Fun with water.

Skyler got out his water powered ball launcher after our bike ride on Saturday.   I was surprised that he didn't get too cold with just the water from the hose.

Loading the balls into the launcher.

RUN AWAY!!!

A wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

Hiking.  Biking.  Food and Family.  It was great!

Euphoric Saturday night because we were about to have a patio fire.

Roasting a marshmallow to have on his S'more.  He actually had more marshmallows than S'mores.

Memorial Day breakfast at G & G's. Grandpa rigged a rope to swing Skyler in the hammock.   A shoutout to my Dad for serving in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam war.  

Delicious breakfast on the patio.

Skyler having some American Flag pancakes.

One down!

Ice cream sundae for dessert.

An American Flag topper.  He later would play a funny game with Grandpa where he would tell Grandpa to "look over there" and he would spit the cherry back into the bowl making Grandpa believe he kept getting a new cherry.  Grandpa played along very nicely.  :)

10 miles on the rail trail!

We ventured North yesterday to meet Skyler's school mini marathon training challenge which was to "take a family bike ride".  We settled on the "Prospector Rail Trail" in Davis County.  This runs along the old Denver and Rio Grande Western right of way since it was closed when Union Pacific bought that railroad in 1996.

Starting out.

Memorial Day in Utah usually means first cutting of hay.  This was a nice setup.

Mommy and Skyler.  The trail is nice and flat and smooth!

Old D&RGW signage.

More hay down in the neighborhood.  This trail here connects the neighborhood to the rail trail.

Pedaling along.

Gorgeous!

Lots of phragmites!

Looking West towards Stansbury Island.

He was singing and having a wonderful time riding along.

Remnants of a signal bridge.

Closeup of the signal wire that was cut.  I see 3 pair and a ground.

We had to stop for a snack break at the signal bridge remains.

It was SO green!

Cattle and some new calfs.

I can't believe someone goes to this much work on a building and lets the tractor sit outside.  At least it's an orange one and not a green one.  :)

Zooming back towards the truck.

Another view of the hay field.  Look at those mountains!

End of the line.  The oil refineries still use this part of the railway.

After riding 10 miles, he needed to be refueled.  We stopped at Apollo Burger for a well deserved lunch.

An impromptu hike near Butterfield Canyon.

We didn't want to share the Parkway with 10,000 other people yesterday so we thought we could walk the road up Butterfield Canyon.  The only problem?  The road was opened a week early this year!  Change of plans!  We instead found some single track at the base and followed it a distance to an abandoned mine shaft.  This all worked out for the best, the scenery and experience was epic.

Skyler started out leading but I soon took over due to the risk of rattle snakes on the trail.  We never saw any.  Whew!

Gorgeous!

Heading up the rear was Mommy.

Scrub oak awesomeness.

Juniper joy.

Globe Mallow with a bee.

The haul trucks at the mine were rather loud using their dynamic braking.

Meadow in the distance between the trees.  Note the Prickly Pear cactus.

Some high desert greatness complete with a hawk flying overhead. 

Indian Paintbrush.

Closeup of another.

Juniper new growth.

Hard to believe this gem is only 15 minutes away.  Our fair city in the distance.

Mine shaft!

It looked to have been closed off for quite some time.  Also, people are awful with their garbage.  :(

Skyler for scale.  I'm pretty sure he was eating the entire time we were hiking.

I stuck my magic iPhone in to take this picture.  Skyler was thrilled.

Another (higher) view of our fair city.

Maizey had a stimulating time.  Look at how green everything is!

Mr. Mittens!

Eddy cat is turning 14 (!) in July.  He's still pretty active and playful though!

Hanging out in his favorite spot in the front yard. 

Being playful last night in the backyard.  Look at that lawn! :)