Suddenly Summer

After a long, cold spring, this weekend has suddenly become summer. We had temps in the mid 80s today, and forecasts for even warmer weather tomorrow. After deciding to ignore our "To Do" lists, we took advantage of the warm weather and headed to the mountains for a hike. We like to explore new areas, so today we went about an hour north to the mountains outside of Helena, the state capital. The trail was only ten miles outside of town, but the last five or so were Subaru-worthy miles. We managed to hike about four miles, enjoying some vistas of various mountain ranges, a few wide open meadows just barely greening, and the beginnings of summer wildflowers.

After the hike, we headed into town for a late lunch. Claire was ready to move around after being confined to the backpack, and since we had the outdoor patio to ourselves, we let her roam. Of course she was filthy in about 30 seconds. I'm discovering as we spend more time outside that maybe I am ready for her to start walking. A crawling baby and sidewalks, concrete, our dirty front porch just don't mix well. (I'm trying to favor letting her explore over keeping the cute clothes clean, can you tell?)