Friday Favorites: Some Summer Hiking

 We have been soaking up all the summer fun.  It's sunny and warm but hot overly hot and humid (yet!) so we've been checking out lots of new hiking trails, going kayaking, and spending lots of time outside. 





We found a brand new place to hike on Friday! It had tons of well marked trails and we had a great time exploring.











I put together a really cute father's day basket and these handmade buckeyes and Reece's popcorn were huge hits with the whole family (I had tons of leftovers!).  






I don't have any photos but my husband took me on my first RZR ride this weekend.  It's a much smoother ride through the woods than our old Ranger but man does it just zip over the trail!  It tends to kick up a bit of mud too even when trying to avoid all mud puddles. 


We had a quiet father's day at home. The boys helped wash and wax the truck, Ranger, & RZR. Alec wanted to take his father out jet skiing on Father's day.  He's really started wanting to drive the jet ski this year and it's so neat to see him trying out new skills. 





Alec, Evan, and I tried out another new hiking trail on Tuesday; it was a bit overgrown here and there but it was a nicely marked little loop trail with a view of the river.






Of course no week is really complete in the summer without plenty of time spent reading lakeside!







I finally got our spiral staircase & railing repainted; it's a chore I've been putting off for over a week now.  It wasn't easy but I think I got most of the rust spots covered so this one paint job should last us another couple of years.





The boys and I went kayaking for a good hour one morning this week.  It was so clam and peaceful on the lake!  (well, as calm and peaceful as it can be with two bickering boys splashing one another)










Alec's karate school had a student appreciation night that my husband and I took him to; he had lots of fun playing water balloon baseball and getting all wet.  The pizza was amazingly good too and we discovered that the place they got it from is only 20 or so minutes away from our house! 


Alec made some delicious s'mores cookies to bring to his karate party and all 4 dozen were gone in under 2 hours... they were so good (and I don't even LIKE marshmallows!) 






We had one really rainy afternoon and I had fun taking pictures of the heron stalking around our beach in the rain.





Linking up with: On the Edge, 









Comments

  1. Kayaking sounds so fun! Those s'mores cookies have my mouth watering!

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    1. I love kayaking! I'm hoping to get the boys over to the other side of our lake in our kayaks by summer's end... by far the longest kayak trip I've gotten them to take.

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  2. It sounds like you've been having a lovely time. The weather hasn't been too great here. It's warm but there has been more rain. How wonderful to find a new hike. Gorgeous photos. x

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    Replies
    1. We sure have been! I am working really hard to find us new hiking spots.

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  3. I want to come hike with you. Spiral staircase looks so good. I love those. Have a great weekend.

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  4. Your reading spot it GORGEOUS! How relaxing! Love those Father's Day baskets too, so creative!

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  5. We have made smores cookies a few times! I'd love to hike with you and read by your lake!

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  6. Oh wow, I bet painting that spiral staircase was a tedious job. It looks great!!

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    Replies
    1. It was quite the job... mostly because there were so many hard to reach places.

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  7. How awesome to go on those hikes and it looks like you were in RI! It's sounds like you all had a nice Father's Day and I like the basket you made. Great job on painting the staircase. I hope you have a nice weekend Joanne.

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    1. Yep, we've been hiking in RI a lot; it's only about 10 minutes down the road so we do a lot of things in RI.

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  8. All that time on the water, swoon! The Father's Day basket is adorable.

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  9. So many great things from this week! I love your home location, so peaceful.

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  10. I adore your reading spot - and your hiking trails look great. Wishing you a fab weekend.

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  11. I can always count on you to share beautiful photographs and some delicious looking desserts. You did not disappoint. Glad you are enjoying lakeside reading time. And hikes.

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  12. Joane,
    All beautiful photos!! I have been getting in some reading too!! Something I promised myself I would do when I retired....Thanks so much for stopping by!! I hope you have a great weekend!!
    Hugs,
    Deb

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  13. Is that a private beach? The Fathersday basket looks delicious! What a amazing place you live in.

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  14. Such a lovely week, Joanne. The hiking trails and lake are beautiful. Thank you for linking with #weekendcoffeeshare.

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  15. So many lovely photos. Aww, I would love to relax by the water :)

    Thanks so much for linking up to The Weekend Link Up. I hope you can join us again tomorrow for Creative Mondays Link-Up. #TheWeekendLinkUp

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I have really been trying to up my photography game..

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  16. Those hikes sound so nice! And that Father's day basket looks great!

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    1. Thanks! I was so happy to have seen the Nuts About You idea online; it was pretty easy and so fun to pull all the PB favorites together.

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  17. Love these Joanne....okay, what are those things sticking up from the leaves?
    Very cool old cemetary. Loved seeing your face while kayaking. How fun.

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    1. We had to look that up as well-- it's some sort of leaf Galls (which are similar to warts/ benign tumors on humans).

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  18. I need to get out for some summer hiking soon! My kids just finished school last week and we have been pretty lazy since then. I think next week is when we will start doing more things! Thanks for sharing your summertime activities and fun, Joanne! I always enjoy reading and looking at your photos.

    Shelbee
    www.shelbeeontheedge.com

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    Replies
    1. I find that summer hiking is pretty sporadic and totally weather dependent. We took that first full week after school ended to just enjoy sleeping in and hanging around the house with nothing to do.

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