A Nature Walk

The other night the weather was beautiful.  There was a touch of chill in the warm spring air. We had finished cleaning up dinner and the outdoors were beckoning me.  I felt driven to play outside.  I gathered those who were willing to join me (Jane and Seth) and we went for a walk along the Jordan River.   

The first stop was at the bridge.  And then played on the playground for a few minutes.

Then it was time for some silly selfies.  

There was a pleasant calm in the air. We only passed a few people the entire night, so it felt like we had the world to ourselves.  We strolled around just playing and observing. Our old house in Draper is behind us in this photo about a mile away.  Seth was too young to remember living there.  But I felt that somehow I was visiting a former part of my life blended in with my current life.   a

Seth and me- pretty son he'll be taller than me!

Jane and me

Seth and Jane

I love this picture of Seth and Jane.  They are good together- such a beautiful thing to watch!  I love how Jane lifted up her foot when she posed for the picture.  I sure love these two wonderful people!

We walked as we watched the sun go down.  As the tips of the mountains were being covered by the night shadow, we walked back to the van and watched the sun sink behind the mountain on our drive home.  We stayed out much later than I had planned.  Bedtime was delayed that night, but it was a magical night- one where we allowed nature to lead us where we needed to be and we were able to just be present in the moment.  

Jordanelle Reservoir 2014

Last year's trip to Jordanelle Reservoir was such a great success that we decided to do it again this year.  We were able to borrow a kayak and a paddle board from my sister (thanks Denise!) and Seth came with us this time, which meant that we didn't have room for all six of us and the gear in the van, so Mieren and Alys drove separately!  The reason that we decided to include Seth this time around was because Mieren and Alys are moving to California at the end of the month, so we wanted all of the boys to spend some time with their cousins before they moved. 

We got to the reservoir a few hours before we could check into the cabin. Our original plan was to play in the water then eat lunch and check in, but it was really windy, so we just played along the edge of the water for a while.  The kids started throwing small rocks into the water (it is good to know that no matter how old they are they still like throwing rocks!) and then they started to collect big rocks to make a sort of dock for them to stand on. 

Seth

Alys, Paul, Mark, Mieren

Collecting rocks

Team work!

We ate lunch in the van while we warmed up from being in the wind.  It started to rain, but it was a small sprinkle. After lunch we checked into the cabin and played around.  The weather cleared up a lot and we all got into the water. Yep, this year I got in the water!  I really like the small kayak that we used.  I am just at the top of the recommended weight limit, so I have to be careful with my balance, but it works really good for me!

 The water level was still low this year, but not as low as last year.  It will be interesting to see how it looks when it is at 100% capacity!

Mr. Mark, my hero!

 After we showered we played some games in the cabin. I was on the top bunk reading and I fell asleep for about 10-15 minutes. The kids had started some new game that they made up where they each picked different countries and had wars with each other.  They rearranged furniture- the bunk bed represented the northern hemisphere, the table was the dividing line and the futon was the southern hemisphere.  At one point they were all on the northern hemisphere- all at war with each other.  It was happy chaos!  

 After dinner they got back into the water for a while.   Jessica (Mieren and Aly's mom) came up to visit. The clouds we getting bigger and we saw a beautiful rainbow!  

Mark has powers you've only dreamed of!

We watched an amazing lightning show behind the mountains and then the lighting and thunder got close enough to us that we put the fire out and called it a night.  I am so glad that we were in the cabin and not a tent because the wind and rain storm that we had was pretty impressive. The storm finally calmed down around 12:30 and I was able to go to sleep. 

The next morning we played in the water one last time and then packed up and headed home. (I swear that I was there, I just didn't step out from behind the camera!)

I have to admit that I am sad that the girls are moving to California. I am really excited for them because of the great adventures they have ahead of them, but selfishly I'm sad.  It will most likely get us out to California more often, which isn't a bad thing! Looking back through last year's pictures I was stunned at how much the kids have grown up. It was a real privilege to spend some time with such amazing people. 

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!