Mother's Day 2011

We had a super-great day today. Started with some orange juice, fresh squeezed by my hubby. Then, we piled #TheTeen and @kelseythedog into the Swaggerwagon and headed for Placerita Canyon... but not without a stop at Starbucks for my mama's day mocha!

It was a ridiculously gorgeous day at Placerita. Lots of wildflowers, and -- at the risk of sounding too poetic -- the rich scent of sage in the air!

A lovely Mother's Day. :-D

Placerita Canyon

Today we decided to head up to Placerita Canyon. It's been a long time since we were there! They've been working on some improvements, and the place is really looking great.

Sadly, the recent rains have rendered the main trail from the Nature Center to Walker Ranch impassable, so we were not able to hike that route. Out of necessity, we discovered a new, beautiful trail and hiked it instead. As an added bonus, the local firemen were also hiking this trail. HA!

It was a great morning! I can't wait to return in spring and see all the wildflowers which will undoubtedly have sprouted.

This red-tailed hawk is just one of the creatures that lives at the Placerita Canyon nature center. There's also an owl, some tortoises, and more! This fella is a real beauty, as you can see.

Liz Logelin Memorial 5K

I was delighted today to be among the many people in the world walking in honor of the lovely Elizabeth Logelin, the late wife of my friend Matt. If you have a Flickr account, I think you can check out the photos from all around the globe!

Thanks to my hubby for providing such awesome photo documentation of the morning. Thanks also to Roman & Christa for joining us; to Donna for dog & child wrangling; and to my beautiful little boy for wearing that shirt, which he HATED. LOL! Hey, pink was the color of the day!

Yesterday,

...we went for a hike in Placerita Canyon!


Everyone had a great time!

But wait -- what's this?! That young man doesn't look like HE'S having fun!

Let's take a closer look:

No, indeedy! It turns out young Master Siegel was *not* having a good time. To be fair, it was an unusually buggy day in the canyon. Kelsey loved it, tho! And we got some nice pix.