Brightly Colored Salamanders

This last Sunday, we took the babes out to play at a field at a junior high school near our house. They had a blast!! We were only able to stay for a little while because it was warming up and they were flying thru the water that we'd brought for them. We had to buy a loooong line of rope for Legion because he's, we'll say, um, quite independent and doesn't quite like to listen when we call him back to us. That's what most parent say about their ill-behaved children that they don't discipline, right? Yup, I fully admit it, Legion's behavior sucks...and it's completely our fault. BUT, when he's stimulated enough and doesn't have tons of pent-up energy, he's a great, sweet dog that only wants to please us. All it takes is a ball, some grass, a rope, some time from us, and it makes for very, very happy, and TIRED, dogs. And a tired dog is a good dog!!


After the fun at the field, we put them down for a nap and took a 10-ish mile bike ride along the American River bike trail. Josh told me that once I actually got on a bike, that I'd love it. And I do. And the fact that it has a little basket on the front helps a little too. ;) After our ride, WE went down for a nap and then headed to my mom & dad's house for a belated mother's day dinner with Tiny Gramma and Grampa. It was a great day!!

Since Josh's knee is feeling much better and he's been medically released to resume most activity, we decided to hit the trails and go for a hike. Also, he's been told that he can't run/jog for another 8 months so we had to find other activites to do together... :/ In a way, it's a good thing for both of us because it's expanding the options for outdoor fun. And I found out that I need some hiking shoes - old running shoes won't cut it when jumping from rock to rock, and invariably landing in the water...

We got this book from Costco and really like it. It has all of the hikes broken down into regions, level of difficulty, and even dog-friendly trails. How could we NOT get it??



I kept reading this as "Dead DUCK Trail"...

Our friend Janette even took a turn holding a leash

Checkin' out the rocks

Pooped baby boy heading back up the trail

Sign of a successful day!!

Remember the pictures of all the greenery on the trail? The nice, green, pretty-looking greenery? Well, evidently it's a TICK HAVEN!! We noticed them on Abbi while we were driving back and checked the boys when we got back home. Yup, all three of them had those icky, gross-looking, blood-suckers attached to them! It was fairly easy to find them on Abbi and Hayden - poor girl had one in between her eyes! But since Legion's fur is longer and dark, we didn't find all of them until they were engorged and looked like small apple seeds. Nasty! So the picture below is a representation of how we spent the afternoon and evenings following the hike...


Even though we had to deal with the ticks, we had a great time on our first hike. We're shopping around for shoes for me and as soon as I get them, we'll be out on the trails again. Will we be bringing the dogs again? I'm not sure... I hated pulling them off and don't want to put them at risk for any tick-bourne illnesses. So maybe we'll look for a trail with a little less bushy growth. Either way, we're excited to go again!!