Sequoia National Park - Day1

Day 1: General Sherman Tree, Buttress Tree, Moro Rock , and Tunnel Log.

我们刚刚结束一周的国家公园旅行，这三个国家公园是红杉树，帝王谷和优山美地。我们都被这些公园的美景所折服，同时我们也非常享受在公园里的远足旅行。安娜的表现令人惊叹，她同我们一起徒步爬山三次， 第一次去了头口爬瀑布（10公里）， 第二次去了迷死梯瀑布（16公里），第三次跋涉了姜木耳山路，爬上了世界闻明的半球石 （27 公里），来回用了十三个小时。

We took a week long trip to three national parks, Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Yosemite. We enjoyed the beautiful scenes and the challenging hikes. Anna did such an amazing job hiking three long trails with us. These three trails are Tokopah falls (6 miles), misty falls (10 miles) and John Muir trail to the world famous Half Dome (17 miles) which took 13 hours.

Hiking at Penasquitos Canyon

我们去附近的山谷里远足，来回一共有六英里。姐姐的两个好朋友也跟着去了，孩子们玩儿得真高兴，在小河里看到了龙虾，后来又在河边爬石头趟水，玩儿得都不想回来了。安娜表现特别好，一路都是自己走下来的。

最近安娜一直在学写字，26个字母大小写都会了，数字也都能默写下来了。

We went hiking at Penasquitos Canyon Reserve. We took a 6 mile hike to the waterfall. Two of Leah's friends went with us and the girls had so much fun. We saw cray fish in a creek and the girls enjoyed climbing the rocks and walking in water. Anna walked all the way by herself, which really impressed us.

Anna has been learning to write alphabet and numbers and now she can write all the uppercase and lower case letters, and can also memorize all the numbers.

My sister is 12!

姐姐今天十二啦！我领着姐姐，她的好朋友，还有哥哥去了两个迪斯尼公园。 他们一起做了27次过山车等各种游乐设施，觉得这一趟去得太值得了。 今天我们给了姐姐一个惊喜，触屏ipod作为生日礼物，她高兴极了，一天都在往里存喜欢的歌儿，爱不释手。安娜给姐姐画了个大蛋糕生日卡片。 Leah turned 12 today. I took her,her friend and David to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure on Friday. They took 27 rides and really enjoyed all kinds of roller coasters. It was a lot of fun! We gave her an ipod touch as her birthday present. She was very happy. Anna is such a sweet girl that she made Leah a cute birthday card.

Hiking Torrey Pines

这个星期日我们全家去Torrey Pines州立海滩爬山，这一天非常暖和，在海边玩儿非常合适。我们先是爬了一个半小时的山， 安娜表现非常不错，这一个半小时都是她自己走的。我们一边爬山一边看日落，然后又在海边玩儿了半小时，三个孩子玩水，挖砂子，高兴得很。

We went hiking at Torrey Pines State Reserve on Sunday. It was a very warm day and it was perfect to visit the beach. We first hiked for one and a half hours. Anna did a great job since she walked all by herself for the entire time. We then watched the sunset and played at the beach for about half an hour. All three kids enjoyed playing in the water and digging holes in sand.

New backpack

哥哥开学前要参加类似军训的野营活动，他们要去深山老林里徒步野营五天。一切东西都得自己背着，每天要爬山7个小时。他很向往这一天的到来，自己早早地就从网上订了背包，超轻的睡袋和垫子。因为每天要背30-40磅的东西，正好和安娜的重量差不多，于是他拿安娜练了起来，背了一会儿，就说太重了，希望他能把五天都坚持下来。

David has been excited about his college orientation week. They are going on a 5-day backpack camping trip in the mountains at Sequoia National Park. He bought a backpack, a super light sleeping bag and a mat from amazon.com. . Since they need to carry 30-40 pounds each day for 7 hours, he tried the backpack on with Anna sitting in it and said it is very heavy after only a few minutes. I hope he will be able to handle it for 5 days.

Wild Animal Park!

星期天时我们全家去了野生动物园。安娜很喜欢看各种各样动物。哥哥和姐姐参加了一个卡车游， 这样他们可以离动物很近，而且还可以喂长颈鹿和犀牛，还可以去碰它们。两个人说这趟玩儿的太值得了。
We went to the Wild Animal Park on Sunday. Anna enjoyed seeing all the animals. David and Leah went on a Caravan trip that allowed them to come up close with many animals, such as giraffes and rhinos which they were lucky enough to feed and touch. They had so much fun!

My borther is 17!

哥哥今天17岁了！今天他的几个好朋友带着生日礼物来给他庆祝，晚上我们全家去小肥羊庆祝。哥哥的生日礼物是一台苹果手提电脑，他特别高兴，觉得这台电脑很酷！丽亚给哥哥买了块蛋糕，晚上大家一起唱了生日歌。

David turned 17 today! He celebrated his birthday with several of his friends and we went out for dinner at Mongolian Hot Pot & Grill. We bought a MacBook Pro as his birthday/college present. He is very happy and thinks it is very cool! Leah bought a small birthday cake for David.

Father's Day

今天是父亲节，可是爸爸外出了， 但是我们还是庆祝了父亲节。 安娜和姐姐在一个陶瓷店给爸爸做了个相框，然后我们又把爸爸的汽车洗干净。 孩子们一起在院子里照了相，然后姐姐给爸爸做了个卡片。 安娜也懂得是爸爸的节日，她给爸爸画了两张画。姐姐把这几个图片都给爸爸发了过去， 希望他旅途中能看见。 中午全家吃了自制比萨饼, 然后去看了三维电影“玩具总动员3”

Today is Father's Day, but daddy is out of town. We still celebrated father's day. Leah and Anna made a picture frame at ceramicafe and we gave daddy's car a car wash. I took a picture of the three kids and Leah made a card for daddy. Anna drew two pictures for daddy. Leah emailed these pictures to daddy and hope he can see them during his trip. We made pizza for lunch and then watched the newly released 3D movie "Toy Story 3" at an IMAX theater.