White Water Rafting

After the ropes course we got on the water and went down the lower half of

the South Fork of the American River. 

My camera died while we were on the ropes course so I don't have

any pictures of the first day we went down the river. 

But it was a lot of fun and a good way to get used to the class II rapids.

The second day we went down the North Fork of the American River. 

A man and his nephew joined us on the second day. 

He had a waterproof camera and took a ton of pictures - so thanks

to him we have some pictures while we were on the water.

The rapids were going to be bigger on the second day so

Kaitlyn and I were a little nervous. 

The guide gave us a lot of instructions for the second rapid we

went down to prepare us. 

As we started going thru it I looked to my right and saw the feet of the man

sitting next to me as he flew out of the raft. 

I yelled for Kaitlyn to hold on tighter and I did the same. 

I couldn't figure out why the guide wasn't telling us to paddle

so we would avoid the rocks that we were headed for so I turned around and

the guide was gone.  She fell out of the raft too. 

Fortunately we figured out how to avoid the rocks on our own

and got them back in the boat. 

No one else fell out, but we went through a lot of other big/fun rapids.

After one of the rapids our guide had us paddle back toward

a part of the rapid as fast as we could. 

The way she positioned the boat the water was coming right at us.

She kept us there for a looong time.

I think she stayed there for so long because Logan kept

cracking up and saying, "this is awesome".

Then we watched as the raft Matt, Zac and Lauren were on

came through the same rapid.

At one point we got out of the water while the guides took the rafts down Ruck-A-Chuck rapids. 

Learning The Ropes

Mike had taken the young men in our ward on a couple of

white water rafting trips and always wanted to take his family on the same trip,

so we decided this was the year.  

We went with Matt, Zac and Lauren Wright. 

 

The first part of the trip was a ropes course.

Climbing the wall...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Walking a tight rope.

 

 

Doing some yoga in the air.

Pushups anyone?

 

 

 Not sure what they call this one, but it's not easy!! 

It was a good time for some brother and sister bonding.

We can all pat ourselves on the back that we did it and survived!

 

 

 

The last adventure was climbing a tree, standing on a little wood platform and then jumping to grab a bar a few feet away. 

It's called "the leap of faith". 

It really does take faith that those ropes will hold you if you don't grab that bar.

 

The sun was in the wrong place to get very good pictures of this part,

but we all really did do it.

Kaitlyn turns 17

Kaitlyn is growing up way to fast!

Looking cute on her 17th birthday!!

 

 

She wanted to make her own birthday cake -

you may be able to tell she didn't want me to take

pictures of her while she made her cake :)

 

Enjoying breadsticks at Olive Garden for her birthday dinner.

 

Her birthday cake turned out great!

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!!!

Back to the Beach

After kayaking we met up with the rest of the family back at the beach.

It was cold and windy, but still.

 

Love watching the cousins that don't get to see each other very often hit it off and become fast friends.  Aubrey lives in Texas and Ruby lives in Utah, but they have a great time together!

 

It was Jack's birthday.

So we got a picture with all the cousins and Jack's Happy Birthday banner.

 

Then some separate family shots.

Eric Kris, Henry, Max, Macy and Jack

 

Conner, McKayla, Blake and Keith

 

Brian, Erin and Aubrey

(The rest of their family were playing in the water)

 

The Fontaines :)

 

Saying goodbye to some of the Gwilliams.

Keith giving a hug to Ruby before they hit the road for Utah.

 

Catching a few more waves.

Kayaking

For Day 2 of our family trip some of us went kayaking in Monterey Bay.

 

Back row:  Logan and Karol

Middle Row:  Blake, McKayla, Brinley and Parker

Seated:  Erin, Kaitlyn, Aubrey and Tanner

Kaitlyn and McKayla were paired up in a kayak.

Brinley wanted to get in the picture with the big cousins - cute!

Logan and Blake were in their own kayaks.

Had to get a picture of Kaitlyn and Logan together in their kayaking gear.

Me and my kayaking partner, Aubrey, all ready to go.

Mike enjoying his kayak ride.

I don't have any pictures of Logan in the kayak

because he got in his and took off.

He made it all the way to the Aquarium.

Most of us didn't go that far.

Aubrey was such a good kayaker. 

She paddled so hard and did a great job. 

On the way back I could tell her paddles were moving,

but kind of all over the place. 

I told her she didn't have to keep paddling and she could take a rest. 

She said OK and the next thing I knew her head was

bent to the side and she was fast asleep!

 

I think her paddles were moving all over because

she was falling asleep while she was paddling.

When we passed some sea lions their loud barking woke her up.

 

I told her to see if she could slide down in the kayak and get a little

more comfortable while she slept.

Her paddle fell out in the process, but I was able to get it

and get back to shore to snap a picture of her before she woke up again.

She was adorable, glad I got to be kayak partners with her.