Cecret Lake

As my siblings can attest, our dad seemed to derive great pleasure from dragging his five recalcitrant children up, over, around, and down every mountainside in the valley.  It must be genetic;  now that I have kids of my own I find myself eager to do the very same thing.  And so we headed up to Cecret Lake this week. 

   Anna poses at the trailhead

 

Ben was a little wary of the Kelty carrier--usually he just rides in Jared's arms.

There's usually a little stream that crosses the trail right here, with bluebells clustered all around it--it was too dry for either this year.

Devil's Castle

Poppa and Ben take a break before tackling the switchback

 

 At the top!

 

Joe and Yvey

Can you see the chipmunk?  This little guy was BOLD. . .

. . .and this one too.  He nearly climbed into my backpack looking for food.

Nonny and Anna looking for salamanders in the lake

Moose!

Elizabeth and Nonny, who were leading the pack, had already gotten to the trailhead before the moose showed up.  When they heard about the moose, they zipped back up the trail to see them.

Getting to watch moose graze in a field of wildflowers as the alpenglow hits the mountains in the background. . .what a perfect way to finish a hike.

July Festivities

 

Ah, July.  The hottest, most unforgiving month of the year, and it just so happens to be chock-full of celebrations. . .most of which center around outdoor activities.  First up, 4th of July.  We started the day working on the new playhouse--no way was Jared going to waste a day off of work!

That evening, we went to my parents' house for a barbecue.  Elizabeth decided to share her patriotic flair with the border collie statue on Nonny's front porch:

After our barbecue, we walked over to the high school to watch the city fireworks. This was the first year we attempted to take the kids to a "real" fireworks display;  usually we call it a night around 9:00 and just watch the city displays from the freeway as we drive home

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A few weeks later, Jared and I celebrated our 10th anniversary with a real live date.  Actual date nights have become a real rarity around here, but we had such a great time that night that I think we're committed to being better about having them more often.  

Later that week we celebrated "Handcart Days" at the park:  cotton candy, sno-cones, and a spin on a few of the deathtraps carnival rides that are set up every year for the occasion.

The folks who run the rides always set up an ancient tape deck at the base of the Ferris wheel, where they blast Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" album.  I do love Simon & Garfunkel, but I must say it makes a puzzling backdrop to the frenetic activity and noise of a summer carnival. 

 

Anna, waiting for the parade in style.

Ben was hot and tired, but nothing a sucker couldn't cure.

Jared spent the 24th of July in Florida on a business trip, and I took the kids to Grandma & Grandpa Olson's house for a barbecue.  The cousins had a great time playing together, as usual.  When it got dark, we got to enjoy the amateur firework shows put on by Uncle Jay and the neighbors.  I had my hands full wrangling all three kiddos, so I didn't even bother to bring my camera. . .

. . .I also didn't take any pictures of the girls at their sleepover with Nonny and Poppa, although I hear it was a HUGE success.  A trip to a real movie theater, matching pajamas, sleeping over with cousin Hailey, and tiny boxes of cereal for breakfast:  what more could they ask for? 

And wow, just like that, July is over!  The girls are looking forward to the start of school, but they've got a long way to look:  the school board approved a calendar change that has the school year beginning after Labor Day this year.  No matter.  That just gives me an extra week to prowl the school supply aisles. . .

Camping with Cousins

A few weeks ago, Jay and Lisa invited us to go camping with them in American Fork Canyon--now how could we turn that down?  Camping is fun, but camping with cousins is exponentially more so!

We arrived Thursday afternoon--Jay and Lisa were already there, as were some of our favorite newlyweds, Skylar and "Big" Jordan.  We set up our tent, roasted some hot dogs for lunch, and did some exploring around the campsite. 

  

 The view from our site.  Not bad!   

 What Ben looked like when we arrived. . .

 . . .and what he looked like about five minutes later.  Between enjoying free rein over the snacks and falling down every few minutes, the poor guy was utterly filthy.

 The big kids spent most of the afternoon riding bikes in an open field just down the trail from our campsite.  Not long after we'd arrived, a man pulled up with a horse trailer.  The kids watched him with great interest as he saddled up his horse and peppered him with questions about. . .um, horsemanship?  He very patiently answered all their questions, and then he offered to let them ride the horse.  The kids were ecstatic!

