Epic Hike

I got to meet one of my favorite bloggers on Tuesday this week, and what was going to be a few hours playing at Bridal Veil falls turned into a 6 hour visit. The kids had a blast together, and I had so much fun getting to know Cheryl! She is even more awesome in real life, if that’s possible.

Well, as if we hadn’t had enough of each other, we decided to take the kids on an “easy” hike up in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Because Cheryl did such a great job blogging about it, I will now refer you to her blog:

Epic Hike! 
(post by Cheryl at her blog)

Complete with pictures. (for the sake of privacy, since her blog is public, make sure if you want to comment on her blog you don’t use actual names of our kiddos, pleaseandthankyou – if you come back and comment over here, feel free to use full names)

Beautiful Zion

(there are a lot of photos in this post – but really, they’re of Zion National Park, so you won’t be bored. Oh yeah, and disclaimer – these were all taken on my iPhone. Some day I will remember to use a real camera. Or I’ll just get an iPhone 4s and I will have a real camera on my phone)

Early in the week before Memorial Day weekend a friend of ours from our old Portuguese ward that we were attending texted me and asked if we wanted to go to Zion National Park with them. I’ve never been (Russ has been a few times) and of course I said yes! Russ was out of town, so it was going to be just me and the kids, and because the choir would be singing on Sunday I had to be back in time for choir practice before church.

So we agreed to go down Friday night and then drive back home Saturday night and spend the night with Russ’ sister Mary in Payson and then drive the last hour on Sunday morning. It was a lot of driving, but Rhiannon and Iara (two of the other wives who were going down) helped drive on Friday night so I could sleep some.

We go to Zion around midnight and the guys helped set up our tent. As we laid down in the tent, Joseline looked up at the starry sky and said, “Look at all the stars!” It was a precious moment as I realized she had probably never see so many stars in her tender little life. It made me want to go back soon so she can see the stars again.

Around 3 am I woke up to moist pricks on my face and the slow drip of a light rain falling on the tent. And realized the fly wasn’t on our tent. The next morning, Iara’s husband Zach told me that he had realized the same thing when he heard the rain and was about to get up and help me with the fly when he heard me jump out of my tent, open the car, grab the fly and put it up in about 30 seconds. Thankfully our tent is really easy to put up, and the fly is just as easy.

Joseline trying on hats the the gas station during our potty/snack break

Saturday morning we ate hugemongo muffins for breakfast. The kids both picked chocolate muffins and finished off their chocolate milk that was leftover from our gas station snack/potty break on the way down. They definitely needed all the chocolate and sugar for all the hiking we did.

breakfast of champions

little posers – they wanted to pose, and so here are their “poses”

a big gnarly tree with exposed roots down by the river

throwing sticks in the river

throwing sticks and rocks in the water–and the gnarly tree

me and my mini-me on the way to the visitors’ center. I love that girl!

After breakfast, Rhiannon (who was about 28 weeks pregnant – that’s why she invited me and the kids – pregnant woman friendly hike = kid friendly hike) had to drive all the other campers up to the start of their day long hike and rappelling trip. While she was gone the kids and I explored around the campsite. We camped close to this little river, so we went down to throw rocks in for a little while. Then we followed the path over to the visitors’ center where we took a shuttle bus up to the Emerald Pools trail.

Riding the shuttle was pretty fun because we got to look at all the rock formations. The bus also had a little informational/educational recording that played as we drove up to the trailhead.

We hiked up to the pools and a little waterfall. It was an easy trail, completely paved, and when we got down to where the pools were and the little shower of water (it wasn’t really a waterfall – I mean, technically it was, but really it was just water trickling off a cliff… which is a waterfall… but you know what I mean. If you don’t, see the pictures below)

I was surprised (perhaps I shouldn’t have been) at how many people from other countries were there at Zion. I heard people speaking German, Chinese, Italian, and that what sounded like some type of Middle Eastern/Indian language (Hindi? Pashto?). It was fun to be in a place where people come from all over the world.

it was like standing under the rain… there is something really magical about a waterfall

my cuties posing again for me – they were such troopers on this whole trip!

    

some of the flora and fauna we saw on our hikes – Not sure what that big fat black beetle is, but it was super cool. And big. The white flowers I am pretty sure are snap dragons. I love snap dragons. And Vince found the lizards by the visitors’ center. We love lizards around here.

