Spring Break Part III

I would venture to say that most, if not all, of you who follow our blog think that I take too many pictures.  And... you're probably right, but my justification for it is this:  it keeps the memory of the event more VIVIDLY alive for me in ways that mere words can't express.  So... with that said, you should already know that this post is FULL of LOTS of pictures describing our little adventure!  Hope you enjoy!

This was the MORNING of Friday, April 1st!  (BTW:  We TOTALLY forgot that it was April Fool's!)  And the afternoon will be on the NEXT post!  :o)

SAmberie (aka. Sam and Amberie) have been taking lots of walks and hikes all around Chino Hills since he was diagnosed and getting treated for cancer and therefore couldn't go to the GERMY gym.  They came upon some amazing things, and shared just one trail with us that took us to the "top" of Chino Hills!  We saw lots of wildlife along the way and had lots of fun.  I honestly don't remember how long we were gone... maybe a couple of hours??  But the company was good, and it was such a nice morning!

Lexi and Ella had already gotten themselves all ready... MAKEUP and all.  Lexi wiped hers off, but Ella... as you will see... went out as our painted lady.  Stinker!

This sign is posted just above where you will see the next couple of pictures...

There is a nozzle that is pushed by the horse's nose to release the water into this thing that my CHILDREN, not my horses, are playing in.  Lovely.  They are pushing on it with their hands.  Ick.  AND... having the time of their lives!  :o)

Hmmm... should I do it even though she's told me not to and she's staring at me with the camera ready to catch me in the act?  Is it really worth it?  Hmmm...?

Off we go... down the trail...

The first of the many fun things we would see... and try to catch!

Make a mental note of this picture.  They have started out RUNNING...  Seriously... mental note for when you look at the pictures of Lexi towards the end.

Darn horse never would look up so I could get a decent picture of something other than it's hind end.

I love Periwinkle.

I included this picture mostly to expose Uncle John for the silly that he really is.  Notice what he is doing for Sam's picture??  Haha!  I'm so glad my kids know him so well!  And I should add in here that he was the one who started kicking dried animal poop around.  Braeden, especially, thought this was SUPER fun!  But he almost got whacked in the head with a big poop ball.  Eeewww!  And then Ella went around for a while in her loudest voice making sure to tell everyone not to step in the next pile of it... all the while stepping in it herself because she was more worried about everyone else than about actually watching where she was stepping.  Nice... just perfect!  And note here that she is the only one without close-toed shoes on.  Really???  Yes.

Strange tree... What happened here??

Is that what you think it is??  YES!!  EEEEEKKKKK!!  It wasn't harmful, but still... it's slithery and icky... and about 4 ft. long.

I will tell you, though, that if it had been a rattler, Lexi was totally left for DEAD by SAM who was more than 10 yards AWAY from it after turning and scurrying away BEFORE he warned Lexi she was about to step on it!  Not really... she was a good 3 feet from it, but the point here... Sam is not a fan of snakes... at all... and will save himself and sacrifice children in the process!

Completely DETERMINED to catch a lizard.  But alas, it didn't happen on this trip.

Ick.  This is looking out toward Riverside.  SMOG CITY.

And just a quarter turn to the left we get a MUCH nicer view of Mt. Baldy... with much LESS smog!

I now have 3 avid stick collectors!

She would stoop to pick one up and lose 2 in the process, so would then rearrange, fumble around for a minute, then pick them all back up and start walking again.  Oh, the patience we have to have!  But when you look at the pictures afterward, it's a good reminder that the wonder of a child is so fun and AMAZING!

Getting steeper and more serious now!  (Not really... we definitely weren't rock climbing or anything, but the picture is fairly accurate of how steep it is right here close to the end!)

Come on... admit it!  This is a good shot!!  It was the ONLY flower on the hillside!  It stood out so much that I had to snap a shot of it!

Just up this hill and a little farther... we're almost there!

Woooo-hooo!  Rocky pose for making it all the way to the top.  Lexi is having none of it.  She's too hot and complaining too much to enjoy the accomplishment!  (And thanks to Amberie... there's actually RECORD that I was there and did it, too!)

Chino HILL!  Haha!  The view from the top!  LtoR:  Amberie, Lexi, Sam, Braeden, and John holding Ella!

The descent.

Look what I can do!

Right about here your mental note of them running in the beginning should start to kick back in.  She was DONE!  She was going to sit in this VERY spot until she cooled off and stopped sweating.  Well... When John told her that she'd be there likely for the rest of the day...

...she cracked a smile and got up and started trudging along again...

Rabbit!  They are so fast... I was just lucky to get even this shot.  All the others got away much too soon for me to even get my camera up, let alone to take the picture!

The next Theodore Roosevelt.  Though... probably not, since she is NOT at ALL soft spoken.  {Big Stick... get it?}

They're not just leaves...

...they're a FLOWER in disguise!  She rips the leaves off the stem, keeping them all together to make a flower... of sorts!

SQUIRREL!

I didn't ask, Mom, I PROMISE!!

Time to get let down!  Head first will be just fine!

Even when she whines, I still think she is just too cute.  FRECKLES, hot, red face, and even the streaks of dirt on the side!  But I love her long, curly eyelashes the most!

I think he's BEAUTIFUL.  I know I'll get in trouble for saying that when he reads this, but it's true... I do.

Sam and Ella... I LOVE this picture!

Yep... they're over it!  Probably 40 minutes before this Ella was already saying that it was time to go to Sam's POOL!!  LtoR:  Amberie, Braeden, Lexi, Sam holding Ella, and John

Totally abusing privileges!  She may not have asked, but look at the smug look on her face.  Uncle John is toooooooo NICE!

And just what Aunt Colleen wanted!!  Ella was so excited to give her poopy sticks to her!  She had saved the three best ones... just for Aunt Colleen!  Hahaha!!

And just for good measure... and we did actually see this on the way... I need to remind my children who were whining along the way... not carrying anything at all... that "pioneer children SANG as they walked and walked and walked AND WALKED."