A-1 Mountain Road

Our Saturday adventure was on Sunday this week. Sunday morning Madison decided she wanted to go for a drive to see if she could spot some deer. Unfortunately it was already 8am, and I've heard it best to go out before sunrise. But we thought why not, it was a good day to get out as a family.

A-1 Mountain Road
a forest road not far from where we live
we have to come back here - it's so beautiful

we pulled off the road and went exploring
so fun
such a change from summer days back in phoenix

I absolutely love wild purple flowers

we all climbed around on these rock piles for a while
don't worry J stayed close to Madison
she was never in any danger

these two are so close
they are almost always holding hands
J is her protector
Madison brings out the fun kid in him

J helping Madison down from one of the rock piles
i like how he lets her be brave - but is always there to catch her

the kids

Me and Madison
thank you Austin for taking a few pictures

another thing I love about forest roads
bumpy dirt road + no traffic = kids in back
(J is very careful, they are safe. I promise)

me and Madison
taking fun pics together

2nd stop further down the road
deep in the forest
we saw deer here - in the distance
Madison decided we were going to follow them
so we hiked up the mountain

about half way up we had to take a quick break

finally at the top
"top of the world"
we could see our whole little town

and back down
this was the fun part

my typical picture of J and Madison
they alway joke that I am taking pictures of their bottoms
actually i just love seeing them holding hands
i love Madison's choice of shoes - rain boots

J and Madison jumping down the mountain
they were having so much fun

Austin - thankfully he lets me sneek in a few pictures of him

these 2 are so done having their pictures taken
I promised them that they would be thankful for all the pictures someday

Saturday adventure - Cinder Hills

Today J and I took Madison and Zac (Austin is visiting my family in the heat) quading with a friend of Jason. He has 3 quads. Don and Madison were on one, J and I on another and Zac had the 3rd. We had a blast. See...

Madison and Zac

Madison's ready to go

Madison and J

Zac

Madison and Don
He taught her how to drive the quad
with an escort, of course
She is really concentrating
no messing around

Zac coming down one of the hills

J and Madison walking up the hill
i wasn't ready for her to drive that one
even with Don or J

Madison - getting dirty

Madison and J
getting her helmet back on after our break

Madison and J's friend Don
this area of the trail was really fun
just a bunch of bank turns

Madison and daddy on the banks
she rode this part of the trail
3 times coming back

Madison waiting for me to finish taking pictures
so she can get going again

Madison driving J back to Don's

Madison full of dirt

saturday adventures - forest road 125 and lake mary

angie thanks for teaching me to braid
i still need a lot of practice
but she looked really cute for our outing today

Madison and Austin
getting ready to go...
and the loving start

view from the truck
i wonder if i will ever get over how beautiful it is here
i really hope not

forest road 125
this was the road to a small lake we wanted to see
we never made it
the adults misread the sign
we thought the lake was 2 miles down this road
it was actually 9 - we didn't go that far



on the way back we put the kids in the back of the truck
lesson one - bring jackets, it was pretty cold
from the back of the truck Austin saw a small pond
so we stopped to play
lesson two - no flip flops on saturday adventures



J and Madison
these two are as close as any father daughter pair could be
she always wants to hold his hand
he, of course, never minds

found: new plant
austin called them cat-tails
(from plants vs zombies)
she loved how soft they were

i know i don't get as many pictures of Austin
he is a little faster them me
and likes to hide from my camera
but sometimes he lets takes his picture
i'm glad when he does

my shadow -
i was thinking this was going to be my only proof      I was there...

Madison and Austin playing in the cat-tails

Madison found this fallen tree
and HAD to climb it

she did really good
J was there, just in case
but she is getting so brave

J and Madison exploring

Madison and Austin climbing

Me and J
Austin asked if he could take our picture
i think i will have him do this more often

i love her smile
she is giving me a flower she picked

the flower
in Madison's hand

the misread sign
we found it on the way back
9 miles, not 2

on the side of the road:
lots and lots of cows

Lake Mary
Austin taking a video of me taking his picture :)

J and Madison getting close enough for Madison to      feel the water
suprise :) it was cold

Madison and Austin

Madison throwing rocks in the lake
I'm sure the guys fishing across the lake loved us
(she only threw a couple)

Austin on our way back to the truck

when we got home Madison just couldn't wait
she HAD to help J open one of his father's day presents

helping turned into taking over and opening the      present for him
he doesn't mind at all
they spent the next hour building this star wars spaceship
Madison picked out for him