The end of Summer.

Yesterday, we loaded up the car and headed West into the mountains to connect with Mother Nature one last time before the snow flies. Our first stop was a fishing pond ironically named, Trout Haven. If it really were a haven for trout, we wouldn't have been able to pull them out, one after another, in a matter of minutes.

Berlin was a natural. Jamison, not so much.

It wasn't until after we were done that I realized the haven in Trout Haven actually meant it was a haven for their bank account. At a buck an inch, our easy-to-catch, surprisingly huge trout took a chunk out of the ol' pocket book.

We then headed off to our favorite family hiking spot, Lily Lake.

We took a family photo on an old, dead tree. James didn't approve of the composition.

Although wearing pants, James took to the lake anyway.

But we couldn't get mad at him with his defensive toothy grin. It successfully combats all parental aggression.

Berlin wanted her photo taken with this duck. Immediately afterward, James pelted it with rocks.


And that was our connection with Mother Nature. We came, we saw, we threw rocks, we injured, we gutted, we took a bunch of pictures, we left. See you next year.