I’ve been under the weather lately, and thus have been missing my hikes.  So, I’m sharing some of my favorite local hikes 🙂 The abundance of rain this season has given us a beautiful and bountiful display of wildflowers.

Mt. Rubidoux:

Oakmont Oakridge Trail:

Diamond Valley Lake:

Vernal Pools at Santa Rosa Plateau:

Crafton Hills:

Wildwood Canyon:

Scott Canyon:

Whitewater Preserve Rainbow Rock Canyon:

And we even hiked in the rain! while visiting dear older son in Washington State; Poo Poo Point Trail:

Happy Mother’s Day to Everyone! DH and I celebrated Mother’s Day and his Birthday early with Morning Tea.  We were a bit early, so we ducked into a thrift store next door to the Tea Shop.  And look what I found –  a Retro 60’s sewing machine, mounted in its own table! A Calanda 650, and she sews like a dream :).

I have found such peace and satisfaction in hiking… New boots that don’t pinch, goofing off, and enjoying my surroundings…

We had a wonderful family vacation the past two weeks.  Amazingly, all five of us were able to take a vacation together.  I took tons of photos, and here are just a few – from Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria:

Zagreb Cathedral, Croatia:

Church of St. Mark:

Shopping in Zagreb.  As you can see, the boys weren’t much into shopping, but more into eating and tasting the local brew.  As for dear daughter, she was happy to shop as well as eat 🙂  Even with all the walking we did, we collectively gained over 20 pounds!

We were fortunate to take in an ice hockey game.  Medvescak Zagreb now plays in the KHL, and we were able to see their first home game – they won against Severstal Russia:

Market in Britanski Trg(British Square) down the road from MIL’s house:

A pretty window in Samobor – Cute quaint village outside Zagreb:

I figured out how to use Pano on my iPhone.  Tito’s village where he grew up:

Medvedgrad Castle, Zagreb:

Bled, Slovenia – So beautiful! The monastery on the little island on Lake Bled is so picturesque.

The kids complained that we were boring photo subjects, so dear hubby and I decided to pose :). Austrian Parliament Building, Pallas Athena Fountain:

We even managed to hit a flea market in Vienna – vintage buttons, and amazing art!

Everywhere we went, there was graffiti.  I loved this mural along the Danube:

St. Stephen’s Church, Vienna:

Melk Monastery:

It was so much fun! Honestly, I did so much walking, I was literally ready to fall flat on my face at the end of every day.  Now, to recover from vacation…

Dear Hubby decided it was time to go and get some new shoes.  This entails driving to the outlet malls and looking through various shoe shops, and Electronics shops as well… So, the ever supportive wife that I am, I decided to tag along.  I am not the stereotypical woman; I am not into shoes.  Anyway, after much patience, going in and out of different shops, we were finished – yay! The best part came on the drive home.  We stopped by some Antique stores, and I picked up a few things.  A family of cute vintage ceramic bunnies, six vintage orange juice cups, and a Little Kiddles doll.  I love everything orange since we live in a small grove. and the Little Kiddles doll reminded me of my childhood. Oh, and I did  get a pair of new sandals too 🙂