt loved sitting in the water or right next to it casting his little Superman pole into the water. His came with a red plastic fish that he could practice casting with and he had a blast. Good thing, too, because I don't think a hook would have been a great idea!
Cozette gets the most patient fisherman award. She fished all week without a complaint and didn't catch a single thing. At Beaver Creek later in the week, she had a trout bite on her hook, but we didn't get it in time. Too bad we didn't just have a net that we could've scooped it out with. She was great and enjoyed it a lot.
We really enjoyed the 1.5 mile walk through the grove of Giant Sequoias. They were just amazing! The mosquitoes loved us, especially Audrey. She had fourteen bites just in the first two days I think. Poor thing. The girls loved their Jr. Ranger and Jr. Cub programs and hope to find one close to home. I'm hoping maybe Carpenteria has that program, but we'll see. Supposedly every park is supposed to have it, but according to the Ranger, there are only a few.
I was so grateful that Jeremy could get the time off work to come with us and relax. He's such a great camper and he's great at preparing the meals, too.
We didn't see any bears, but we saw lots of chikarees which are these little squirrels that try to steal your food and lots of Stellar blue Jays. We camped right next to a meadow which had a boardwalk going right down the middle of it to prevent it being trampled and the kids loved that. Even Wyatt and Isaac went out there one time when we weren't looking. Otherwise these two boys were busy pushing their trucks in the dirt and were soooo filthy by the end of the day.
Thank you Mom and Dad for letting us come up with you. It was a great trip! We also enjoyed seeing Ben and Leslie in their new place as well. Thanks for the lunch, Les!