Monica wanted to do a road trip to Yosemite for her birthday. We headed out Friday night and got at the Tenaya Lodge late that evening. First thing in the morning we headed into the park. We first stopped at the Mariposa Grove to check out the big Sequoia trees. We often visit the big redwood trees at Henry Cowell in Santa Cruz.

We stopped for the first big view of the valley. You come out of a tunnel and get blown away by the scene. No matter how many times we've been to Yosemite, it's always amazing.

Once we're down in the valley, the kids are ready for some play time. We head over to lower Yosemite falls via a river bed. That fallen tree is a lot of fun.

Closer to the trail head, there are plenty of rocks to climb on. Lots of mysterious caves tempt the kids with their dark recesses.

Turns out the trail head is closed, so we head up to the upper Yosemite falls trail head. Along the way we find lots more rocks to climb on and some very cool looking trees. We also enjoy watching rock climbers scaling the larger rocks.

It's a really steep trail up to the top of the falls. Charlotte and I have done this hike before and it's pretty brutal. The kids really want to go for it, but we'll see how far we get. The trail turns out to be a lot of fun, and Gabe proves to be a real tropper leading the way pretty much halfway up the trail. Lots of great views along the way.

Once we're back down, it's time for climbing on rocks again. Nick transforms himself into some type of pine tree bull and chases Gabe around.

By this time the kids are pretty well tuckered out. We head over to the shuttle bus stop and wait for the next one. Gabe decides he needs to make an emergency pit stop.

After a long day we head back to the lodge. On the way out we stop in a field across from El Capitan. One last romp through the meadow and some spectacular views of one gigantic granite cliff.