Vacation before school starts

We had a great time at the Wild Animal Park. We spent the night at the Roar and Snore campground. The loin started raoring at 4 a.m. and that was the end of the 'good night's sleep' :-)

Here are a few pictures from the adventure.

As you can see we learned how to rope cattle.

We got to meet an owl at one of the animal encounters.

Soylar Candles

Irene has opened her at home business. It's called Soylar candles. You can visit her website at http://www.soylarcandles.com/

Daddy's Uncles

Here is a picture with Grandma's visiting brothers. (l to r) Grandma Blanca, Mommy, me, Cesar Luna, Ansel, Rodolfo Luna, Daddy behind.

First day as a 1st grader

These are from Ellora's first day back to school. She is now officially a first grader. First we headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. Ellora shared her yogurt with her brother.



These were taken in Ellora's new classroom. She has her own desk now and seems to be enjoying her new space.

Best of luck in the new school year!

Yosemite National Park

Being so late in the season, much of the streams and waterfalls have all but disappeared. Here is a picture of the lower Yosemite falls...or what's left of it.

This is picture at the trailhead to the lower falls. You can see Half Dome in the background.

Half Dome is a granite dome in Yosemite National Park, located at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley — possibly Yosemite's most familiar sight. The granite crest rises more than 4,737 ft (1,444 m) above the valley floor.

Ascents
As late as the 1870s, Half Dome was declared "perfectly inaccessible",[1] but it may now be ascended in several different ways. Thousands of hikers reach the top each year by following a trail from the valley floor. The trailhead is only 2 mi (3.2 km) from Half Dome itself, but the circuitous route is 8.5 mi (13.7 km) long. The final ascent is accomplished by following a pair of metal cables raised on posts up the peak's steep but somewhat rounded east face. The cable route was constructed in 1919, but followed close to the route of George Anderson's October, 1875 first ascent made by drilling iron eyebolts into the smooth granite.[2]
Alternatively, over a dozen rock climbing routes lead from the valley up Half Dome's vertical northwest face. Other routes ascend the south face and the west shoulder. The first modern technical route was the Regular Northwest Face route - originally climbed in 1957 by Royal Robbins, Mike Sherrick, and Jerry Gallwas. This 5-day ascent was the first Grade VI climb in the United States.[3]

Ellora the HERO

Some days, you realize that your kids do listen to what you tell them. It's just the during the normal couse of a day you have to remind them so many time that you forget. Today we had just that happen. We stopped in Winnemucca, NV to streach our legs during the long journey across the Nevada desert. We found a park for the kids to play in while mom and dad rested in the shade eating fruit and drinking water (it probably would have sounded more romantic if I said wine and cheese, but that wasn't the case).

Anyway, while the kids we playing, some the locals started to come out of their houses now that the temps had come down. Our kids seemed to be having a good time until Ellora came over and said the one of the kids got hurt. She didn't panic and was very clear on telling us what had happened. She knew that an adult was needed and took action.

A little boy fell off the bars and hit his head on the way down. I (Jaime) found him under the jungle gym just sitting there in the sand with a HUGE bump on his forehead. I think he was in shock because he didn't know how to tell me where his parents were. So I picked him up and carried him to the group that were watching the football palyers and cheerleaders. His mother was there and quickly came over to comfort her son. By then he started to cry and I think was a good thing.... later, about an hour or so, Ellora went to see how he was doing. She took a picture so I could put it on her blog. The bump on his head had gone down slightly.

Here's to Hero Ellora for her quick thinking.

Back in Salt Lake City

Here we are relaxing in the pool at our hotel. Salt Lake City has been very warm. The pool was very refreshing.

Skies over Wyoming

On our way back, we had great views from the highway.

In this picture you can see the Continental Divide. The Great Divide, also called the Continental Divide separates the watersheds of the Pacific Ocean from those of the Atlantic or Arctic Oceans. It runs from the Seward Peninsula in Alaska, through western Canada along the crest of the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico.

Jackson, Wy

Here are some sites from Jackson, WY.

Ellora stands by her new friends.