how we beat the heat......

So since the heat has officially hit here and our un-air conditioned house has become an oven we have started to think about ways to stay cool. So today we walked into the house after church to a sweltering 85 degree house. We ate lunch, threw everyone in the car and headed up to Mt. Hood for the afternoon. In the 2 years we have lived here we haven't made it up there yet and we have talked and talked about it. I thought the drive would just be too long, however we found that it wasn't at all! We had a wonderful time enjoying the scenery and the girls playing the back.

We made it up to the mountain and saw a sign for Trillium lake. Of course I forgot my camera but we decided to park and walk around in the campsite and try to make our way down to the lake. There was old snow packed up all along the roads in some places 2 to 3 feet high, even though we were comfortable in our t-shirts. The girls were so excited to walk along the snow and all of a sudden they spotted some "tracks". Dustin took a look at them and confirmed they were Cougar tracks.....and a really big one at that. I think it spooked us a bit later when we saw a flyer that had been put up warning people to keep a good look out for their kids as an adult male mountain loin had approached a campfire with people around it recently.

Anyway we made it to the lake alive and with our kids intact and here is what we saw......BEAUTIFUL! Oregon really does have some of the most breathtaking scenery ever.


We started walking around the lake and all of a sudden we came across such a fun surprise. The lake was FULL of these little guys.......SALAMANDERS! How weird?! We started looking in the water and noticing all these "lizards" under the water. We were able to catch one and realized that they were salamanders. The girls were in HEAVEN. We were catching salamander after salamander. Okay, I will admit that I didn't actually catch one or hold one, but I just wanted everyone else to have all the fun ;). We decided that they are a really kid friendly wild animal to catch. They don't have teeth or claws, and they are REALLY easy to catch. Lilly even caught one. They aren't fast at all! So we spent a good couple of hours walking around the lake and exploring nature with our little salamanders.

When we got back home the house had cooled off....a little, and it was time for bed, YEAH! I love these days though when I realize or just really hope maybe that we created a memory. I hope my girls will talk about that lake we used to go to and catch all those salamanders. I know I have random memories like that from experiences growing up and I just want my girls to have the same. I think my favorite part was that it wasn't really planned. It was just one of those magical, got lucky, everything worked out perfect, days that you just can't always plan. We have decided that we are DEFINITELY going back to visit our little salamander friends.