Ogden Day 3

It's more like Ogden Day half day 3, because we got up, had breakfast, and went for a hike. That was the end of the day. But the hike was one we've had on our list for a long time. Adam's Canyon is almost 4 miles roundtrip, but it is known for how steep it is. It gains around 1400 feet of elevation in just under 2 miles. We barely made it!

Seth helped Mom get all stretched out before the hike.

The trail started out in Layton, winding back and forth up the foothills. Every single step was up, and the hills were mostly open. They even had a fence to keep people from cutting through the switchbacks. Eventually, we got up on the ridge with the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, which headed off south and north along the foothills. Unfortunately, for us, our trail continued up to the east. 

For awhile, it seemed to flatten out, and the grade was more like a ramp. There was even some brief up and down as the trail paralleled the stream. It was really beautifully in that hollow, and we thought we might be enjoying the hike. 

The trail along the stream was beautiful.

The boys were great hikers.

Not sure we are going to make it...

Then it started up again. It was steeper than an escalator, climbing over rough granite rocks. Things were only a bit slippery after drying out all day, but this trail would always be a bit treacherous. More than once we said that this would be our first and last time making this climb!

Finally, we came around a point of rock and found Adams Canyon Waterfall. It was large and wide and beautiful, but we questioned if we thought it was worth the climb. We decided it was, and we could definitely cross it off our list. 

Hiking down was no picnic either. It's hard on the knees and toes, and the rocks were even more slippery down than up. We all made it without major incident, but I don't think we'll try it again!

The waterfall was really pretty.

Dad has wanted to hike to Adams Canyon for awhile. We finally got him there!

We all made it!

Going down was a lot quicker!

Ogden Day 2

Our second day in Ogden was filled with a lot more parks, but first, we had breakfast in the hotel. It was a pretty good breakfast, but there was no orange juice somehow. We left around 9 o'clock and went to an art museum in an old house. The art was okay, but the house was really cool. It was an old three-story built in the 1800's. That was the best part of the museum. 

We loved exploring the old home.

The building was amazing.

After the museum, we dropped Dax off at Hobbs Reservoir and visited 3 or 4 parks. Seth and Dad were great sports, and the parks were actually fun. We picked up Dax for the last one and did lunch in the van. 

It was beautiful at Hobbs pond, but no luck with the fishing.

Seth always wants to swing.

This park was cool. It looked like a castle.

The trail behind the park was still full of Fall!

Seth was speaking with all of the trees for some reason.

It was a nice, easy trail. 

One of the parks had a historic cabin.

This park was one of the best we visited. 

Seth and Dad rode the zipline together.

This is how Dax hangs at the parks.

He did get up and climb a little bit.

There was a cute pumpkin patch that was perfect for kids, but it was really muddy. We parked in the muck and then went in to see what they had. This one was quite large, and there was a fun petting zoo. We fed the goats, pigs, and calves, and then played a lot of games. The best part was a huge slide. The boys liked the bumpy side, but Mom and Dad preferred the smooth side. 

Checking out the big slide.

We love these spots for pictures!

This teeter totter was a unique activity.

We always love the petting zoo.

Mom and Seth on the bumpy side.

A few parks later, we headed back to the hotel to change for the temple. Though the Ogden Temple is beautifully framed in our hotel window, we weren't going to that one. Instead, we drove down to Syracuse, which is the first, and currently only temple with 2 operating fonts. We went to the south font, and Dax baptized Mom and Dad, and then Dad baptized Dax and Seth. It was a nice trip, and the boys hadn't been to this temple since the Open House.

We did stop at one park near our hotel. Seth likes to risk his life on these spinning things. 

This park was in a pretty spot.

The Syracuse temple!

We did dinner at Olive Garden at Seth's request. He ate really well, and we all got stuffed with pasta (well, Mom had soup and salad). Then we stopped at our last adventure of the night.

This was a massive pumpkin patch that reminded us of Cornbelly's. There were a lot more teenagers and young adults at this one, and it was easy to see why. There was a three story slide and three different corn mazes. We did the one that had spooky skeleton lights, because there were no scarers. We also made massive bubbles and rode several different slides. There was even live music on a side stage, though we didn't stay too late. We were tired after a long day, and the boys wanted to get back and watch a movie before bed. It was another great day of "work."

Last Ogden pumpkin patch.

The sunset was nice.

The giant bubbles were a lot of fun.

It was a fun night!

Ogden Day 1

Normally we do a nice Fall Break trip. This year, we spent two days in Ogden. Why Ogden, you ask? Well, we are often asked, through social media, why we have so little information on our website about Ogden. So, we decided to do a business trip. 

On Wednesday, we took off right before lunch. We reminded ourselves that this was a business trip, and we planned accordingly. Our first stop was a park. Our second stop was also a small park. Since parks are a popular landing spot on our website, our third stop was a park where we made lunch. Then we stopped at our fourth and final park.

We visited some fun parks.

Dad and Seth have a lot of fun.

Another park

Seth is a good sport to check them all out for the blog.

This park was super fun!

We liked the bright colors at this one.

We had another fun stop at a pumpkin patch called Pack Farms. This one was a business stop, but we had a lot of fun. First, we played a lot of games. There were jumbo games like Jenga, Connect Four, and ball drop. We also played tetherball and did some of the slides. There was even a little hay bale maze. The boys enjoyed the massive tubes that you stand in and roll down the track. Things really went pretty well until Dad bottomed out in the mud on the zipline and Dax skated down the roller slide all the way to the bottom before falling down on his backside. Then Seth fell off the zipline and we were all pretty muddy. The tractor ride was the highlight, though. We were in barrel cars behind the tractor, and the driver really took us for a ride. It was bumpy and spinny and very fast. We laughed the entire way!

Random duck

We got a little wet and muddy.

This tractor barrel ride was a blast.

The boys laughed a bunch.

Next we stopped at a really strange place called Gandy's. We'd heard this was an ice cream shop, so we were surprised when we walked in the door and heard live music. A lady was playing guitar up front even though it was only 2 pm. There were tables with puzzles, walls lined with books, an open stage area, and tables for lunch and ice cream. We grabbed a few exotic flavors and talked to the owner for quite awhile. It seemed like a great place for a community to gather, but you never see places like that anymore. 

Gandy's was a unique place.

After checking into the hotel, we settled and watched a bit of TV. Then we went to dinner. The restaurant was a steakhouse, and the interior was full of covered wagons. Each table was set in a wagon along the wall, and in the middle were all kinds of desert and forest animals, just like in Cabela's. The food wasn't really that great (we liked the fried mushrooms), but it was different than anyplace we'd been before. 

Temple view from our hotel room. 

Heading into our dinner spot.

Eating in a covered wagon was interesting.

The food was okay, but we love the atmosphere.

It was dark when we finally headed up to the Ogden Dinosaur Park. They invited us to come to their spook night, and since we love this place, we decided to go. We listened to some (sort of) spooky stories, and then ventured among the dinosaurs. There was a spooky trail, and Mom and the boys were a little nervous to venture down it. They needn't have been, as a few kids and teens jumped out and said "Boo!" three or four times. We actually walked it twice, laughing a bit the second time, as they were much less nervous. 

Back at the hotel, we finished our movie. Then we packed in early. We had planned a big day of "business" for Friday, too!

Watch out for Seth!

We had fun at the Dinosaurs after Dark.

Family pic

Great view at night, too!