Mother's Day hike

 My little tree huggers.

 My boys joined me for a hike up towards Mt. Hood.

 Ronan must be in the lead at all times.  Pure torture to be last.

 Ancient giants

 Time to cool off the toes...

 I love that the boys are so into the great outdoors.  Rain or shine, they love it!

 They thought this tree was like the one in "My side of the Mountain".  They loved that book.

 Another perfect shelter.

 It was so hot on Mother's day and I thought going in the woods would cool us off, but not so much.  The river was freezing though, fresh snow melt.

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!