the last place in the world I thought we would go hiking.

when i was in ohio last month, dearest annie and i went hiking. 

seeing as i'm from utah, with mountains, i usually expect the midwest to be flat. 

because it is. 

nonetheless, we went hiking at hocking hills.

it was breathtaking to say the least.  i've done some really similar hikes in Zion's National Park, but everything is mostly desert, not this lively green mass of life you see below.  it was stunning. 

 

oh, by the way.

congrats to this little lady here. 

she just graduated from DENTAL SCHOOL and she just got engaged. 

 

we're super excited for you guys!  Congrats!

(that's big ben the horse, not her fiance.)

blogs about hiking here and here

practice makes perfect parenting

 

notice:  even though the kona is filthy, large and slightly overweight, the husband is still willing to let her sit on his lap. 

 

 

this is after my sisters got to her with cornstarch. 

 

see how he supports her head while sleeping. 

precious.  just precious i tell you.

Onis and Japan

look who just stepped up in the blogging/app world?

i know, i know, so behind.  . . 

anyway, here's some more of the motherland.

so the red devilish guys are calls "onis"  

our nephew tell us (who is in preschool) that you can throw popcorn to scare the onis away.  in the city of norbetsu it's mascot is the onis.

pretty garden areas

my one and only oni

 

so they have this crazy aquarium, which includes this awesome shark head.

no, the kona wasn't in japan, but the husband was playing with the new app as well. 

and they don't have san pellgrino (?)

but they do have some awesome origami museums in the airports. 

 

my origami skills include about 5 animals and 1 house.  these guys made whole themes out of fairy tells.  hope you are having some fun summer travels as well!

photos from iphone using instagram & picframe