Having just arrived, Megan and Jack took their shoes off and had an exuberant time running around the nearly empty infield.  Note how beautifully green the grass was.  No Photoshop saturation trickery here; it was all natural.

Below, Uncle Josh gets bowled over by Megan, McKenna and Jack.  Note Liz in the background saving Josh’s beer at the last second.

A posed shot and overexposed, but it was about the only time the three stood still together long enough to take a pic.

Love this shot of Megan running, chasing Jack.

Pure happiness …

Josh lifting the whole group.

Another favorite shot … towards the end of the day, and most of our energy was spent.

McKenna had a blast too.

Didn’t know whether I’d actually get a shot of the horses in motion.  Like this, but don’t love it.  Wish I could have been closer (heard Canon just announced they’re working on a 200-400 F4L IS … that would definitely help).

Really love the shot below.  Think this might be wall-worthy.

Finally, opening presents.  Well, present (singular), actually.  Now we just have to load it up with fun stuff!

Two dollars an hour seems a little steep, and have I just been asleep for the last decade?  Do all parking meters take credit cards now?  (FWIW – I wish the note on the left-hand meter was legible in the photo.  We saw the couple that left it.  It is something along the lines of “Dear Officer, We don’t have any change and the meter did not accept any of our credit cards.”  Good luck with that.)

No charge for uncorking your own bottle.

Gail and Josh.

Protecting the fruit plate.

Ahhhh … V is for victory.

Nana and Jack.

McKenna slept through the birthday presents.

Looking out over the ocean.

Laguna Beach, a place where kids can run around.  Literally.

More running.  (Was that the box with the GPS?  I thought it was cool.  )

Opening birthday presents was capped off with a few more late Christmas presents.

The end.

Nana and Poppy taught Megan about snowball fights and making snowmen.  (Unfortunately, I didn’t capture a shot of Dora the snow-lady before she melted away.)

Snow play with Nana was lots of fun.  Notice the snowball in the right hand – she’s aiming at Daddy who is holding the camera.

Having fun:

Look at that beautiful blue sky.

Annual deck shots.  Below, Megan looking like a superstar.

The Clatfelter girls, Megan and McKenna.

The whole family, ready for a new year.

Nana and Poppy posing with the grand-daughters.

And finally, ending our days with fabulous sunsets.

Ladera Ranch had a pretty good looking Mr. and Mrs. Claus this year.

Of course, if you’ve never met them before, they’re a pretty scarey pair.  Let’s face it, if you didn’t know who they were and you ran into them, say in front of a Taco Bell, you’d give them a pretty wide birth.  Notice how Megan is pretty much trying to bury herself into her mother.  That’s what I’m talking about.

Can’t open presents until we finish breakfast.  On her plate, coffee cake, eggs and potatoes.  The coffee cake was the main staple, she gave the eggs and potatoes just enough token attention to move onto the next round of activities.

Enjoying coffee cake …

The rainbow colored stamp pad was cool, but definitely wasn’t the hit of the morning.

Nor was the deluxe two-person red wagon, with canopy, in the big box on the right of the picture.

Mom got a blanket …

There was also food for Megan’s refrigerator.

Gotta love Melissa and Doug …

The present of the day, though, was Dora’s house, with a full set of accessories.  (Thanks Stacey & Mike!)

Although there were a few bumps in the road, a wonderful time was had by all!

The Awahnee Hotel

In January of 2008, I signed up for a “Biggest Loser” style contest at work, and managed to win enough money to pay for a really exceptional Yosemite vacation.  We made reservations a year in advance because we wanted to visit for Megan’s second birthday.  We stayed at the Awahnee, the only real hotel in the Yosemite Valley.  As luck would have it, we stayed in the same room that Queen Elizabeth stayed in when she visited.  This was a once in a lifetime experience that we felt very lucky to have.

One recommendation – even if you’re not staying at the Awahnee, take some time to visit it.  Spend some time soaking up the ambiance in the Great Room (which, I might add, has free WiFi access) and run, don’t walk, to the breakfast buffet in the main dining room.  There is no better way to gear up for a day of seeing the park.

The trip into the park was almost as good as the park itself.  The entrance from the east is a wonderful scenic drive along the Merced River.  If you time it right (again, as luck would have it), California Poppies blanket the hillsides all the way in.  We stopped just outside of Yosemite, in the small town of Mariposa, to have a picnic lunch at a wonderful little park.  A great place to stretch the legs and run around for a few minutes.

Lunch at a park in Mariposa

Again, we really enjoyed staying at the Awahnee Hotel.  Here, you see wooden trusses along the entrance to the hotel.

Trusses at the entrance to the Awahnee

Shots of the Mary Curry Tressider room, where we stayed, before entropy had fully engulfed the room.

The Mary Curry Tressider Suite

Megan and Mary Curry Tressider (Megan is the one sitting in the chair; Mary is in the portrait).

Megan and Mary Curry Tressider

We had mentioned that we were visiting for our daughter’s second birthday.  The desk had a cake sent to the room.  What a classy place!  Though, we were thinking we’d be celebrating Meg’s birthday with cupcakes.  I think she probably had the fanciest cake that any two year old ever had for their birthday.

Meg's birthday cake

Somehow, Megan managed to make do …

Enjoying cake

The highlight of the trip for Megan may well have been the cake (actually, she liked the waterfalls).  For me, however, it was the following day.  You see, the Ansel Adams Gallery in the Yosemite Valley has a variety of photo workshops available.  Unfortunately, we weren’t there on a day that a group workshop was taking place, so we hired a guide for a private “photo guiding tour.”  Basically, you hire a professional photographer to help you see the park through his eyes (and to provide some technical advice, where needed).  Our guide was Evan Russel.  Take some time and check out his images.  They are simply stunning.

What follows are a handful of shots from that day that I am most proud of.

Upper Yosemite Falls

Lower Yosemite Falls

Tree trunks along the Merced

Half dome framed by Oak

Photographing the photographer

El Capitan and Trees

El Capitan

Valley View

Fern Spring

El Capitan in reflection

Pinecones and tree trunks

The following two images, one of Half Dome and one of the valley from Tunnel View, were actually taken the day after our session with Evan.  Olin and I went out just prior to sunset on this day.  The other advantage – the air quality the following day was really much better.

Note in this image of half dome, the coloring of the streaks running down its face.  I hadn’t noticed it until I saw the picture.  While Half Dome is certainly majestic, I believe it’s the deposits of color that make the image really interesting to look at.

Half Dome

The classic Tunnel View shot.  Unfortunately, no clearing storms while we were there.

Tunnel View

And finally, our group (sans the photographer).

Traveling companions