I've Seen the Top of Lost Kenny.

Wow. Is summer seriously over? That was crazy. I'm so behind on my blog, I'll just have to hit a few highlights and move on. And this day was definitely a highlight.

I finally got to hike from Tony Grove and out Lost Kenny (in Logan Canyon). I've been talking about it for years and one day it just all came together. I think it ended up being 9-10 miles. I have to admit, compared to hiking from Tony Grove and out Green Canyon the scenery was not near as grandiose, mostly because you don't hike up and over 2 peaks with stellar views. But, the gentile downhill had it perks, it's called "my knees are still intact". They still hurt at the end for sure, but compared to oh say, Lone Peak (when I would have almost rather died on the trail than walk another step) they were in fine shape.

Kim and Chastity joined me. It was a really really great day. I have to admit, the night before we left I could hardly sleep I was so excited. It's been about 2 years since I last got to do an all day hike. It was wonderful. Did I also mention it was great?

The Route

Upper Trail


Top of Cottonwood Canyon


Bushwhacking into Lost Kenny (photo 1) where we were able to graze all the way down the trail. Yum.


Lost Kenny Creek (photo 1). Don't let this photo (photo 2) fool you, we really are pretty cool...

15 Minutes with Lou

I was sitting on the floor in Ari's room today watching Isaac and Ari play. I decided to get out my camera and document some of Lou's favorite activities. He did all this in about 15 minutes. He's not too good at holding still.

#1 Pretending he knows how to walk. He uses anything he can find as a walker. Usually it's a stool, today it was an overturned shoe basket. #2 Climbing. He may not be walking but already he's climbing the TV stand, the book case, furniture, the pack n play and anything else in his path. #3 Pulling all Ari's books of his shelf. #4 Not reading. He can't sit still for more than 20 seconds, reading is not his thing, he does however like to eat and tear apart books. #5 Eating toys. If it fits in his mouth it will be in his mouth. #6 Observing Ari. Ari is the coolest, and every toy he has is the coolest.

Oh, Now I Get It

Kristal brought this blog post to my attention. The first time I read it I was in St.George. I was trying to read it out loud to my Mom but couldn't make out recognizable words I was laughing so hard, tears streaming down my face, mouth hurting. So, I had to share. This list is stolen from Rants From Mommyland who stole it from The Pregnant Chicken.

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Here's the sitch', before people have kids there are many occasions where they'll observe people who have children and think "When I have kids I will never ______" Then you go and get yourself some of those cherubic, little angels and if you're like me, you have about 8 million "Oohhh, Now I Get It Moments" – they're like Oprah's "Aha" moments but without the free car.

Here are just a few of the little judgement gems that I passed with Gweneth Paltrow smugness until I had children. I was an idiot but clearly the Gods were listening.

"My kids will never sleep with me."
I love my sleep and therefore, any child of mine would be kissed on the head at 7:00 pm, would be put in their crib and would stay there until the morning. Except what I didn't realize is that it's really hard for me to sleep through bloodcurdling screaming and that I'd have a kid who thinks Dr. Ferber can go suck it. In a desperate measure, I tossed him into bed with us one night and we've all had a good night's sleep even since. I don't tell many people about it because it's the grand daddy of all my "I'll Nevers" unless, of course, you bring it up then I'm all over it like the hypocritical hippy I am.

"My kids will eat what they are fed."
Don't like dinner? Well, I guess you're not eating. Then I walk away and think about how I'm already worried about his calcium intake and if he's eating enough protien. If he goes to bed hungry then he'll no doubt perish in his sleep all because I wouldn't let him have cereal at dinner. Joan Crawford, Dina Lohan, me. Here's your cereal.

"I'll never ignore my kids like that."

Why do you even have children if you don't want to be around them?! How hard is it to accommodate your child if the sweet little petal is asking you to read Goodnight Moon? Pretty hard if it's the 4,753rd time you've read it that day and if you ever have a stroke it will, no doubt, be the only information you'll retain. Sometimes I just want half-a-stinking-second to think. I love my children but for the love of God, let me pee alone – I can't remember where I've heard that brilliance before.

"Why don't you just take your kids to the park, it's so easy?"
You know, you just sit there while they have fun. Oh, wait you want to go on the swing? No more swing now? Now the slide? Mommy can't fit up there but hold on tight....whoa...no, come down now!! That's too high!! Okay, yes, let's play in the sand. No, that's not your truck that's the little boy's truck. Give it back, please. No hitting!! Hey, do you want a cookie? The cookies are at home. Okay, let's go home and get a cookie. Bye park! Kiss my ass until I've had another Goodnight Moon stroke and forgotten how horrible you are.

