To the Mountains (updated)

(I added a couple more pictures and captions...)

Instead of fighting the mobs to go shopping on Black Friday, we headed up to the mountains to get some fresh air.

Here are some pictures from our adventure.

It was a beautiful day.

With Kelly, we weren't able to hike anything too steep, but it was still so fun just to watch her take to the trails.
She loves the outdoors and this being her first trip to the mountains, I can definitely say- it won't be her last!
It was a little stressful for Camryn and I, to be quite honest, because we were worried about Kelly. You see, there was an aqua duct that ran right alongside the trail, and it's like a canal with steep banks and no way to get out, so every time we thought she was getting too close, our stomachs would fall and we would reach over for her to make sure she didn't accidentally fall in.
I thought it was cute how Camryn already has that cautious, motherly instinct, whereas her dad and brother never flinched once!

I must confess, I hate these pictures of me. Like my sister, I got a short haircut I'm just not crazy about. It's actually a cute haircut, but just not on me. My hair is too thick and has too much body, so it doesn't lay right. It looked like a bowl in these pictures! Blah. So pay no attention to my hair, okay? I like short hair and it's soo easy, so I wish I could wear it better, but I don't think it's the look for me. (What fun it will be over these next several months trying to grow it out. Ugh.)

Anyway, my hair woes aside, I had a wonderful day up at the mountains and actually never gave thought to my hair once. (Until I saw the pictures!) It was sooo nice just being together with my family without the distractions of home... you know, the phone calls, laundry, cleaning, and dishes, to name a few.

I highly recommend carving the time out to get away with your family once in a while... something we have actually resolved to do more often as a result of this trip. It doesn't have to be the mountains though- any change of scenery will do!

We took four or five family shots and this was the best one.

(Many of you probably know how very difficult it is to get five people plus a dog "picture perfect" in the same shot!)

Such a good big sister

I love this shot of Kelly on the trail. The tree-lined trail is so pretty, and Kelly looks so little, yet so big as she looks like she's taken to the trail all by her big self!


Caleb and Kaya

Trying to keep Kelly on the trail... operative word: trying!


See the aqua duct there to the right? And can you see how Kelly moves?! (I was much more nervous than I look in the picture!)


Kaya, our beloved Siberian Husky (and the best dog in the world, in my opinion!), got to go off-lead for the majority of our hike. She had so much fun running the trails with us. This is where a dog like Kaya really belongs!



This is the face Kelly makes when she falls down! She's a drama queen in the making, I'm afraid!

Getting help up from Mommy...

Brushing her hands off, ready to hit the trail again!


I love hiking in the moutains!

Such cute little steps miss Kelly takes- she looks so confident and happy.

Bjorn and Caleb throwing "bombs" down at us! (I don't know exactly what these things were. They had fallen from the trees and were everywhere...

some sort of fruit?)

I was in a bit of a hurry this morning when I originally posted this, and I didn't realize how small the family picture was, so I thought I'd crop it and post it again so you could actually see our faces!

I also added a few more captions to some of the pictures.