Baskett Slough

Today I was energized and excited by the great weather!

So I took 7 kids on a hike at the Baskett slough! (A National Wildlife Bird Refuge)
I took my 5 kids, and a niece and nephew.

It was a perfect day to go! The sky was clear and blue, we could see Mt. Hood in the distance....and there thousands and thousands of Canadian Geese! This was a special outing for my kids because we have been studying birds. We have enjoyed watching the humming birds and other birds that come to our other feeders. Courtney is passionate about birds, and whenever we see one, she looks one it up in her North American Field Guide. We brought a nice pair of Binoculars with us on the hike, and we all enjoyed taking turns with them. We also saw tons of butterfies, the girls liked that.

On our way to the Trail head, we spotted a gorgeous blue/gray heron. I've never seen a bird like that there! We also saw newborn goslings in the water with their Mom and Dad, and several ducks.

The hike was hot and STEEP! I wasn't expecting that part. And we couldn't find Angel's shoes, so all she had on were sandals. With the gravel path that was a big no-no! We had to stop several times to remove the rocks from her poor feet. It was amazing that we made it to the top of the look-out, but the kids were pretty proud of themselves for reaching it!

Julie did really good on the way up, but she screamed all the way down. Poor baby was red with heat, so we all doused ourselves with water when we got back to the car. And our poor puppy, Lucy! We took her with us in the car so we could take her on the hike, and then we found out that no pets were allowed. So she had to stay in the car with lots of water to drink.

Our car temperature gauge said it was 87 degrees! Wow, that must be a record for April in Oregon! We celebrated our hiking accomplishment with ice cream cones at Arctic Circle.

Now, we'll see how sore I am in the morning!