Come take a hike!

This is our backyard...well almost, we live 2 houses away.  This forest is called Camassia Natural Area and the Camas lilies are in full bloom.  We didn't want you to miss it, so Charley and I will give you a tour.

Jump over this little stream...

Look, a deer bed...

Into the forest...

Here is the boardwalk...

Follow me...

The pond is off of this trail, we like to stomp in the mud, says Charley...

A camas lily...

We are taking the loop trail today...

You can click on these pictures to make them bigger...its so beautiful here!

Looking behind us...

Charley knows the way...we come in here 3-4 times a week during the winter and spring.

This is the way the boys will walk to high school...how cool is that?!

We stop to look for frogs...we never see any, just their bubbles.

We suspect something lives in here, but we aren't checking...skunks.

Looking back, we picnic on these rocks.

Soaking in nature...off to the far left is the high school.

Look who we see!  There is a whole family back here. 

Max joins us today...

Back into the forest...

Must stop and poke...banana slugs in the spring and salamanders in the winter.

Some bird watching...

Watch your step...ewww

Fungus...

And back home.  The air smells so clean and earthy.  You always feel better after a walk in the forest!  Thanks for joining us!

Charley's piano recital

So much concentration.  He did great.  The other 2 songs are too long to put on the blog.

Mt. Hood bike race

 The boys were in heaven...

 Countless trips up this hill...

 There was no kids race, so they made one of their own.

So dirty!

How does your garden grow?

 A big, smelly dump truck pulled up and unloaded this pile in our driveway.  We ordered 7 yards, they delivered about 9.  We shoveled for hours, actually the boys did, I chose to spare my back.  Most.expensive.garden.ever.  Hopefully we get some good vegetables and the hail storm we had today didn't kill what has already come up.

 A well deserved ice cream break.  Ronan said this was one of the best Saturdays ever...dirt and ice cream.

 You can click on the pictures to make them bigger, but this is the rock hillside in the back yard. We have discovered this yard is full of lilac trees and wildflowers.  So beautiful.

Charley is building a...?  Not sure, but he's working hard at it.