Then we headed back to the campsite to meet up with Rhiannon. We packed lunches and snacks and drove out to the back country to hike through a remote canyon and up a cliff.

Getting down to the sandy canyon bottom took a little doing – it was pretty steep and I had Joseline in the backpack/carrier. She still only weighs about 30 lbs, and I figured carrying her would be easier than waiting for her to follow us. She is soooo slow on hikes/walking/etc.

So we basically hiked a mile (one way) in the soft sandy bottom of a canyon before we headed almost straight up a cliff to get to the top of the rocks. We would have gone further, but Joseline stepped in a cactus, and I wasn’t sure we would make it back to the car if we had gone all the way up to the summit we had planned on getting to.

king of the mountain – or rather, the canyon – this kid loves Zion National Park and keeps asking to go back

another lizard up close. I took this picture a few inches away from the lizard. I was surprised he didn’t run away at first

    

the cliff we all scaled – even Miss Joseline

We ate lunch at the top of the cliff and the kids wandered around looking at rocks and cacti and all the other vegetation growing on the cliff.

  

Ironically, climbing down a cliff is harder than climbing up one, but we made it, and then hiked back out of the canyon. It was a beautiful hike, and the kids really enjoyed it. Well, Vince enjoyed it. Joseline mostly just hung out in her back pack. The weather in the canyon was pretty chilly, but once we got up on top of the cliff we could feel the sun and it was pretty warm.

Back at the camp, Rhiannon watched my kiddos so I could get a nap before we had to drive home. She also cooked a fabulous Dutch oven dinner – creamy chicken soup stuff, biscuits, and a scrumptious potato casserole. We had to eat and run so we could get to Payson sooner than later.

The sun was just setting as we left Zion. It was an excellent trip, even if it was fast. Totally worth all the driving, and I can’t wait to go back – hopefully for a week long trip with Russ and the kids. Anyone want to come?

Up a Creek

On Memorial Day weekend because we had nothing really cool to do (and Russ was out of town, as usual) we hiked a trail in Millcreek Canyon with the Wilde’s. We brought all sorts of snacks and treats, and Doc of course, and headed up the trail.

The trail we were going to hike originally was closed to cars (I guess we could have walked up to the trailhead?) so we picked a hike a little closer. There were some breathtaking views. The first time we hiked Millcreek Canyon was for my birthday last year (an event to which I would link … if I had blogged about it. Looks like my lame blogging has extended all the way into last year! I have way too much catching up to do… my bad).

The kids loved it, of course – Doc included. Well, Joseline wasn’t particularly a fan, but I think it’s because she’s such a light weight (seriously, at three years old she barely weighs 30 lbs, even though she’s over 3 ft tall. Compare that to her cousin Garrett who weighs 35 lbs (he’s one… just barely) and is at least a full head shorter than her. My crazy scrawny baby. She takes after her mama, I think. I’m pretty sure I was at least as skinny as she is. I was always really scrawny.

We stopped at a little clearing for some scrumptious lunch. Vincente wanted to take pictures, but he had a hard time getting anyone actually in them. Except Doc. He took a great picture of Doc.

Our Own Little Beckham

Last Spring Vincente played T-ball and had fun, but this year we decided to try out soccer.

I’m pretty sure Vincente has found his favorite sport. I definitely found mind!

When we signed Vincente up for soccer with his best friend Nicky (one of his friends from preschool/the ward) I put down that I would volunteer to be a coach if they needed one. Apparently they needed one, because I became the coach.

I actually found that I really enjoy coaching. And what I lacked in soccer skills and knowledge was made up by my “assistant coach”, Nicky’s dad (a native Egyptian – i.e., he lives, breathes, and bleeds soccer – there is just an accent barrier – the kids had a hard time understanding him). We made a great team, and I am excited to get the team together again in the fall for more great soccer.

We’re just Rec league soccer folks – not too competitive, mostly for fun and learning soccer.

Speaking of learning soccer – our “division” was 5-6 year olds (technically, Kindergarteners and “just before” Kindergarteners). Seven of our twelve players were preschoolers. Which means that we were often playing games against whole teams of kindergarteners!

YouTube fixed the shakiness of the video for me!! Whoa, that is SO cool!

I am pretty sure we were the most improved team in the division. Our kids started out in a “cluster”, not really knowing what to do with the ball, and ended up being able to steal, block, defend, and dribble. They still have a lot to work on, but they improved so much. It was really rewarding as a coach.

