She...

...is more fun in the tub than a rubber duckie...

...is bigger than a bread basket...

...gallops her way into my heart every day.

Getting to Know Mill Creek, Part II

The day after my epic hike with the kids, we returned to MCC with Brandon and met Brandon's cousin Joshalynn and her daughters, Mya and Gretchen, at one of the picnic areas for an after-work picnic.  We found a spot above the creek and attempted to actually have a meal with four kids under the age of six.  Most of us managed to eat at least a little something (including the tasty chicken salad that Joshalynn had prepared), but the majority of our time was spent exploring our surroundings.  Mya requested that her mom bring some "collection jars" and was generous enough to share her dozen jars with Gavin.  The two of them collected creek water, creek foam, and the occasional bug and leaf.  Gretchen and Vivian, who are only 5 days apart in age, were sometimes cautious, sometimes clingy, and sometimes just crazy.  Viv spent several minutes with her feet in the icy water.  After "dinner" Brandon blew bubbles for the kids, who went crazy trying to pop them. Who'd have thought so much fun could be had in that short after-work-before-bedtime window.

Getting to Know Mill Creek Canyon

It's been almost a year since we moved to SLC from Hyrum. There are quite a few things I miss about Cache Valley, but SLC has so much to offer that I don't spend much time pining away for my "old life." The one thing that I do miss to the point of my heart breaking a little is our once easy access to Blacksmith Fork Canyon. BFC was just a couple of miles from our front door. We could hike, fish, and camp there without ever seeing more than a handful of other folks. Brandon proposed to me in that canyon. We blessed our son in that Canyon. We buried our dog in that canyon.

The closest thing we have to a BFC in SLC is Mill Creek Canyon. It costs $3 per day to recreate there, you can't camp there, on odd-numbered days your dog has to be on a leash there (on trails, that is - leashes are required at all times in picnic areas), and it's so popular that you sometimes can't find a place to park. Despite all that, it's darn pretty and it's close, so I've decided to join tens of thousands of SLC residents in adopting it as my own.

It was in that spirit that last Tuesday, on the hottest day of the year (I did not factor this fact into my factoring, but it turned out to be a non-factor), I drove into MCC with my kids and went for a hike. I chose the Desolation Trail because the 2-mile distance to the Salt Lake Valley Overlook sounded at once ambitious and not too tough for Gavin. Viv would be riding in the backpack, so even at a pace of two miles per hour we'd be done hiking in a couple of hours. Perfect.

We left the parking area at 8:30 am and marched forth. Gavin started acting tired about an hour or so into the trek. I kept suggesting we turn around and head back, reminding him that the farther up we go, the longer the hike back. He kept insisting (in between rest stops) that we continue to the end. At one point a young couple who had passed us about 10 minutes prior hollered down to us that there was a rattlesnake on the trail. They had stopped and waited for us to catch up so that they could warn us and show us a way to avoid the snake altogether. So maybe crowded trails aren't such a bad thing after all...

Gavin was a trooper and Viv was a great sport. We did eventually make it all the way to the overlook. The kids were thrilled to have a chance to have a snack and climb around on the rocks. We made our way back down the trail and got back to the car FOUR HOURS after setting out. One mile per hour. Noted. Although there was some crying along the way (mostly the kids), and although it took a lot of prodding and encouragement (mostly on my part) to get to the top and back, and although my legs are still tired five days later, I'm glad we did it. We stayed relatively cool in the shade all along the way and we thoroughly enjoyed soaking our weary feet in Mill Creek at the end of it all.

Our first bike parade

Bike parade, ice cream social, and cookie-fest, compliments of our neighborhood 'ward'.

Uintaaaaahhhs

Just got back from another lovely weekend with Joel, Kathy and Braden Green at their family cabin in the Uinta Mountains. We did a little fishing, a little hiking, some gourmet eating, and a whole lot of relaxing.

The boys cleaning the catch of the day.

Not afraid to touch one, let alone EAT one. Yum!

Some girls think they need feathers on their boas, but I'm not one of them.

