In the Redwoods

At the beginning of August, we took our annual camping trip with Grandma and Grandpa Langlois. It was especially fun because Uncle Eric got to be there after two years away! We also got to meet up with my Aunt Sheri and Uncle Steve from Washington. This year, we went allllll the way up to Jedediah Smith, right next to the Oregon-California border. Loooong drive, but very fun. I actually remembered to take a decent amount of pictures, so there are lots to share. 

pretending to drive the bus with Grandpa at the restaurant in Danville. this basically sums up Grandpa and why his grandkids adore him.

Sunday was Grandpa's birthday so we got to throw him a little party at our house. I made a cake and Peter made enough ribs to feed an army. Seriously.

Monday morning we headed out to Jedediah Smith State Park. Somehow, we ended up with the smallest campsite we've ever gotten; almost didn't have room for a second tent. But we squeezed in and set up the site. Sadly, I always forget to take a picture of our campsite :( 

My kids LOVE camping. They love being dirty, making fires, and basically doing anything with Grandpa.

the river in the campsite on a rainy Tuesday morning

two cuties on a log. It really wasn't that cold but my kids really liked these new jackets.

Elk sighting on the beach. We didn't dare get any closer than this.

Ellie and Aunt Ziz

Okay, on Tuesday we went on the coolest hike ever. I was dreading hiking with my kids because I figured they would cry and beg to be held the whole time and I can't really carry them with my giant belly. But this hike was perfect! No one whined; they just loved it. Fern Canyon was exactly what it sounds like; a canyon with walls covered in green, lush ferns. A river ran through the middle. The kids loved climbing and jumping across the little plank bridges. This hike also required a little tree climbing, which is a great adventure for toddlers. 

I couldn't stop taking pictures of this canyon!

Fern walls

As we were walking into the hike, this group of young adults came out and ran up to Eleanor, asking her if she wanted a flower crown they made. Of course, she wanted it! It lasted through most of the hike on her head.

Beautiful Lizzy and beached whale Mom

The next day we took another hike through the giant redwood trees. To my surprise, the kids were great on the hike, minimal whining.

we found a hole

lots of "houses" in these woods

It's kinda hard to tell from this picture, but this fallen tree was HUGE. I told Grandpa and Eric NOT to take Jude up there, but of course, he found his way up there.

Have you ever driven up the 101 in way Northern California and seen this place called "Trees of Mystery?" You may remember it as the place with the GIANT Paul Bunyon. 

he talks to you, waves, and creepily winks super slowly. needless to say, my children were terrified of him.

Grandma told Jude to give the thumbs up for this picture; he didn't quite get it.

So Trees of Mystery is a TOTAL tourist trap. We've always known that, so despite passing it many times as a kid, we never stopped. This trip, however, I was pretty determined to actually stop and see it. Thankfully, everyone went along with this idea pretty happily. Basically, it's a trail through a grove of redwoods and someone back in the 60s named some of them. It's definitely ridiculous considering you could go basically anywhere else within a few miles and hike through better trees for free, but hey, it's all in good fun.

the named trees had "lectures" you could listen to. this college student wasn't super happy with the idea.

one of the actually neat trees in the grove, the "family tree." It's a little hard to see in this picture, but there are 12 different trees growing out of one tree.

the other really neat tree: the "Cathedral Tree." Apparently it's a popular place to get married! It actually does look kinda like a church organ.

these redwoods are just awesome.

So the real reason we went to this tourist trap: the Sky Tram. It's basically a gondola you can take when you get to the top of the trail that takes you through the trees to the top of the mountain. I knew my kids, especially Jude, would adore it so I wanted to let them go. It wasn't the most thrilling experience, but it was pretty fun. 

Ellie crashed about 5 minutes into the trail. Must have been all those lectures.

You can see just how much Jude loved it when he got off.

On the way back to the campsite we made a quick stop at the beach. It was actually a very gorgeous, clear day. Note the smokey sunset from all the forest fires nearby. California is basically on fire right now.

Jude, Ellie, and Lizzy made a sand castle for everyone in the family.

The next day's adventure was kayaking in the Smith River. Thanks Sheri and Steve for the kayaks! It was super fun and actually not that cold. Even this preggo got in and paddled around a bit.

play Pocahontas. Can't get over Eleanor in this giant canoe!!

Later we took a trip into Crescent City to do laundry and grab dinner.

Finally got to see this neat lighthouse!! I don't know why, I just always love lighthouses. 

It's only accessible at low tide. See all those rocks? Those are normally covered in ocean. I tried to go there once on a camping trip with my friends in college, but was sadly defeated by high tide. 

The best group picture we could get.

The last day we went for a hike in the campground. Again, just more giant redwoods, but you never really get tired of looking at them. They are just so unique!

After lunch we headed back into town for our second tourist trap of the trip, "Ocean World." We thought it was an aquarium. It turned out to be more of a guided tour of a not-so-great aquarium with lots of stuffed pirate mannequins. BUT, we did get to touch a shark (Jude actually did it!) and see a sea lion show.

these seals were pretty well-trained. This one shot baskets, jumped in the air, and went down the slide. Of course, the toddlers loved it!

The next day we packed up and drove all the way back to Danville. It was such a good trip, full of lots of fun. Jude and Eleanor have been playing "camping" almost everyday since we've been home. Jude talks endlessly about the campfire, making breakfast, sleeping in the tent... guess we're all ready for next year!