The First Week

Well...the first week of summer is about to come to a close! And boy, has it been a blast...! Since I've got nothing better to do, I'll go ahead and tell you all about it. =)
Monday was Memorial Day (duh), and so Dad and I decided to do something together that day (Mom had volunteered to work at her job, and Oliver was working on a work/school project). After pondering our choices, we decided to go up the road about an hour and hike in this park/mountain area. We'd heard from some family members that it was a very beautiful hike, and so I eagerly brought along the camera.

The three mountains

When we got there, we were faced with what looked like a field of wild grass, with three large mountains hanging above us. It looked like it was about to rain, and so Dad warned me that we might not be able to stay for very long. With that said, we headed up the trail, with me stopping every few minutes to take pictures of the wild flowers. The only wildlife we saw was a gigantic bee the size of a quarter, a group of caterpillars, and we heard some ravens scolding each other.

The quarter-sized bee! D:

The caterpillars...be disgusted =D

 

 

 

 

Random wildflowers

After a while, Dad and I started heading up into the mountains. It seemed like a rather simple hike at the time, although towards the end of the trail it got a little tough. However, we finally reached the end of the trail, and we stopped to rest on the pile of boulders as we looked out into the city down below us, where we could still hear firetrucks blaring down below, even after getting 'deep' into the forest. We probably rested there for five minutes before we decided it might be a good time for us to try and find our way back down, when we saw a couple and their dog climbing up the trail we had just come from.

The Rocky Rest Stop

"There's another trail higher up that'll lead you safely down," the male told us, "but you'll have to be mountains goats and climb over these boulders for a bit."
"You game, Kathy?" Dad asked, and I nodded. We followed after the couple then, but it wasn't long before we lost them. They were fast, I tell ya! 'Sides, the rocks we had to climb over weren't rocks, they were boulders.
From then on, Dad and I struggled to find this 'supposed' trail for probably a good thirty minutes, getting lost multiple times while we were at it.
Finally, we found what looked like a trail, and when we heard voices heading up the trail and saw faces, we knew we'd found what we'd been looking for. Breathing a sigh of relief, we immediately took to the new-found trail, and I again began taking pictures, now that I could use both hands to take pictures instead of pull myself up boulders.
We got home from our little adventure that day at four, me totally wiped out, but happy. It had been quite the adventure, even though we'd gotten lost, and I wouldn't trade that experience for another. =)

Oh geez...I'm only to Tuesday! Heh, I'll try an' shorten the days up for ya.
Tuesday for me was basically a work day. No, it wasn't the 'cleaning around the house' work day, nor was it working at a job. For the summer, I'm planning on making a lot of music videos. Music videos are videos and/or pictures being put to a song. In this case, I put family pictures and a few of our videos together with a song called September, by the band, Daughtry. Although I didn't finish this project on Tuesday, a good part of my day was spent scanning photos from the photo albums onto the computer and placing them into my music video.
Also on Tuesday, I made myself breakfast. Usually when I do so, I make pancakes, eggs, and bacon; you know, the usual. But I wanted something different that day, and so I eventually made myself Sunny-D pancakes (we were out of milk, so I put Sunny-D in its place...) and the best omelet ever invented! It consisted of two eggs, a lot of cheese (too much, actually), some tomato, lettuce, and a torn up piece of lunch meat. Very tasty! =)

Wednesday! Like Tuesday, a good part of my day was spent working on my music video, where I was making headway. Sometime in the afternoon (don't know when), the doorbell rang, where there was  a package from Amazon. I totally freaked out, because I knew what was in the package...
My new camera!!!!!! =D I had actually bought myself my very own camera, so that when my trip to Yellowstone came this summer, I wouldn't always have to steal my parents' camera, but I could have my own. My aunt who loves photography had helped me pick it out, so I knew it'd probably suit me well. Quickly, I opened the box to find a very small and delicate looking camera, the color of aqua. After fiddling around with it some, I learned that it didn't take batteries, but had its own battery thing that you could charge in the charger also given to me. Stealing one of my parents' camera's memory card, I turned on the camera and began playing around with it. I totally love it ^_^ .
Also on Wednesday, my youth group meant. Wednesday is usually the day we meet, but I haven't gone for a good month or two due to it having ended for a while (end of school year stuff), and because of lame excuses I've come to forget. Although the kids are nice enough in my youth group, I just don't feel like I belong there. For example, the kind of stuff we talk about is too easy for me, and yet it goes above my small group class's head. And so I often find myself not going on a given Wednesday.
Anyway, the only reason I went this Wednesday, is because the high school was welcoming in the new freshmen of the year, and a few of these freshmen are my friends in church. Wanting to be there because of them, I forced myself to go and not look too shy as I walked into my group. I had a feeling I was bound to be scolded from the kids on having not been there for weeks. They always act that way-it's there way of saying they love me and want me there, but it's also there way of making me feel bad and even less connected to them. However, the moment I walked up to them, one of the girls cried my name and pummeled me in a hug. There wasn't any scolding from any of them, much to my relief, and I was quickly reacquainted into my group of friends. In the end, it was a good night, and I had fun. =)

Thursday (almost done, don't worry)...! Yesterday, I finished my family project (YES!!!! =D) and went to my grandparent's house to bake cookies with my grandma! =D We baked these cookies called Banana Drops. Often when we go to their house, Banana Drops are offered, but until I baked them yesterday with my grandma, I had no idea bananas were in these cookies. But, not like I'm complaining xD. The cookies turned out to be amazing, and we still have some here at home (in fact, I'm going to go get one now!).I had fun. =)

And today has been pretty good too; I went out to eat with my Mom this afternoon before she headed off to work, and I wrote this.
So...not a bad first week. =D The end!
~Kathy