Living An Intentional Life
D and I served on the Little Hoopsters Committee this year, and both k and n played. This was n’s first year and k’s last year. D was able to take some pictures of n playing in our church parking lot, on one of the hottest days of the year!
n learned how to dribble…
play defense…
hustle on the court…
and made some friends. 
He was very excited to receive his first trophy!
I signed up for a free Indian cooking class in Irvine last Saturday. We do not eat Indian food too much, although D and I enjoy it. The kids liked the chicken curry, but the rice had cashews, so we had to be careful. It is always fun to watch other people cook, but this session was a little long, since everything was made in “real time”. Even though the class was not geared towards kids, I think it was good to expand their culinary horizons. 
She taught us about spices, including Indian gunpowder, which I had never heard of before. We were able to take some spices home.
k had her first official girl scout meeting as a Brownie today. Two years ago, I made a kaper chart for their Daisy troop. When our troop leader asked me to make a new one for Brownies, I wanted to come up with something a little different, but still simple.
I originally found this idea on Pinterest, which is so useful for crafty ideas! I used an old Ovaltine canister, which has a brown top, perfect for Brownies. It also goes well with the girl scout motto of “using resources wisely”. I covered the can with wrapping paper and modge podged the Brownie elf, which was from clip art online. The kapers are written on labels that are glued around the can, and the clothes pins (which I still had from the Daisy chart) have the girls’ names. The clothes pins can be stored in the can when not in use, which is handy.
We are going on our fifth day of school now, and getting into the school groove. k and n enjoyed free Jamba Juice the day before school started, when k found out who her teacher is.
Our school still announces class assignments the old-fashioned way: make all the parents crowd around a window in the hot sun waiting for the class lists to be taped up. I really hope this will be changed so that it will be on-line in the near future.
D went to work a little late so that he could walk the kids to school on their first day. They all coordinated in their light blue!
It was a big day for our n, since it was his first day of kindergarten!
k is an old pro, now, going into second grade. She was put in a combo 2nd/3rd grade class this year, so hopefully that will work out ok.
On our last day, we took a tour of Crystal Cave. We went to the Visitor Center nice and early so we would be sure to snag tickets (you must purchase them in advance on the day of the tour). The Visitor Center was packed with people trying to obtain wilderness permits, and this was before 8 a.m.! Thursday and Friday of the Labor Day weekend did not seem too crowded, but I would definitely not recommend coming on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. The line of cars entering the park while we were leaving was absolutely astounding.
The Crystal Cave is located on a windy road off of Generals Highway, so you must allow plenty of travel time to make your tour departure.
We saw a deer in the parking lot.
There is a decent hike down to the cave. With every step down, I was dreading our hike back up after the tour.
There is a pretty waterfall near the entrance of the cave.
Our tour guide, Wilson, reminded me of Andy Samberg for some reason.
After being debriefed on the rules of the cave, we headed for the entrance.
This formation is named Jabba the Hut.
It felt strange to be in this underground world. There were lights for the tour, but at one point Wilson turned off all of the lights for a couple of minutes. I have never experienced such utter darkness. Can you imagine being the first people to discover this cave? The kids had fun, and it makes me want to visit other caves in the future.
Back into the light. The kids were surprisingly great going back up the mountain. I think there was even less complaining than on the way down, for some reason.
For lunch, we stopped at Sierra Subs and Salads in the gateway town of Three Rivers. It might not be a place to go out of your way for, but it is definitely worth a stop if you are passing through since the choices are limited inside the park.
We also stopped in nearby Strathmore, just off Hwy 68, to pick up some orange ice cream at The Orange Works Cafe. If you are ever in the vicinity, I urge you to STOP! The orange ice cream was so soft and creamy, and tasted like real, fresh oranges! D ordered two larges, so we shared one in the front of the car, while the kids shared on in the back. D and I finished ours a lot quicker than the kids, but we all thoroughly enjoyed it! What a nice way to end our trip.
After visiting General Sherman we went to the Giant Forest Museum and trail.
This wheel shows the chances of a seed becoming a tree. It is amazing to think that General Sherman started from a seed the size of a flake of oatmeal!
The trees were so tall, I became dizzy just looking up at them.
Hey, what do you know? Another meadow!
After a full day of hiking we were ready to rest. We we rode the shuttle back to the campsite and relaxed at our campsite for a bit. At 5:00 we went to the Wolverton BBQ that we had purchased tickets for in advance. This was our “splurge” meal, and it was a fun experience.
The barbecue is an all you can eat buffet.
Everything was good except for the chicken, which was really dry. My favorites were the sweet chili ribs and the apple crisp made in a dutch oven.
During our dinner, D actually ran into someone he knows from work! He was there with his wife and three boys. A small world, indeed.
