On this day we all planned to explore Kings Canyon. We caravanned through a beautiful gorge that the Kings River has carved out. The drive was just amazing as we descended down into the canyon. There were waterfalls alongside the road, and tantalizing glimpses of the river as we got lower & lower. We stopped at almost every corner to hop out & take pictures! The road was incredibly curvy.

We stopped to look down into the gorge, and it was amazingly deep, with the Kings River white with froth at the bottom. 3 yo J was the only kid brave enough to get out & look into it! Finally we reached the bottom of the gorge & stopped to take more pictures at a spot where the road crossed over the Kings River.

Our next stop was a lovely place called Grizzly Falls. The falls were pounding down on the rocks, creating a lovely mist blowing through the area. We all enjoyed the coolness!

After a brief pit stop in Cedar Grove Village, we drove to Zumwalt Meadow, near the end of the road. Mike & Jaime took the older kids for a hike while I stayed back at the picnic area to feed the baby & protect our gear from the intermittent rainstorms. They hiked down to a footbridge that crosses the Kings River. The kids had fun fooling around in the ICE COLD water!

After the hike & our picnic, we all had to high-tail it back to our cabins to get cleaned up for our big family dinner at the fancy Wuksachi Lodge near Giant Forest, back in Sequoia. Since that would involve an hour's drive back to Grant Grove, clean-up time and then an hour's drive to Giant Forest, we weren't able to stay at Zumwalt Meadow for very long. The Lodge was lovely though, and we had a fun time all having dinner together.

We finally got everyone together for a family picture--all 21 of us (one cousin had to go home earlier that day). Night had fallen by the time we got everyone in place & looking the same direction!