When the children were babies and played on the beach

 52.  Dig a few holes. 

 53.  Dig a few waves. 

 54.  Play board games with cousins. 

 55.  Take a beach nap. 

 56.  Parasail!!! Ollie did this with his grandpa :)

 57.  On the rainy beach day, visit the National Naval Aviation Museum. 

 58.  Commune with the gulls. 

 59.  Find a few sand dollars.  These were still alive, by the way!

60.  Watch an incredible firework show on the beach with a fullish orange moon.   

Be astounded. 

61.  Love the beach with family and good friends.  Love it. 

Oh, it’s pound down the rails and it’s tie down the tents

 49.  Sleep in a tent.

 50.  Swim in a lake.

51.  Sit around a camp fire. 

These pictures were taken at Tim's Ford.  I can't believe it has been four years since we last came.  The lake is absolutely perfect.  The water was warm, our camp site was secluded, and the kids had a blast.  We didn't do any hiking because the water was so enticing.  Lovely. 

 42.  Take safety lessons from Grandpa.

43. Spend hours in the back yard building things.  

 44.   Watch the Euro Cup with dad. 

45.  Fall asleep after spending the week at soccer camp. 

46.  Spend evenings on the back porch with the dog and the hooping mom. 

 47.  Go to a river.  Roll in mud.  Make a "human collage."

48.  Hula hoop at the river.  Have a picnic.  Have grandma bring the Bloody Marys. 

Read books, repeat quotations

37.  Go to an extremely over-crowded public pool with a giant water slide.

38.  Evacuate pool when someone pukes in it.  Wait 30 minutes, and then jump back in confidently when  the teen-age life guards assure you that everything is fine.

39.  Go to a friends house and have a bonfire.

40.  Get eat up by chiggers. Itch like the devil.

41.  Read tons of books. 

Starlight by the edge of the creek

34.  Build a dam at a creek with friends.

35.  Attend VBS.

36.  Stay up late catching fireflies. 

As a bad motorcycle with the devil in the seat

 20. Allow yourself to be amazed by sunflowers all over again.

 21.  Turn 6.  Have a weekend full of parties.

 22.  Go to grandpa's and spend the entire days in the pool.

23.  Swim without floaties.

 24.  Sit on the front porch and swing.  Watch the cars go by.

25.  Eat fried green tomatoes from the garden.

26.  Eat fresh grilled squash from the garden, too.

 27.  Ride rodeo horses with your grandpa.

 28.  Try to touch the clouds.

 29.  Learn to ride the horse by yourself.  (The horse pictured used to be a real live rodeo horse!)

 30.  Reward horse with farmer's market sour apple.

 31.  Visit great grandpas. 

32.  Ride a Harley.

33.  Ride in a car with your brother for hours and hours and hours.  Argue with him.  Laugh with him.  Stop a million times. 

So I get brown rice, seaweed And a dirty hot dog

16.  Had a cook- out with lots of family

17.  Attended a friends cook- out under the full moon (almost full)
18.  Bought blackberries at the farmer's market and made a cobbler

Fiery Gizzard

We finally went for an overnighter and tackled the Fiery Gizzard. We hiked a total of 15 miles with 35 lbs between us in our packs. The batteries on my camera ran out, and I only thought to use my phone about mid-trip, so I only took a few snap shots as I didn't want to keep messing with my phone.

Day one was the short part of the trip, but the map describes this section as "arduous" and I am inclined to agree with that description. The rocks are loose and there are long stretches where on false step, and you could easily end up wounded. This is NOT a trail for our little guys, and I am relieved that we didn't attempt it with them.

We had red beans and rice for dinner, made a fire at Raven Point, and hiked 8+ miles this morning before 11am. My legs ache!

The hike was gorgeous. We were rained on a bit, but the tree canopy kept us from getting soaked, and we were able to make camp, cook, and sit around the fire with no wetness. It WAS muggy, but we were surrounded with water and it really wasn't TOO hot.

Someone left all the workings for a campfire for us! We were too beat to use it, but it felt lucky. The next backpacker will get to enjoy it.

This is the top of Foster Falls. We have camped here before, and swum under the waterfall, but today, we were anxious for something cold to drink and to take our shoes off. We hiked back to the car instead.

The path winds near overlooks, waterfalls, springs, through thick forests, rocky creek beds, cool moss covered rock piles, and Laurel groves. Simply lovely.

Barfield Crescent

Our kids are out of town this week, and we have decided to take a big hike.
We leave today to hike the Fiery Gizzard and have a little camp out.

Yesterday, after having lived in this area since before Eli could walk, we finally hiked the loop at Barfield Crescent. It was very pleasant. The biggest surprise was how fast we could go without a 5 year old with us. I miss the little boogers, desperately, but I have high hopes that we can cover some ground today without making little feet wear plum out.

Check back soon for a full report of the 13 miles.

Barfield Crescent was covered in this flower though, I don't know what it is.

Savage Falls

Today we took a lovely hike to Savage Falls. We walked 3.2 miles again. The weather was a cool 80 degrees, spirits were high, and it was an easy walk.

In the woods, I thought I heard rain, but as it turns out, the sound was the pitter-patter of grasshoppers.

Rhododendron in bloom made the air smell like ice-cream according to Eli.

This was such a nice, easy trail, I thought all of these warning signs were funny.

A rhododendron grove. Notice the petals all over the forest floor.

These were the falls. It was shallow enough around the edges to walk under the falls. Eli and I swam as it was deep in the center, but were able to frolic under the water easily.

This fall was right next to the bigger one pictured above.

All from the same seated position (above)..

We could walk side by side most of the hike with trails that look like the picture above. I hike barefooted often times, and the path today was cool and soft.