Sooooo..............

............is everyone about ready to give up hope that I'll post again?

What is it with life lately that does not allow me the time to make a simple card (or a complex card for that matter?!). I'll spare you the details of work (because I know that using "I have to work" is such a lame excuse when there are those of you who work every day and still manage to make a card!) and the fact that my kids are either in swim lessons, water polo or piano lessons each day or that I have to find my floors in this house in order to get my carpets cleaned this week!! (like how I tried to sneak in what my days have been like?!! hehe)

Well, this past weekend I did have some spare time. But wouldn't you know it, I decided to spend it with the Toad hiking. We just so happen to live in the perfect spot. We are a little over an hour from the beach (where the kids went with their grandparents), about an hour from the desert (not that you'd want to head out that direction this time of year) and about an hour or less from our local mountains. How much better a location can one wish for?!! We decided to hike a trail that we haven't done before. Wildhorse trail. My IL's had done a couple of miles starting from the top earlier this spring and said it followed a stream and went thru a campsite. So we decided to start from the bottom portion and check it out. Loaded up the pooch and our camelbacks (backpacks to carry water and snacks) and headed out. Guess what? That direction is TOTALLY different than the top. No stream for the pooch to drink from (which means DH had to share his water with the dog (he would get a stream from his mouthpiece flowing into his hand for those of you who are going EWWWWWW! right now). The landscape down low is pretty much manzanita shrubs with only a few trees. This time of year, most of the wildflowers have bloomed and died off. But look at this lovely surprise growing in the rocks:

Let me tell you~~This flower just POPPED with color!! Isn't this just GORGEOUS?! This was the only prickly pear that I saw still blooming. It was growing out of this crop of rocks. I think it helped that it's location was shaded for part of the day.

But there wasn't much shade anywhere else. Some of the larger manzanita scrub and oak scrubs would provide a little shade and the breeze was nice. After walking for close to 2 hours up, we decided that we had better turn around. But the ground had been exposed to sun all day. Hot sun. Which meant that the poor pooch was walking on HOT sand/rocks for a couple of hours. It got to the place where he would try and climb fallen scrubs to find something cooler for his feet. That's when the Toad felt really bad and came to the rescue.

LOL!! YUP!! The Toad carried his 50lb pup so that it would give poor ol' Rusty's paws a break from the hot trail!! (let me tell you, he was mighty glad that he didn't have a bigger dog!!) I was really surprised at how well Rusty just "hung" over the Toad's shoulders. His poor paws must have been really hurting because he really didn't fight being carried this way.

Now, before any of you decide to call the authorities, let me assure you that the pooch was fine when he got home. He stood in his wading pool for a couple of minutes, had a nap and then became his usual obnoxious self trying to get someone to go outside and kick his soccer ball for him!!

Lesson learned: need to get some doggie boots for the pooch if we are going to take him on summer hikes. And a doggie pack so that he can carry his own water/food.

Ok....I'm going to try and find a couple of my floors this morning. I need to make another b-day card for a 8 y/o boy for this weekend so check back. Hopefully, I'll get that done before Saturday night!! LOL!