Donut Falls

The last gasp of summer...I decided to take my kids on a little hike on Monday. We went to Donut Falls, which is up Big Cottonwood Canyon. The very beginning of the trail has a steep ascent and I started to hear the whining kick in to high gear. In order to thwart the murmuring, I offered to take the kids to lunch if they had a good attitude for the duration of our little adventure. Plus, I put them to the task of making wildflower bouquets. It seemed to do the trick. They kept walking and whined minimally. Plus, the bouquets were very pretty. And Harry really enjoyed the challenge of finding bugs. He lives for that.

We were able to make it to the falls after crossing a mild stream. Of course, Raef had to climb up the rocks as much as possible. It is his thing. I carried Noelle on my back in my sweet hiking backpack. I am so thrilled to have it back in my possession. Noelle didn't make a peep, so I think she must have had fun looking around as we wended our way through the trail. 

The day was magnificent, absolutely perfect for a hike. I am so glad we were not sitting at home rotting away. After the hike, we drove over the pass to Park City and then ate lunch at Panda Express. The kids were really excited about that for some reason.

It was a successful little adventure for my kids. I am grateful that we all got to go and that the drama stayed home.

Snow Canyon Saturday

While we were in St. George, I really wanted to get out there and experience the area.  It was a perfectly beautiful day, so we had to do a hike. We went with Nordel and his family and it was just great. The light was beautiful and Snow Canyon is an amazing place to go.  We took the kids on a couple of little hikes and made sure to take lots of pictures.

 

Tahoe Rim Trail at Mt. Rose

One of my bucket list things to do this summer was to take my boys on a long hike.  I finally made it happen on Tuesday.  We drove to the summit at Mt. Rose and did a loop hike on the the Tahoe Rim Trail.  The boys were happy to go.  We brought a lunch and lots of water and set out on a wilderness adventure.

 

I made sure to wear my GPS watch so I could see how far the hike was.

 

At first, Raef was thrilled to be on the trail, and Zach was not so happy.  It might have been because I made them both carry the backpacks.  I didn't realize that Zach had the heavy one, as I had inadvertently put all three waters in his pack.  I kept telling him to quit whining and keep going.

 

Yes I really am a slave driver.

 

At the junction where the trail splits at 2.5 miles, there was an awesome little waterfall.

 

And the view was fantastic!

 

 For some reason, I thought the waterfall was the halfway point.  As we headed back, there was a deer in our path.  She winked and said hello and then sauntered down the steep hill after another deer came out of nowhere and shooed her off. It was really quite bizarre.

 

After most of the water had been consumed and the pack was lighter and cookies were in the belly, Zach was in a lot better frame of mind. He was telling jokes and saying funny things to me, as Raef was lagging behind, sulking because it was just too far. It was a complete reversal.

 I could finally see the road and realized that we probably had at least another mile to go.  I thought it was going to be a medium 5 mile hike, but I knew we were not going to be that fortunate. 

And then, kersplat!  Zach completely biffed it and did a face plant into the gravel.  Then it was just all over.  He was miserable and couldn't go on another step.  I really had to put on the mean, suck it up and quit whining face with both of them.  There was no way I was going to carry either one of them back!

Luckily, when the GPS clocked in at 6.08 miles, we were at the car. 

Now, if I want to strike fear into the hearts of my dear boys, all I have to do is say the H word, and they are begging for mercy.

A Week With Friends

We had a great time this last week because of some special visitors.  Dwan, Elizabeth, Josh, and Grace came to spend the week with us from Las Vegas. It was so awesome.  

After a Tuesday afternoon arrival, we went sledding on Wednesday. It would have been a lot of fun, but the wind was rotten. It was terrible the way the wind whipped down the hill. As soon as I got the little ones out, they started crying emphatically and wouldn't stop. As Rinar was pulling the sled, Julia was lying face down crying her eyes out. She was not happy.

But we stayed for about an hour and had some fun. Our friends had fun and that is all that matters.  But we soon were done and then we got the heck out of there.

We headed over to Lake Tahoe and ate some lunch at some dive in King's Beach.  Then we went home and relaxed. Well, the boys relaxed. Elizabeth and I went shopping: Charming Charlie's, Walmart, and the Goodwill Bookstore.  Elizabeth was in heaven at the bookstore and apparently I have now been assigned to be her personal book shopper.  Okay, I guess I will if you are going to twist my arm.

Rinar went back to work on Thursday, and I had stuff to do, like co-op and violin lessons.  So they did their own thing. Then Elizabeth helped me clean up the house and get it ready for my monthly dinner group.  I was hosting this month with a theme of tapas.  We hung out with the ladies, while the boys (and Grace) went to dinner and a movie.

We finished off Friday by going on a long hike together. Brown's Creek Trail goes behind our house and it was perfect. The air was crisp, the day was beautiful.  Harry really wanted to go, so I decided to take him, as Josh (being a typical teenager stayed home with Julia). He is a pretty strong walker and he did well.  Harry walked all the way up the mountain and then either I or Rinar carried him the rest of the way. It wasn't so bad and he had a wonderful time.  I need to take the kid outside more. He loves it.

It was a joy to be able to reconnect with old friends. I hope we can do it many more times in the future.

Nature Walk

It has been a beautiful Sunday, after a couple of days of rotten weather.  The rotten weather is Heavenly Father's way of cleaning up His house, like sweeping, scrubbing, disinfecting.  Now everything is so clean and crisp and lovely.

In between General Conference sessions, we decided to go take a walk at Galena Creek Nature Trail.  It couldn't have been more perfect.  The kids had so much fun. They diligently looked for bugs and found quite a few. They also threw sticks and rocks and did a lot of jumping and screaming.

Then when we got home, we whisked the little ones off to bed for a nap. Since they had walked the whole way, nap time was much more easily accomplished today.

We need to go on hikes with more regularity.

Ophir Creek Trail

I have discovered the joy of hiking with my three oldest. It is a lot of fun. We don't ever get very far, but it is a nice, free activity to do.  Now, we are fortunate enough to live where there are ample hiking trails very close to our house.  They have breath-taking views and I want to experience it all while I have the chance.

On Saturday, we did a trail at the top of Mt. Rose summit. Just on the other side of the summit is Lake Tahoe. This trail was on the Tahoe Rim Trail system.  There were still lots of patches of snow on the trail and the boys had a lot of fun shoeing down each little hill.

Zach scolded Eli and so Eli was upset. But he still looked adorable holding a daffodil. You can get an idea of how cold it has been up here since the daffodils just bloomed.

But Eli was a trooper and he kept on plodding along the trail. I am just whipping this boy into shape so that we will be able to do longer hikes over the next while.

This is one of my new favorite activities to do with the kids and it sure beats them playing the Wii all Saturday afternoon.