Granny & Gramps

These pictures are of my grandparent's (my mom's parents) and what they look like. Last month, Granny & Gramps came to our house for a visit.

We chilled out on the couches and talked for a bit.

Then, we went down to the creek and I showed them how I can walk across a large pole that goes across the creek. There are many large, sharp rocks below that you can crack your head on if you fall. It was precarious but I think it is sort of fun to do dangerous stuff - go across the creek the treacherous way.

On the way home, Gramps climbed the sort-of difficult shortcut up the hill with me.


I like this picture because my eyes are glowing red. They look really weird and scary. I look sort of like a vampire or like I have laser eyes.

Here, Grandpa, me and Cameron were all sitting on the couch in our living room, talking together.


The next day, after school, we decided to climb Ring Mountain. I ran ahead and climbed a rock. I am the tiny little speck on top of this boulder.

This is a picture of me on top of the boulder, up close. It was very fun to climb the boulder.



Grandma even climbed the huge boulder. I felt proud of her. Not many grandmas are brave enough to climb huge boulders.











While we were climbing the boulder, Grandpa ran far, far, far ahead of us. We couldn't catch up for a really long time. Finally, he stopped at the top of the mountain and waited for us.


This picture shows I took a hell of a short cut to get to him first.


We both climbed the rest of the way to the top peak of the mountain together. We got there before the rest of our group. While we were waiting, we sat on top of two small boulders and waited for Mom and Grandma to catch up.

Mom got to the top of the mountain next. Grandma took a little bit longer because she was taking pictures like this one.




Here, I am standing on top of a huge boulder at the highest point.












Granny & Gramps climbed up with me. There were people trying to climb up the over hang the really hard way using rock-climbing equipment.

We just walked up the hill-type way.

The next morning, I took some random pictures. This is one I caught of grandma. She sometimes does this face when she is annoyed.

I caught this picture of Trix running off down the hill.








Later that day, we went to Muir Woods.





Here, I am standing on a bridge made of a fallen redwood tree. I felt good.





On a trail outside of Muir Woods, I found this huge tree that was easy to climb. I climbed it and surprised both my mom and grandpa when they caught up to us. At first they did not see me.

It was fun.

That afternoon, my grandma and I played in my room and went back to the creek. That evening, we went to Rodeo Beach.

I liked playing with a dog I met there.


Mom found a clear, green, crystal-like rock. It was smoothed by the waves. It looked almost like the stones in her wedding ring.



There were also some large rocks shaped like huge spear tips sticking out of the ground. They reminded me of The Lord of the Rings.


Here we are with the dog we met and his owner.









I threw the tennis ball to him over and over again. It was incredibly fun.

I wish I had a dog. I have wanted one ever since I was three. But we have to go to school and work and a dog would make a mess around the house. And I don't really like the idea of cleaning up after one.

On our way home, we decided to stop and take some pictures by the Golden Gate Bridge

I like this picture of us. It was like getting a poster of the Golden Gate Bridge with us in it for free.

This is a picture of Granny & Gramps and me standing next to the Golden Gate Bridge. I am glad they came to visit. We had a fun time. I hope to see them again soon.

The Half Dome (and an interesting little furry creature)

After playing in the boulder fort at Yosemite, we decided to go see the Half Dome. (Mom and Cam wrote about it too.) On the drive into the valley, we stopped for a small break and went down to see a waterfall that was big in some points and small in others. I am standing next to a small point. A big point is to my left. I could barely hear anything because my ears were popping from the change in elevation.

From Glacier Point, we could see two waterfalls in the distance. One of them was big and one of them you shall see up close after a few more pictures. I thought the view was magnificent.









This is the Half Dome. Cam and I are standing next to a map that shows what you could see from this point. I thought the Half Dome was amazing because of its gigantic size and because of how long it took people to climb it. Cameron said that most people did it in 18 hours. I think I would like to climb it someday but that day is not anytime soon. Maybe I'll try when I'm 17.


