Trip to the Lava Fields

We took a Saturday and went hiking up the old Mckenzie Highway.  That section of road is only open in the summer, so we took advantage of the nice weather and went exploring.  My dad went with us, and we hiked around waterfalls and lava beds all day.

 Our first hike was to Proxy Falls.  The trail wound through forests and through lava fields.

 

 

The kids were climbing on everything as we went along.

 

 

When we got down to the bottom of the falls, we played around for a while.

 

 

 

Always the gymnast!

It was really pretty, and cool with the water spray.

Our next stop was the lookout tower in the lava fields.  It has a great view of all the surrounding mountains.

 The windows are all cut to frame a mountain as you look out, to help identify each one.

You can see for miles up on top the tower.

You could see two of the Three Sisters mountain group - the big and middle sister.  So, of course, we had our own big and middle sister pose with them!

 

Ben loves to pose!

 Next we went to Clear Lake.  The water is so clear that you can see all the way to the bottom of the lake.  It is also the headwaters of the McKenzie river.

 Robert enjoyed being out of the backpack and playing in the rocks.

I stuck this picture in just to show that the boys had matching shirts on :)

We stopped at Sahalie Falls on the way home.

 

 It took us a while to do the hikes, because my family climbs every rock and tree!

 They get this from their dad.  He loves to climb, and I have to convince him to leave the baby at the bottom when he goes climbing - for my peace of mind.  Sometimes I do not catch him soon enough (see the picture above).

 

Robert is going through a phase where he loves to take people's hats off.

We stopped at this one last waterfall on the way home, but I can't remember its name...starts with a "p" I think.  It was very pretty.  We were tired when we got home, but it was a great day!

Brothers

Benjamin prayed hard for a baby brother.  Now that he has one, they are best buddies!

 They play cars.

 

 They wrestle.

They play in the tub.

 

 

 

 

 They honestly have a good time playing with each other.  What a blessing it is for the two little boys to have each other!

 

 

Our First 5K

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Our stake Relief Society sponsored a 5k run/walk this year. They had us set goals to work toward the 5k, and tied that into using the atonement in our lives. We all decided to participate. My mom and I decided to walk (although I did run a little bit at the beginning and end), Kim and Leilani decided to run, and Emily was undecided when we started the race.

I decided that I had to go to the bathroom before we started (and dragged Emily with me), but by the time we got back, the walkers had already started (they staggered everyone's start time - walkers first, then run/walkers, and then runners)  So, Emily and I had to run a ways to catch up with everybody.  She did fine, but I was out of breath by the time we caught up.

When Aunt Tricia caught up with us later (with the run/walkers), Emily decided that she wanted to try running the rest of the way.  So she went off with Aunt Tricia.  I don't know if she made it without stopping, or if she had to walk a bit.

Leilani started in the last heat with the runners.  She finally passed us about 2/3 the way through the race.  She only had to stop and walk a few times.

We took Robert with us, because my mom thought she would walk better if she could push the stroller.  He enjoyed being outside and walking with us.  We all finished the race, and even ran the last little bit at the end.

We were proud of ourselves!  It felt really good to say we did it, and it felt really good to do it.  I think we will all probably do it again someday.

Benjamin's Baseball

Benjamin just finished baseball season. He played on a 2nd grade team, and it was their first year of coach pitch (last year they hit off a tee).   He is a good little athlete, and he loves to be out there playing.  It really doesn't matter to him which position he plays, although he really likes to play pitcher.

He has learned how to play every position.  His coach was very good about switching them around and making sure they knew what they were doing.

Benjamin likes playing catcher too, but he decided it was too hot to wear all the gear in the heat wave we were having this year.

This year Benjamin decided that he liked to slide.  Grandpa Bevans was able to get a video of him sliding into home plate.  Many of his teammates liked to slide into 1st base, but Grandma Bevans quickly convinced Benjamin that was NOT how to play the game!  :)

I discovered that boys play ball very differently than girls - I have only see my three girls play before this.  Boys are much more aggressive, and there is usually more action.  At this age, the girls just run the ball in from the outfield and hold it up.  Not the boys!  They throw that ball in from the field and try and get an out.  They don't stop playing until there is nothing left to do except wait for the next batter to hit. 

It was a good season, and thanks to a good coach, Benjamin improved a lot.  Can't wait for next year!