Two weekends ago, my sister-in-law and I had planned to take a day trip with my nephew and two nieces, to pick wild blackberries. Turns out, I learned, that the blackberries weren’t ready for picking yet. We still got the heck out of Dodge (it’s SO nice to escape from the brutal AZ heat!) and took all 3 kids up to the Horton Creek trail, for a picnic, an easy hike and playing in the (beautifully-chilly!) spring-fed Horton Creek.
It was such a joy to watch my nieces and nephew get to play in the creek and get wet and dirty, just like I used to do during my childhood summers in Kansas.
The vanilla ice cream smell (seriously!) of the Ponderosa Pines sweetened the forest air. On the way up the trail, more than a few drops of light rain fell on us, which we welcomed! We found the perfect walking sticks for the two big kids, and they used them to make their marks on the trail for those who would come later. We saw ants, butterflies, a scattering of wildflowers, and very few other people (although we did run into friends from Tempe, which was a treat!).
On the way home, we all got Sonic treats because we were good little hikers and didn’t complain. 
The icing on the cake was that I got to spend the day with 4 of my very-favorite peeps!
It was easily my favorite day of Summer 2011 thus far.
(click on the image below to see the collage full-size)