Here I am squatting on a rock that is close to the overlook and giving my mom a massage.












Here I am standing next to an interesting little furry creature that was quite curious and brave. He got very close to me. I felt surprised. I had never seen a squirrel so close before.










On our way back to the campground, we decided to stop for an up-close look at Bridal Veil Falls. It wasn't very wide because it wasn't rainy season. You could watch a drop fall all the way from the top to the bottom. I got pretty close to the base of the falls. I thought it was cool.






Then, we stopped at a creek. I wonder if it was caused by Bridal Veil Falls.








Cam picked me up and acted like he was going to throw me into the creek but he really didn't. It was fun and a little bit scary.







Here we are acting cool on a rock near the creek. That night, back at the campsite we roasted marshmallows and had smores. It was one of the most fun days I have ever had.

The small fort of rocks at Yosemite

At Yosemite, Cam found a small fort made of rocks. In one part, there are two rocks leaning against each other. They formed a cave that made shade, making it cooler. There was also an open free area that you could get warmer in. There were lots of small passages to explore. It was very nice.




Here, Cameron is sitting on a very large boulder that helped form the small fort of rocks. It was very easy to get onto from the outside but from the inside, it was really difficult.

These are a few more of the rocks that helped form the fort of small rocks. My mom and I are sitting on two of these boulders. On one of the boulders, there is something that looks quite a bit like a chair. It is next to the boulder I am sitting on. I felt incredibly relaxed.

On our way back, at the small creek, we found a tiny waterfall with some small fish in the pool of water at the bottom of the waterfall. In this picture, I am walking over a shallow area in the creek. The waterfall is right next to the shallow area.

I really enjoyed the trip to the amazing fort of rocks.

The lake we went to at Yosemite

When we were at Yosemite, we went on a long hike. It took a couple of hours but then we got to this small lake. The lake had some fallen over trees that went into it. I liked it quite a bit. And there were lots of water bugs in the small lake as well. (Mom and Cam wrote about it too.)

One part I didn't like is when I picked up a blade of grass and was making noises with it by pulling it between my fingers until I looked at my hands and saw that the grass had given me quite a few small cuts that lasted awhile. But they are all faded down now. At Safeway, I got another paper cut. It is kind of funny because the store is called Safeway but I got cut on cardboard there.

But back to the lake... Cam was on the other side of the lake when he took this picture. He was using one of the cameras where you can zoom in and out so he got us up close even though he was far away.








This is a picture of all three of the members in our family at the lake. Also, at the lake, there was a tree that had a small fork at the top.











Just before we left, we saw a deer come out of the woods and start trodding around on the opposite side of the lake. He started trodding towards the water as if he was going to the lake to get a drink. And we did see him drink.

And then we went back to our campsite and had a picnic. I felt like it had been a really good morning.

Camping at Yosemite

One time, when we went camping in Yosemite, there were a whole bunch of boulders around our campsite. The campground we were in was called White Wolf. I liked climbing on the boulders a lot. (Mom and Cam wrote about it too.)

We thought we might see bears at Yosemite. There was even a bear box we put our food in because we were afraid the bears might come and take it. We had to put everything that smelled like food in them.

The park ranger told us about some bears that were coming into the campground regularly. She said there was a sneaky bear that would even get the sack of marshmallows off the table right behind you when you were making smores. I thought that was a bit funny and I joked around about it. Unfortunately, we didn't see any bears. But we did see a coyote.

Also, there was a creek near the campground that had this natural bridge that wasn't made by people. I collected firewood and put it on the bridge. Not all of the firewood was good to work with though.








Cam found this really cool fort-type thing which you will hear about a little bit later. We climbed on top of a giant rock and I got on his shoulders and mom took a picture.

Back at the campsite, we roasted marshmallows. Sleeping in the tent was extremely cold. I didn't like it so much but I didn't complain about it. It was worth it.

Happy Birthday, Eric!!!!

Have a wonderful birthday, Eric.
I miss hanging out with you and Sarah.

Love, Sam