Teresa Lake Hike

After warming up with Stella Lake the other week, we decided to go ahead and hike to Teresa Lake. Usually we like to venture out with friends (which helps Ava take her mind off the "work" of the hike) but, this time it was just us three. Well, four - if you count Mr. Fox. Ava insisted on bringing him. She said "Momma, he can go Hi Ho (which means he'd ride on her shoulders). Ever since Ava was two years old, Bryan and I would ask her if she wanted to go "Hi Ho" and then place her on our shoulders. It's cute now to hear her use that term, and carry on the tradition.......

There were several more stream crossings than in previous years for sure, and we looked forward to each of them...........

Ava picked out a nice log so Mr. Fox could take a break.......he does look content in that hole.....Ha ha!

We were quickly nearing Teresa Lake:

We then hiked over to the other side to have a snack and play in the water a bit.......

If there is a patch of snow somewhere, Ava will find it. These patches, however, are hard to miss!

This was Ava's idea - crazy girl. She went down again and found out it wasn't so fun the second time around. Brrrrrrrrrrrr. Talk about belly-button freeze!

Isaac is usually a happy camper in his pack - on this day he was eager to let loose under the spruce........
lol

Brother and sister moment ;)

I had to set the camera on a rock and run for it to get in the photo - but we made it work OK.
The hike down went really fast. Ava said she wanted to get back to the truck to "rest." It's music to my ears when my 3 year old says that :)

We are trying to make the most of these summer days ~ as they seem to peel from the calendar too quickly! So much to do in so little time. Literally, we have to make the most of our weekends, and days in between, because before we know it another month comes to an end!

Once again we've been having monsoon afternoon/evening thunderstorms. The temperatures are perfect, and I am enjoying the thunder and lightning..... safe in my house :)

I tried to upload a video - but after two hours I gave up - sorry :(

Tree House

I, with a little help from Ava, was able to build a treehouse in our yard several weeks ago. They weren't ideal trees (russian olives), but I was able to chop off all the hazardous branches along with their wicked thorns and create a safe play area. I think it worked out pretty well - and the kids don't complain :)

One of the coolest parts about it is the water flowing in the ditch in front of the treehouse. It has been flowing extra long this summer with the snowmelt off the mountain.

Of course, I keep an eye on the kids around water....... especially Isaac. It didn't take long for him to test it out. He wasn't too happy about the temperature of the water at that time..... ha ha!

Brrrrrrrrrr - I think he prefers the swimming pool ;)

Hanks Family Reunion 2011

Last Saturday we had the Hanks Family Reunion at Oak Creek Campground, Utah. Bryan and I had been there before - briefly, a few years ago, so we kinda had an idea of what to expect. It was a really pretty forested area with creeks nearby. The best part about it was of course was the food and catching up with family members.............

Did you notice the bird on Ava's arm? It was a baby bird my mom passed on to me to raise. She found it on her lawn and wasn't able to put it back into the nest. I believe it was an oriole. I think it was the runt of the nest (maybe the momma bird kicked it out). So, we had to take it on the drive with us and feed it. It was pretty much able to fly from branch to branch. At this time, we'd taken care of it for just over a week.......

Grandpa and Grandma Hanks; amazing to think they started this family tree! What a tree it is!
lol
I'm not going to label who everyone is.... cause I'm feeling kinda lazy right now, but here are a series of photos:

My aunts, Jackie & Tammy (my dad's side), and uncle Jon were able to make it out and visit this year. We don't get to see them very often, and it was so great to see them. This was the first time Jackie had seen my kids :)
It was too short of a visit..............

LOL ~ Malcolm's classic "inside out" face................ the kids always get a kick out of it.
Ok, so do I ..............

We went down by the creek to take family photos and cool off a bit. Playing by water is always a big hit on a hot day.......

It was a big, long day for the kids............ Ava passed out (with the bird on her lap) on the way home while Isaac thought about it.

We released the bird into the wild the following day. We let it go in a cat-free area (a friends yard). They said it found more orioles to hang with and seemed to be doing fine.

Here are the casual family photos we took at the creek:

As fast as time goes..... it won't be long before our next family reunion....... I don't want to think about that right now because that would mean it would be Christmas. I'm going to focus on summer right now....... Ha ha!