Friday afternoon randomness

My house feels normal again now that Will is back from his cross-country camp. I never feel settled when one of my peeps is gone. We're all glad he's home and I think he is too. He told us that he had to get up and run every morning at 6am while there and hike every afternoon--oh the injustice. 

I've had to get creative and find new places to hike this summer because of all the trail/forest closures related to the Waldo Canyon fire. This morning my friend and I hiked the middle and upper Columbine Trail in North Cheyenne Canyon and it was SO beautiful! I've actually found several amazing hikes this summer that I probably never would have if I hadn't had to look for new terrain. It's good to shake things up every so often, right?

Isn't that so beautiful? The two deer in the picture below were SO close to the trail and they weren't the least bit afraid of us. I hate my picture turned out so blurry.

When we were in Santa Fe last week we made a trip to Trader Joe's and I stocked up on some of our favorite TJs products. I also found a few new things to try including blue corn tortillas. YUM. I used them in my very favorite enchilada recipe last night and they were quite possibly the best enchiladas I've ever made. Corn tortillas usually fall apart when I roll enchiladas but these were PERFECT. I don't know if it was the blue corn tortillas or if it was because I finally found a good method for flash-frying them. Regardless, they were perfect and delicious.

I think one of the things I despise about the end of summer is the MOUNDS of paperwork. The high school(s) send a link with all of the student forms that need to be printed and completed before student processing (which is next week--blech) and each grade level packet is 40+ pages. Thankfully, I don't have to print every single page, but I have to print a whole lot of them and then fill them out. YUCKO. I despise paperwork. Despise it. I also dread the onslaught of paperwork that accompanies the first weeks of school. It's slightly overwhelming to keep up with all of that for three kids and three different schools. 

We're going to try to squeeze in another pool day and maybe some hiking next week--in between XC practices, some back-to-school shopping (we're not buying much until fall actually arrives), student processing, company arriving, and one last summer getaway. Summer is winding down and I'm very very sad, but I'm thankful that we still have some fun days left to enjoy to the fullest. Peace out, peeps. Enjoy your weekend!