There was some after dinner entertainment. This woman played a naturalist/author from the early twentieth century. (That’s D in the foreground, with his makeshift sun-protection). This portion was a bit long, and the majority of people left early. We stuck around, since it was still early in the evening. Many of the other attendees were international (Canada, U.K. and Belgium).
The patio overlooks Wolverton Meadow. It was pretty, but there were a lot of bugs that we had to keep shooing away.
At night, there was a nice crescent moon. We all fell asleep quite easily, as it had been a long day.
After lunch we rode the shuttle back out to General Sherman. One tip is that there are two shuttle stops for General Sherman. If you get off at the stop for those with disabilities, you do not have to walk as far to reach the tree. We gave the kids the choice—guess which one they chose!
Seeing General Sherman, the largest tree in the world, in all his glory was amazing. Pictures do not do him justice.
A kind soul offered to take our family picture. We look so miniscule in comparison.
We continued on the trail…
…and D spotted a bear! Oh my, he was pretty close. However, he was above us, on a sort of cliff, so it did not seem too scary. It was pawing at the log, probably looking for grubs, as we saw in the movie.
While we were waiting for the shuttle, someone pointed out this bug on the outside of the bathroom. I’m so glad we do not have critters like this at home!
Our next stop was Crescent Meadow. On the way there, we passed by Tunnel Log. Since we were not driving our car, we could not stop and drive through, but at least we were able to see it.
I never realized the allure of meadows until now. n was reminded of the meadow scene in Bambi.
We rode the shuttle back to the Lodgepole Café for lunch, as there are not many dining options in the park. The chicken tenders were really good—just imagine four more (this pic was taken after k and n already took two each). They were white meat, and even better than Chick Fil A!
On Friday morning we drove to the Lodgepole Visitors Center and k and n met with a park ranger to earn their junior ranger badges.
She was very thorough—I think because no one else was waiting in line. 
k and n have now been to eight national parks.
Next, we bought tickets to the Wolverton Barbecue for later that night at the Lodgepole Market.
We ordered breakfast at the adjacent Lodgepole Café: eggs with potato and sausage and a breakfast burrito with eggs, cheese, potatoes and bacon. The food prices were quite reasonable, especially for a remote location such as this. Each of these items was $4. I also bought a yogurt from the market for $1.
After breakfast we rode the shuttle to Moro Rock.
Riding the optional shuttle does involve some added waiting time. However, not having to worry about directions/parking/driving on winding roads makes it worthwhile, in my opinion.
There is also the added benefit of being able to nap!
Hiking to Moro Rock involves climbing more than 350 steps.
We saw some lizards on the way up.
There was a family just ahead of us where the mom stayed behind because she was afraid of heights. I think we were at about this point when the dad and the two kids (older than k and n) turned around and started walking back down because the dad said it was starting to look “sketchy”. I think this motivated us even more to keep going so we could make it to the top!
We made it!
Taking a beef jerky break.
After exploring Kings Canyon National Park, we drove to the Lodgepole campsite. Upon arrival we stopped at the Lodgepole Visitor Center. We watched a short movie about the history of black bears in the park. After seeing footage of bears breaking into cars, we were thoroughly convinced about the necessity of using the bear boxes to store our food at the campsite.
The kids found this “walking stick” at the campsite, which fits perfectly into the groove on the left of the rock that they are sitting on. They named the rock the “king’s chair”.
Our campsite was #96, which was perfect for us, in that it was close to the bathroom, and the parking space was right next to the campsite. We were also a bit isolated from our neighbors, which was a good things since our kids get loud. I don’t think I ever heard a peep from our neighbors, who were all nestled below, along the riverbank. It was nice to hear the soft gurgling of the river throughout the day and night.
This was the bathroom. Throughout our stay, D and I only encountered one person one time in the bathroom, which was nice.
For the first time in a long time, we built a fire instead of using our stove. The kids had fun collecting firewood around our campsite, which is allowed here. The fire was dying by the time I took this picture, but we got it going again later.
It was one of the prettier campsites we have stayed at.
With a fire, s’mores are a must.
This guy visited our campsite once the food was out.
Standing tall like trees.
The view from inside our tent.
We took a short stroll to the river after dinner. The water level was quite low, as you can tell.
Taking a quick dip. They said the water was cold, and I took their word for it.
The sunset was largely blocked by the trees, but was still pretty. The stars were really bright, too.
We went to the ranger talk at the Lodgepole amphitheater which started at 8 p.m. The talk was given by Ranger Jean Paul, who shared all about his interest, nay obsession, with Peregrine Falcons and Golden Eagles. His interest in the falcons began when he read “My Side of the Mountain” as a youth. I always admire people who are so interested in something that they become experts on the topic. However, once his talk began getting close to an hour, I knew we would have to leave early. The kids were getting tired, and I was actually surprised they had lasted that long. I didn’t want to be rude, but a few other people had already left, so we left too. We ended up seeing Jean Paul at two other different places on Saturday, which was kind of funny.