Grinding Rock Trail

Dominic was out of town this weekend, and Eliza didn't have school Friday for Veteran's Day, so we made plans to do lots of hiking.  Of course the weather didn't cooperate, and Eliza and I had a bit of a cold.  We ended up staying home Friday and Saturday, but today we were all ready to get out and enjoy a beautiful sunny day.  We met up with some fellow hikers at Mission Trails, and checked out the Grinding Rock Trail.  The guides pointed out some various plants along the way.  We also got to see some large mole rat homes, that we'd never noticed before, even though there are some that have been there for around 100 years!

The grinding rocks are right down by the San Diego River, so the girls were happy to check out the rocks and the water.

Since we've been doing a lot of hiking and exploring outdoors, Audrey has become very confident with her climbing skills.  She climbed trees and rocks happily throughout the hike.

The girls both had fun grinding acorns on the grinding rocks, just like the Kumeyaay Indians used to do.

Audrey wanted a better look at the acorn during the process.

Lots of the kids were happy to get their feet wet and play in or around the water, including Eliza.

Audrey was happier to just wander around and check out the big rocks.

Eliza liked this big rock that had a tree growing right through it.

Especially when she realized it made a perfect slide too!

A little dirt on her fingers from grinding acorns and climbing around.

 

I guess a little dirt wasn't enough for Audrey.  She was totally content just squishing her fingers in the mud here for a long while.

Climbing the steps for the last leg of the hike.  What an awesome experience!

Eliza had the class "Llama Llama" from school this weekend too.  She did the journal entry about hiking and finding acorns with him.  She even brought an acorn home and taped it into the journal.