A Great Day in L.A.

As you read this title you may be thinking to yourself, "The Orr's back in California?"  No Los Angeles for us...now we are talking L.A. as in Lower Alabama.  I am not going to lie, most Saturdays I wake up and wonder, "What the heck are we going to do to day?"  By Saturday I am looking for a change from Jake and my "normal" routine, but it easier said then done.  By nine it is usually too hot and humid to go outside, it can even be too much to go swimming and who knew that was possible?  The beach is beautiful, but the 3 to 4 hour round trip is not something we can do every week.  And since we have a toddler, staying inside watching reruns of NCIS or Criminal Minds is also out of the question.  Needless to say, our whole family (especially Arthur) were excited when the Kimber's invited us to a place they call Shark Tooth Creek.

As far as I know, this place is not on any map and although it is only 45 minutes from our house there is no way I could find it again.  I think its seclusion is part of it magic.  It was like entering a tropical paradise as we made our way down the hillside to the base of small waterfall that feeds the cool clear creek.  The sound of falling water and the canopy of branches and vines protecting us from the Alabama heat made a beautiful backdrop for a morning of "excavating" and memory making.  A big thank you to the Kimber's for sharing your special spot with us, we had a great time!

A perfect 2 year old hike to the waterfall

Making our way down stream

Katie showing Jake one of the fossilized shark teeth that she found.  She's a teacher (can't you tell?) and one of Jake's (and our) favorite people out here.  

Jake walking back with the boys.  We love spending time with the Kimber's, and it makes it so much better that they love Jacob.

Jake playing in the water downstream.  It is moments like this, when the independent little boy he is becoming is so apparent, that I hold my breath and wait to become melancholy or nostalgic about the baby he use to be.  But I don't.  Instead I am just happy and excited as I watch him learn and grow.

As if stomping around in water and finding fossilized shark teeth wasn't enough, that was not the end to our awesome day.  After hamburgers and naps, we were off for an evening of extreme bowling with our best friends here, the Kimber's (they hadn't had enough of us) and the Moody's.  It was Jake's first time bowling and my first time in nearly 10 years.  But even with our lack of experience, we had a great time.  Arthur even helped me improve my game.  On my second game I scored a 98.  That may not sound like much, but after a game of gutter balls, I was pretty excited.

Jake's independent self was in full force.  After Arthur showed him what to do one time, Jake wanted no further assistance from either of us.  He would go pick up his ball and carry it over to the dragon slide.  After pushing is down the dragon, he would stand at the end of his lane and yell, "Go! Go! Go!" as his ball rolled toward the pins.  The best part was that it didn't matter to him whether he hit one pin or all 10.  He was just enjoying the experience.

When he it wasn't his turn, he would lean against the beam next to our lane as Talen, Michelle and Sean's son went.  He also enjoyed sliding around and dancing to the 90's music in his sweet bowling shoes.  He had some pretty awesome moves in those shoes.

As for me, I was just grateful for a fun family night out and that we got through the evening without Jake dropping one of the heavy bowling balls he kept trying to pick up onto his foot.  Simple blessings right?

All in all it was a great weekend and for old times sake I feel like I should ask, "So, what's next?"