Crazy Eyes and Fun on the Trails

We had a nice three day weekend, with a kids party and a nice bike ride/run on Monday.


So on Saturday, it was nice to get together with a bunch of our friends for a kids party.  What was different though at this party was the intermixing of different groups of folks we hang out with that normally are not in the same circles.

The kids had a wonderful time.  There was a jump house, fun food and great association.  The weather was supposed to be in the low 70's, but I don't think it made it over 62 but that was OK.   The kids got really worn out in the jump house with even some of the adults hopping in.  

On Monday we didn't want the weather to go to waste, so we decided to go out for a run/bike ride.  There is a route nearby which we love that skirts along the Lime Ridge Open Space.  It starts by the kids school, goes through a tunnel (think like one that should be in the Big Thunder Railroad ride at Disneyland) past a golf course and to a playground where we normally take a bit of a break.  Emma's bike had a flat (shouldn't have removed the goathead thistle) so she ran with Beth pushing Myles.  I rode on my bike with Sophie since I was still suffering from a calf strain.  Round trip it is 4 miles.

However, once we got back near the car, Beth wanted to take the girls up one of the trails she had been running before she picks up the kids from school.  It is a great 1 mile trail in the Lime Ridge Open Space, with a climb up to a single track that meanders back down like a snake with fun banks and turns. So while I waited with Myles, the began their run.  Emma loved the trail and I could hear her hooting and hollering as she came down.  Sophie on the other hand did a face plant early and therefore our normally aggressive hill runner became really timid.  All said and done, though, the kids had a great time. 

That said, yesterday Beth was running the same trail and noticed a photographer with a high powered lens taking pictures of her.  She thought this was odd until she got to the bottom and the photographer told her she was being chased by a Coyote.  Now we have seen coyotes up there before, in fact she had seen one a week before.  Coyotes are normally very timid around humans; however, we think that there must be a den up there.  For more on coyotes and humans, click here.  You can find her recap of yesterday's encounter as well as a picture of the coyote on her blog here.  You will also find other pictures from that run.

Just another beautiful weekend with the family. You can find more pictures here.