Ben staged a well needed family intervention on Saturday and declared a ban on all computers, scooters, textbooks, homework, and yardwork. Then he packed us all into the car and drove us out east for a little adventuring. I had my hesitations as it was obviously naptime, our sweet angels were knee deep in the whiny trenches, and we were headed out in eighty degree weather to hike unshaded wildflower fields. But I set my concerns aside and figured we could all use some beauty and spontenaity after the crazy few weeks we've had. Apparently what the littles actually needed was some downtime because within five minutes of open road they were both in this position for a straight hour and a half.
Now Ben is our appointed family researcher so I really had no idea what to expect when we arrived. He only said it was our last chance to see the wildflowers at Rowena Crest. You couldn't really see much when we got there so I had a lovely passerby snap a family photo before we turned north.
Unfortunately our family researcher did not disclose the hazards of the trail which include any and all of the following: rattlesnakes, turkey vultures, poisonous tree frogs, poison ivy and poison oak.
Ok, kiddos, just watch your feet as I send you out into the dry, open field for the perfect shot! Mommy, What's that hissing sound? Oh, it's probably just the wind. Smile!
Sun, family, beauty, and the promise of an after hike ice cream cone. I was in my happy place.
Me and my boy.
Hoping for a rattlesnake hideout.
Took about 30 shots of her in the flowers. This is my favorite.
The grasses painted yellow.
You can't really tell but we were sitting on a crazy dropoff. It was scary but pretty spectacular.
Ava was a rockstar hiker. She did the whole 3 miles solo with very little complaining. Queen of the mountain!
She was so excited the find this butterfly and almost caught it with her bare hands. She now has a butterfly net on the top of her wishlist.
Ian didn't fare quite as well as his sister but managed a few hundred feet about every hour. I'm pretty sure that was the best leg workout Ben's had in awhile.
The trailhead.
Close-ups
Ian perfecting his snarl.
Love, love, love that I'm married to a man who knows exactly when we all need a change of scenery. I was so close to staying home so I could clean the house and get work done. It's not always easy to say no to everything right in front of my face and say yes to the unknown. But it is always worth it.
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