Fourth of July

I know, I make you all sick with my punctuality don't I? Things have hardly happened and before you know it I have blogged about it. Bam! Only 3 1/2 weeks later, here it is.

The Fourth of July was scheduled to be a bit of a flop. I was mainly planning on folding 5 loads of laundry and maybe going swimming at Mom and Dads. But it magically became a spectacular day.

We started off with a hike up Azure. Azure is a great hike, about 3/4 of a mile, nothing too intense, and a great view of the top. Orianna hiked it all the way to the top. We had been discussing the possibility of going swimming after Azure, so when we would stop, Orianna would say, lets keep going so we can come down and go swimming. I don't think she got as much out of the hike as she could have. :-) But she did do it! Tori and Olivia told me that Cris and Andrea told them that there was this young guy that ran up on side of Azure, and then down the other before heading off to school each morning. I think his name was Azure, hence the name. Obviously this boy should have been in the Olympics with those Kenya boys who run all over hills and mountains and then win gold medals.

Unlike our fast Blue Mountain Rd boy, I did not run up the mountain. Or even down it. But I did make it up to the top and back down again, so there are vague similarities.

I don't know what is up with this picture, but it cracks me up.

Lily walked the first part, mainly because it was flat. Once we started going up hill, she decided to get in Daddy's backpack. And then urged us on every time we stopped. It is pretty harsh, getting hollered at by the rider on your back. We quickly set her straight as to proper rider etiquette.

Ferns. They are just so ferny.

Olivia foolishly said she would pack Gilbert up. She made it MOST of the way, before deciding it wasn't for her. She was relieved to realize that it wasn't that she was that out of shape, just that she was carrying a 23 lb baby on her back. 

This is Olivia and Gilbert going through the brambles. We took a bit of a non-trail route. I think it was a shortcut, but it was awfully brambly!

When Olivia decided to give up Gilbert, Justin decided to take him, to "balance" him out. I think he was just taking pity on his out of shape wife. I then told him that I carried him around with a lot of extra weight for 9 months and for crying out loud I think I can carry him up a mountain. So I won. I got to carry the 23 lb baby up the mountain. I am still not sure this was a victory.  

The view from almost the top.

And here we are, on top of the world. Or Azure anyway.

Bunchberries. These turn bright red in fall.

Blueberries!

Having a wee picnic up top.

Someone apparently used the picnic table for a fire. I'd like to see them tote another table up.

Olivia, the perpetually clumsy Olivia, made it all the way up to the top without incident. While walking on the flat top, she rolled her ankle. I was somewhat unsympathetic because I am a mean sister and told her I was not going to carry her down, like Cody did. Some hiker saw us and obviously took pity on Olivia, since she had a horrendous sister, and gave her this walking stick that was laying around up top. Hopefully someone hadn't just set it there. She survived the trip down.

A bag of doritos (how UN-hippie, hiking can you get?) was thrown and emptied on the ground, so Lily and Justin ate off the ground. Their love of Doritos is obviously bigger than Orianna who would not deign to eat off the ground. Our picnic consisted of half PB&Honey sandwiches, doritos, and Ritz crackerfuls. Hey what do you expect from a couponer house? Granola and organic apples? 

Gorgeous. Just stare at this for awhile. it will de-stress you. Proven fact!

Gilbert loves standing on things. Rocks, cement, etc. I let him down to walk when it got flat again and he stopped every third second to plunk down to examine the stones, go back to stand on a particularly stand-y rock, or fiddle with some plant. We got back a lot later than the rest of them, so Justin dropped off Lily and came back for them.

Gilbert loves his Daddy. Look at that little hand around his neck! 

Checking to see if Daddy is listening to his Gilbert talk. 

And then decided Daddy needed a kiss. 

Aren't these cute? I made Justin stop driving so I could climb out and take a picture of these. I don't even know what they are. Justin said it must have made my day, since a day driving around mountains isn't complete without a couple flower-picture stops. I think he is bitter.  

After Azure, we drove down the rest of Blue Mountain Rd to Paul Smiths. We headed to the store in Gabriels to get lunch and ended up with subs and poutine. We parked at the hilltop, over looking the Adirondacks and had another picnic.  Since two picnics wasn't sufficient, we decided to go to Donelleys for soft ice cream. It was Monday, so a nut day. They only do one flavor twist per day. We got pistachio. SOOO yum.

It was popular. And I even saw my middle school math teacher, so it felt home townish. Even if it is almost an hour away.

I think we could count this as our third picnic. Yessss!

And look at this day! Fabulous!

I want this house.

I REALLY wanted to go and take a picture of a freshly made cone. It was so beautifully green and white. It was all so busy that I decided not to be obnoxious. But I snapped this picture as we were leaving. Olivia says this poor old lady is probably still not recovered from the paparazzi. 

After three picnics and one mountain, we headed to Lake Clear for some swimming! Since it was such a nice day, there were tons of people there. An interesting slice of humanity. 

Daddy and his ballerina girls

Gilbert wanted to go too

Okay, these pictures don't look like there was a ton of people. The last time we went to Lake Clear there was NO ONE. So it just felt like a lot. Hey! This isn't the Jersey Beach or anything. 

Gilbert finally settled into sitting on the edge of the lake to have the waves splash on him and throw sand.

Whee!

Throwing sand

Olivia cuddling a shivery Lily

Lily said she was NOT cold. So she headed back into the water.

A towel wrapped Gilbert

After Lake Clear, we headed home for a quick supper of something I forget. Then we headed to St Regis Falls for the fireworks. Owen and Ashley came squeaking in at the last minute, so we all piled in the van and headed down. Ashley had to sit on the floor, since we were all buckled in and set to go when they got home, but she said it was more comfy than the back of Owen's motorcycle after 3 hours. 

In case you didn't know this, Owen is perpetually embarrassed by anything smacking of drawing attention to yourself. I embarrass him a lot. Especially taking pictures of groups of fireworks watchers that I don't know, right next to him.  

Owen and Ashley were chilled from their 3 hour motorcycle ride. Owen said this would probably be the first year the fireworks were canceled because of snow. Somehow, the St Regis Falls Fire Department crew powered through the 69 degree weather and managed to set the fireworks off.

Waiting, waiting, waiting patiently.

Being little heater for Owen and Ashley

A lovely crescent moon

I am VERY BAD at fireworks pictures. These are just to prove I was there. Like Nina's trashcan pictures.

They are sort of cool though!

Hey this one looks like fireworks!

Ahahahah I think they were sending messages to airplanes.

And a picture of everyone leaving

And one more for good measure, just to embarrass Owen. 

Alright. That was a lot of pictures. Thanks for hanging in there. If you did. You could totally cheat and I would never know the difference. :-)

Happy Independence Day!