Sunday
No better way to start the week than with an 18 mile bike ride (round trip) to the sculpture garden. Rachel suggested the idea and I voluntold Ben, Michael, and Josh that they were coming with us.
They weren't super-thrilled.
Of course, once they found some great art to play with their attitudes improved significantly.
Rachel found it all very invigorating.
Some of the art was more interactive than your regular sculpture garden.
And some of it was less interactive than we hoped.
Monday
My friend wanted to get in a more intense hike if we had a day without our respective youngest children. She gave me three choices and I picked the one that was described as "an easy hike".
Ha!
I guess it's all subjective. 1600ft elevation gain in 3.5 miles. It was a beautiful path that was uphill 90% of the way.
On the way back down we took a side trail to moraine. It had a fairly treacherous switchback section but also a stunning lake. We both agreed we didn't want to do that section again, but it was worth it for a one time hike.
Tuesday
Back to back camping trips were on the schedule for the month. But we had to leave Josh behind because he was finishing up his driver's ed class. Poor kid had to suffer through a few days with Aunt Rachel and Nana (ie unfettered access to the internet, eating out etc).
This time we headed even further south to Beacon Rock. The goal had been to do a tour of the Bonneville Dam and hike Beacon Rock, but both of those were closed. We still had a lovely time and got a few hikes in and it didn't rain!
No electronics means more time for card games.
Uno is a good one for us since Isaac can also play. Though he likes to play with his cards showing. It makes him an easy target for "advice" from other players, but he generally holds his own.
And here is Jason modeling good winning behavior.
Wednesday
After breakfast, we corralled our minions and hiked up to Rodney Falls. There were some gorgeous views of the river, dam and a bunch of power lines along the way.
Thankfully there was shade for most of the trail and after about a mile and a half we came to the falls.
Here are a couple of my hiking buddies with their matching hats and walking sticks.
After our hike we drove to a picnic area with a gorgeous view of Beacon Rock. When we got a good view of it, I was the only one who was sad that we weren't going to get to hike there.
After lunch we drove over to get a look at the not-open-for-tours dam. It's a pretty impressive structure.
In our quest to get a good view, we found a selfie spot.
Thursday
On our last day we hiked to Little Beacon Rock while Michael "guarded" our campsite for us.
Little Beacon Rock actually had a pretty good view of Beacon Rock.
We also met an itty, bitty bird that we hoped had a mother nearby to help it as soon as all the meddling people taking pictures moved out of the way.
While we were gone Nana worked her paint magic yet again and painted Ben and Isaac's room. This isn't a great picture of the gorgeous purples Ben picked out.
Friday
Why stay home and rest after a camp out when you can go on a hike at Mashal Falls? To motivate the two who came with me, I promised them donuts. Worked like a charm! Also, there were so many thimble berries that Ben was pretty happy the whole time.
We visited the Lower Falls first.
Isaac wanted to get his feet in the water again.
Then we moved on to the Upper Falls. The trail was not maintained which explains the rash on Ben's arm he got from brushing up against plants and the tree root that jumped up and grabbed my foot.
Ben and Colin were more adventurous that the rest of his and hiked up to the top of the falls. And then dropped enormous rocks over the edge to see the very big splashes.
