The Third Time is the Charm

Mark wanted to go camping since he had to miss out on our trip with Shelley last week.  Seth wasn't interested in coming, so it was just Mark, Paul and me.  Packing the van with equipment for three people was a breeze! 

Mark requested to go to Tanner's Flat in Little Cottonwood Canyon.  We have been there two times before and each time has been full of crazy adventures.  Our first trip in 2011- I had diarrhea,

we got separated from Paul while we were at Snowbird for about an hour (super scary), we couldn't get the fire to start, I got stinging nettle all over my hand, we went down to a store to get meds for my hand and we ate dinner at Wendy's.  Our second trip in 2013- Paul's shoes got soaked before the hike, so he wore flip-flops, his flip-flops broke while on the hike, we got rained on and then hailed on during the hike, my tent leaked big time during the storm, we packed up during the rainstorm and went home early, stopped off at Wendy's for a treat. 

This year I was seriously just waiting for something to go bad and nothing did!  Phew!

It was really hot when we got to our camp spot, so we set up camp and then went to Snowbird Center to walk around.  We found this playground, so the boys played for a while.

 

The car was smoking hot!

 When we got back to the campground, the shade had started to cover our area.  Paul and I went for a walk along the river.  This is the kind of playground that he really enjoys!

 

 

 

 We roasted hotdogs for dinner (well, the boys did, I had a taco salad- I don't like hot dogs!) roasted marshmallows and starbursts, climbed rocks, goofed around and played card games until it got too dark to see the cards. 

I took the term "car camping" quite literally and I slept in the van!  I didn't want to set up the big tent for just me, so I folded down the seat in the van (I love the Stow-n-Go feature!) pumped up an air mattress and I was good to go!  I did unroll two windows a little bit (and covered the openings with some thin cloth) for some airflow.  It worked perfectly for me! 

 

 

 I even popped some popcorn on my new stove!  (Last year I had to buy a new Coleman stove because the old one broke- I have been so disappointed in my new stove because it has only one setting that it will stay on and that is HIGH!  I found this butane stove for under $20 so I decided to give it a try and so far I like it much better than my old Coleman!)

 This is the view that I had while making breakfast.  I seriously cannot complain about this view!  Being up here was very nourishing to my soul.

 Paul wanted to try the Cecret Lake hike again, but this time with real shoes on.  The hike was lovely, the lake was full and no harm came to us!

 Paul likes to blend into his environment.  His shirt was the same color as the sky!

 

Well, it looks like the third time was the charm (thankfully it wasn't "three strikes and you're out"!)

Even though everything went well, we stopped off at Wendy's for a Frosty- it has become tradition!

 

 

I really enjoyed spending time with Mark and Paul.  It was great to just kick back and have fun together.  They are wonderful kids and it was a good thing for me to be reminded of that. They take good care of me and I really appreciate that.  We didn't set out to have it be just the three of us, but I am really glad that it turned out that way.  I got to see Mark and Paul hang out together and be nice to each other- sometimes I'm not too sure if they even like each other, so it is good to see that when it is just the two of them that they can be friends! It was a great help for Daniel to keep Seth and Jane with him. They had a fun late-night adventure and it was good for the three of them to spend time together without the competition of the older boys.  

 

I am so grateful to live so close to the mountains.  I love spending time with my family in the mountains- and I am extremely happy that my kids are wiling to spend time with me! We already have plans made for our next hiking adventure! 

Camping with Shelley

 This year our annual "Mom and Boys" camping trip with Shelley included Jane in the mix.  She was still a bit of work to have with us, but we all enjoyed the fun energy that she brings with her.  Mark was finishing a summer class, so he wasn't able to join us.  We went to the Spruces campground in Big Cottonwood Canyon. We tried a new spot, number 22 and loved it!  It had plenty of parking for us (neither Shelley or I are great at backing up, and this site had enough parking area that we didn't have to back into it!) 

Since Jane was with us, we didn't go on the bigger hike to Lake Mary, but just went around Silver Lake.  Jane was being a bit of a pill and didn't want her picture taken- so unlike her.  She even got upset because people were looking at her.  Oy vey! 

Here we are at Silver Lake. 

 Shelley and me

 Our group.  Jane is hiding behind Paul. 

 

 Jane finally agreed to have her picture taken, but wouldn't smile with her eyes open. 

 After we ate dinner, we walked down to the river to throw rocks.  We stayed until Jane fell in the mud. 

 My adorable breakfast companions

 I love these kids!

 Seth was not happy that this face wasn't in the silly picture, so here is my little cuttie!

 Jane and I went for a little walk.  My family used to camp in this area a lot when I was growing up, so I have fond memories in this spot.  I showed her our hide-out.  This grove of pine trees is still there but the trees are 20 years older, so I could still fit in the area! 

