Mountain Monday!

Whoo hoo! I had the quietest day today and boy did I need it. So, Mountain Monday is ON! Last week was crazy. I am way behind on blogging reading, but fear not, I will catch up this week.

This picture was taken mid afternoonish and I think it shows the sere heat of the summer. Everything is hot and still, the heat waves drifting quietly up from the pavement. Makes you oh so very thankful for air conditioning.



This picture of Ms. Tenacious Oak Leaf, still hanging in there, is for K from Role Playing With Kids.



I am not sure exactly what the supersize dandelions really are, but they are pretty! (I found it, they are Western Salisfy, or Goatsbeard)














This is one of our neighbor's puppy. I could NOT get over his ears. He is half Papillon and half dachshund. Those ears stand up just like the picture.



This one is titled, "baroo"!




The Pea is such a fish. She is fearless in the water, jumping, flipping, falling backwards. Really, this child makes my heart sing.











Last week was so crazy I didn't even get my camera out! But, that doesn't mean I wasn't playing with my grand babies and doing stuff with Little Man. It just means there wasn't a camera in between me and my life. Good times, just busy. Thanks for hanging in there!

Finally! Montain "Monday" Also Known as Thursday

I am having an insanely crazy week. Nothing bad, nothing particularly wonderful, just busy. Lots of playing with grand babies and taking the boy swimming. I am seriously behind on the reading and commenting on all your blogs! I apologize and promise to catch up as soon as I can.
So on to Monday! Amber from Soggy Cheerios invited me to join her on one of her favorite nature walks. It was so awesome! It was beautiful and having her show me the things she loved was really a joy.

No doubt, Amber's corner of Utah is beautiful.















The most beautiful though, was the part she brought along. I got to sharpen my photog skills on her gorgeous girls! My kids and grandkids have all been brown, so it was way fun to get to snap these pretty little blondies. I told her later that I felt like a "real" photographer. Her girls were not just very pretty, but also well behaved.




























Thanks Amber! For sharing your Utah and for letting me play with your beautiful family.

"Monday" Post

I am not dead.
I am not in the loony bin.
I am not in jail.
I haven't run away.
I am sorry!
I am alive and well.
Just really busy! I have some great pictures to share, hoping I will have time enough to get it up this evening.

Mountain Monday

You still have a couple of South Dakota posts coming this week, but today, we are back with Mountains on Monday.
On Saturday, in alignment with our new commitment to get Little Man more exercise, we took him on a LONG walk. We went to a trail not far from where we live, where I often walk the trail for exercise. Honestly, I haven't been there since the winter, so I was expecting the same ole, same ole.
I didn't figure in all the rain! My brain could NOT wrap itself around the fact that I have walked this trail before. Nope. My brain said, this is leafy, moist, green, green, green! You haven't ever been here before. My Bald Man said it was like hiking in Oregon. Who knew the desert could be a rainforest?
I couldn't resist the pull to take pictures for Mountain Monday on this trail. Pea was missing her Bam-maw, so she joined me. She is a very pleasant walking companion. She pointed to the cotton blowing all over from the cottonwood trees and declared it to be "hot snow"!
We saw some black and white birds, which I identified as magpies, but the Pea thought they were perhaps skunk birds, since they were white and black. She also insisted the cougars were called jaguars. After I explained that jaguars lived in South America, she declared that "poom-vas" (pumas) lived in the area and were very nice, and were looking for us. I assured her that I certainly hoped they weren't looking for us. She made me laugh more than once.



















Check out these thistles! They must be 7 feet tall!







Neither Pea nor Little Man gave a blink to how very tall this bouncer was, and both of them climbed right up and threw themselves down the slide.




Time for the Hokey Pokey!



Skating is not one of the things Little Man is very good at, but he really tried.



Now, onto more beautiful granddaughters!

Squid has darling dimples!




Love June Bug's squinched up nose.



Buttercup is such a pretty, pretty baby!



And I? I get to take pictures of the wonderful things around me and then share them with you. Nature and granddaughters two of my favorite things.