lovely moments...

Adventurous hiking...

On our first day of exploring with Glenn a new quiet little place in the mountains was found.

There was a few wonderful moments spent examining the creek around this new trailhead before we continued on down the road to areas not seen before for us.  After the long day of exploring, stopping every so often to check out cool places along the river, we headed off to our most favorite chinese restaurant ever.  Because it is 40 miles away from home we always stop when we are right down the road from it.  It was there we decided that we would be coming back to the newly found trailhead in a day or two.

 So two days later, that is where we were to be found.

Stopping at every cool thing that was to be seen.

 Crossing the creek several times while trying to keep our shoes dry.

 Walking into a cute little aspen grove because it's always too cool to be in the middle of one and listen to the wind rustle their leaves around.

Awesome!

One of the best sounds ever.

 Then came a part on the trail where we had to cross the creek again.  There was no way out of getting our shoes wet.  It just had to be done.  One little person was upset because she rode on Glenn's back so she wouldn't get wet.  That didn't go over well.

 Then nearly 2 miles from our starting point we get to what we wanted to see.

Right where the creek pours into the secluded area of the reservoir.  The only way to see it was by boat or hike in.  For me there was only one 'bad' thing about this part.  It was well over 60ft. down on a steep slope.

Yea.

So while the other three just went merrily down like little mountain goats, I slid down the hill on my back end (on purpose) so not to kill myself.  Heights and steep slopes are not my friends nor my favorite things in life.

 When everyone was safely down to the beach there was lots of exploring to be done.

 A steep beach but wonderful none the less.

 Big rocks to hop around on right at the edge of the beach.  It was the perfect spot to watch the biggest trouts we've ever seen.  They would come up to check us out and then disappear back into the deep water of the reservoir.  The sand just dropped off to 'nothing' on the other side of those rocks.  Too deep for my liking.

 After stressing out over who was going to fall in the deep part first, I managed to get everyone back on the creek side to explore around the rocks there.  Safer.  And I was able to find a big rock to sit on and listen to the creek run by next to me.

Much better.

 After about 2hrs of splashing and exploring it was decided that it what time to go back and eat lunch at the trailhead.

You know what that meant.

I had to go back up the steep slope to get to the trail.  See the two trees in the middle?  That is where the trail is located.

Yea.

Not one of my happiest moments of the trip but I did it.

Without killing myself.

 Back down the trail our little cubs found the wild blackberry bushes again and had another tasty snack.

 Then it was to the most anticipated part of the return trip on the trail.  Purposely getting our shoes and clothes wet.  The girls had to walk back and forth a few times just because it was so neat to trudge through the creek.  Further down the trail where the creek wasn't so deep lots of little baby trout were spotted and had to be watched.  Tons of those little guys.

After getting back to the truck and eating lunch, this trip was deemed the absolute best hike ever by all of us.  Especially the girls who thought that walking through the creek was the best part.

Love it!

xxxx

Relaxing now...

Whenever Glenn takes a few days off when the weather is beautiful things get busy around here.

Day trips were taken to places never explored before,

 and to a few places brand new for the girls.

 It's been ages since the last time we had been to a favorite spot of long ago.  20 years to be exact.

Too long.  Brendon was itty bitty the last time we were here.

 Between all the exploring that was accomplished for the past 4 days, there was some well deserved quiet times.  Most of it happened up in my room with everyone finding their own comfy spot to enjoy their quiet time.

 After all that, I was able to finish my blanket that I had been working on.

Yes, another one.

This one inspired by all the beautiful colors that I saw in a mountain meadow last year.

All the gorgeous colors from perfect little blooms, wonderful shades of green grass, the gorgeous blue skies and puffy white clouds.

It is hands down my favorite so far.

Now I must go searching and exploring for what will be my next project to keep my hands busy.

xxxx

simple & wonderful...

Summer in charge...

Summer was in full swing around these parts the last couple of weeks.

Which explains the absence from the blog.

Mom came for her visit, which was absolutely wonderful.  The girls couldn't get enough of her.  Mom and Dad were put on the back burner and everything was about Oma.  Just seeing the girls enjoying every minute with Mom was a real treat.

There were 5 birthdays that had to be celebrated from June.

All the years totaled 188.  Precautions were taken where the candles were concerned and the number candles were used on the birthday pie.  No sense in trying to burn the house down with that many single candles going all at once.

There was time spent at the cherry orchard picking pie cherries and bings.

 20 lbs of pie cherries and 10 lbs of bings

 plus a bit of rhubarb

 were soon made into 

 lots of little jars of all this yumminess.

Strawberries had to be included also because there was no sense in leaving them out of all the fun going on in the kitchen.

Just a little note, pie cherries are now my absolute favorite summer fruit.

Next to strawberries of course.

But the cherries have taken first place in my book.

 They girls found a new 'yard' pet.

His name changes daily.

 There was some backyard roasting going on.

 Try telling a 7yr old that you aren't suppose to purposely set the marshmallows on fire just so you can see it engulfed in flames.  It was pointless.

 A few hours of fun was spent at the mini golf course.

 At the end of the course there was a tiki totem.  If you were able to get the ball right down the middle into the pipe it started to smoke and a huge burst of fire came out of it's head.  Guess who got that to happen.  Yeah, Glenn.  The rest of us were squirted because of our lack of skill.

We had to hear about that the rest of the day.

Joy.

 And some good ole' river time was had.  Trying to find little fishes if possible, splashing around to cool off and of course (you know what's coming) trying to find just the right rock to throw to see how big of a splash could be made.

What else do you expect.

Mom is back home now, but trust me when I say that the girls have lots more on the list of summer time things to do.  The fun isn't over yet.

xxxx