have you ever suffered the effects of picture overload?

well, if you haven’t, you  might now.
the kids were out of school today and what with it being the end of september, we planned a hike.  september usually yields the perfect weather for hiking..  not too hot, not too cold, usually some pretty fall foliage to look at while we make our way.
that sort of stuff.
it was a perfect day.
it was a wee bit hotter than usual (more like the end of august).
and we did have to find a different trail head (a paraglider was injured up the trail, broke both of his ankles so the normal trail head was closed off).  but we all got to see all the flashy emergency vehicles and news vehicles. even the lifeflight helicopter!!  we watched it take off and hover and land multiple times.
the extra that we did hike was easy and so pretty.
(no complaining here.)
so there were the usual suspects, me, mom,promise, ken, and our kiddos + dad, joe, josh, cade, and soph.  it was nice for all of us to be together.
(kev joined us when he finished work.)

walking sticks were helpful..

I just can’t get enough of abby and the sweet daddy’s girl she is!

loved this moment with levi, ken, abby, and dad..

the kids, and some of the big kids (ken and joe), climbed on other rocks and boulders, ya know, just for the fun of it! 

abby threw rocks into the river just about every chance she could.

we took lots of breaks..
mostly because of the little ones.  whether it was because they needed the break, or we (i) did, because we were carrying the wee-est.

or maybe we stopped to get hugs and kisses from grammy (or a drink of her ice cold water).

one of the funny moments of our hike was when we got to the falls.  we came to this one first, and it was just so little and cute!  I wanted a picture of all three of my chicks sitting by it.  ashley was the only one who wanted to cooperate.  I threw out, in my onery/sassyness (probably because I was dealing with a tired and crying 3 year old, carrying her most of the way up the dang mountain, all because of a bedtime snafu..) to the other two,  “what, you don’t want a memory of this?  FINE.  I’ll stop trying to make memories for you!!!”
that got a chuckle from the rest of the party.
but wasn’t it worth it?
she’s so cute..

speaking of the 3 year old…

and here’s the view from the top…

lynn doing her best vanna white…

see, some kiddos like to pose, like having their picture snapped..

others, not so much.
(the blur is james.)

here’s my family:

and this cute caterpillar we found on our way down.
we were bringing up the rear like it was going out of style!!



the last funny, that i can clearly recall, was while we were bringing up the rear awesomely, i was carrying peyton (despite the fact that she WANTED to walk at that point) because she was moving about as fast as our little caterpillar friend.  we stumbled on some of the loose rock, the forming blisters on my feet aided in the stumble, as did my tiredness,  and i "oh!-ed".  ash turned around, all concerned, and said: "did you fall?  i fell.  it wasn't comfortable.  but i didn't cry."
love that kid!
and there you have it, a lovely end to our summer hikes.
or maybe not?
p.s. congrats for making it through the picture overload.