Fall Break- Bells Canyon Hike

We had a super fun Fall Break. We had thought about leaving town, but ended up deciding that it would be more fun and relaxing to all just take the long weekend off and have a staycation. It was great. We saw "Hotel Transylvania" (hilarious) and went swimming at the rec center (also very fun), and then even did some hiking and grilling with a few more Cardons. I didn't have the camera out for all of these things, in fact we even forgot it on the hike, but I did bring my phone and used it to document the fabulous scenery and cute kids.

Bells Canyon was a great hike, and I love finding places that are so close by that I have never been to. I will be going back to this one for sure.

Just getting started. My super awesome hikers.

 This guy enjoyed his time in the pack and I love looking at his cute little face while I hike.

 Turns out that Wyatt really is too big for the backpack now, so Caleb got a good workout on this hike for sure. 

He did quite a bit of hiking as well, and only a little bit of tripping and falling.

 The Reservoir.

At one point Caleb told the boys he would pay them $5 if they could throw a rock into the water which was probably 100 yards away. These guys will do about anything for a few bucks, so they were ready to try. Then as they were collecting rocks and walking back to this bench Gavin said, "So how much will you give me if I can get a rock in the herbivore from the bench?" We had lots of laughs at this and thought that maybe we have taught him a new word, but then when he was telling the story to Caleb's parents on Sunday, he said, "Dad was going to pay us if we could throw a rock in the meteor..." I guess we need to work on that one a bit more.

 We had to carry a lot of sticks with us for miles, of course.

 It was such a beautiful fall day and the weather and colors were perfect.

The Smallest Guys Around Here

There is something about fall that makes me finally realize how much my kids have grown. I think it is something about them wearing jeans after they have had their skinned knees and chubby legs showing all summer. My smallest two have really been surprising me lately.

Wyatt was begging for an Angry Birds shirt when he spotted one online while sitting next to me. So even though the only one I could find was several sizes too big, he wears it as often as possible. When he was wearing his skinny jeans and giant shirt it just cracked me up all day.

 Finn has hit that 3 month milestone and in honor of that happy day he has started sleeping about 10 hours more nights than not. I have to say that I enjoy that fact. Tho some days it seems like I just start my day at 5:30am instead of waking up for half an hour at 3am, but even so, I will take it. He is such a good little guy. I am so grateful for his easy going temperament.

 And just to make sure that everyone knows that a good baby for me is a far from perfect baby, here is a shot taken only about 2 minutes after the above shot. Finn has also gotten louder and more opinionated about life, and he seriously hates tummy time.

Playing at the Temple Quarry

Last night we went up to play around the Temple Quarry before dinner time. The kids were anxious to get outside and all of the Larson kids seem drawn to the mountains that they can see towering over us. It was perfect weather and a nice place for some wandering and climbing on rocks.

Wyatt was very impressed with himself when he got to the top of a very tall rock. He kept yelling, "I did it!"

 Heidi and me (and Finn of course).

 All of the kids on a huge rock posing for a group shot.

 Rachel and Sarah showing the love.

More and more climbing.

 I don't think I ever realized how much some little girls love to pose. So sassy. Leading the way for Mark and Heidi.

 Who is that handsome guy strolling along?

 At one point Henry found a big stick that he decided would be a good walking stick and was carrying it along. Hannah convinced him it would also make a good pole vaulting stick, so they took turn trying to catch some air. I would say that the stick was great for this, or they are just decent jumpers.

 I seriously love fall and being outside right now. The kids are all hoping we can squeeze in another hike in the next 2 days.

Visitors from sunny lands

We have been having a very fun week with these silly Larsons who have come from Arizona to visit us. Aren't they cute? We made some attempts at taking their family photos the day after they arrived and I am happy to say that this is not the best one.

It did take some effort to get all 6 personalities to cooperate, but there are certainly a few memories and moments captured on film.

Rachel was so excited to get here to meet Finn. As you can see, he is also equally taken in by her. She has been holding and feeding him and doing her best to make sure that I never have to do a thing for him. It is great.

 Wyatt is also very much enjoying his cousin time. Sarah even helped him wash his feet in the tub. She ended up almost as wet as he was at the end, but they were both having a blast.

 It has been great to have a lot of extra helping hands around when Finn sometimes feels like this...

We are looking forward to the rest of our week and lots more fun.

Cecret Lake Hike

Last week we got a new (to us) van, so I decided that since we now had a car that could carry all of us safely up the canyon without overheating, that we should head up for a hike. We decided on Cecret Lake since it has been a few years since we had taken the boys on that hike.

The fall colors in the canyon are so bright and awesome right now. We were driving up in the morning, so the sun seemed to accent the colors a lot too. It was a great drive.

We had a lot of fun on the hike as well. There was a fair bit of complaining from the troops on the amount of up hill hiking that we had to do on the way there. But we were finally able to convince them that part of climbing a mountain was the go up up up on the way. Finn was also doing a lot of complaining on the steepest part because he was hungry and thought we were taking too long to get to the lake.

 Finn all ready to go on his first long hike.

 We had to stop a do a bit of rock climbing a long the trail.

 Henry got up pretty high and then got a bit scared, but still managed to make his way down.

 Wyatt was obsessed with every rock along the trail and his favorite line was, "More Yocks. I get them. I get Yocks." I love how cute and old he looks in his jeans after a long summer of shorts.

 We finally made it up to the lake. It was lower than I have ever seen it, but still very cool.

 There was a lot of time spent throwing rocks and more rocks into the lake.

 A cool look at the lake surface.

 Wandering out on a rock ledge.

 Finn and I hung out in this spot most of the time while I tried to convince him that it was ok to eat while there was a slight breeze. He was not loving that part.

 Just getting to "Ride shoulders." with Dad. Wyatt was super bossy to Caleb and kept insisting that Caleb keep on hand on each of Wyatt's feet. 

Some handsome men with a great view.

 There wasn't much color at the top of the mountain, but here are a few more shots from our drive.

2 months with Finn

This guy has been a very good baby. He went through his fussy phase, but seems to have left it behind, just in time. He has slept a few nights for 8-9 hours between feedings and he is starting to smile more and more. He didn't handle his first round of immunizations very well, but luckily his Aunt Heidi was in town to help him relax with a little bit of lavender oil. It has now become a necessity at our house.

 

Here are the 2 month stats-

13 pounds even (60 %tile)

23.5 inches (50 %tile)

And lets just say that he have the Cardon head size.

His brothers really love and adore him. Henry loves to have his photo taken with Finn, and whenever we bring Finn into a room and he is awake, Henry will say, "How are you goin', Finn?" Gavin has tried his best to correct this phase with two other options that would be more correct, but Henry doesn't care and we know that Finn gets the sentiments and isn't likely to answer any time soon anyway.

Wyatt is sort of hilarious when it comes to his love for the baby. He likes to try and fit into small spaces once Finn has vacated them, and he loves to kiss him repeatedly. He has also recently taken to smelling Finn. He will come over and save, "Sniff him. Sniff him." And then take a big whiff and get a huge smile on his face. The other thing that cracks us up is when Wyatt comes over to Finn and pretends to take a bite out of his arm or leg or foot and makes a sound like he is taking a big bite, "Rumph." And then says, "Mmm, Nummy." It makes me laugh out loud every time, which just makes him do it more.

Gavin has just become so much older since he has started helping out and entertaining his newest baby brother. He is so good at holding him and cuddling him, as long as there isn't too much crying.

 

 We are really starting to feel like we are getting in the swing of things with this little cutie around. Looking forward to more first with him and the milestones that are happening faster than I could have imagined.