photos from the Bay Area

On our very first night at Yosemite National Park, me and the kids did a short walk to Lower Yosemite Falls and scrambled around on the rocks a bit. Not easy in flip flops! I hadn't planned on rock scrambling so did not wear appropriate shoes :) I did have hiking boots with me, I just didn't wear them that first day!

A waterfall in Yosemite Valley.

Sam, Savannah and their niece Kira by the Merced River near Housekeeping Camp where we stayed the first night.

Drop dead gorgeous scenery!

Hiking to Dog Lake, a glacial lake near the Tuolomnne Meadows area of Yosemite National Park. Right is Zofi and Savannah. Left is Lazer giving Kira a piggyback ride, Savi and Zofia.

Dog Lake was so damn cold i could not go in...but it didn't stop the kids!

Playing on a rock in the Merced River, Yosemite N.P. It was icy cold! Took my breath away! On the right, Sam beside the Merced River. He was so enthralled that the river was so clear you could see the trout and he wanted to go fishing so badly!

Believe it or not, this was my kids' first experience with snow! They had seen snow as babies/toddlers in Alaska but this was the first real in the snow playtime. It was a snowpack just outside of Yosemite N.P. at the Tioga Pass entrance. The photo above is my brother Lazer, my niece Kira (in pink) and my kids.

A meadow near the Tuolomne Meadows region of the park, where we stayed the second night.

Savannah at the snowman the day before, and the pathetic anorexic-looking snow-thing the next day. I love this poor little guy!

Daline and I at Muir Woods (left). Coastal redwood (Sequioa) foliage (right).

Me at Bohemian Grove in Muir Woods - must have been named after me!
Lavender at Green Gulch Zen Center Organic Farm. I love these photos. On the left, this is a different variety of lavender, and the orange flowers in the background are California poppies.

Daline in the garden (left). Someone from the Zen center working in the gorgeous flower garden.

Hills of Taumalipas - the trail through Green Gulch to Muir Beach.
Me and the kids and Daline and her sister Jackie inside the zendo, where they do their "sitting" practice. Daline playing on a type of drum (right).

Flowers over San Francisco Bay, and a California Poppy (right) - one of my favorite flowers!

Ghirardelli "chocolate factory" in Ghirardelli Square, SF and an awesome meal at the Melting Pot - we were stuffed!