Evening hike

We went on a family hike after Tyler's soccer game Saturday. He had a late game, so we didn't get started until after 4:00. But that was good because otherwise it would have been too hot.

Levi grew out of his other carrier, and this one seems so huge for him. It probably weighs more than he does. I need to look for a medium-sized one.

There were lots of fun boulders to climb along the way. But we moved along pretty quick and hiked 3 miles in 1 1/2 hours.

We usually hike around this lake in the winter, when it's lush with wildflowers. But I enjoyed all the bright yellow grass everywhere, and I still thought it was pretty.

We started this particular hike once before, but I twisted my ankle towards the beginning and we had to turn back.

The end of this hike is called Eagle View, and it has beautiful views of the lake and surrounding hills. It was definitely worth it. And it really wasn't too steep.

I've probably said this before, but hiking is the perfect activity for little boys. They're outside, they use up all their energy, there's lots to see/feel/explore, and they get to use their hiking sticks they made at cub scout day camp. Spencer even thought to bring along his first aid kit he made at day camp, and the tweezers came in handy to get thorns out of Tyler's hands.

I was so proud of Brennan for hiking the whole way on his own. Look at that little red face - what a tough cookie. We had to hold his hand to prevent falls and help him keep up. While I was taking this picture, he had a hard time holding still. I asked him if he had to go potty, and he said yes. Well of course we were in the middle of no where, so I told him he'd need to pee behind a tree. Without hesitation he pulled down his pants and peed right where we were. Good thing no one was around.

There were some huge birds flying around the top. I don't know if they were really eagles, but we had fun calling them such, since we were at Eagle View.

Heading back down. That's the easy part.

Tyler spotted this gigantic hairy tarantula in the middle of the path on the way back. It scurried to the side before I got there, but then it just stood in the grass and let us take pictures of it. Yuck!!! Of course Spencer wanted to keep it.

The three big boys ran most of the way, there and back. Afterwards we drove over to the lake and had a picnic at the park. Whenever we take the boys hiking we have so much fun and decide we need to do it more often.