Post date: Jul 14, 2012 6:55:0 AM
We went to the cabin with Grandma & Grandpa Gage, Jen and her 3 kids and Shelly and her 4 kids. So if you do the math it's 5 adults and 11 kids. Chris even came up on Thursday with Jared and Kyle, and when they went home on Friday, Rebecca came up. Jen planned some great little hikes for us and had some fun craft activities for the kids. We got there on Tuesday afternoon and the kids made pine cone bird feeders. Of course we always eat great food (and too much of it) when we're at the cabin. We all had meal assignments and even the kids had to help with a meal each day. Wednesday we hiked up to Buck Rock and enjoyed the amazing view. Thursday we toured Boyden Cavern, went to Cedar Grove and Muir Rock. It was a bit of a drive on some windy roads and unfortunately, Kristen threw up. But she was a trooper and just wiped herself up and didn't worry about it. Aunt Shelly was nice enough to carry Emma through most of the cave. I had Kara in the front pack and there were many tight spots in the cave. At one point I was holding hands with Laura and Emma and could hardly see where I was stepping next. On Friday we went to Hume Lake and hiked the 2 miles around the lake before swimming in the cooold water. Saturday morning Grandpa took all the kids on a hike down the road so we could pack and clean up the cabin. After leaving, Jen and I stopped at Grant Grove to see the giant sequoias. We had a campfire every night and the kids enjoyed singing the songs (got some use out of my songbooks I made about 8 years ago) and participating in skits, and making smores too. Some of the favorite songs were Little Cabin in the Woods, 3 Cross Winged Buzzards, Princess Pat, and Boom Chicka Boom. The kids had chores they had to do each day and if they did all of them, at the end of each day they could pick something out of the "treasure box." (I had gone to the dollar store and put together a fun little bin of stuff kids would like.) The treasure box was one of the highlights according to Kristen. There was also an air hockey table that the kids got to play a time or two, but we never turned the TV on. I had taken my computer with me and never once turned it on, there just wasn't time. Kristen and Hannah would often go down to a rock by the meadow and have some quiet time. Even Emma was pretty independent and played well with the others. It was nice not having to worry about where the kids were all the time. They were never too far away and for the most part didn't get hurt. Laura fell between the deck and cabin and ended up with a handful of splinters (over 30). We worked on a couple puzzles during our spare time (which was late at night once the kids were asleep). We had an incredible time and look forward to doing it again someday.