 Jane stopped in the shade and started telling me a story.  I really couldn't keep up with the storyline, but I did catch on to one part where she said that you have to be careful to not let the bears catch you because the bears will hand you over to the zombies and the zombies will turn you into a bear. Bears are dangerous, uh huh! 

 Shelley took her boys on a longer hike and I took my kids to Hidden Falls.  It is a short walk to a waterfall, so I knew that Jane could handle it.  She was very pleased with herself that she made it across the bridge (mostly) by herself! She was a champ crossing the water on the rocks.  She had to backup a few times, but she did great and didn't get her feet wet until she jumped into the puddle at the bottom of the falls! 

 Seth

 Paul climbed up high and sat here for a while (he's there, just blends in well!) Paul was awesome with the little boys on this trip. He played with them and was a great role model.  He earned his alone time on the mountain!

Seth took this picture of me and Jane.  I was reviewing the picture and dropped my camera in the water.  Augh, I'm so upset! I'm trying to be patient to let it dry out. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it survived the water. 

 

This camping trip was the one I have been waiting for.  Camping with the church for Young Women's camp was in a beautiful place but I did not leave that week of camping feeling like my soul was restored- in fact I felt exhausted in almost every way possible after that experience. Camping last week with Daniel was awesome.  I loved the company I was with, but the area wasn't restorative for me.  It felt so good to be in the mountains and soak up the beauty in the area!  

Wasatch State Park with Daniel!

We spent two nights at Wasatch State Park in Midway.  This trip we had the entire family come, so we had a full van and I was grateful that we were staying in a cabin because I don't think that we could have fit the tents and gear in the van! 

 

The company I had with me was amazing. I was not a fan of the weather or the area we stayed in.  I didn't realize that the area is in the foothills, not the mountains and that we wouldn't have much shade.  The weather was super hot- 95 degrees.  I didn't pull out a long sleeve shirt at night because it was still too hot.  We didn't light a fire the first night because it was just too blasted hot.  We did a fire the next night only to keep the kids happy because they were anticipating roasting marshmallows.

 

The moon was super big and bright while we were up there, so it was quite beautiful at night to sit and view the moon (and the few stars that could be seen because of the bright moon!)

 

Mark Jane and Seth on our walk around the campground. 
Notice the sagebrush- I would prefer trees over sagebrush!

Jane and Paul on the top bunk bed.

I did my very first Dutch oven cooking.  I made brownies.  They were undercooked on one side but still quite good- we didn't have any leftovers, so sometimes that speaks for itself!

Jane and Paul made some masks. I was quite impressed with Jane's mask.  She wanted to draw a sad princess and I think that she did a great job.  No one helped her with the artwork. Nice photo bombing, Mark!

The guys spent a lot of time playing card games.
(I was so grateful that we figured out how to make the shade tent fit in the van!

Daniel, Jane and Me

We played a game called Quelf.  It got us doing some silly things and we all had a lot of fun with it!

Here Seth was having to hold onto his tongue while reading a paragraph.

Mark was supposed to give a silly smile for 30 seconds and I think that this is one of the best smiles he has given me in a long time! 

Paul couldn't bend his arms or legs until his next turn. He got one that he had to sit on his hands until his next turn and it was hilarious.  We had just finished popping some popcorn (love the little cabin and the microwave!) and he really wanted some.  He wouldn't eat it out of my hand, so I put some on the seat next to him. He was bending over trying to eat it off of the chair and the chair he was sitting on fell over.  He wasn't hurt, but he lost that challenge! 

Could someone please stop this kid from growing up?  Can I just keep him small for a little bit longer? 

Jane

Me and Daniel

One of my favorite views- watching my kids explore while on a hike.

We found a little amphitheater and Jane put on a little number for us. 
She sang a song that said "Nothing can stop me now" over and over. 
Seth attempted to get on the stump, but she wouldn't let him.
 I seriously wondered if that song would ever end. 

Paul and Seth- a captive and handsome audience.

Eventually we wanted to continue the hike, so Paul went and talked to Jane about why she needed to be done with her song.  It was really sweet to watch these two interact. Paul is such a good brother to Jane!

The Taylor Family 2014
Mark, Sherron, Jane, Daniel, Seth, Paul

Even though the weather was uncomfortable, we still had a great time- thank goodness there was AC in the cabin! We had some good times together as a family and that is what I had been craving.  We have all been so busy with work/school/girl's camp/friends, that I really wanted to slow things down for a few minutes and be together with no outside interruptions.  It was really good for all of us to be together and depend on each other for a while. I'd like to do this a few times each year- it really felt good to be together.