easy like a sunday morning (in the country)

Happy Mothers Day! Here's a picture of my mother and I taken on August 17th, 1982 when I was 6 days old... I know it's a little blurry but that was a long time ago!

So yesterday I decided to get the hell out of the city... so my bf, his 2 children, and myself headed south to Lake Murray. We got slightly distracted on the way there and ended up stopping at Turner Falls. After paying $40 to get into the park we figured we might as well enjoy it. We packed a picnic lunch and after we ate we climbed up the side of the falls (in freaking flip flops!) to get to the other side where there weren't as many people. We found a great little spot where the water in the river wasn't too deep and we could wade in the sun. The riverbed was rocky and those rocks were slippery... really slippery. Just ask my phone, camera, checkbook, wallet and everything else in my purse. After laughing hysterically at the kids and Jeremy for slipping on the rocks, I slipped myself (damn karma!) and my purse fell in the water. My phone made a speedy recovery and thanks to the sun, the moisture in my screen dried out after a few hours... I wish I could say the same for my camera. It turned on, but took white pictures. So I let it dry and it worked fine. Then I tried it again this morning and the screen is all black and white and pixely. It's currently bathing in a bowl of rice... we'll see if it works.
So after climbing and swimming and sunbathing (I didn't get burned this time!) we left around 4:30 and drove about twenty more miles down the highway to Lake Murray. The water was peaceful and we found a quiet spot on the shore to sit on some rocks and just soak in the beauty of the lake. I wish I had pictures but my camera was in ICU at the time... but here's a few pictures from the falls that I took before my camera went swimming....

view from the top

I just loved the shadows from the trees

entrance to the cave... yes I crawled on my knees to get into it

view from the 'window' inside the cave

the cave 'window'

view of cave entrance from inside

another cave

love love loving the sun, water, and peace & quiet (pre-fall of course)

the view of the falls from the bottom (we climbed up the side and then back down)

near Lake Murray

I have cuts on my feet from walking barefoot and I'm a little tired but I wish I could be there every day. I love the city and the events and the hustle & bustle... but being in the country surrounded by trees and water and blue skies is absolutely magical.

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend!