#July4thWeekend2016

Ollo friends and family!

God Bless America!  Am I right??

To start things off, please enjoy my all time FAVORITE version of the National Anthem - it gives me the chills EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

It's not the best visual quality, but the sound is great!  One time at FHE while Rich and I were engaged, we went to play Volleyball somewhere on campus where they had these really echo-y racketball rooms...I found one that was deserted and sand the national anthem over and over until I got caught by my friend Jessica.  I was SUPER embarrassed - but it was fun while it lasted.  Nichole and Sheree - you guys would love to sing it with me in one of those rooms....!!  someday...

Anyway....HAPPY 4TH!!

"I believe with all my heart that standing up for America means standing up for the God who has blessed our land." -Ronald Reagan

I agree with him!

Anyway, allow me to back up to LAST weekend.  Rich and I were itchin' to take Bilbo on  REAL hike - most of the trails locally are more like walks in the park...even the trail in the Poconos (when we saw the bear) was pretty mellow - aside of course from the fact that bears live there.  So Rich scouted out a trail about 1.5 hrs away from where we live called Bear Mountain (and no..we did not see any bears on this trail...ironically enough).  Bilbo was SO good on the hike and stayed pretty close to us throughout the whole thing!

It was a pretty long hike and was rewarding when we finally made it to the summit!

There they are...my two favorite boys.  It was lots of fun climbing to the "peak" with them.  We forgot to bring a bowl for water for the dog...so Bilbo ended up drinking "backwash water" from our camelbaks...I'll let you interpret that as you may.

You can kinda see the view - it was actually pretty nice!

"How dare you take a picture of me - I am the KING of this mountain!"  He looks a little "scowly" in this pic, but really he was a happy camper the whole way.

 We were kinda hoping there would be a little more rivers for Bilbo to play in on the hike...but there was this ONE - which he really loved.  He ran off to it both times we past it and just laid down right in this little pond.  He'd just lay there and look around...keeping cool and waiting for us to tell him it was time to continue.  He is SUCH  a water loving dog!  Rich and I have a running joke that he is more than just a mix breed with a border collie and lab...but also part fish...and a lot of other animals including a badger, gator, pig, rodent....and others.  He didn't just go through the "dog" line in heaven...but a few others as well, including the fish line and pig line...etc.

Earlier this week during my lunch break I took Bilbo to play at Merwin Meadows soccer field and I came across this NASTY NASTY DADDY LONG LEG!

I MEAN LOOK AT HOW LONG THOSE LEGS ARE!!!!!!!  I was deeply disturbed, but obviously I needed to take a picture to prove that I survived the encounter with this hideous beast.

This next photo is much sweeter.

We usually don't let him on the bed (actually, Rich never does...I'm the one who always caves) but sometimes he just needs a good cuddle/love session.

Puppy love.

The rest of the week was pretty low key.  We were planning on going camping on Friday night - in light of the long weekend.  Unfortunately on Thursday night we discovered that it was going to RAIN Friday night in New York where we were planning on camping - we were even put on Tornado Watch (just a watch...not a warning, but a watch nonetheless).  So we ended up cancelling and not going camping!  So we were a little bummed out about that - but the weekend wasn't totally ruined!

Friday night we played for a long time with Bilbo on the beach (after it rained) at Merwin Meadows (you have to pay to get in during the day, but in the evening it's free and open to dogs).  We threw his ball into the water over and over and he literally DOES NOT tire of that ever.  He really doesn't know when to quit!  We did that for a while until we figured he was pooped.

Saturday we discovered a local 'dog friendly' park called "Quarry Head" recommended to us by our neighbor Lynn, and by another fellow who told us to check it out on the Wilton 412 (which is a facebook page for Wilton residents where you can post questions and sell stuff n' such).  It was actually a really cool property!  It's kinda tucked away - but it's only like 8 minutes from where we live!  We found out that Cranbury Park (one of our FAVORITE parks to stroll through will Bilbo) is going to start charging an entry fee/pass for $75!!  (you guys...Connecticut charges for EVERYTHING).  So we were pretty annoyed about that!  But Quarry Head was a great little park - it was definitely not as well maintained as Cranbury, but it's dog friendly and has lots of trails.  It's unique because I think it's just an old abandoned property of someones estate...there's even a foundation where the house once stood.

This is taken from the ruins of the foundation.  Now it's just kinda there and you can wander through them.  Bilbo had fun running through the "doors" and walkways.  You can kinda see what's left of the fireplace in the background.

Here's a head on shot of the fireplace remnants.  Because we weren't able to camp, and weren't able to eat our tin-dins (tinfoil dinners) like we had planned - we wanted to have a cookout somewhere - but NOWHERE in Wilton seems to offer public fire pits...BUT it appeared that the fireplace has been used as a firepit.  So someday in the near future we might end up taking advantage of it and having a little campfire.  The only problem is that just behind it is the place where visitors park so it wouldn't be very private. 

There's Rich and Bilbo along the trail.  Rich is holding Bilbo's giant Chuck-It ball that we bought off Amazon with a $100 gift card Rich earned at work.  He LOVES it - we've played soccer with him a few times and that REALLY wears him out!!

