The GREAT Outdoors

Hey Everyone! It is SUMMERTIME and we are enjoying every waking moment of it!!! We have been spending a TON of time outdoors, embracing the fresh air, green grass and blue skies of the Midwest... I even did some "landscaping" of my own. I added a "splash" of color to our front planter...THINK PINK!!!What do you think??? How about these??? We have been to MANY beautiful places the past 2 weeks, but I am still partial to our own backyard...Noblesville, I LOVE you!!! There is no place like home...xo Another shot of Noblesville... On a walk at Strawtown...a local park about 5 minutes away from us... Ryan and Sammy... The pups playing in the shade... I am very thankful for our schedule. Being off in the summer gives us ample time to explore. As you may recall in previous posts, last Fall we visited Cataract Falls. This summer we decided to check out Clifty Falls... This state park is located in Madison, Indiana, about 2 1/2 hours Southeast of us. Happy Hiker :) Plant life growing out of rocks... One of the 4 waterfalls we saw... Rock cliffs...awesome! Mossy rock... The creek...this place is GORGEOUS!!! I found a rock shaped like California...made me think of all of you!!! Smaller waterfall... Another waterfall hiding behind the plants...Can you see it??? We had a great little day trip! ALMOST brought the doggies, but at the last minute, changed our minds. Glad we didn't...tons of intense hiking and climbing. We hiked 5 miles that day and fell about 10 times trying to get down to the water (both of us-no joke). We did however take the doggies to Indiana Dunes. No, you are seeing correctly...THIS IS A PICTURE OF INDIANA. It looks like the ocean huh? Indiana Dunes State Park borders along Lake Michigan... The cool thing about this park is it has beach AND wooded trails... Wildflowers... Hiking up to the highest dunes... Beautiful view of Lake Michigan... Frodie taking a break in the cool sand... Sammy- Happy as always :) Humidity is NOT for wussies!!! Ryan blazing the trail.. The beach...Indiana Dunes has 3 miles of lake shore. WOW!!! Our first time putting our feet into Indiana beach sand...LOL Catchin' some rays... The only thing we are missing are some waves!!! In addition to travel, I also have been in search of a painting to go with my new "gold" living room. I found this beauty at TJ Maxx Home Goods for 59 bucks!!! Go me!!! Woo-Hoo!!! All 3 of my boys are enjoying being able to sleep in... Frodo and Sam are S-P-O-I-L-E-D. They live in the "lap of luxury." They get to sleep in our bed in the summertime... We also got to help our friend Brad celebrate his 35th birthday. Brad lives in the neighboring town of Anderson. Here are some of the guys throwing bags in his yard... Volleyball time... Their yard is sooooo nice, they have about 2 acres of land. Steave, Chris, Zac, Brian, Ryan and Eric playing V-Ball...Nice move, Ryan!!! Happy Birthday, Brad :) Me, Julie (Brad's wife), Tiffany (Brad's sis) and Cathy... Me and Tiff :)Bonfire time...Hanging out... \Nothing like a nightime fire and some roasted marshmallows!!! Yum-Yum :)Ahhhhhh sweet days of summer!!! We love ya...We hope all the dads out there had a Happy Father's Day...ESPECIALLY OURS!!!
Until next time...xo