"Why would you take your kids swimming, it's so hard?"
I mean, it takes about 3 hours to get ready for 10 minutes of fun. Except I didn't think of what else I would do to occupy a small child for 3 hours if I wasn't getting ready for swimming. Plus, no doubt some mom somewhere, sometime probably told me that children that don't learn how to swim by 6 months have an 80% chance of drowning in an inch of water and grow up to be illiterate serial killers – she must have read it in an article somewhere.

"Kids shouldn't eat crap."
How hard is it to prepare wholesome, organic, homemade meals and snacks all the time? I once threw an open bag of cheesies down the basement stairs to stop my kids from fighting like drunk white girls while I was on a really important phone call. They swarmed it like racoons and ate all the trans fat goodness silently off the floor. I stand by my actions and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

"Kids shouldn't watch too much tv."
Oh, but what's that? Children stand behind you like a 20lb footstool when you're carrying pots of boiling water, try to throw things down the toilet while you're cleaning it or take their diaper off and pee down the air vents while you're taking a shower?! Oh, too bad there isn't a magical box that played friendly pictures and sounds to distract them for a few mintues while you went poo. Wait. What?

"How hard is it to look half decent after you've had a kid?"
If I have pants on when I leave the house I consider my appearance to be completely appropriate and should therefore, not be judged. I wore glasses with one arm missing for a year-and-a-half because it broke off and I couldn't find time to fix it. I haven't been to the dentist since my second son was born and he just turned two. I finally made an appointment because I'm scared I'm going to have teeth like a 14-year old beagle if I don't smarten up.

"How hard is it to keep your cool?"
Pretty hard sometimes. I find that small children have given me a snapping threshold that would make Gordon Ramsay say "Whoa, cool it lady." Inanimate objects seem to be the main focus of my wrath because they won't be taken away from me if I really start spitting cherries (best. phrase. ever.) Instead, I find myself hulking the tabs off the effing diaper because they won't peel up, drop kicking a basket of mittens across the room because I can't find a pair that matches or swearing that if I ever find the murther furking jackhole that put 14 previews on every kid DVD, I will chant "Kali Ma" as I plunge my bare fist into their chest and pull out their still-beating heart. Breeeeeeeathe.

"I would never let my kids become my whole life."
I used to go over to my "previously cool" friend's place and think how sad it was that her house was overrun with sippy cups, Polly Pocket shoes and Dora the Explorer crap. Now I lay in my hippy bed reading Goodnight Moon until my right eye twitches and they fall asleep. Then I look at their perfect, little faces and wonder how I ever lived without them.

If I could go back in time, I'd tell that childless woman that it's easy for her to make all these grand proclimations and impose rules on an imaginary child where she hasn't factored in love, fear or sleep depravation. Then I'd tell her stop worrying about what she will and won't do when she becomes a mother and to go take a long look at her fantastic bum in the mirror because it will soon disappear along with the all misconceptions she has about motherhood.

Poor Pet Mice

My nieces came to stay with us last week. We brought them back with us from St.George on a Sunday and their parents (Seth and Mandi) came up Thursday and stayed the weekend. It was really fun to have them here. Ari had fun hanging out with the girls, so did I. Aren't they cute.

On their first day here they were hanging out in the chicken coop and noticed their was a family a mice living there. They really wanted to catch some mice so we armed them with a bug net and sent them forth. They didn't have any luck the first day and were up at 6am the next morning ready to go out and try again (photo #1). Eventually Joe and I helped them catch some nice; although in retrospect that was perhaps not a very good idea. We caught three (photo #2). One was smart enough to escape on the second day of captivity, the remaining two were accidentally left out in the sun; day three found them dead from heat exhaustion. We had a funeral (photo #3).


And here are a few more photos of what kinds of things nieces do when they come to visit us. Shopping, movies, hamock time, hiking, swimming (at the dog park with K-So) and walks every evening. It was also fun to have Seth's family come. I always love it when family comes to visit and you have them all to yourself. We had a swell backyard BBQ and enjoyed just hanging out.

24th of July - Little Pyros

This is Ari and Adan on the 24th of July. Funny how being a pyro comes so naturally at such a young are. They started out burning ants (photo #1), then moved on to burning holes in the bird feeder pole (photo #2). Grandma put a kibosh on the little kid pyrotechnics when they started a small bushfire in the pine needles below the bird feeder. They soon lost interest in just standing there holding a sparkler so Chad and Joe tried to make a bomb out of sparklers taped together. Pretty eventful 24th. We also tried to swim in my parents pool, but you know it's hot when it's too hot to even swim. It was like jumping in a hot tub and going directly into a sauna. How did I ever survive the St.G heat? Oh ya, we sat in the river (which they cleared of shade bushes after the flood, for "flood prevention" purposes), or went to the pond (which now has a housing development build over the top of it) or floated down the canal (which is now mostly covered up)...

