Hiking Rainbow Mountain

It has been excruciatingly hot this summer, so at the slightest hint of a cooler day we decided to spend it outside! Yesterday the kids and I went up to Rainbow Mountain for a Nature Hike. We packed up a picnic lunch and got ourselves ready for a day of exploration in God's beautiful creation. We saw so many neat things, and had a really great day!!!

It is amazing to me how much bigger my kids are each time we do something like this...Every time we come they are able to do so much more, and they really enjoy being out in the woods!
The flat shady spot we found for lunch...
This picture makes me laugh...Lawson was being the leader, guiding us out of the rocky area. I told them to pay attention to where they put their feet and to not slip. Jordan couldn't figure out where to put both of her feet, and she ended up a little bit stuck and, um, 'over-extended'! It was so cute...she just couldn't figure out how to get her feet back together!They cracked me up on the trail part...such imaginations, and so interested in everything we saw. Here, they are holding their arms up to pass through the "tall grasses"!
We thought this rock looked like a dinosaur head...There were cactus plants everywhere. So cool...They played around on these huge rocks for so long! There were tons of places to climb up to, and lots of little skinny places to shimmy through. It was a neat place for them to freely explore, while I stood on top and could keep an eye on them wherever they went. They felt very "big" because they felt like they were going off exploring in the woods on their own, but I was comfortable because I could still see.This huge tree fell across the path....Lawson climbed a ways up the trunk, but then I started to panic that he would fall off the side so I made him climb back down.
They're getting so big!
I about had a stroke when I saw this animal on the log--thought for sure it was a little snake...
But on closer inspection it was a legged lizard...
Love this picture of the kids peeking into this rotten log. It was so neat to just follow behind and let them lead the way! They had so much fun!
We found another small lizard and Lawson quietly got close enough that he touched it. Yes, that's right. He touched it. Ugh....boys. :)
Thought these mushrooms growing on the trees were pretty cool...
Some 'treasure' that Jordan found.
We LOVE Rainbow Mountain! It was a beautiful day of exploring and exercise and learning and fun. Good times!