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.

summer hiking habit.

we are trying to establish some new summertime habits around here.  one is to hike.  so far, it is lovely.

the girls can’t wait for the next hike.

we started this day off at the 22nd street trail head.  for any one who is local, or who wants to be, these trails are fantastic!  they are not difficult in any way.  we had six kids, ages 8 (almost 9) to 1 and they all walked most of it.  these trails are wide, clear, and not steep.  they are also away from water (right now that is a good thing, a very good thing considering how much water we have right now..).  the trails also loop around and intersect so even when the kids went ahead a little, they were led right back to us.

ashley earned a new nickname: ashley butt-dragger pitcher.  my mom told me to think of a nicer way to say it, but it is what it is..

she liked to slide down some of the hills.

 

then there were the many flowers…

and cute kids..

 

abby (my niece) liked me every so often..

 

then she would make faces at me…

there is just a touch of yellow on lynn’s nose.  she likes the flowers too. :)

there were dandelions nearly as tall as peyton!!

see!!  talk about making our wishes more accessible.

  

i wasn’t the only one who liked to stop and look at the flowers though…

 

ash found herself a sturdy walking stick.  she was sad to leave it behind, but i am sure it will help someone else out.

then there was the exciting part.. 

my oldest brother (abby’s dad) is a crazy (well not so crazy since he became a dad) biker.  he and his family are used to this area because they come biking here frequently.  and jumping here.  there are jumps they have built and love.  we didn’t have bikes, but the boys wanted to show grandma where the jumps were anyway, and she suggested they pretend like they had bikes.  the kids had a blast.

 

and then right after her last jump, lynn biffed it good.

i think she was trying to be like uncle ken.

 

she is feeling much better.  amazingly didn’t pass out on the spot at the sight of her own blood (even the little bit of blood from loosing a tooth will cause her that much stress) and she is looking forward to our next adventure.

i am so happy that this is my back yard..