Who's Lou?

I know we named him Isaac, but he rarely gets called that. Isaac's nickname is a work in progress. Allow me to share the evolution of a nickname.

Isaac
I Zikkity (you know, like I Zik)
Zikky (short of I Zikkity)
Zik (and then, even shorter)
I Zikkity Louie Valoie (his mobster name)
Zikky Lou (short mobster name)
Ziker Low (Uncle Pause came up with this one)
Lou (even shorter)
Zik (ya, Ari decided we were going back to Zik)
Zib (one day Ari was adding the letter B into all his words, when he said Zib he thought he was hilarious).

Most of the time I call him Lou, Ari calls him Zib and Joe calls him Isaac. But we still use all these names depending on the situation. No wonder when I say "Zik, get out of the dog food" he looks at me like "who in the world are you talking to" and goes on eating dog food. Poor kid probably has an identity crisis. Or he really likes dog food?

Photo taken @ fucoidal quartzite, Logan Canyon. This face just happens to be his current favorite.

Boys Frist Backpacking Trip

July 15-16 we took the boys on their first backpacking trip. Since having kids the two things I really miss (aside from sleep) are backpacking and river trips. River trips with kids will have to wait awhile but backpacking is totally doable. We just had yet to do it, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

I've had the perfect campsite in mind for years. The campsite is about 2 miles up the Lost Kenny trail (or Cottonwood, or whatever you want to call it). I wanted the boys first backpacking trip to be on this trail because of all the wonderful memories associated with it. Joe and I's first "date", snowshoe adventures and hikes with Olivia (particularly when we thought we lost my sisters dog Kenny) and Kim, and just about every person who has ever visited us. I hiked this trail pregnant, with infants and when Ari could walk this was his first hike. I've taken my kids there many times to play in the creek and have wandered the path alone. As soon as my feet hit this trail it's like therapy.

Joe's brother Ben had been planning to come with us to help carry supplies, and at the last minute Chastity (sister-in-law) decided to bring her three kids and join us. We had such a great time, I don't know why we haven't done this sooner. Can't wait to get back up there and camp this fall.

Some photos. Of course.

The hike in.

Campfire.

Not sure what it is about this photo that makes it my favorite one of the whole trip. Twas a lovely morning.

Pumping water while keeping your child from taking a swim at the same time. Or at least trying.

The crew. Ben, Chas, Beth-el, Me, Joe, Eve, Sam, Ari, Isaac, K-So.

Why is one shoe muddy you ask. Well, at one point Ari fell off the trail, in a place where it was steep on one side. Joe being a quick reacting soul caught Ari by his backpack where he dangled just one foot in the creek before being pulled to safety. It was brilliant.

Lou's first nap in the pack. Success!

Other random photos.
1. Joe and Ari's tent. 2. Me and Isaac's tent (there were not enough flat spots for multiple 4 man tents). 3. Isaac 4. Camp

Oh, and we saw 2 fat healthy rattle snakes. Never even seen 1 up Logan canyon until this trip. Admittedly, it was a little creepy.

Camping @ Bear Lake

A few weeks ago some friends from our ward invited us up to Bear Lake to camp. We jumped at the chance to camp on a "private beach" and hang out with friends, who like everyone else are moving (but luckily only across the valley). We had a great time, not to mention great food. Pretty sure K-So had the most fun however, she's never swam so much in her entire life, took her days to recover. It was great, I love the sky out there, it's so Wyomingesque.

An Unexpected Visit

A few weeks ago Jon and Chastity's family called to say they were going to stop by our house to say hello on their way to Yellowstone. Their van started overheating in Sardine Canyon, they made it to our house and decided to see a mechanic before continuing their journey. That was about 6:00 on Saturday night, so they had to stay until Monday morning. The thing about family is that when you see them it's usually at a time when you are surrounded by other families and therefore you see them in a blissfully chaotic setting, and tend to feel as if you pass like ships in the night while you all try to control your children. It was really nice to have them here and not be surrounded by chaos. Ok, there was still some chaos, but you catch my drift.

Monday morning they found out their van was fine and went on their way. This was a bit unfortunate of them, delaying their journey and all, but we selfishly enjoyed their unexpected visit.

Photo 1: Minivan comes in handy for shuffling 2 families up the canyon. Photos 2-4: Sunday walk up the canyon (Lost Kenny of course).