July 4th at Muir Woods

We took a break from the heat and headed toward the coast for the fourth of July this year. Muir Woods National Monument is a forest of coastal redwoods located a little more than 10 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. This year Muir Woods celebrates it's 100th Anniversary! It was a beautiful place to visit as a family. Because of the moisture in the area and the low light, there are lots of plants and animals that make it their home. The temperature and scenery were wonderful, nice and cool and very green. Being in nature feels relaxing! Aaron lasted in the backpack for a few steps and then wanted to wander the paths with everyone else. The wide trails were perfect for letting him do just that.



The tallest tree there is over 252 feet and the widest is over 14 feet. We learned that the world's tallest living thing is a coastal redwood in northern California. A few years ago, one was measured In Redwood National Park at 379.1 inches tall!

Do you see what I see? Aaron was fascinated by the deer he saw grazing on the hillside. He was mezmerized for quite a few minutes.

After Muir Woods, we headed to Muir Beach to catch a view of the ocean and wade a little in the water. The girl's had fun chasing and being chased by the cold waves.

After our time at the beach, we went out for a bite to eat and then headed home to catch some of the small town festivities. Woodland does a nice firework show at one of the high schools... on a much smaller scale than Sstadium of Fire, but good nonetheless. We went out for ice cream and then found a perfect and non-crowded grassy area to watch the fireworks. Here's what Brynn wrote in her journal about the events of the day....

On July 4 it was a graet night becuze we got to see big fireworks. We saw green fireworks, gold fireworks, and green and pink fireworks! We got glo sticks too. Me and my sister got red ones. My brother got a blue glo stick. We got to eat ice cream. I got Oreo. My sister got french vanilla and my brother and my mom and dad shared. Guess what? Before we did all that fun stuff we went to the bech! We found lots of shells. And we had lots of fun at the bech when the waves chast us. And then we got a little bit wet at the bech. The end.

When we watched Music and the Spoken Word the Sunday before the 4th, it was fun to see all of the beautiful photographs of our country...many of them from our state! As we walked through this national monument we couldn't help but think of the words...

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.

We are grateful to live in this beautiful land America!

It was a different 4th of July than any we've ever had, but it was a welcome change! It was very nice to take some time out to be with our little family. Every moment we have to be just us, is a treasured one.