Today, at the closing ceremony for Willow's softball league, Willow was presented with a "Sportsman of the Year Award" plaque for her age division. I'm a proud father. She definitely earned it too. Afterward, I took her to a birthday party at nearby Vasona park, and while she partied, I walked to nearby Lexington reservoir, which is about 4 miles away.

Where the trail starts to ascend the back side of the dam, I found this little critter.

Like I did the last time I picked up a Gopher snake on the trail (hiking up Mission Peak with Willow), I stepped into naturalist mode and did a quick presentation for a nearby family, and then released it off the trail so it would be less likely to get run over by one of the many cyclists who fly down the path.

The reservoir itself actually has a decent amount of water in it.

The trail itself was hot and dusty.

When I got back to Vasona, Willow was out on a peddle boat, working on her sunburn.

Also of recent note, Willow's oldest brother, Alex, just graduated from high school. When I started this blog, he was a little six year old boy who preferred to be known as "Lexy". This makes me feel old. He also has had his first car accident, which gave the two middle kids, Sophie and Nathan, mild concussions, and did some pretty serious damage to his car.