Laugh at the Days to Come: 08/01/2014

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Miriam's 14th Birthday: A Déjà vu

Hiking at Calaveras Big Trees 2014

It is Miriam's one day of the year when she can say what we can do as a family. This girl - who does not talk a lot but when she opens her mouth everyone laugh because of the unexpected eloquence, wit and humor - turned fourteen! To Calaveras Big Trees we went camping - again. Seven years ago we already did the same things in the same place and at the same time. It was a déjà vu.

The whole family had a fun-filled and activity-packed day.The morning was quiet, birds are just beginning to chirp and the squirrels starting to make their daily hunt for food.The kids woke up from our two-bedroom tent. At sixty-degree temperature I started the fire going to heat up some water for tea. The kids were pleasantly surprised when I told them to skewer some raisin bagels and toast them over the hot ember. Meat or fish kabobs are normal but bagels? They've never thought of it but were excited to try it. Anything skewered and roasted over open fire just seem to make every camping food taste better. Anyway, our breakfast on fire got high ratings.

We hiked the Lava Bluffs Trail which is somewhat difficult for us but who wold have thought that we all had fun and mostly laughing all the way. Hot and sweaty afterwards, we proceeded to the Stanislaus River. The water was very cold and clear. The rocks were warm and served as a place of refuge whenever we felt really cold from the water.