Cold Creek

Do you ever have days that are perfect? I had one of Monday. Lots of things made it perfect, including the time we spent Monday afternoon and early evening hiking at Cold Creek. It is beautiful there. If you plan on going, the turnoff is about halfway between Mt. Charleston and Indian Springs.

 

On our way up to the trail, we were lucky enough to see lots of wild horses just off the main road.

 

We hiked the Bonanza Trail, which is 8 miles round-trip. If you look up the trail on-line, you will notice it says it is a STRENUOUS hike. And it was!

Uphill the entire way.

I was a bit worried about Sadie, Sade, but she is full of surprises, and hiked more than she has ever hiked before. Often running way ahead of us:

But sadly, on one of her sprints ahead she tripped over a tree branch and skinned her hands and knees:

But she recovered fairly quickly, and soon was back to her happy picture posing self:

She asked me to take the next couple of pictures of her:

With a pinecone.

With a tree that she said was just her size:

And one on top of a tree stump:

She also spent a lot of time hiding behind trees and jumping out to "scare" each one of us. She succeeded every time. Or at least we pretended she did:

We hiked. And we hiked. And we hiked. For 2 hours. Uphill. We were determined to make it to the top. But alas, the sun was setting, so we had to skedaddle down the mountain. I was pretty impressed with Megan and Jackson. This is the longest hike we have been on, and they did great. Quite better than me. My endurance still needs improvement.

Random pics:

Eating Indian Paintbrush:

While on the mountain there was a bit of excitement. While hiking up we had been asked to look out for a 69 year old man who hiked up that morning, but hadn't made it back yet. We never did see him, but on our way down the mountain we heard and saw a helicopter circling overhead:

As we hiked down farther, we could also hear what sounded like a search party getting ready to hike up. But by the time we arrived, there was no one there. We saw a police officer as we were leaving and he told us they had finally found the man, who had decided to hike all the way to Pahrump, but neglected to tell anyone! As I said, it was a bit exciting. However, Eric pointed out that if the outcome would have been different, I probably wouldn't have found it exciting, but rather tragic.

Sade Starts Pre-School

Sader Sade started pre-school yesterday!

It has been quite the adjustment. For Me! I haven't quite come to terms with it yet.

When I told her she was growing up, she said to me, "I'm only 3. I'm not growed yet." Then she rolled her eyes at me. Seriously.

We got there early, and waited patiently for her teacher, Miss Jackie to open the door. I love Miss Jackie! Megan and Jackson also both had her for pre-school when they were 3.

Sade found her name tag, and sat down at the table.

She had lots of free time to play, and thoroughly enjoyed playing with all of the kitchen toys.

Cowgirl Sade:

She wore her little self out, and promptly fell asleep on the way home.

She isn't nervous at all about going, and I know she will love it. Although it causes me separation anxiety, I'm sure I will grow to love it too. Eventually.

Five For Friday-Sadie Said Edition

This will be a post about Sadie saying things that we (as her loved ones) think are hilarious. That being said, I do realize others may not find them incredibly funny. Nevertheless, for the sake of documentation I give you a Five For Friday dedicated to my little chicken nugget.

1. Jackson made her angry (as he often does). Sadie screamed at him,"Jackson, you are now off my list!" (FYI: she now has a friend list in her head that she checks people on and off of).

2. The other day her friend Aubrey brought Sadie numerous pairs of her old shoes. She joyfully told us, "Aubrey is So on my list."

3. In the car Sadie told Jackson, "Jackson, you scream like a girl. No offense mom."

4. She is partial to the word really, said in an annoyed, are you kidding me tone.  As in, "Apple Jacks for breakfast? Really?!?"

5. When putting her to bed she has a mental checklist she says out loud as we are tucking her in. "Nightlight? Check. Water? Check. Pillow? Check. Blanket? Check."

She's perfect.

Romantic Dinner For 2

A while back, this paper appeared on our fridge:

It was inviting Eric and I to Sadie's room the following Sunday for a Romantic Dinner For 2.

The appointed day finally arrived. We were led by our hostess (Sade) to our table in her room:

The menu:

It states: "Enjoy. Some things are better than others. Choose carefully." I had an opportunity to peruse the menu a few hours before, and noticed that hot dogs, bologna sandwiches, and macaroni and cheese were the entree choices. I knew I could not choke down any of those items, so I suggested they add spaghetti. They agreed.

Jackson took our orders:

He had a system that involved just using initials of the things we were ordering. Brilliant!

Sadie brought us drinks and appetizers:

We both ordered raspberry lemonade. Eric ordered mixed chips for his appetizer. It included barbecue potato chips, cheetos, and pretzels:

I ordered fruit, and received about 20 strawberries. I ate 2 and sent the rest back for the kitchen staff to enjoy.

Speaking of kitchen staff, Megan was the chef:

For our main course, Eric and I both ordered the spaghetti:

The meal was superb, but the kitchen was beyond a disaster after they were finished. I was too busy cleaning it up to remember to take a picture.

Summer - Week 11

Our last week of summer vacation was pretty low key. The kids had the last of their play dates, we spent some time organizing their rooms, and met their new teachers. I felt like it was TOO HOT to do much (seriously what is up with this ridiculous weather), but we did venture out for a couple of activities. 

We spent some time at the park (at night).

Sadie is a true Las Vegan. Even though it was 105 degrees at 8 o'clock, she was still cold after playing in the water.

We were also supposed to have book club, but most of us had not finished reading the book, so we postponed it and went bowling instead:

FYI: If you ever go bowling at the Silver Nugget, first pat yourself on the back because you just saved yourself a lot of money, and then order something at the snack bar.

Not because the food is outstanding, but because you get a ridiculous amount for your money! Always a plus in my book.

Eric and the kids also attended a birthday party for our next door neighbor who was turning 12. Her mom always throws fabulous and elaborate parties, as evidenced by this GIGANTIC ice sculpture that greeted the guests this year:

If you are trying to decide what to get me for my birthday, please feel free to take the above picture as inspiration.

The kids came home with numerous toys, books, money, and bags and bags of school supplies. I apparently need to step up my goody bag game.