The Longest Day

A few weeks ago we escaped the city for the redwood forest, less than an hour from the hustle and bustle of the Silicon Valley.  Our friend Amy proposed a group camping trip to Mt. Madonna, a Santa Clara County park that rents out furnished yurts amidst redwood trees.  3 families with kids, plus my parents got there just before dark.  Just in time to enjoy grilled sausages and s'mores for dinner.

The mornings were especially glorious, with sunlight filtering through the trees, highlighted by the remnant campfire smoke.

All the dads (except mine) enjoyed a morning of sleeping in.

Once everyone came to we were treated to Amy's special oatmeal buttermilk pancakes.  A big pot of fresh coffee was ready to go, thanks to my dad's new, oversized camp coffeemaker.

After refueling the kids got down to the business of exploring under minimal supervision.

The kids convened some sort of meeting inside a ring of redwood trees.  Not sure if they reached any kind of consensus.

Even Guster was included in the fun.  Mostly he barked at passerby hikers and feasted on food that fell from the tables.

The entire group got enough motivation to go on a hike down and up the nearby canyon.

Despite the drought, there was plenty of greenery in the form of clovers and ferns.

Afterwards we had lunch and a surprise birthday party for Kerstin, who drove down to hang out for the day from Milpitas.

Linus went on a hike with Mattias, and tried his first shots on our DSLR camera.

After lunch I thought, "It must be close to dinner time now." I checked my phone, which was silenced and on airplane mode, and was shocked to see it was only 2PM!  With no agenda or distractions, time stretches and slows.  

And then there's this: a photo of the kids, three of which have been friends since they were babies.  A reminder that time slips away fast, that our agendas and distractions are just... distractions.