Snow on the Fourth of July

I confess: when the Fourth of July rolled around this year, I felt nostalgic for our old Omaha neighborhood with its delightful Field Club parade.  While certainly different, our Avenues Fourth of July celebration turned out to be special in its own way.  In the morning, the kids got dressed up and posed for a few pictures in our front yard.  We definitely missed Talia, who was away at Girl Scout Camp.

Wouldn't be the Fourth without some cute hairstyles.

Even our house got dressed up in red, white, and blue.


Later that morning we crashed the 27th ward's pancake breakfast.  Who can turn down an offer of all you can eat bacon?

Poor Annika got a tummy ache.

Fortunately, she recovered quickly so we headed for a hike up Millcreek canyon.  Emphasis on the UP.

We hiked through Alexander basin, heading toward Gobbler's knob.  The aspen groves were enchanting.


The wildflowers were stunning as well.

The columbine were my favorite.

Annika weaseled her way onto Jason's shoulders for most of the trip.

Wouldn't be so bad if she'd just hold still.

Eli would periodically stop to marvel at the beauty.

Sure love that jack-o-lantern face.

With 1400 feet elevation gain, this hike was definitely challenging.  Right, Brooklyn?

So what's up with that white stuff dotting the mountains mid-summer?

Sure enough, the trail suddenly disappeared beneath a slippery snow field.

Brrr!

Difficult to navigate, but oh-so-pretty.

At long last--lunch.

One final pic before heading back down.


Who knows? Maybe next Fourth we will make it all the way to the top.