Well, SOMEBODY ought to take care of these thirsty hounds.

Saturday morning cartoons can make a kid thirsty, too.

A responsible and safe Braden gives Gavin a 4-wheeler ride...

...under the watchful eyes of the girls.

This old girl still loves to swim, but needs to rest awhile afterward.

An after dinner stroll around the neighborhood. So good for the digestion.

Sunday morning chillin' with the chilluns.

Gal pals.

How cute can one little girl be?  Somewhere in the ballpark of THIS cute.

Packing up to leave :(

Quick stop for a little rock hounding on the way home.

Incoming!  (Snowballs, that is.)

10,700ft.  That's why they call 'em the "High Uintas".

That was fun.  Now let's go home.

A little catching up

No posts for over a month!? What a slacker!  Sorry about that... 

Gavin's indoor soccer season was kinda fun, kinda frustrating, and kinda hilarious.  He spent most of his time at each game playing outside the boundaries of the soccer 'field' with the kids who were there to watch their sisters and brothers play soccer.  While on the playing field he sometimes ran after the ball and occasionally kicked it.  He was more likely to hold a teammate's hand, shove an opponent, or instigate a game of tag than to actually play soccer.

 
We were hopeful that tee ball would interest him more.  It's more of an individual sport than soccer and let's face it: Gavin is an individual.  Brandon has fond memories of playing little league as a youngster and he has dreamt of following in his mom's footsteps by being his little boy's coach.  So the Green Dragons, coached by Brandon and aided and abetted by Gavin, charged through an 8-game season with great success - as measured not by wins or hits, but by a minimum of crying and the ability to find first base by season's end.

Meanwhile, Viv has continued her reign as Princess Cuteness.  She's a girl of many teeth and few words.  She loves to color alongside her brother, is generally fond of playing with spherical toys ('balls' would have sounded crass), and has definite opinions about what she would and would not like to eat.

What else have we been up to?  Well, we've had some pretty awesome visitors roll through here this spring.  The Fantastic Frantz Fam paid us a visit in early April.  They're the kind of friends that you instantly catch up with even after not seeing one another for a long time.  That's a great thing.  Especially since we don't get together nearly often enough.  The highlight of their visit was a 3-day trip to Zion.  We shared a 3-bedroom suite in Springdale and savored every moment.

















I haven't taken the time to figure out how to get photos to nestle side-by-side and to get text to wrap around photos in the 'new' Blogger, so you'll just have to do some scrolling. Deal with it.




































Nana and Papa swung through in mid-April after doing some property shopping in the St. George area.  We're excited at the prospect of having them closer, but I'm saddened at the idea of them moving away from 'home'.  They still live in the house I grew up in, which means more to me than I realized before they started talking about downsizing.  Anyway, we enjoyed their visit and look forward to the next time we can spend time with them.  Yes, you have to keep scrolling down to get to the pictures.

Here at the homestead we're working on ugly-fying the front yard in the short term in order to beautify it in the long term.  We used to have a statuesque silver maple tree and lots of green grass.  Now we have a stump, some piles of dirt, and grass of every shade from brown to yellow to almost green.  But we're making progress.  We put in a decorative fence (not quite done yet) and a veggie garden and we hope to bring in some more fill dirt and mulch in order to sculpt out a water-wise berm across the front.  Eventually the grass will be gone altogether and the veggie garden will be planted in raised beds.  One thing at a time, people.  We have jobs and small children, you know.  And we have aspirations of lots of weekend camping trips, so stay tuned but don't hold your breath.

 Really?  You made it all the way down to this part of the post?  Good for you!  As your reward you get to meet Gavin's friend Slimy, who had as many lives as a cat, but eventually ran out of extras.

Luckily Gavin has lots of other cute pets, including his "Roly Poly" (aka sow bug aka potato bug) collection.  And luckily, Gavin learned how to pose for a photo from the friendly folks at the Sears Portrait Studio.

And your very final reward for making it this far down...

A topless cowgirl!  What?  This is a family blog.  If you want to see the front view you gotta pay extra.