Sculpture Falls

There is only one word necessary for our family outing today......AWESOME!!!

A Horse, Of Course

I'm always trying to think of ways to enrich Summer's "homeschool"  life. After all, I am sparing her the tortures and pleasures of a public school education so I feel it's my duty to fill in her life with as many extracurricular activities as reasonably and financially possible.

The other day I got the bright idea to ask my friend Robin if she wouldn't mind giving Summer a mini horseback riding lesson one day.

You don't suggest things to Robin and not have her take the idea and run with it...and I say that in the most admirable way possible, so last Saturday Summer and I headed over to Robins to take a ride on Opie, Robin's horse. Being the city bred girl I am, I never really spent a whole lot of time with horses...or any other farm animal for that matter.  When I first met Opie I felt  like he's wasn't a horse,  but  a gigantic dog. He is SO SWEET!!  He greets you to say hello, for kisses, and I'm sure most of all for treats.

I think Summer was excited about riding Opie but also a little nervous. After all, Opie is no pony. Just as I knew she would be, Robin was wonderful showing Summer how to control Opie's moves and how to lead him.
 

Opie waiting to be saddled up.





Yehaw!



Opie getting an after ride snack.

 

Opie "washing" the sweat off his back after the ride.

More farm buddies....

Robin's Fun Farm. :-)

It was a wonderful Saturday afternoon and I am so grateful that Robin took time out of her busy life to spend some time with us and share her horse expertise with Summer.  I wish every Saturday could be like this one!!!!!!!!!!

The Falls

Selfishly, for the past couple of months I have been appointing Wednesdays to be "hiking day". I have carved out this particular day of the week to be a day that I get to do some of the things I love most...spend time alone with my best friend, soak up the outdoors, and hike/explore. Bo is lucky enough to tag along. No seriously, I love having him with us because he is as enthusiastic about our explorations as we are, doesn't complain, and LOVES the thrill of all it entails.

So today we set out early to explore Twin Falls and Sculpture Falls along Barton Creek Greenbelt...


A short, shady hike before we made it to the creek.



We walked along the creek most of the way to the falls..

  In the pic below is the actual falls, but since I couldn't easily make it to the other side to take a frontal pic of the falls the back should suffice.

At Twin Falls there were some people enjoying the sunny, hot day and the benefits of the seasonal rainfall. I will remind you that during drought months these creek beds are bone dry.

After hanging out at Twin Falls for a bit we made our way to Sculpture Falls via the creek bed....


In this below picture, notice the stacked rocks along the creek....

Once, a couple of years ago when we were hiking deep in the woods of another area we also saw these same stacked rock formations.  I'm sure they are made to be a joke in reference to THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT movie from the early 90's.

Even though THE BLAIR WITCH was a low budget film, it was a scary to me!! The thought of something lurking around in the woods following me without my knowledge is creepy. Oh, and if you enjoyed the BLAIR WITCH PROJECT the creator is also working on another movie about Big Foot called "Exists" that is being filmed in the woods behind the Spiderwood Studios in the Austin area.. Here is a link....http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/exists/

Moving on....

The further down the creek we traveled the more desolate it got...which is exactly what we are looking for when we go exploring. Most folks usually stop at the closest swimming area but we don't mind walking a couple of miles to get our privacy..



This was my favorite spot. A custom made pool of rock..NICE!



We finally made it to Sculpture Falls. It was definitely worth the walk.....



There were a few folks whom, like us, decided it was worth the walk to Sculpture Falls.



The first person I thought of when I saw this lone rope swing was Lucas...I think he would utilize that rope...

In the end we hiked close to 5 miles...it was certainly worth every step to us all. By far, one of my favorite recent hikes.

The fun wasn't over when we got home. Summer and I decided to take an afternoon dip in the pool. While I was still in camera mode, I decided to take some silly,  fun photos of us in the pool....

Bo is OBSESSED with the pool. He loves water and he hovers around the pool panting waiting on that cue that allows him to jump in...the cue he will never get. I'm sure pool liners aren't cheap, nor is there any way for him to get out without clawing up the insides of the pool. Poor mutt...


It was a WONDERFUL, MEMORABLE WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!!