Half Dome Hike

Beginning in 2010, permits are required to hike half dome. There are 300 permits per day available and sell out within minutes of being available. I ended up buying a permit on craigslist from someone who changed their mind about hiking it.
I drove up on Saturday with Ed and the kids. On Saturday we explored the park and took a short hike to a waterfall. We stayed at a cabin in El Portal since everywhere inside the park was sold out. I started the hike at 5am, so the first hour was in the dark. Below is my first view of half dome around 6am.

And here I am taking a break to take a picture.

A view of Nevada Falls.

At the top of Nevada Falls watching the water fall off the edge.

It was probably around 7am when I got to the top of Nevada falls.

And then I saw a black bear right near the trail after Nevada falls.

Another view of Half Dome. It looks so far away!

I saw a deer on the trail too.

Getting closer...

The worst part of the hike was sub dome. To get up sub dome, you had to climb lots of rock steps. Going up, I just knew I would fall coming down. And sure enough, I did. I scrapped up and bruised my knee and then fell back hitting my backpack. Ouch!

Another view of the sub dome trail and stairs.

The view from sub dome was pretty. You can tell how high up I am already, and there is more to go!

This is looking up sub dome. At this point I am just wondering how much further it is.

More steps. I felt like a mountain goat climbing this.

Wooo hooo. I finally can see half dome peaking over sub dome.

If you look carefully, you can see the cables going up half dome.

And those little dots on the side are people climbing up.

I got to Half Dome around 10am and spent about an hour or so at the top. After climbing up the cables, my arms were so sore, I needed the time to recover before coming back down.

When I first saw the cables close up, I really started to think I was crazy for doing this. But, there was no way I came this far and not go all the way to the top. So, up I went.

I made it!

Sitting on the side. It sure is a long way down!

I am not sure why there were so many rock statues on top. But, they look cool.

And, back down I go. When I went up, the down looked pretty scary. But, it turned out that the down was much easier than the up.

In this picture you can see how steep it is climbing the side of Half Dome. This is taken from the cables on the side of Half Dome.

A view while heading back down.

My original plan was to take Mist Trail up and John Muir trail down, but when I got to the junction in the morning when it was dark, there was a group of people waiting blocking the way to Mist Trail, so I didn't realize I was on John Muir Trail until it was too late. It definitely would have been easier to do John Muir Trail down because going down all the rock steps on Mist Trail was a very slow process at the end of the day, especially when I already fell once. This is Nevada Falls as seen from Mist Trail.

Nevada Falls.

This is a picture on top of Vernal Falls.

This is a picture of me with Vernal Falls in the background.

Another picture of Vernal Falls.

I finished the hike at 3:30pm, so the hike was 10 1/2 hours (including spending about an hour on top). The weather was nice for the hike. It was probably about 80. At the top of Half Dome it was cold and windy. I brought 4 liters of water but only drank 2 1/2 liters. I brought 9 energy bars, but only ate 3 and gave some away to a couple backpackers who lost all his food to bears. After the hike, I had pizza at Curry Village. That pizza tasted awesome after a long day of hiking. I feel sore, battered and bruised from the hike, but it was an awesome experience that I will remember.

Happy Hollow Zoo

This weekend Ed was out of town, so I had the boys all to myself. On Sunday I took them to Happy Hollow Zoo.
We spent most of the day on the rides. The kids finally decided they love roller coasters and they now want to go on a big roller coaster after doing the kiddie one.

After all the rides, we did manage to see the petting zoo, but ran out of time (and energy) to see all the other animals.

Asleep

Yup, Connor is asleep. It just doesn't look comfortable.

Individuals

In the middle of Summer, Ryan asked for his hair to be shorter. Connor wanted to keep his longer. The different hairstyles helped their swim teachers tell them apart during lessons. Today, I cut their hair again. Ryan wanted his hair short. He likes that short hair is easy and you don't have to comb it. Connor wanted his hair "just trimmed, not short like Ryan's." When I asked Connor why he likes his hair longer, it was "so our kindergarten teachers can tell us apart." I guess Connor got tired people not being able to tell them apart or new friends calling them both "ConnorRyan" because they don't know who is who. Ryan tried to convince Connor to cut his hair shorter so they could be the same, but in the end he respected his brother's decision to be different.

I think it is great that Connor is trying to differentiate himself from his brother to be an individual.

Friends

The afternoon of Saturday, August 7, we spent with friends in San Luis Obispo and Arroyo Grande. First, we saw Tania, Matt and their kids Anna, Mason and Olivier. Anna, Connor and Ryan played well together while the adults got to chat and hold the little ones.
In the evening, we had ice cream with Jill at Doc Bernsteins in Arroyo Grande.

