Take a Hike.

Our family went on two hikes this week. I think that makes us park rangers or something. Just call us The Wild Kratts.

On Monday, we went to Gettysburg. With the grand intention of walking around the trails  AND climbing the big rocks at Devil's Den AND completing the car tour.

We would still be there if we had done all of those things. But we did do plenty. And will be going back soon.

Yes, that's a Yankees hat on my son. I'm cringing too.

Old man Harris and his walking stick:

Beck loves the leaves and tries to eat them whenever he can. It's adorable (minus the eating part).

And yesterday, we went back to Swatara because the girls have been begging for the waterfall hike again.

June decided to dress like a 50-something birder for the occasion.

Harris just loves throwing rocks. It's all he wants to do when we go. Everywhere. We. Go. Even our backyard.

The girls wore their swimsuits underneath their clothes so that they could "swim" in the waterfall.

The baby and I made it about halfway up before I said, "You know, I think we're good." Maybe in a few years. Hauling a baby up rocks is no joke.

This is the rock Dan and June climbed up and the rock where I thought they would perish. There was slipping and sliding, and I screamed but they didn't. I guess I scare easily.

Made it!!!

And Harris . . . threw some more rocks.

The kids had a mixed reaction to the water. They all said it was freezing. I asked Gwen how the experience was, and she said, "TERRIBLE!" But when they finished the trip back down, she told me it was awesome and asked when we were coming back.

Not pictured for this trip: On the way back to the car, Gwen asked if she could push the stroller. This stroller was holding the other three kids. She pushed, the stroller got away from her, June fell off, and then the stroller ran over June's leg. And a lot of people witnessed this amazing thing. And then a lot of people were blessed to hear a screaming June for the rest of the ride back to the car.

She's fine, by the way. I'm not, but she is.

Other happenings from this week:

Dan received a box of samples from Hershey with new products they are launching soon. The kids heard the box opening from across the house and ran to see the goodies. So naturally, we had a taste testing.

Of the many treats sampled, there was a stiff competition between the Reese's with pretzel and the Reese's with potato chips.

 In the end, the potato chip won.

And, we found out we have a neighbor who cuts hair. YAYAY for Dan!

Now I get to be the unthreaded, unhighlighted, uncut wildebeest next to him.

And all of the summer vibes are here, except I still haven't figured out how we will swim this summer. BUT. We did watch the ultimate summer movie on Friday night, The Sandlot. Our kids died laughing. I look forward to every single scene in this movie. Has there ever been a more quotable film? I've decided we need to start every summer with this flick.

THE GREAT BAMBINO!!

You mean that's the same guy!?!?

And it was followed by s'mores on the deck ("I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?"), and the kids stayed up too late and then all crashed in the same bed.

And then we had some of that "other" type of family bonding. The negative kind. Yard work! To quote my father, Doug Beck, "If we all just get outside and get to work, it will only take 30 minutes."

It never lasted 30 minutes.

Later on in my childhood, he replaced the former speech with:

"It's going to be long and hard, and I don't want to hear any complaining."

This is a much more accurate depiction of yard work.

Luckily, our kids are young and still a little excited about it. They fetch water for us, they mess around with Dan's tools. And they break some things. It's fun.

We're trying to get our lawn to look like everyone else's lawn. Progress updates forthcoming.

And church today:

I forgot to take before photos, so here are some "afters".

And Dan's Come Follow Me lesson. The man goes all out.

I really, really love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Reading the Book of Mormon this year has been especially wonderful. I've pulled out my Romanian scriptures from my mission and have tried to read everything in both languages. My language skills are RUSTY, but I've enjoyed the different insights I've had reading everything over twice, especially in a language which requires me to think about each and every single word.

If you ever have a question or want to talk about the Book of Mormon or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, please let me know.

The End.