A lot of {pretty} and {happy} ~ Waterfall Edition

taking a moment to find joy in the little things

{pretty}

Most of these are in my own backyard...it's so pretty out there right now.

These last two I snapped while hiking.

{happy and pretty}

I love, love, love waterfalls and this past week I've had the opportunity to hike to four different ones! First there was Oregon's most visited waterfall...Multnomah Falls. The girls and I have an annual tradition of hiking to the top. This past winter some rocks fell on the bridge and damaged it - closing it for repairs for several months. It just reopened this past week, and it was a perfect day to hike to the top.

{funny and real}

The hike to the top of these falls is quite over-hyped. The only view of the falls you have is this one...it's pretty, but not nearly as breathtaking as the view you have from the bottom - with both upper and lower falls and the bridge in the middle.

And then you get to the top and can virtually see nothing. It just looks like a normal creek and if you look out toward the gorge, you can see the parking lot below. Oh well... the girls like it and it's a fun little tradition we do in May. 

back to {happy and pretty}

Then we went to Bridal Veil falls. These falls are probably the closest to our house and the hike is really a nice, short walk. Because of those two reasons, we've never bothered to stop. {funny and real} I've started seeing pics of these falls on instagram and decided I needed to take the time to go see them myself. I was NOT disappointed. They are gorgeous!

Sunday we took a family hike to Tamanawas Falls

And on Memorial Day, we hiked with some friends to Punch Bowl falls. This particular hiking trail is one of the most popular in our area. My husband doesn't really like hiking with thousands of other people, so this was another new to me trail. He had done this hike before with the girls (on one of those rare occasions I chose to stay home), but I had never gone. We got there early and pretty much had the area to ourselves, but as we were hiking out it was getting very crowded!

lower falls

Seeing either of these falls takes a little extra effort. To see the upper falls (pictured below), you have to balance on rocks or wade through water, and even then the falls are still pretty far away. There is a view point from up above, but the trees and other forest growth keep you from getting a nice, clear view. And to get this view of the lower falls (pictured above), I had squeeze my way round a rock and tree and peer through a small opening to get this shot. 

upper falls

So that's what my week looked like...lots of adventuring and getting out into nature. There were other happy moments, too...like meeting Chase the horse and Wallace and Gromit the donkeys. 

more {happy}

{real}

The main reason we are able to do this kind of stuff is because we've simplified our lives in other ways and we have the time and freedom to go. This is the reality of pursuing minimalism for me. It may seem like we are often on the go, but the reality is that we are home most of the time. I only schedule one activity a week for the girls and I, and then on the weekends we have our family adventures. This is why I pursue simple living...so I can do these things with my girls.

I'm linking up with Life Through the Lens, It's the Little Things, {pretty, happy, funny, real}, Little Things Thursday and Floral Love