Cat-Tails and Blossoms

Saturday we went down to a park along the Salt River for a picnic and a day of exploring. We brought home a cat-tail, that we had found along the river side. It was firm and intact, but by the next day, it had taken a few too many beatings and the seeds were flying!

Oh, my! Where did all of that come from?


The peach blossoms are a vibrant pink. We didn't know that they would be so beautiful! Spring is a wonderful season.

Hike to Peralta Creek

Jeff and I hiked with the girls up the Peralta Trail, till we found a good spot to play in the creek. All four of them were busy little bees from the moment we arrived.

We had Cheerio races down the creek.

Kate found a new love.... rock climbing. Check out that hand-hold!

Little Miss Over-Confident and My Handsome Husband.

Monkey Time at the Zoo

The girls loved the squirel monkey exhibit this time. When I thought they'd had enough, I tried to pull them away, but Maya pleaded for more time with the monkeys. She's got to learn her tricks somewhere!!

Aubree had earned a coupon for a low-cost gift of her choice. Instead of choosing the large monkey, she bought 3 little squirel monkeys to share with her sisters. What a sweetie!

Watching the otters wrestle in the water.....

Riding a dragon!

"Up-a-stairs, Up-a-stairs" is what Kate says in her cute little voice when she is in climbing mode.

Dreaming of riding the horse.

Dancing in the Morning

It's spring break, and we are having fun everyday! This morning we did some impromtu dancing in the back yard. We had a lot of fun being silly, but when Jeff saw the pictures he quickly reminded me that we have neighbors that can see into our yard! Oh, well! Next time they can join us!

My girls are so dramatic! I don't know where they get it.

Woops, that's a karate kick!

Ta da!!!!

Weaver's Needle

We started up the Peralta Trail with all our gear and food on our backs. Our mission? To make it to the summit of Weaver's Needle, an extict volcanic core and the most distictive landmark in the Superstitions. This picture was taken from the saddle view-point along the Peralta trail-- a popular spot to sneak a peek at the Needle.

The group: Angela & Jeff, Chris Muraski, and Brian Farr

We are headed right........here!

I have never seen so much water in the desert! It made for a gorgeous hike out to the Needle. The streams were rushing and the ground was wet.=).

There were beautiful rock formations along the way. The turn-off-trail for the Needle (that is almost not a trail at all) crosses the creek and heads up the mountain just after passing these pillars.

Brian taking a break in the shade of a large boulder.

Spring is almost here... and with all this moisture... flowers will be growing wildly in another couple of weeks. We'll have to bring the girls out here to enjoy it!

Getting steeper.....

and steeper.....

and steeper!

The view from our lunch spot.

Time for the technical gear. That's me climbing!

Jeff is leading the way, while Brian looks on.

Jeff is our lead climber. He has absolutely NO fear of heights.... sometimes I wish he did!

Jeff belaying Brian.

A great view along the way.

We made it to the top! I'm opening up the registery. My names going in that book!

The gang on top of the Needle.

Now a summit picture without our goofy helmets.

We had a 360 degree view of beautiful mountains all around us. We could even see a lake in the distance... could it be Canyon lake?

This is not trick photography! Chris is really that crazy! No ropes or anything.... and all for a good picture to show his wife Jodi!

I love the repel. How often do you get to just walk off a cliff and be fine? It's like I've got spidy powers.

Chris on the repel.

That's me on that rope! This one's a 200 ft repel. We had to book it down the mountain because the sun was on it's way down. We hiked out in the dark with headlamps, and got back to the car at 10:30 pm. A long day of hiking.... 12 1/2 hours total!


Angela's repel.


The lion cave.


360 view on top


Brian climbing with Jeff belaying.