I certainly did not mean to disappear from this space for a week. Wow! The past week really did zip by me! It was quite the whirlwind really. Lots of new things being thrown at us and needing to digest. I’ll save all of that for another post on another day though for today I am finally getting around to posting the video I promised my 13 year-old son I would share with you last weekend. (Sorry Logan for letting this past week slip through my fingers. I swear I never forgot my promise to you. It just was a tad bit delayed.) Logan is our aspiring filmmaker and he had a blast at the waterfall earlier this month filming footage of the beautiful scenery. After getting home and editing all of his clips he practically begged me to share it with all of you here on my blog. I’m pretty proud of all his talents so I certainly do not mind sharing it. I think you all will enjoy it as well. I must add that he did not have his tripod with him at the time so I think he has a very steady hand!

I apologize in advance for the heavy picture post! I just couldn’t resist posting them all!

Our days living in the Gorge are rapidly coming to an end and I suddenly feel this frantic urge to revisit some of the beautiful places to see here. I truly feel so lucky that I have been able to call this undeniably gorgeous part of the Pacific Northwest home for the past 5 years now.

Yesterday found my husband home for half the day so we took advantage of the morning and went on a little mini field trip with our younger two children, Ariella and Gabriel. We ended up at Multnomah Falls first and then stopped at Horsetail Falls on our way back home. We went at a very casual pace for the little ones and it was so much fun to see the waterfalls through their eyes.

The last time I stopped to visit Multnomah Falls I was 7 months pregnant with Ariella. (And can you believe we actually hiked to the top of that waterfall that day! That is quite a hike for a pregnant lady!) Multnomah Falls was a little overwhelming for Ariella. It is so massive and high up. I believe it intimidated her some. Gabriel would have had us hike to the top if we would have let him! He had so much fun on the trail. (Multnomah Falls has some wonderful native legends to it and I recommend reading about them here if you are interested.)

We had the most fun at Horsetail Falls because it is not as well-known as Multnomah Falls which translates into: not as many tourists there. You can also get right down to the bottom of the fall which we did and let the little ones run around.

They enjoyed climbing on the rocks and tossing pebbles into the water. It was wonderfully cool by the waterfall and I could have stayed there all day.

The Gorge is full of amazing waterfalls, some much more accessible than others. One day my husband and I would love to go and try to see them all. Hiking in the Gorge is a beautiful treat to explore.

I hope to squeeze in a few more local field trips in the weeks before we move. I’m beginning to miss this wonderful area already.

I did not intend to take so many days to post the last part of this wildflower walk that my family and I went on. Last week proved to be a very busy week in my garden and much was accomplished. Although it did wear me out and leave no time for anything else! I hope to share some of what I did in the garden later this week.

Now to continue on with our last nature walk: in the last post I showcased two very bright wildflowers that jumped out at us as we wandered the path we were on. I am more drawn to softer colors and really enjoyed the wildflowers found in today’s post. I like the soothing colors of blue and purple flowers and the wild lupines in full bloom certainly fit that bill.

Broadleaf Lupine (Lupinus latifolius)

I have never before seen a wild larkspur and had to look these pretty flowers up to identify them. We did not find very many of these blooming so I felt rather lucky to stumble upon the few that we did.

Upland Larkspur (Delphinium nuttallianum)

The final flower to show from this nature walk was one of the sweetest little wildflowers I have seen. Small little white bells tinged with blue dotted the landscape here and there and would remain unseen if you were not paying close attention.

Bicolor Triteleia (Triteleia grandiflora var. howellii)

I hope to have my family go on a couple more wildflower hunts this spring while we still have the chance to spot a few. If there is one thing I have learned about nature from gardening is that Mother Nature does not wait for you. One must go out and enjoy all Mother Nature has to offer while you can because if you snooze you lose! The wildflower displays may be short lived but they are so worth going out and finding them.