It was a fun weekend with lots crammed into such a short time.

Pismo Beach

On Saturday, August 7, we spent the morning with Granny and Grandpa at Pismo Beach.
I love this picture of Ryan because it looks like he is having a staring contest with me.

The kids weren't too thrilled walking on the pier because they just wanted to get to the sand.

And the water...

Ryan quickly found he enjoyed playing in the waves. He ended up soaked by the time we left.

And, they weren't too thrilled having to ride back to Granny and Grandpa's house in their underwear.

Connor was on a mission to find seashells.

I think Shell Beach is better for that, but he did find one shell.

Bring Your Kids to Work Day 2010

On Wednesday, August 4, Fortinet had their annual Bring Your Kids and Pets to Work Day.
The kids had a blast and I am sure they think I always have so much fun at work.


The Sunnyvale Fire Department came out and let the kids sit in the fire truck. There was a rescue dog that came out and gave a demonstration.

There were crafts and a balloon artist.

There was a movie and popcorn in the afternoon. But, one of they favorite parts of the day was coloring in my office...

San Francisco Marathon 2010

"Worth the Hurt." Is that really something you want to see the day before running your first marathon, a reminder that it's gonna hurt? Well, that is exactly what the SF Marathon Expo sign said when we went there on Saturday to pick up my bib number.

On Saturday night, we stayed at Hotel Griffon, which was right at the start and finish line of the marathon. The hotel was sold out and we got upgraded to the suite with a gorgeous view of the bay. So nice! The location was perfect, the room was perfect, and I was excited for my first marathon. The weekend was starting quite nicely. I tried to get to bed early, but ended up waking up at 2am when I heard the starting line being set up. I looked out the window, and this is what I saw.... the start line set up right outside our window.

The first wave started at 5:30AM and the music started at 5AM. Hopefully everyone at our hotel was here for the marathon, because otherwise they got a nice and early wake up call with all the music! From our window, we watched the first wave start while we were still in our pajamas.

I was in wave 8 (the last one) scheduled to start at 6:32am, so I had some time between the first wave and my wave to get ready. The kids woke up from all the music and were excited for their munchkin race. They enjoyed watching the wave starts from the window.

Here is a picture of us from our hotel room. The boys got the necklaces from the expo and just had to wear them for the race. The shirts they are wearing are the shirts they got for entering the race.

Here we are at the starting line...

And we're off...

The race started on Embarcadero and we ran along the piers toward the Golden Gate Bridge, we ran over the bridge, through Golden Gate Park, through neighborhoods and past AT&T park. My favorite part of the race was the Golden Gate Bridge. It was just breathtaking. It was a bit foggy, but what do you expect in San Francisco?

They closed three lanes of the bridge for the race. There was one lane for outbound, one lane for inbound and one buffer lane so the cars don't get too close.

The Wall Street Journal call the SF Marathon, "the Marathon that Marathoners Fear" because of all the hills on the course. But, come on, you can't have a marathon in San Francisco without hills!

Golden Gate Park was also a scenic part of the course.

While I was running, Connor and Ryan ran a 1/2 mile munchkin run.

Here is Ryan showing off his medal after "winning" his race.

While I was running, the kids also enjoyed watching the boats in the bay.

Now, you can tell I am getting close to the finish because I am not even looking at the photographer anymore. I just see that the END is in sight. At mile 20, there was a nice long downhill which I loved after all the uphills. At mile 21, there were spectators handing out grapes. After running 21 miles, those were the best grapes I ever had. I hit the wall at mile 22 and the last 4 miles were brutal. It took all my energy to just focus on moving towards the finish.

The balloons.... that means I am almost done!

And.... 5 hours 26 minutes after I started, I crossed the finish line.

This is a well deserved medal!

It was an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment to be done and to finish a marathon. I decided in November 2009 that I was going to run a marathon, but I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. I trained hard and was focused on that finish line. After running 26.2 miles, I have more respect for the distance. It was hard, there is no doubt about that. But, it something I will remember for the rest of my life.

At the finish line, Ed, Connor and Ryan were waiting for me and cheered me on to the finish. Connor and Ryan were excited to show me their medals and told me that they "won just like Mommy."The medal....

It was a great experience. I am already planning my next marathon....

4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

We went to the City of Sunnyvale State of the City BBQ at Washington Park. We enjoyed a yummy BBQ lunch, listened to the Mayor speak about the city, the kids played in the bounce house, and played at the park.

Later in the afternoon, we had our neighborhood block party and BBQ in our neighbor's front yard, so Connor and Ryan filled up their swimming pool to enjoy during the party.


Connor and Ryan tried hula hooping with the neighbors...

It was a fun day, even without the fireworks.