wildwood

we set out for a hike in wildwood yesterday afternoon with friends and walked by this blooming cactus patch.  the colors were brilliant under the grey overcast skies.  we marveled at their stunning appearance at the start of a memorable hike through the california hills.

 purple sage was everywhere

soft velvety lavender blooms stacked along their stems,

they look like bouquets of purple pom pom kebabs. 

the native plants are for the adults to swoon over as shoshanna held a crumpled ball of sage in her hand for us to smell.  the delight for the children was to see this large tipi on their way down the hillside.

enid, the greyhound, took it all in stride.  she is so stealthy one hardly knew she was there.

i think the kids were watching other children approaching the tipi as they sat on the center stone eating snacks.  they held their ground but left the coveted seat for more exploring.  there was a water fountain "without a bowl !" brody exclaimed.  the oldest of the children, he made some insightful observations on our journey and was the first to alert us of pooh on the trail.  this was very important news and much appreciated as it is usually something michael will take upon himself to tell us about, but he was busy pushing the stroller - aka the snackmobile.   

thanks to my helpful husband, i was able to stop to admire the black-eyed susans

and try and keep up with these two leading the way.

you can see the pool of water the falls spill into down below.  along the trail down from the tipi you could hear the rushing water of paradise falls luring us there like a snake charmer's song.

there was a mama duck and her duckling in the creek nearby.

can you find them?

ezra and brody climbed on big rocks and threw little rocks into the water.  

it was beautiful, fresh and clean.  

"do you know what brody's favorite animal is?" 

shoshanna asked as we watched him climb these boulders.

"a billy goat!" called brody.

the next part of the trail looks over the edge down to the stream that leads to the waterfall.

this is looking back to the waterfall and the pool down below.

the view held our interest for a while as we spotted the dudleyas in the crags above the green mossy stream.

aren't they happy looking star like succulents?

can you still see them?

after this picture was taken we started to feel a drop, then sprinkles, and finally a heavy shower of rain.  we were all soaking wet by the time we returned to our vehicles.  we all said we would never forget this hike, but not just because of the rain!