Mono Lake

One of the days we were in Mammoth we went to Mono Lake. Mono Lake is a salt lake that has many tufa towers. These towers are formed when fresh water springs meet the salt water. Usually the towers are mostly under water, but the water level in the lake is so low that you can see the towers really well.

We walked down the board walk towards the lake.

Sienna tried to catch up.

They decided to play in the sand.

We enjoyed the day learning about the lake and the tufa towers.

ROAD TRIP

This last weekend we went to the mountains with some friends of ours. Mammoth is great for skiing in the winters and mountain biking in the summers. We wanted to see some fall colors and to do some hiking.





Sienna loves spending time with Brody and Araia.

I thought it would be a great shot to get the three little ones before our hike. Sienna had other ideas.

We got several looks and comments as we started off on our hike . . . each of us had a child.




The girls are such good sports. They were happy but a little tired.





The first place we saw was Devil's Postpile.



And we finished at Rainbow falls.





On another day we took a hike to a mountain lake. I got a little worried when the trail took us up the mountain and through snow.

We made it to the lake, and although it was very cold out, it was beautiful and well worth the hike.



Sienna loved her first experience in the snow. We gave her a snow ball and she said "Ccc".


I can see us returning to Mammoth every year for our family get away. It was such a beautiful place and we felt refreshed afterward.

Our little fish.

Last year we made a great investment in Sienna's floaty raft.

She loves lounging around in the pool, the ocean or the Gulf of Mexico.

We have gotten her used to holding her breath and dunking her. She wasn't a fan at first, but now is pretty good at going under.





It is amazing the trust little ones have in their Mommy and Daddy!

Fun times in Florida

We had such a lot of fun while we were in Florida but the best time was while we were up in Gainesville visiting my sister Gretchen, Heath and their twins.


What a cute family!



And I better get lots of comments on my cute little nieces.

One of the places that Gretchen took us was to the Butterfly Amazon Forest. We walked in and saw so many butterflies and Sienna got so excited. She started running around and looking at all the butterflies. Sienna really loves animals and so this was perfect for her.

The girls even got a good look at a butterfly that landed on Gretchen's leg.







Sienna enjoyed getting real close to the butterflies.


Mama and one of her girls.

Daddy and his tired little girl.

Thanks Gretchen and Heath for making our Florida trip a blast. We can't wait to see you all again.

Barefoot Beach

Since our beach by the hotel was filled with crushed shells, we went in search for a beach that would be fun to spend a day at. We found Barefoot Beach, a top rated beach in Florida.

I loved the boardwalk that you had to take to get to the beach.

The beach was fairly empty so we felt like we had it to ourselves.

Sienna tested the water. It was a warm 88 degrees.




This beach also had some shells, but not as many so Sienna went searching for her favorite.


It was one of our favorite days in Florida.