Little Girl meets Big Trees

For Fourth of July weekend, we took Emily up to Uncle Willy's cabin for a bunch of new adventures! Our first day there, Emi met the Giant Sequoias and the "dancing tree" at Big Trees State Park, walked the nature trail with Papa and her pet pinecone, and tried to step on every ant she ran into until we convinced her it was nicer to just watch 'em crawl away.

She explored some of the older fallen trees with Uncle Willy, and we stepped into the visitor's center for a quick look at all the stuffed animals (her favorite was the fox).

Later the same day she took a dip in Beaver Creek where she was "kissed" on the foot by a water "spider" (aka strider). Emily shook him off and waded through the creek effortlessly like a high altitude Little Mermaid under Annie's watchful eye. It was simply just a beautiful and quiet place for Emi to explore and play and make herself at home in the woods.

Saturday we started with breakfast in Arnold,

and then found a spot along the side of Highway 4 to watch the local Holiday Parade which included a "bear with pants on" (Emily's description of Smokey the Bear) and a real-life princess (Emi's favorite!) among a multitude of clever floats and local emergency vehicles with sirens a-blazin'. She brought a rather special moment to all those around her when she stood perfectly still, hat held over her heart, listening to the National Anthem at the start of the parade.

After the parade we got to see a magic show and then Emily toured through the annual flea market, marveling at puppets, quilts, and bathouses.

Toward the end of the day, Emi wandered onto the dance floor outside a nearby cafe (an old piece of carpet covering some dirt) to entertain the locals as she shuffled along to the Stardust Cowboys' live pickin'.

On Sunday we went to the Ironstone Winery right outside of downtown Murphy, took the tour of the facilities, and had a snack in their beautiful tasting room/cafe.

Emi was entranced with everything on the tour as she walked through the caves (where we were pretty sure we saw pirates among the barrels of "rum") and along the gold panning creek.

It was hot and it was long, and she never complained once. She just kept taking it all in as is her nature (ever the little scientific observer)!

It was a joy to spend the time with her and we can't wait for her first canping trip. She's definitely at home in the wilderness.