Our next family adventure brings us to California...a first to visit for Juliette and Allie (if you don't count the airport). We are huge fans of the national parks and we were excited to see Yosemite finally! We landed in the evening in San Francisco, got our rental car and drove about 3 1/2 hours to our cabin outside of the park. We got in very late after stopping for groceries and Starbucks. It was a quaint cabin on a few acres. The fast moving stream of water and birds chirping in the morning was all you could hear. We had breakfast, coffee and made our lunch for the day! 
We took advantage of the early day and drove to the park entrance. Get up early so you don't have to wait in one of the infamous long lines to get into this popular park!
We stopped at the visitor center and decided to spend the day in Yosemite Valley.
We took a few small hikes around and Yosemite falls will always command a view. It is considered the tallest waterfall in North American at 2425 ft and is the most impressive in spring and early summer with snowmelt. By midsummer the upper and lower falls dry up.
Yosemite Falls has 3 tiers: Upper Yosemite Fall at 1430 ft, Middle cascade at 675 ft and the final Lower Yosemite Fall with a 320 ft final drop.
Although we hadn't seen the massive Sequoias yet...these Lodgepole and Sugar Pine were impressive all on their own!
The western gray squirrel was certainly the most encountered wildlife that we experienced in the park. They really aren't so "wild" always looking for a handout! :) We learned all about these critters in a Ranger talk and found that we need to stay many feet away as their fleas can jump and cause the plague! We did see signs up around the park.
We hiked a ways on the Mist Trail to get a glimpse of Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls in the distance.
It was a beautiful first day...the sun never stopped shining!
Such beauty!
Our place in the woods.
Unfortunately, Juliette sliced her foot on the granite rocks when she was playing near the river with her sisters. It was a pretty big gash and we knew that hiking was going to be impossible for her unless we were carrying her for the next few days! She was a trooper though!
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