Yosemite

Stephen and I are on spring break this week. Mitzi invited us to join her for a few days in Yosemite. Stephen and I have never been. What an awesome experience. It was beautiful. We thought the road to the Sequoias was going to be closed due to the recent snow. However, we got lucky. They had just opened the road when we arrived.

 We did the Grizzly trail. 

 roots of a fallen Sequoia

 The kids were fascinated with icicles. 

After viewing this spectacular scenery, we decided to head over the other side of Yosemite. 

This is what we first saw after exiting the tunnel:

We saw these deer just hanging out-not at all bothered by all the people taking their picture:

We hiked up to Mirror Lake:

 This made me just a little nervous. But, Stephen did a 

great job balancing. 

 Mirror Lake

Mirror Lake

At the end of the day, we stopped to take one last mini hike to Yosemite Falls. 

 More deer

I do not currently have a bucket list. I have decided to start one. The first item on that list is going to be to visit as many National parks as possible. 

hiking and spring

Vinnie, Stephen and I took Max on his first 2 mile hike this week. Poor dog was exhausted. Max is not the best hiking dog, when he got tired he just stopped and lied down. I am hoping that with more experience, it will be easier to take him hiking with us.

Vinnie and I did our 5 mile hike today. The signs of spring were everywhere. 

cave man ( this guy loves exploring the caves)

we have no idea what this is. It's growing on a tree and
is one of the weirdest things I have ever seen.

Vinnie spotted this mini gourd lying in a bush. 

Mushrooms near the creek

Hunger Games, Hiking, and hot dogs

It's been a busy week. Stephen had 2 days off from school. I had promised him a midnight showing of Hunger Games for working so hard on his Ronald Reagan report. The line was crazy but Stephen managed to pass the time playing ninja with a group of teenagers.
                                               

my handsome boys

After getting 5 hours of sleep we thought it would be a good idea to hike near the Hollywood sign. Have I mentioned how much I am enjoying hiking. 

Then we went to Pink's hot dogs. Yummy.

I love that even the trash can is pink. 

Our order

No pictures this week. Stephen brought home his report card this week. He has mostly 3s and 4s. We are proud of the progress he has made this year. Stephen also received an E in demonstrating self control. This is huge. Stephen has always been a talker. In fact, his teacher and I communicated quite a bit the first part of the school year on this very subject. Hopefully, this trend will continue. We are finally getting into a routine of normal. We have had some obstacles to overcome in the last 6 months. The biggest obstacle has been resolved and now we can move forward on some of the smaller ones. I am halfway through my toughest semester yet. I need 2 more classes for my accounting certification and a lot more for my AA. I figure I am halfway there and it would be foolish not to continue. No doubt it will take a while. Remember my rant about change. It is never ending. I am getting ready to embark on what is probably one of the scariest, yet exciting adventures yet. Some of you may know that one of the reasons I went back to school was so that I could eventually have my own bookkeeping service. I have begun researching the steps necessary to start the process and finally came up with a name for my business.  I am determined that my last years of working will not be spent in a cubicle working for other people. Mike is plugging away at his music. He is a man on a mission. Mike hopes to have product ready by June. I know he will. His discipline and dedication is amazing. Vinnie and I continue our hikes. At least once a week we are doing the 5 mile trail at Towsley.
Have a great week!

Vinnie and I did the 5 mile hike again today. Here are some more pictures.....

This is probably the steepest part of our hike. It's brutal

This is view before we get to the creek

This is the creek (I brought my camera today-but the batteries were dead. Hopefully, I will get better pictures next time. )

Vinnie found another cave. He said it was o.k. going up, but coming down was another story. Luckily, someone had sense enough to put a rope there.

I needed this today. I have a test tomorrow and do not feel at all prepared. Trying to remember accounting topics from 3 chapters is proving to be quite the challenge.

And the adventure continues........

speech

Stephen got a 3 on his speech. We are so proud of the effort he put into this. Way to go!!!

hiking

When I first started these hikes 2 months ago, I never thought I would be able to accomplish this. Vinnie and I did this hike for the first time today. Definitely a challenge, but well worth it. The scenery was beautiful (taking more pictures next time). It is amazing what we can accomplish when we remove barriers and have an awesome support system. Vinnie kicks my butt, however he encourages me to keep moving ahead and is willing to wait for me when I need to stop.  A year ago, a huge barrier was lifted for me when I lost my job.  I'm not sure if it's human nature, but it seems like when someone is trying to improve themselves, insecure people will try to hold them back. Today proves I can accomplish many things in my life. I'm no longer afraid to take the necessary steps towards my future.