Today.

Beautiful Boulder. We're going to miss this place.

Today the kids and I were able to go on a leisurely morning hike and it was wonderful. The weather was perfect, we weren't in any kind of hurry, and everyone was in a good mood.

Jake spent a lot of time hefting the biggest rocks he could manage and throwing them as far as he could (usually a foot or two).

Bel was very much into enjoying the flowers and observing the insect life.

Emi discovered some cairns left by other hikers and decided to contribute.

This was her most ambitious project.

Em was the official carrier of the CamelBak, since I had Jake on my back for most of the time, and it worked out so well!

Caleb ran around assisting where he was needed, and warning us of monsters and other dangers that we could possibly encounter.

Discussing the intricacies of mountain trails and hiking.

Below are some pictures of the trail I ran a couple of months ago.

I took this picture because I was astounded by the flood damage that occurred here. I know it was much worse in other places, but just imagining the volume of water that must have run through here just blows my mind.

I took this picture because I just felt so lucky to be running on this trail. Yes, it was insanely muddy and a little flood-ravaged, but it was so breathtakingly beautiful! I love dirt single tracks through the mountains. I sure hope I can find a few trails like this in California.

Speaking of running, the other day I was out on the Creek Trail and I had a scary experience. I was headed back home around 7 am, and just getting onto a dirt trail that runs along the creek when a biker headed in the other direction called, "Careful, ma'am!" I didn't know what he was talking about and continued on my way, but after a few more steps decided to heed his warning and so I hopped back onto the sidewalk, off my dirt trail. The path turned a corner, and literally 25 feet ahead of where I had been running was a homeless man brawl. They were standing squarely on the trail and I would have run headlong into it all if I hadn't changed the path I was running on. I was pretty shaken even running past it on the other path! Makes me grateful for friendly early-morning exercisers!


Oh, and one more thing, really quickly before I end. Today Emily and I got to talk about the heart! I was useless when we were talking about deserts, and I know next to nothing about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, but I do know a lot about anatomy and physiology. I may have gone into a little more detail than the book wanted me to, but Emily was excited to learn it and I was excited to share something I cared about. BUT, after our reading and discussion, I came back into the school room to find her crying in the corner. She had started a diagram of the heart and just couldn't get it right. So we started from scratch, and I drew the outline for her, but she added all the blood vessels and chambers and I think it turned out great! She was very much opposed to using arrows to indicate the direction of blood flow because that doesn't look real.

Ah, my little scholars. It is so wonderful to be a part of the learning that goes on here. I love hearing Caleb read and knowing that all of that is a result of the work that we've done together. This has been a fun time.