Silver Lake

Because Josh does not start Kindergarten for another week, we went to Silver Lake on Tuesday.

My sister-in-law Jenny and I had been trying to get together for a couple of weeks, so she met us there with her kids, Jaxson and Violet, and her brother Clark.

Valerie thought she wanted to be carried around the path, but she really liked the boardwalk, because she thought it was a bridge. She would walk on it and sing "Grumpy Old Troll" to herself.

My friends had warned us about the bugs up there. So Jenny came prepared.

The bugs were not as bad as I thought they would be, but I did wish I could have put a net around me too.

The kids loved the ducks, and the ducks seemed to love the kids. They came swimming over to us looking for treats. We forgot to bring them any.

At the end of our walk we stopped at a picnic table for lunch.

The squirrels thought our lunch looked pretty good, and came to see if they could get a bite.


We tried not to share with them, but we did share our cookies with Violet. This was her very first Oreo Cookie.

I think she liked it.

Thanks for coming with us Jenny and Clark. It was great to visit with you. We don't get together often enough.

Hike to Cecret Lake

Thursday was the last day of Summer Vacation for our family. Emily was headed to school on Friday for 7th grade orientation and after that we would be in full back to school mode.

So for our final summer vacation adventure, we hiked to Cecret Lake.

Ryan had a little bit of free time, so he came with us. Valerie was really glad to have dad with us, because that meant she could be carried up the trail a little more than usual.

Josh loved using his hiking stick on the trail. He kept telling me how he was using it to make hiking easier,


Joe kept telling me where good spots for pictures were, and then he would pose for me.

Most of the spots were somewhere on a rock.

About halfway up the trail the kids found something very unusual for the end of August in Utah.

SNOW!

We also discovered something that we did not notice last year, a waterfall. I am not sure if it was there last year. I think it must have been, but maybe there just wasn't enough water to make it noticeable. I have asked a couple of my friends if they remembered it and they said no. But there is definitely one this year.

We went and got a closer look at it, and then headed over the hill to the lake.

It was beautiful and very full. Last year there was a beach around it, but this year we had to just climb around on the rocks.

The kids did not mind though.

Valerie liked the water, but she also liked the squirrels that came over to see if we had any snacks.

The lake was at least three feet higher than last year. I could not get a picture of the biggest rock we sat on last year with our church group, because it was much smaller and what was there had people on it, but this was another rock we sat on last summer, and it is completely under water.

Emily found a good place for pictures this year.

I had Emily take a picture of Ryan and I. He has been very busy this summer, and I am so happy he could come with us this time. (He wished I would have warned him about the picture taking.)

Cecret Lake it still one of my favorite hikes.

I love my hiking buddies, and will miss hiking around the canyons with them. Maybe we will be able to sneak another one in on a Saturday before the snow starts flying again.

Solitude Lake

On Tuesday our mom and tot hiking group headed to Big Cottonwood Canyon for our hike.

This week we started at Silver Lake and from there, we hiked a little over a mile and a half up to Solitude Lake. I was excited to go on this hike, because it was one we had not done before.

Once again our group was filled with little girls, and this hike was a little longer than our other hikes, but a nice easy climb.

A little ways up the trail we came to a field of sunflowers.

This was only the beginning of the wild flowers. After the yellow there was a field of white and then blue. Our whole hike was beautiful.
The hike was nice and easy, until the very end. Just before the lake there is a big hill, so when we got to the lake, the kids were all ready to rest.


Our friends had to get back home, but we had some time, so the kids and I walked around the lake.

A little ways down the path we found this cave. The kids were very disappointed I had not packed a flashlight.

I was glad I had not. I did not want to see if anything was living in that cave.

We took our time getting back enjoying the beautiful flowers.

It was a perfect day for a hike,

and Solitude Lake is definitely a hike we will do again.

Cowabunga

At the beginning of the summer the kids made a list of things they wanted to do this summer. It included things like, go to Red Butte, sleepover at Grandma's, see the movie Thor, Go to Lagoon and a few other things. Now summer vacation is coming to an end, and I am happy to report we have done almost everything on the list. There are still a couple of more things left to do though.

Cowabunga Bay was a big item on the list. The kids have been asking to go again since we went last summer. We talked about going in July when my parents were here, but with Valerie's skin treatment that we were doing at the time, it was not really doable. So Here we are a week before school starts, and I am happy to say, we made it.

While dad was at the bike race on Saturday, the kids and I spent the day getting wet, and having fun.

The boys can't get enough of the dump buckets. When ever the bell started ringing I would see them running over to get dumped on. Valerie liked to watch the buckets dump, but she didn't like to be close enough to get wet.

Valerie, and I tried a few slides. She did not love them, but she liked the pink slide enough to go on it a few times, as long as someone went with her.

My friend has season passes, so they joined us for the day. It was really nice to have a friend for Emily to run around with, and I loved having my friend Laura there to visit with.

Because Emily was with her friend Lindsey, I did not see her much in the beginning. Every now and then I would catch a glimpse of her. At one point I saw her going down a slide and was able to hurry and take a picture. Unfortunately all we can see is her foot.

Joe and Josh were happy to hang out together. For most of the day.

But when it came to the water slides, Joe did not want to go on anything above the blue slide.

Josh on the other hand was feeling very brave, and went on every slide.

He also wanted me to take lots of pictures.

This slide was one of the scarier ones, but Josh loved it. I also saw Emily do this slide. I think it is the biggest in the park.

While Josh was on his water slide mission, Emily took Valerie to play in the pool. She did this without me even asking.

Valerie was very happy about this, because she had been wanting to ride in the tubes on the lazy river, but she was too small to stay on one by herself. Emily figured out a way to make it work.

She is such a good big sister.

I think one of Josh's favorite slides was the sun slide. He went on it a few times.

The kids had so much fun,

and when it was time to go they knew they had had a fun day in the water, because they came away with old man hands and feet.

I don't know about your house, but at our house that is a sign of a great day at the pool.

Flowers, Ducks and Water Fights

Thursday the kids and I headed off for an adventure at Red Butte Gardens.

Earlier this summer Emily and Grandpa saw a rattle snake while visiting the garden one evening for a wedding reception, so the boys were hoping to see one. Luckily we did not see any snakes, but we did see a lot of pretty flowers, and a few butterfly's.


At the pond we took a break and fed the ducks. A couple of the ducks were very excited to get food and came pretty close.

Valerie did not like this.

We ended our walk at the Children's Garden to play in the fountain.

Eventually the boys teamed up against Emily in a water fight.

I think Emily won.

Before heading home, I had the kids sit to dry off a little.

They did not sit still for very long. After a few minutes they started rolling down the hill.

Even though we did not see a snake, the kids had a great time at the garden. Maybe I will take the boys back one evening to see if the snakes are out....or maybe not.