Last Week of Summer Adventures

Our summers are always jam packed with lots of adventures. We are running around hiking, camping, and visiting lots of fun places. So when the last week of summer came, I wanted to live it up before the kids went back to school. The last week had a few days when Randy was still around, so he was able to come on some of the adventures before he had to return to school, too.

Monday: Hike to Lake Solitude

We decided to hike to Lake Solitude which is a small lake behind Silver Lake at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon. We had a lot of fun on this hike. It was cloudy, and cool, so it was the perfect day for a hike. We saw a moose on the trail as we began walking around Silver Lake which the boys thought was amazing. She was laying down the first time we walked by, and when we came back a few hours later.  The trail was beautiful, the lake was lovely, and we found a hidden cave which was a surprise. The best memory is when Dax walked out on a log quite aways into the lake and then slipped/stepped in the muddy water with not just one, but both feet! Mom handled it very well and didn't yell!

The moose stayed right here for a really long time!

We actually found solitude at Lake Solitude so dad had to selfie our family pic!

Mom and Dad are getting pretty awesome at selfies!

Lake Solitude was beautiful. 

We loved the secret cave that we found!

Tuesday: Rockwell Ice Cream

Lots of people have recommended Rockwell Ice Cream to us, so we decided to give it a try for our Tuesday adventure. The ice cream was good--Mark declared it the best chocolate ice cream ever. But we are still a little biased for the BYU Creamery.

The ice cream shop was very cute!

The boys are always excited for ice cream!

Wednesday: Dripping Rock Trail (plus Spanish Fork Park & Splash Pad)

Randy went back to work on Wednesday, so my sister and I made plans to go hike Dripping Rock Trail. It was a lot of fun to go with cousins, and we even had the dripping rock all to ourselves. The water was freezing and it wasn't long before Seth was in tears. Melanie and I ventured over behind the drips, but the kids mostly hopped in and out of the water trying to stay warm.

Melanie and I behind the dripping rock! It was cold!

I liked my picture of looking at the kids from behind the water! They thought we were crazy!

After we left the trail, we went to North Park and played at the Splash Pad and playground. My boys love this park, and this was one spot that Dax had specifically asked to visit before the summer ended. So we were able to check it off the list!

Dax was super excited about the splash pad.

He is becoming a pro at the monkey bars.

Thursday: Neptune Park

We woke up bright and early and we headed to Neptune Park to beat the heat. We arrived a little bit before 9 am and there were a few people walking laps, while their kids played at the park. Around 9:00, we looked around and realized that it was just the 4 of us playing at the playground. We have been to Neptune Park a LOT of times, and it is usually crowded, so we were very glad to have the entire park to ourselves for a full hour.

It was weird to have the park to ourselves. 

Dax made it all the way to the top!

Friday: Swimming

We went on another adventure with cousins to the Lehi Legacy Center Pool. We haven't been to this pool since Dax was a baby, and Mark was a toddler and they both cried every time the bucket dumped water. Luckily this time was much better. They loved it! Mark and Dax both went down the slide and Seth had a blast in the kid areas. We had a really fun time with the Webbs. 

The goggles are hilarious right??

Seth loves these little slides. 

Mark, Dax, and Daniel would lay here and wait for the bucket to dump on them. Much different from the last visit to this pool.

Saturday: Owlz Game

This was the last adventure before school. We went to an Orem Owlz game. We always love baseball games and this was a fun one. The Owlz won, and one guy hit a 3-run homer! That was exciting. Mom and Dad also got free t-shirts because it was Breast Cancer Awareness night.

We love a good ball game!

Mom wearing her new Owlz shirt.

Perseid Meteor Shower

Setting up the cots was a great idea!

Every year in the middle of August, the Perseids put on the best meteor shower of the year. Mom and Dad have driven out and watched it several times, but this year we were determined to take the boys. It was a perfectly clear night, so loaded up some snacks, grabbed the cots, and drove out toward Fairfield.

Just past Eagle Mountain, we took a right turn and headed northwest along an old dirt road. We drove for about 5 miles out away from the lights and parked at a pullout. Then we put out our cots and wrapped up in blankets. It was cool, but all snuggled together we weren't too cold. It was just about 10 pm when we arrived, and the meteors were just starting. It wasn't a particularly spectacular year, but this was the boys' first time, and they were amazed. We stayed for around two hours, and Seth finally dropped off, but Mark and Dax watched until midnight. We had licorice and pretzels and oohed and awwed at all the meteors that streaked the sky. It was a perfect night for our adventuresome family.

We started out on separate cots, but by the end we were all snuggled on two different cots!

The boys loved staying up late and watching the meteors. 

