Darcy In Nature

We are incredibly lucky to live in a place with many outdoor play opportunities. Our weekends have been beautiful for several weeks, so we've been out and about. Here's our girl in a few different environments:

 Two weeks ago, we hiked near Lake Earl and spied ospreys around their nest and other cool stuff. Darcy asked to be able to run a head twice and spent time out of our sight on the trail for (I think) the first time. She was never out of sight for more than a couple minutes, but it's an exciting step for her to be capable of being "alone" in wild spaces.

We spent a sunny day in the interior parts of our territory recently. This is the Rough and Ready River and it's neighboring botanical area. There were amazing wildflowers, but I haven't uploaded those photos yet. The Rough and Ready is dry most of the summer, but was practically raging this day. Even though it was warm enough for the beloved halter-top dress, we could see snow on the mountains nearby.

 You may recall a beautiful picture of our girl lying in the sand dunes a couple months ago. If you don't recall it, you can revisit it. The way in was full of mud. On the way out, we tried a different path, only to find it covered with (luckily warm) water. I assumed Darcy would insist on a carry-out on this one, but no! She just waded right in and did it herself: