HamiFami

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Ava Turns 8 !

Birthdays are an annual event but it seems to come around too fast! My mighty girl, Ava, turned 8 so we thought we better do something a little more mighty then the usual party at the house. You have to take advantage of those warm season birthdays! The temperatures have been unusually warm for this time of year (a longer summer season is alright with me). We drove up to Wheeler Peak Campground and set up our tents right next to the Small Mammal research crew. Bryan was planning on helping them because they were wrapping up their week there....

Willow was thrilled when she saw that we brought bubbles (one of the must-haves if you have small children)......

Isaac had gone up earlier with dad that day to help with prepping small mammals. There's not many 5 year olds that have patience to do this kind of stuff. He's always been a terrific helper, even at 2!

I got a closer look to see what Isaac was doing exactly; then I chuckled. Silly little man was coloring the chipmunk with blue permanent marker. I've never seen a blue chipmunk before ;)
I guess he wanted to color it before they skinned it..... haha

This was the U of U collection.....

Meanwhile, bubbles were still floating and popping....

lol :D

Isaac took a break from his work and joined us :)

It was such a beautiful evening! We had a great time just hanging out around the campsites.

Ava found a comfortable place to relax and enjoy the solitude. Solitude, that's a word I find circulating through my brain at times. That's a whole blog post in of itself.... lol

Peek-boo!

We have had the most delicious watermelons this year. Crisp, juicy, and sweet. Yummy!

The meadows and aspen stands are so pretty up there.....

Willow decided to express how tired she was. I put her in the pack, walked her around the campground loop and she fell asleep....

Our campsites were highly entertaining. Turkeys with their half-grown chicks roamed foraging for food.....

Or found a cozy log to rest their boney bird feet.....

The deer were everywhere! I took many photos; I couldn't resist.

I was excited to see a doe with her twins. She didn't seem to mind me observing them at a distance...

How adorable! The fawns still sporting their spots.....

Another doe came by.....

Mamma didn't appreciate that and chased her away.....

I wandered back towards the campsite where Bryan and the kids were and noticed a young buck near the Lehman Creek Trail....

He noticed me....

Then a group of turkeys broke our interest in one another. I wondered what the buck would do with a flock of turkeys crossing his path. Kinda funny to watch, I didn't photograph it but he put his horns down like he wanted to butt heads with them. These were taken with my iPhone so the quality isn't as good.....