Labor Day at Smith Creek Ranch

On Labor Day our church family enjoyed a fun picnic outing at 

Smith Creek Ranch, hosted by sweet friends.

Of course I was on baby duty and didn't get photos of 

Ryder and Daddy on the hike, at the reservoir, or shooting on the range - 

but, I did get some other fun shots of the littles.

This sweet little kitty was oh so curious.

Silly...

...sweet...

...and sleepy.

There is such beauty in this desert!

Then on our way home we saw the famous 'shoe tree.'

You can read about the legend here.

Labor Day at Smith Creek Ranch

On Labor Day our church family enjoyed a fun picnic outing at 

Smith Creek Ranch, hosted by sweet friends.

Of course I was on baby duty and didn't get photos of 

Ryder and Daddy on the hike, at the reservoir, or shooting on the range - 

but, I did get some other fun shots of the littles.

This sweet little kitty was oh so curious.

Silly...

...sweet...

...and sleepy.

There is such beauty in this desert!

Then on our way home we saw the famous 'shoe tree.'

You can read about the legend here.

The Cantaloupe Festival

Did you just do a double take?

There's no mistake. 

On Saturday we headed out to the local 

Cantaloupe Festival for a fun day with the boys.

Thankfully, there were a few things besides cantaloupe.

Like antique tractors. 

This one was just Ryder's size.

And this big beautiful Holstein.

Ryder finally got to pet a bunny.

The wild ones in our neighbourhood are rather elusive.

And balloons for everyone.

Of course, our day wouldn't have been complete without 

cantaloupe ice cream in a cantaloupe bowl.

It tasted better than expected.

And hey, "When in Rome..."

Or Fallon, in this case. 

There's nothing quite like enjoying the small town community events. 

Loving days like these with my boys. <3

Enjoy your long weekend!

Splash Park Fun

When a friend invited us to join her and a few others at a local splash park on Monday I didn't have a good excuse to say no - other than needing to wash my floors. 

So, off we went and discovered a fun new summer time hangout.

This little fella would have a lot more fun if he would ever learn to walk.

We're getting there...

Definitely not a bad way to beat this desert heat!

Especially since all 5 of us Mamas who were there happened to be pregnant. 

And it just so happened that we found ourselves within a mile of 7-11 on 7-11.

So, on our way home, Ryder experienced his very first 

(and possibly last, considering the sugar high it put him on) Slurpee!

As for today, I don't think I can put off washing my floors any longer.

Especially not after Lynden spilled Daddy's full cup of sweet tea at dinner last night.

 Happy Hump Day from our gang. <3

Yosemite

On Monday we made the trek over to Yosemite.

Talk about beauty!

Our picnic lunch spot was next to a cool river.

And happened to have a stunning view of El Capitan.

Friendly ducks too.

Much better than the Canadian Geese we encountered at Lake Tahoe last weekend.

 This fella wasn't crazy about 8+ hours in the car.

Half Dome

Love these two. 

Yosemite Falls

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Psalm 19:1

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A Week With The Cousins

After our big road trip up to Canada a few weeks back, my sister and her 

sweet kiddos made the long trek down here to our desert for a week.

We all loved the fun company and Ryder especially enjoyed having 

home based friends to play with every day.

We planned a few local outings to share our Fallon life...

A sunny beach day at Lake Tahoe

Lynden took a few minutes to acclimatize to the cold water, 

but after that he had as much fun as the rest of them.

Abigail was definitely the most adventurous swimmer.

How's that for a picturesque backdrop?

Ryder preferred solid ground under his feet.

Next we toured the base and even got to go out to the flight line to watch a few jets taxi and take off.

No cameras allowed there, but we could get up close to these planes which also served to shade the kids from the hot Nevada sunshine.

Can you see them?

A day in Reno was also in order.

We enjoyed the beautiful Truckee Riverwalk.

Ryder's most recent favourite request is to dip his toes in water. 

The other kids were only to happy to join in.

We found our way to the Old Granite Street Eatery for lunch.

Even with all of the adventures, we were able to have a pretty relaxing time with quiet evenings.

Braden and I were spoiled with the best babysitter for a fun date night - coffee & throwing a frisbee in the park - just the two of us! 

 We sure are going to miss our Canadian cousins!