Devils Snare.

Just kidding - it's just lots of roots at my feet of the trail at Quarry Head.

Sunday we were able to go to all 3 hours of church (the past 2 weeks we may or may not have slept in for our ward because we'd done exhausting things the day before....and ended up just going to Sacrament Meeting in the New Canaan ward...-oops-) and it was very enjoyable!  All of the meetings were nice!  We sang all of the verses of the Star Spangled Banner in Sacrament Meeting and the organist really had a great time playing that one - each verse got louder and louder!  It was a pretty patriotic day - I wore red, white and blue and my patriotic American flag earrings!

I was also set apart for my calling as Visiting Teaching Coodinator/Supervisor (even the Bishopric Member wasn't sure what it was called! lol) and while I was waiting took a picture of this temple they had outside the Primary room on the bulletin board.

Someone did a great job crafting that!

I made Honey Lime Enchilladas for dinner with homemade tortillas - they actually aren't that hard at all to make (if you have a rolling pin...the first time I made them we'd only been married like 3 months and I had to improvise and use a whip cream can haha...don't worry, Rich gave me a rolling pin for Christmas).

The recipe for the enchiladas calls for 'green enchilada sauce' which is totally non-existent out here - so when I make theme it's always a little bit of a struggle to figure out if I should make homemade sauce...use verde salsa...or just make them with red enchilada sauce.  They're always delicious - just not quite as tasty as they are when I made them in UT. (thank you East Coast for not knowing what green enchilada sauce is!! --NOT--)

After dark, we lit off a few sparklers leftover from who knows when (the wedding maybe?)....

The Denver Broncos shirt is a patriotic shirt because, and I quote the husband "They're basically America's team."...I mean he's right...

 Sparklers are silly and childish...but fun.  So simple...but just...fun.  They're magical.  And yes...that IS an Old Navy t-shirt...gotta have them!

Today was actually very fun and exhausting!  We woke up hungry for another hike!  Rich scouted out one that was only 30 minutes away in Ridgefield/Danbury.  Like I mentioned before...most "hikes" that are local are not that at all...they're more like walks.  But this was actually a HIKE!  Like...I'll be sore tomorrow.  I already am sore!  It was definitely the real deal (Rocky Mtn style fo sho).  It was gorgeous tho - one of the perks of living out here is that you're pretty much shaded wherever you go outdoors - there's so many trees.  So I applied sunscreen but it wasn't really needed because the trail was so shaded.

We were blown away by the size of this boulder...we walked all the way around it and actually found a spot where someone had made campfire on the side of it.  It indents in the front and makes a little cave. 

There's Bilbo being a gator pup again...

We made it to a large pond on this hike and when we arrived Bilbo started rubbing his face and body on the dead leaves pretty agressibly...like his nose was itchy or something.  Then I realized that he was rubbing himself on a dead squirrel....whyyyy do dogs do that??  Needless to say Bilbo had a bath when we got home.  YUCK!

On our way back...there were so many intertwining trails that we just about got lost and our hike could have taken up a lot more of our day!  Luckily (more like tender-mercilessly) we ran into this guy named Conner and his dog (who was more than happy to frolic crazily with Bilbo to further tire him out) who helped us find our way back to our car.  We ended up actually being pretty lost and much further from our car than we thought we were.  So thank you Conner!

Here are some 4th of July flowers for you to enjoy.  And yes...this is set as my phone's wallpaper.  I am happy to send it to you if you'd like it as yours as well (it probably will be the entire month of July).  The flowers themselves look like fireworks!  This day is such a good day!!  I LOVE this holiday and what it means!  Especially out here in CT - there is a colonial feel about this place that makes it just a little more special!

We were able to go see the Wilton fireworks tonight (where they charge $25 per car to see the show...don't worry...we did NOT pay that! we stuck it to the man and walked instead.  we live way close so take THAT expensive Connecticut!) and it was actually a REALLY great display of fireworks!!  The finale was unlike anything I've ever seen!  Rich and I both agreed that they may have even been better than Stadium of Fire fireworks....it was pretty spectacular!

We ended up leaving Bilbo at home (he was pretty exhausted from the long hike and from the bath...some much excitement and trauma can be so tiring for a little pup) so he could rest and because I figured he'd probably just get restless with all the people around.  We don't think he's one of those dogs that freaks out over fireworks...but, we're not positive because we left him home.  He's never seemed bothered by thunder or other loud noises so hopefully he'll be fine for future holidays!

This is our plan for NEXT weekend - The Hill Cumorah Pageant (I really loved the Nauvoo pageant last summer and I hope that this one is just as good)- we already have someone to watch Bilbo - a super nice lady in our ward who lives in Wilton fairly close to us.  And the best thing about it??  IT'S FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!  I'm SUPER excited!!  And then after this coming weekend...next Saturday we are taking a plane back to UT for a few days!!!  July 16 cannot come fast enough!!!

Happy Independence Day to all and to all a good night!!  BTW - only 171 days until Christmas.