Camping on the Mirror Lake Highway

The boys finished their 10 tasks, so it was time for a real camping adventure. We decided to go to our favorite place, Soapstone Campground on the Mirror Lake Highway. We headed out on Tuesday and though we had a late start, we had camp set up in time for a hike before dinner. We decided to try a new hike called Wall Lake. This is a simple out-and-back 2 mile roundtrip trail, and it was flat and beautiful. When we got there, Dad was certain that he'd been there before, but Mom couldn't remember. At any rate, there is a rock wall rising out of a very large lake. It was the perfect hike.

Seth is a bit of a poser...

Dax enjoys camping more than anyone!

Mark never complains about a hike.

The Wall Lake Trail was just right for our boys.

Wall Lake is pretty large.

We threw rocks for a long time, including some of those big ones.

Mom and Dad like to take selfies.

We are so glad to be hikers!

We headed back to our campsite for tinfoil dinners and s'mores. Then we walked over to the Provo River to throw a few rocks. This is the best part of the trip for the boys and the main reason we camp at Soapstone. To make it even a little better, someone had built a rock dam all the way across the river, which made a nice little pool. The boys really enjoyed that. Then we did a glowstick walk around the parking lot and went to bed.

Any animal we see is exciting.

This squirrel thought we might feed him. He was wrong.

The river was deeper due to the makeshift dam.

There is no trail to the river, so you have to bushwhack.

Dax loves 'smores uncooked and without graham crackers.

Dax's friend gave him a glow punching ball that was amazing!

The next day we were up early for pancake breakfast. We had planned a moderate hike way out toward Wyoming called Bourbon Lake. This proved to be fairly strenuous, though it was only about two and a half miles. The hike led pretty much uphill the entire way to the lake, but it was a gorgeous walk through alpine meadows without another soul on the trail. We finally reached the lake and took off our shoes and socks to put our feet in. The fish were really rolling, but we didn't see any wildlife except for a few woodpeckers. Dax also took a picture of Mom and Dad, which he deemed "pretty good."

Seth made a bow and arrow from a string and stick. It worked pretty well.

Our Fairy Forest rocks were doing fine. We always like to stop and check on them.

Dad loves to carry Seth.

Bourbon Lake was a steep climb, so the boys were thrilled when they found this "bed" to sleep on.

Do you see that caterpillar hanging over the trail? We were excited to see him.

We all liked cooling our feet in the freezing cold water.

Bourbon Lake was so peaceful.

Any of us could have fallen off that log at any time.

Family selfies are hard to take!

Yeah, Dax, that picture IS pretty good!

We finished the hike (downhill was easy) and had lunch in an adjacent campground. Then we drove down the road. Suddenly Mark spotted a moose. We were only about 50 yards from her, and she was really pretty. It made the whole trip worth it. We continued to drive out the highway until we finally reached the Whitney Reservoir turnoff. We rode out along this rocky dirt road for around 10 miles hoping to see some wildlife. We did manage to see a deer and a few ducks, but not much else. Still, we found the reservoir and skipped rocks for while, which the boys really loved.

She was more worried about us than we were about her.

She was picture-perfect.

It was a long ride back to Soapstone, and we got stuck in construction for about a half hour, but we had a nice stop at Provo River Falls, which was rushing more than we'd ever seen it before. We enjoyed taking a few pictures, and Seth was really excited to climb all over the rocks next to the waterfall.

The Whitney Reservoir was beautiful!

There were just a few people fishing, so we enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere.

We spotted this deer on the drive to Whitney Reservoir.

Someone was nice enough to take a family photo at Provo River Falls. 

We love exploring around the waterfall. 

And there are three different sections to see!

This is a picture Mark took.

Seth loved that he could touch the waterfall. 

We got back to camp and roasted some hotdogs for dinner. Then we headed over to the river again.  We wanted to let the boys wade in the river to wash their feet. We also had pooh stick races and threw a lot of rocks. Mom and Dad tried to really relax and do things the boys wanted to on this trip!

It was a little deeper than Dad expected!

At least we got clean feet!

Dax is truly adventurous. He walked right out into the river.

The boys thought it was a blast to play in the water.

Dax might have fallen in a few times.

Mark and Seth were more cautious, but they got pretty wet anyway.

Dad wanted to capture Mom's hair blowing in the wind.

Dad found this awesome rock that had a face on it!

Then Mark found one, too. It's a blobfish face!

We are trying to hone our selfie skills.

We headed back to camp and went to bed late, knowing we had to pack up in the morning. After breakfast burritos we were on the road before 10am. We tried to walk around the beaver ponds on the little bridge near the pay station, but the trail didn't really go anywhere, and we didn't see a beaver. We had to hurry back, though, so we could clean up and make our way to Bountiful to see Heather and Ethan Beddingfield.