Splash Pad Fun

Before going on a very hot hike, we took the kids to a super fun splash pad. They had a great time running around acting crazy and getting soaked.

Independence Day Extravaganza

We had ourselves a very fun fill Fourth of July. It started out super early in the morning with the neighborhood parade. We had decorated the wagon and a scooter and bike and were all ready to head out.

Wyatt was super happy and smiling... until we started moving in the wagon. He is officially a wuss about things that move for than he wants them to, so the wagon ride lasted about 30 feet until he screamed "Stop This NOW!"

So he ended up walking down the street with his dad and mostly watching the parade.

 Henry and Gavin, on the other hand, had a great time and headed off with all of the other kids. Henry is still working on mastering the two wheeler, so he chose his scooter instead. He is super speedy on it, and was close to the front of the group.

 Gavin headed on his bike. Looking handsome and festive.

We headed over to the church at the end of the parade for a program and tasty breakfast.

The boys were all excited to show off the shirts they made.

Finn wasn't sure what all the excitement was about, but he was happy as can be.

 Wyatt did sit in the wagon with me again, since he knew I couldn't pull him anywhere while I was sitting next to him.

 As the day got hotter, all of the Cardon cousins and the fun families visiting from Iowa can over for a BBQ and some other fun. Grandma decided to try and make a water pillow that she had seen online. It seemed to fill up just fine, but once the kids stepped onto it, their feet poked through the plastic. After that they all just jumped and got wet until the puddles dried up.

 One of the other highlights of the day was homemade rootbeer with Uncle Rich. Claire was his big helper and got everything mixed up, so she got a front row seat for adding the dry ice.

 Let the fun begin.

 We ended our day with a walk to the park. The kids used up the rest of what little energy they had and we enjoyed a nice evening.

Caden chillaxing on the tire swing.

 So many cousins on so many swings.

 And one crazy shot of these boys checking out a crazy cool bug they found in the grass.

Camping AND Hiking

We spent the longest days of the year out camping. Thursday we headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon to a great campground and had some fun.

Everyone had tons of fun helping build the fire.

Finn loved being able to get away with a lot in the great outdoors... including playing with the lighter.

The first night we made some tasty foil dinners and had a great little meal. Wyatt was already covered with dirt and loving life.

Gavin loved the foil dinners. He was a bit hesitant at first, but then quickly realized how normal boring food tastes so much better when cooked over the fire. He just kept saying how much he loved it.

Henry wasn't as big of a fan of the foil dinners, but he is the marshmallow roasting pro. He would slowly toast some marshmallows for everyone and then say, "Perfecto!" and bring them over to be turned into tasty smores. He is very impressive. He also had the same luck with hot dog roasting.

Gavin's best creepy face.

Everyone was very excited to try their hand at using the hatchet. The older boys got pretty good at it, and followed the rules about not standing anywhere near someone swinging a hatchet. Henry is good example of why that is a good rule.

Who better to show you how to use a hatchet than a true mountain man.

The campground had lots of great streams and the creek running through it, so there were plenty of log bridges to walk over, and lots of time spent throwing rocks into the water.

Finn got his first shoulder ride, and enjoyed it, especially the part where he pulls more of my hair out.

 We did a lot of wandering.

 Gavin and Henry spent some time coloring.

 Before we left on Saturday, we went on a hike to Doughnut Falls. The trail from the Spruces Campground to join up with the Doughnut Falls trail was probably the best part. It was a nice shaded and quiet walk. And of course, the boys loved getting to the water and throwing more rocks and sticks in.

 They were all great hikers considering they had slept outside for two nights and were awakened very early by Finn, who did not love sleeping in a tent. Wyatt did an excessive amount of whining on the way to the falls, but still managed to walk the entire way.

 This is not the expression that Finn had most of the night, but he was pretty happy riding along for the hike and snacking.

 Finally near the falls.

One of the best parts about this camping weekend is that we were so close to home that we came back for a few hours on Friday morning to go to swimming lessons and to load up more food and clothes for the day. It made the whole planning and packing much more manageable, and Finn even got a nap in his own bed. I would highly recommend camping that way.

Bells Canyon Hike- Take 2

We tested out this hike on fall break and really enjoyed it. That time we didn't end up finding the main trail so we set out last weekend to find the creek and the waterfall. These good hikers did pretty well most of the way.

The lake is much more beautiful when the water level is high like it was this time.

 Finn had a very good time riding in the backpack. He loved to catch his brother's attention and get a good laugh out of them.

 These two were just chewing some grass like good Iowa farmers.

 The leaders of our hike. They sometimes had to be told to slow down for the slower and shorter-legged of the bunch.

 Once Wyatt started to wear down a bit, I decided that carrying Finn was the lesser of two evils. That was probably before he started ripping out my hair. The creek was really beautiful on this hike and a nice surprise after hot and dusty trails.

 Always hunting for more rocks to throw in the water.

 We made it almost 4 miles on this hike, when didn't quite get us to the top of the waterfall. Maybe that is our goal for next time. We had a very eventful last mile in which Henry ended up bleeding in 3 places, from some constant falls, excluding one fall onto a stick he was carrying that scraped his rib cage. It was a good thing we turned back when we did. We barely made it in one piece.