Mother's Day, Zane's 8th Birthday and More

 We started the month of May with a field trip to the Forestiere Underground Gardens in Fresno.  Zane decided it would be better named the sunken gardens, because nothing actually grows underground.  But it was really neat to see all the work that was done to dig the tunnels and open areas about an average of 10 feet below the surface.

the entrance

an orange tree growing up through a skylight

some of the "underground" garden 

more "underground" garden

this was meant to be an entrance for vehicles

For Mother's day we did a hike to Bodie Falls.  It was more of an adventure hiking through the woods after all the storms and flooding this winter.  The falls were beautiful with a large amount of water still flowing in the creek.

hiking the trail

Bodie Falls

Casey crossing the creek

Zane getting creative with his crossing

Zane's down at the base of the falls

We also checked out both of the washouts that happened on Eshom Creek this winter.  

This is by the Eshom Creek Campground 

same as above

This is about 1/2 mile from camp

One day Zane and friends were playing in our backyard when they came running and yelling into the house-we had a visitor in our backyard!

Black bear

For Zane's birthday we surprised him with an overnight at Great Wolf Lodge.  He didn't know until we pulled up.  He had a blast and wore both of us out.  The water park was a lot of fun.  His favorite slides were the family tube slide and the fast single slides.  He also enjoyed the rope course.

He was excited to have his own bunk beds in the den

Ropes course with Pops

Upper level of the ropes course

On his birthday we did a party and water fight with friends.

Water Fight

Singing Happy Birthday

opening presents

He really liked his new mustache and sweatshirt

Kayaking on the pond on his birthday

At the end of the month I headed to South Mountain YMCA camp in Pennsylvania.  I did a CHA Certification there last year and was invited back to do another one this year.  The weather was great and we had an awesome bunch of participants who all got certified by the end of the week.

South Mountain YMCA Camp

An old carriage house on the property

The trail through the ears of my horse

He was a Belgian draft

Our group photo at the end of the week

Another month wrapped up.  Summer staff have arrived here at Hartland and we are gearing up for our summer season at camp.