Silver Falls

A few weeks ago the kids & I went to Silver Falls Park with my parents for the day. It was SUCH a nice time! I hadn't hiked the Falls in years and kids had never been. The drive up is always beautiful but this time we passed field after field of poppies and other flowers. They were SO beautiful!! We stopped multiple times (my Dad was the BEST, driving us and graciously pulling over time after time so my Mom and I could snap away).

When we got to the Park, we ate a delicious picnic lunch prepeared by my Mom, attempted a group photo that didn't quite pan out and turned into a good laugh(oh well!), looked over a map of the Falls, chatted a bit and let the kids play. The hike was beautiful and the kids LOVED it. The same could not be said about the hike back UP the hill. They didn't like that part so much..you'll see evidence of this in pictures..at least from Josie. The whole day was invigorating & such a blessing to me. Visiting & going somewhere with my parents and my kids- I just Ate. It. Up.

Ok- prepare yourself for the onslaught of pics..they're worth wading through though!










Can you imagine living in that house and having that view?!?














Delicious turkey sandwiches and nectarines!




Sorry, Dad. It was the best one I got...you're the sacrifice with your eyes closed because I looked completely PSYCHO and like I was going to eat Mom's head in the other pics..so...yeah. This is us. I'm not photoshop saavvy enough to do head replacement and all that. Yet. But apparently it better be the next thing I learn!


Gorgeous dappled light. Gorgeous! How many times have I said gorgeous in this post so far?! Oh. I guess only a couple now..but I must've been saying it over and over in my head when I was resizing the pics to post.



The kids posing in the lodge.









I felt rather small looking up into the tree tops...





My sweet folksies and littles. Love them.












My handsome little fella & darling daughter. My lifetime achievement awards...


Uncharacteristically nonchalant in front of the camera all day= score for me!!








LOOOOVVVE his face in this! SO cute!









I have NO clue who this sweet couple is but while I was waiting for my kids to walk over to the bridge, I spied them through the viewfinder and I had to take the picture. Why? For the same reason I *must* sprinkle sea salt over every bowl of vanilla ice cream..because I WANT to. It makes me happy!







Notice we're walking at an incline. Remember that I said Josie wasn't thrilled. I give you Exhibit A:







This is the path at the very top of the falls...









Not sure what they are, but they made for a beatiful shot.



This clover-like plant, Sourgrass, is something my favorite teacher of all time (Mr.Powell, 6th grade) showed us was edible while at Outdoor School. I remember my friends & I ate this until we got upset stomachs. Several times. And now my kids know about it- Josie loves it. Matthew does not.
At. All.



random. The "frog" hanging on the wall in the lodge. That's what Matthew & I deemed it.







Told you there were a lot! *smile*
XOXO
~S

July 4th...

I know, I know. You saw that title and really didn't want to even go any further.
The holiday is over, the fireworks have been done. The allure is gone. BUT...
I'm STILL trying to post everything from the past few weeks...at least I'm in the current month now!
Progress is progress!

On July 4th we headed down to Lebanon to spend the evening with my brother-in-law Daves family. Bob wasn't feeling well so it was just the littles and myself. We missed him but *did* have a nice time visiting with everyone.  Dave's parents are always very accomodating and generous and make us feel as though we're indeed family. They BBQ'd burgers and hot dogs and all the fixings. There was TONS of food! I took cookies, cubed watermelon and chocolate dipped marshmallows with red,white & blue sprinkles to share.
The burgers were SO good! I think they were sirloin burgers and they'd melted cheese on top. I ate mine just like that- the patty with cheese and boy-oh-boy...it was DELISH!



Our time with them is always very relaxing and we're always FULL!










The kids scarfed their food on the back patio (GORGEOUS- full of flowers, water feature, koi pond, garden and much more) and then ran out front to get started on the fireworks. While the sun was still out, they tortured each other with TNT Poppers (have you ever been hit in the back with those things??! Or had one snapped in your ear? OUCH! Personal Experience here...) and tortured the rest of us with smoke/stink bombs. Bleh!! Those are TERRIBLE! I guess I'm just a "girl" but sheesh- what a waste of money!






















I think Josie & Matthew are coordinating a plan of attack here....





Remember what I was saying about Poppers next to the ears? ....yeah...Ouch.









Birds LOVE the backyard! There's one in the top right corner here...











The sunset was GORGEOUS. So vivid against a bright blue sky.


















I love the sihlouette glow on Matthew in this one (right side).









My kids are SO freakin' adorable. They really are. You know it!









Later in the evening the boys all took turns setting off fireworks in the cul-de-sac while we sat in chairs, cozy in blankets. There were neighbors at the end of the street that had some illegal ones and they were fantastic! Didn't manage to capture those in pictures but they were quite large, loud and lovely!

It was a wonderful night!

XOXO
~S