  

Elizabeth & Anna

"Little" Jordan & Madi

Anna & Ella

After everyone got a chance to ride Sugar Baby, our new cowboy friend strapped on his leather chaps and we bid him farewell as they headed down the trail.  Jay and Big Jordan took the kids on a mini-excursion in the Jeep while Jared drove back down to the mouth of the canyon (to fill up our water cooler and make a phone call), and Lisa and I enjoyed some peace and quiet back at camp, getting dinner ready.  Everyone arrived back at camp just in time for dinner, after which Skylar and Big Jordan left for home and the rest of us busted out the marshmallows and roasting sticks.

 Anna and Daddy enjoying some dinner. (You'll see a theme here;  I think Anna's favorite part of camping might just have been the food!)

Roasting marshmallows around the, uh, propane-powered fire ring. (Campfire restrictions had gone into place just the day before we arrived, so no actual campfires were allowed.  Thankfully Jay came well-equipped with propane and propane accessories!)

Friday morning started with a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs, after which we packed up for a day at Tibble Fork Reservoir.

Jordan and Anna enjoying some hot cocoa

Ben, taking in the grandeur.

 

"Bacon for breakfast?  I LOVE camping!"

 Tibble Fork Reservoir

The kids had so much fun at the reservoir, playing in the mud, splashing in the water, and going for rides in the inflatable raft Jared brought.  Jordan even caught a fish!  As they were rowing back to shore, Lisa assured us that he'd want to put the fish back in the water like he'd done on past fishing trips--but nope, Jordan was insistent that he was going to keep this one and EAT it.

Little mud monster

Big mud monster

Jordan shows off his catch

Elizabeth, Anna, and Madi--dirty and happy

When we got back to camp, the kids jumped on their bikes again--and pretty soon, our cowboy friend pulled up again in his trailer. . .this time with another horse, Fancy.  Again the kids gathered around to watch him saddle up and to take a ride.  I didn't get any pictures, but Fancy lived up to her name;  she was a very pretty horse!

That night, Jay and Lisa treated us to a delicious Dutch oven dinner.  Skylar and Big Jordan came back up, this time with their tent to spend the night--and so did Aaron and Joni and their boys.  Jared's parents came for dinner, along with Emily, who'd just flown in for the weekend from California, and our other favorite newlyweds Sarah and Christian.

 I think Big Jordan is trying to blow out a flaming marshmallow in this picture. . .

After a few rounds of s'mores, we said goodbye to our dinner guests and settled down to bed, only to find that the people who'd set up camp next to us weren't tired in the least. . .they must've stayed up till midnight talking loudly and singing, among other things, the theme to Gilligan's Island.  (We ended up getting our revenge, though;  not long after they all quieted down, baby Noah decided he did NOT like camping and began crying. . .and crying. . .and crying.  Poor little guy! Joni ended up packing up the boys in the wee hours of the morning to take them home in the hopes that little Noah would get some sleep.)

We got home on Saturday afternoon, just in time to get ready for Grandpa Pugh's birthday party that evening.  What a blast this trip was!  We returned home dirty, tired, sunburned, and covered in bug bites--all the marks of a great camping trip.  The girls had so much fun, in fact, that they spent the whole ride home discussing what they wanted to do on their NEXT camping trip. . .

   

Anna's 5th Birthday

We celebrated Anna's 5th birthday earlier this month.  Jared was out of town on her actual birthday, which we celebrated with a little "girls night out":  We went to Amy's house, where she stayed with Ben and Trevor while I took all the girls to see "The Lorax" and get dinner at Chick-fil-a.  (Still not sure who got the better end of that deal. . .) Then on Sunday, when Jared was home, we had the family over for cake, ice cream, presents, and a pinata.

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Anna, as usual, had VERY specific instructions for her cake:  pink, with light pink frosting and HOT pink frosting around the edges, and a big butterfly on top: 

The babies were totally digging the Tootsie pops from the pinata:

 

Happy #5, Anna Bear!