And all the parents want me to coach again this fall! I’m pretty excited. It’s always nice to have a community – no matter where that community is.

On top of that, Vince and Nicky’s other best friend from Kindergarten has decided that he wants to play with them on their team this fall.

Eclipse–not the Vampire kind

While Russ was gone (again) I took the kids down to Mom and Dad Rowley’s for Sunday dinner and to spend the night. We happened to be there on the day of the annular solar eclipse, so we tried to watch it. We tried the pinhole in a box method, which didn’t work very well because it was kind of cloudy. Or we didn’t do it right.

Brady went to drop off some forms at one of his youth leaders’ houses and when he got back he was so excited because he had seen the eclipse and knew how to view it!

We layered up four sets of polarized sunglasses and took turns looking at the sun. Even Joseline and Vincente got a turn. It was truly an amazing experience.

I tried to take a picture through the sunglasses but for some reason it didn’t work. Probably because I used my iPhone. Not exactly the best camera…

Other people were able to get some awesome shots, including my cousin Jacob. Here’s one of his that he posted on Facebook:

I wish I had snapped a photo of Joseline and Vince looking at the eclipse. I hope they remember that they were able to watch an eclipse!

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

Remember how Joseline wasn’t super excited about her bike that she got for her birthday?

If you don’t, here’s a picture to remind you -

A few weeks later, we got her on the bike (happily!) and with a little help from Vincente she even got down the driveway!

She’s got a lot of room for improvement, but I’m sure she’ll pick it up.

Meanwhile, Vincente is getting pretty good at riding without training wheels! No pictures or videos of that phenomenon, but hopefully we’ll do a lot more bike riding this summer and I’ll try to remember to take pictures and videos.

Trampoline Downgrade

When we lived in California and had a nice open backyard, we bought a 15’ trampoline with an enclosure. It was a lot of fun and we were excited to put it up in our backyard. Until we realized that it took over almost all of the open space in our yard.

So at the end of last summer, we sold it. We weren’t horribly sad to see it go – Doc had jumped on it a few times (who knew he loves jumping on a trampoline almost as much as our kids do) and got caught in the net once and tore a hole in the enclosure.

This spring I found a trampoline at Sam’s that was just the right size for our little concrete pad. So I bought it, and with Michelle’s help (I think Russ was out of the country when we got it), we put it together and the kids have loved it.

Now we just need sod on that side yard. Soon. Very soon.

Snakes and Snails

We have a little family of garden snakes that live in the flowerbed by our front door. This fall when we were cleaning up for the winter, I caught one to show to the kids. They weren’t scared at all!

I love that we get to experience this beautiful world Heavenly Father created for us. There is so much variety – it never gets boring! And there is so much to see and experience. I hope my kids get to experience more than I did – and I got to experience a lot.

(PS – see Doc’s nose there at the bottom of the picture?
He was scared to death of the snake. Ha ha)

The Hearts of the Children

Every few years, the descendents of my grandmother and grandfather (Joseph Theron Smith and Neva Almira Harper) get together for a huge family reunion. There are 10 living children of Joseph and Neva, all with spouses, and somewhere around 40 grandkids (with the number of great-grandkids skyrocketing).

This summer we had a little “mini” reunion (I put mini in quotes because even our “small” reunions are still big…) Because the weather was horribly hot this summer we went up to the little fountain pools at Nelson’s Grove park in Orem. We had actually had a potluck picnic behind my aunt’s stake center and the kids needed an escape from the heat, so we walked over to the park. The kids (and some of the older “kids”) got in the water and splashed around.

I always love being with my Smith family. I think every single one of my Smith relatives is a kind hearted, loving, decent person who wants to help each other in every way they possibly can. Sure, as with every family there are miscommunications, mix-ups, and disagreements, but I feel like everyone tries to handle them pretty civilly, and no one really holds any grudges.

One of the nights we had a “girl cousin’s sleepover” – we’ve really gotta come up with a better name! Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed getting to know my girl cousins better, especially the somewhat younger ones (like these two lovely ladies here). It’s really fun that we can all be so close and have so much fun together. I feel like I have instant friends in my cousins, even if we don’t see each other very frequently.

Some of the younger kiddos having a blast in the water.

   

We got everyone to run around the wading pool in a line. This is the beginning of it. The picture at the top is the middle. I wish I had a better camera so we could have got a better shot – but it was still fun.