Birthday Celebrations

Thursday July 5th was my dad's birthday. You can read his happy birthday post here. Due to our busy schedules, we celebrated almost a week later on the 11th. My parents, my brother Jess, and Doug and I met at the cabin. We then drove to Silver Lake and enjoyed walking around it.

Doug and I in front of the meadow

My brother Jess. Can you tell he's 15?

My parents

The mossy outlet of the lake

A great reflection

A wild rose

The inside of a fallen tree

There is a spot on the south side of the lake where my brothers always climb the rocks. This trip, Doug also scaled his way to the top.

Beginning the ascent

Half way there

Made it!

Doug chose the more challenging route

The "summit"

It's not a very tall rock area, maybe 40 feet. But it's fun to watch them get so excited to climb it.

This little guy got tired and crashed on the boardwalk

Some mallards came to visit

The brewing storm

A lot of my pictures are dark because a thunder storm was threatening the end of our walk.

Ominous clouds thundering over the peak

The procession along the boardwalk

When we got back to the cabin my mom found this beautiful butterfly on a water hemlock flower. I love taking pictures of insects. Which is apparent in this post since there are two insect pictures. Can you spot the third accidental insect in one of the photos?

Butterfly on hemlock

After our walk around the lake we had a great dinner and birthday cake.

He blew out all the candles with the first breath!

It's always fun to spend time with my family, especially in the beautiful canyon. Thanks for giving us an excuse to join you there dad.