Ben's Birthday at Yosemite

View from our room at the Yosemite Lodge

Ben with El Capitan in the distance

Yosemite Falls

Adam in the Ahwahnee fireplace!

After two nights regrouping at the Oakhurst Lodge, we made our way to Yosemite. Our original plan was to camp there and stay in a motel in Mammoth but we decided to switch things around. We ended up at the Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal in honor of Ben’s birthday. We had a beautiful room with a balcony and view of the river as you can see in the first picture above. We also had a fireplace that Adam enjoyed lighting (over and over again). It was a lovely respite and much enjoyed by all especially Mom.

We spent Ben’s actual birthday in Yosemite. As we were driving into the Park Ben was waxing eloquent about how blue the sky was and how perfect a day and a place to celebrate his birthday. He then paused and said there was only one place where he would rather spend his birthday (all you friends of Ben know what’s coming) – AUSTRALIA. Nonetheless, he thoroughly enjoyed his day at Yosemite Valley. We started with a hike to Bridalveil Falls and much rock climbing. Adam was fearless on the rocks and Mom now has a few more gray hairs. We had lunch at the Ahwahnee Hotel and the boys loved playing in the huge fireplaces. I decided to take my soot-covered boys rafting on the river but they require two people over 12 on the raft. We switched gears and rented bikes to ride around the valley. As there were no bikes with training wheels, Mom carted Adam around in the kid cart and sufficiently worked off the entire Ahwahnee lunch. We left the park for swimming and relaxation back at the hotel and celebrated Ben’s birthday with cake at the hotel restaurant. Ben ordered carrot cake and it was gone in about two minutes. Overall, it was a wonderful day to celebrate Ben’s entrance into the world.