A Walk

 Nothing like some good puddle time on a closed road.

A girl and her feather shall never be parted.

A Hike

Hike

We hiked on a local trail in the morning; the kids liked it so much we went home and packed up and did the hike we had planned for this day.  The mountains were cool and green and beautiful.   We were passed by friendly mountain bikers who smelled of fresh dirt and sweat, arms glistening in the sun.  Littlest girl looking for bugs and air soft pellets and fool's gold.  :)  Even the baby wanted to hold my hand with this tiny one, walking haltingly over roots and jutting gray rocks.  We stopped and sat in the brown dirt and ate sticky granola bars and drank water from an old gray plastic water bottle.

At the end, we played in a trickling stream that was low from the dry season.  Six year-old said "thank you for bringing us here!"

Had In-N-Out in our wet clothes and squishy shoes and inhaled the conversation.

That night, the little girls recounted all the day's adventures to their dad while he, bent over, planted ground cover between bare flagstone rocks.  As I pulled the door closed, I heard a breathless "it was like a mini bacation!"  (pronounced buh-cation)

It felt so good to be together and be outside and doing something active (note to self!).  We really could do better about doing things like this!   It's too easy to get stuck in a rut sitting around inside.

Could be dreaming, but the kids have hardly mentioned the TV this week.  And I think we're closer too. 

Fab Fourth

We began the Fourth at home, with grandparents, puzzles, ping-pong, Hugo, and a grill.  Next came an impromptu family outing through some beautiful country (I'd had a bad night the night before, didn't comb my girls hair, darn it... best picture spot ever!  Though they are still dang cute).   Then pizza in a foreign town parked sideways (9pm, no one there) with the doors open and pizza on the hood of the car, as kids trailed in and out to get drinks.  Ended on a quilt-square blanketed lawn with friends and chocolate chip cookies under streaming neon colors as baby said "pow, pow, pow."  Does it get much better?

                                                                 I love those chubby legs!