Battle Creek Falls on the Fourth

After the parade we were all in the need for a good nap. Then we headed up to hike to Battle Creek Falls. I've always wanted to hike up there. The weather was cloudy and unbelievably cool for the Fourth of July. What a beautiful day for a hike!!








Here's our only family shot. This is the first of the falls.
Just seconds after that picture Kade threw a rock at the river and I skillfully caught it with my leg. Yes, I attract thrown rocks. It's totally a talent of mine. Here's the pic of my leg...luckily I was okay even though I still bear a bruise from it. Oh and yes, I'm wearing my gorilla shoes....it's the only way to hike!These are the kids enjoying the hike:
Then a few minutes later:
Our kids have a love/hate relationship with our hikes. The trail was pretty steep so I'll give them that. They're troopers though and endured the trail and were good about staying away from the scary river.








Here's the second and biggest falls. The big kids were freaked out & wouldn't pose for a picture. Alexis was super excited though. Here's the last of the falls...at least it's as far as we went. So beautiful!!









All day long I had been missing Gabriel. Holidays are like that, but especially this one since it was one of the holidays we got to spend with him last year and I had just been feeling his first little kicks and such then. Another reminder of how different this year was for us. I was pretty weepy throughout the day. We were all so excited when we hit a spot on the trail that was swarmed with dragonflies. You usually only see a dragonfly or two together but they were everywhere...hundreds of them!! This picture doesn't even begin to give it justice because those suckers are hard to shoot. All the black spots on the picture are dragonflies though. What a great reminder that Gabriel is still in our hearts and lives on days like these.