Yesterday, Rick suggested we take a trip up to Bloomington Lake. Since our summer is about over and we've been busy with Ashley's wedding for the first half, we decided it was time to do fun stuff with the kids the last half. Nick is also working on his Scout merit badges, so we thought it was the perfect opportunity. Nick planned the lunch (tuna sandwiches, doritos and chocolate chip cookies) and off we went. We haven't been to Bloomington in years....there is a debate to when the last time was, but I say it's been about eight years. I can't ever remember taking Bailey. The trip started off very well. Nick had the GPS and enjoyed telling his dad when each curve in the road was coming up. Bailey had the tom-tom and helped in the driving directions also. There was a little rumblings about tummy aches from the bumpy drive up. When we arrived at the trail head, the kids were excited to begin the trek up. Nick enjoyed keeping way ahead of us and Bailey just wanted to get in the water. Once we passed the two ponds and finally reached the lake, Bailey was out of her shoes and socks and in the water. (No pictures....I'll explain later). There were plenty of people jumping off the rope swing and people cliff diving. We spent a while watching, but Nick decided the Cliff was the ideal place to go and take pictures. We proceded to rock climb to the top of the cliffs, which is just gorgeous! Nick was a mountain goat! He just kept climbing higher and higher. If you know Nick very well, he is not an outdoors kind of kid. He prefers the video & computer games. The fresh air was treating him well. Once he got to the very top and Rick was tired of following him, we climbed back down to the rope swing and proceeded to get in the water once again. We watched the crazy people swing into the freezing lake and had enjoyed the views. Once we hiked back to the trailhead (much whining due to having tired legs from the cliff-climbing) we had lunch and headed out. Bailey was a little on the tired and very grouchy side. At some point she was looking at the camera and decided it was a good idea to delete all the pictures with her in it. Coming through the canyon, a momma and baby moose crossed the road right in front of us. We got a close-up view (thought the sd card in camera was full, so no pictures). It was exciting because we had talked about wanting to see a moose at the Bloomington ponds. We ended up seeing two on the way home. Nick rates the trip as a 9 out of 10, the rock/cliff climbing as a 10 out of 10. This will mean we will be going up there again.
