Everybody Gets Something...

... just not all at once.

IOW, no family vacation this year.

Gunnar got fiddle camp,

Tate got Worldview Academy,

and Wyatt went backpacking with friends.

Of course, he didn't take a camera.

I pulled these photos from his friend's facebook page.

Wyatt planned this with three friends -

three great guys,

which made it so much easier to let him

head out into the wilderness for four days.

Things didn't go exactly as planned.

Do they ever???

And their plan was a bit... ambitious,

to use a kind mom-word.

When they got all that testosterone

around a kitchen table looking at a map,

nine miles, even thirteen miles a day

seemed really do-able.

But out in the wilderness...  

the trail was not as well-maintained as they'd hoped,

and somebody's knee started acting up,

and they wisely used their brains instead of adrenaline

and made a good decision to alter their route to something more manageable.

And had a great time,

and maybe learned a thing or two ;D

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

I've been playing with my new iPhone camera.

Oh my word.

It does close ups.

Foxglove

Distance and zooming in, not quite so great,

but still...

Ya got yer Purple Mountain Majesty :D

Yes.

For real.

It looked that color.

I love summer :D