Our vacation with the Wessel Clan was a blast! The last week of June we all packed up and traveled 8 hours up to Yosemite National Park for a week of camping in the great outdoors. We had 12 people including 5 kiddos camping in the Yosemite Valley right next to the river with Half Dome and El Capitan Mountain looming over our heads.
Yosemite Falls were gorgeous and we hiked right up to the base of the falls. David got pretty soaked as he climbed over rocks for a closer look. Sadly I don't have any pictures, but David had all the kids trying to follow him as he broke free of the trail to get up higher.

The view here is from Olmsted Point looking over the backside of Half Dome. It took us about 1-1/2 hours to drive up here, but the view was gorgeous.We loved climbing over the rocks to see the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountain range.

Tenaya Lake is where we stopped one day for a picnic lunch. There wasn't much of the lake to see since the snow pack around it was pretty thick. But that didn't stop the kids from jumping up and throwing a few snowballs.Tuolumne Meadows was a pretty site and we saw a number of deer walking through the huge meadow. Although we were able to get a lot closer to a few deer walking through the middle of the valley. They didn't seem to mind humans a bit as people got within 10 feet of the deer. The girls enjoyed pointing them out as we explored the Yosemite valley.
It did rain on us one night (flooded Christy's tent and half of Sarah's tent) and so some plans got cancelled and the temperature was a bit cooler than I planned, but it was wonderful anyway. Overall it was a wonderful vacation!

Family Pictures 2010

In December we enlisted Christy's help to take some family pictures. We headed over to the Mission Trails area and found a perfect spot. Emily loved climbing over rocks to reach each new location and loved being in the spotlight. Whereas Megan had to be bribed for every photo with chocolate. The kiddo wouldn't smile. Luckily we got a few great shots!

Backyard Playground

We finally got our backyard playground built! Grandpa and Christy came over to help us finish it today. As we were nearly done we got some visitors - Kendel and Evan loved playing with the girls. We'll be having lots of play days at our house in the near future!Megan can climb onto the swing herself and has already learned to call her sister to come over and swing them high.This is one of the fastest slides I've seen in quite a long time. Each kid slid straight to their butt the first time down. Megan has gotten some air off the end of it, landing over a foot away!
Emily has said this is the best backyard ever!

Best Friends

Emily and Megan love to play together. All you hear are giggles and squeals at our house. (ok they also drive each other crazy and scream and fight over toys, but we don't photograph that)

Silly Emmy

Emily is always a nut. You ask her to pose for a picture and you never know what you'll get. From silly faces to model poses.

Nothing like dressing up on a Saturday morning to play.

Cutie Meg

Such a cutie pie! She loves the camera and begs her sister to take her picture. My camera is full of close-ups of Meg's face.

Going to the park is our favorite activity. These little girls are obsessed with the swings and could play for hours.

HIGHER DADDY!Ready, Set, GO!Watch me climb!