Silver Lake

The next morning, we got up early and Joe made us some really yummy french toast. Then we packed up the tents and headed farther up the canyon to Silver Lake. The Silver Lake hike is a really pretty, easy hike that the kiddos loved. E and J's family have been there a lot, but it was our first time.

The kids were more than happy to run ahead

Thanks, Jessica, for the family pic

We have been letting Emilia play with an old waterproof camera. Most of the pictures she gets are pictures of her fingers in front of the lens, but sometimes she gets a good picture. She took this picture of Silver Lake all by herself.

I love watching the cousins play together. Emilia and James were so sweet holding hands.

After the hike, we met Damma and PapPaps for lunch. Emilia was so exhausted. She slept all the way home. It was such a fun family weekend!

Camping

I'm not much of a camper, but Emilia saw a few shows about it and it was all she could talk about so we decided to try out a camping trip with her cousins. We couldn't get reservations for just a Saturday night, but we headed up into the mountains anyway to see what we could get. I got discouraged when Spruces had a "Campground Full" sign outside, but we checked it out anyway and they happened to have one site with two tent spots- a really nice site with good shade. Ethan and his family were right behind us so we all got to the spot at the same time.

We set up our tents and then took the kids exploring. It wasn't a far walk to find some water.

Helping Daddy put up the tent

Cute cousins

"Fishing"

After a while, we went back to the camp site. It was getting  a little chilly so Emilia put on her cute camp shirt.

Being silly in the tent

A kiss for Juliet

Soon, Damma and PapPaps came up for dinner. Of course, the kiddos wanted to explore some more so the grandparents took turns taking them for walks. After dinner, we started a campfire and made s'mores. James insisted he was a marshmallow roasting expert and had to give everyone samples. 

This girl loves her PapPaps

The night was a little rough. Emilia sometimes gets night terrors and it's hard to calm her down. She loved the idea of sleeping in a tent, but I'm sure it was a little confusing. She only asked to go home once though and after looking at a bunch of pictures on Joe's phone, she finally settled down.

In the morning, we saw some cute/naughty squirrel behavior. 

This guy was into the watermelon 

And this guy was eating a marshmallow he had stolen and stashed the night before

I think everyone had a great time and we had more fun the next day- Silver Lake post to come!

Lagoon

Way back in July, my parents, Joe, Emilia, and I took advantage of the two for one deal at Lagoon and went on a Friday evening. We weren't sure how Emilia would do on the rides so we followed her lead and let her decide what she did and didn't want to go on. She wasn't interested in anything that went up and down (like plane rides), but she loved most of the kid rides. She even loved the kid cars even though she was all by herself and couldn't see us for part of the ride. She even liked some of the big rides like the teacups and the big ferris wheel (except when we were stopped at the very top!)

We can't wait to go back for Frightmares!

Duck pond is always our first stop

Family selfie on the train

Damma and Pap Paps

Ice cream in Pioneer Village

Her favorite ride of the day