Chloe and her friends
Look at that view!
My beautiful girl!
I'm so glad we were able to come on this hike. I was scheduled to work that night and I wasn't sure how long we would have for the hike since I needed to nap. But it worked out perfectly!
Gotta love the DI hiking shorts! It's so hard to find women's cut nylon pants that aren't too short. These ones, although a little big, were just the right length and even had a little stretch which I like
She looks so far away but actually got pretty wet!
Geocaching: I had a week with just my babies at home since Nate was busy working on getting summer school ready and finishing other end of the year projects. We went and found a couple geocache's in Heber, including a Utah Geotour box which always has fun kids stuff inside. We also found caches on the way to First Falls and along the Deer Creek trail, both of which had fun kid caches. It's a little hard to find big ones that have toys inside but it's totally worth the time it takes clicking on the little map one by one to find the good ones to keep my kiddos excited!
Utah Geotour!
Fun little Cache along the way to our church!
Bloods Lake: This is probably my favorite hike that we've done so far this summer. It's one I've never done before and it's just up the road past midway! My friend told me about it on the hike to Stewart Falls and it was perfect for a morning hike! We went June 5th and there was still patches of snow in places and it wasn't quite warm enough to swim (even though Marie slipped halfway in). The kids were entertained for a whole hour trying to catch little shrimpies and the hike was easy enough Zeyta could hike the whole 1/2 mile or so. We packed a little tuna and crackers lunch along with some peanut butter and Nutella for Marie who doesn't like tuna. I think we'll go again in August when it's sure to be warm!
Blain found this walking stick and has taken it on several of the other hikes as well!
I love this picture of Chloe! She looks so happy and that lake is beautiful!
My cute little dark dark baby! I can't believe how fast she tans
Hikers on the trail!
Group picture in front of the beautiful lake! There is even a rope swing on the far side!
Hiking First Falls: This short but steady uphill hike to a little waterfall started on the same trail up to Mt Timp. The hike up was about a mile and pretty shaded. We went in the evening and the weather was perfect. The only bad part of the hike was the stinging nettle. Both Avenlea and I brushed past some before we noticed and warned the others. Avenlea was crying really hard for a good half hour or so before the stinging went away poor baby. If we come this way again it's long sleeves and pants no matter how warm I think it will be!
Blain's slate and sea shell he found along the way
At the trailhead! We met up with Em's family for this hike - then swapped Avenlea for Marie for a little sleep over.
Zeyta shaking her purple shaker
Blain did both his instruments without any help! I did have to show him how to wrap a rubber band but he did it all on his own after that little lesson
Chloe of course the crafting pro!
North Deer Creek Trail: This hike wasn't super exciting - but the main motivation for doing it was the geo caches hidden along the trail. There was virtually no shade but the trail was flat. We weren't' close to the lake at all so we only hiked about 1/4 mile or so then turned around. But they found a really fun cache and Kiya found her first!
At the trailhead!
Almost back at the beginning where the only shade existed. We had our little lunch and snacks.
Blain's First Gymnastics Meet!! I can't tell you how excited I was to watch Blain in his little competition. AND HE DID AMAZING! Blain set one goal for each aparatus (6 total) and we agreed that if he met 4/6 then he could earn a trip to wigglish toy store for some slime. He met 5/6 of his goals and earned 3 first place ribbons and 3 second place. For his level they don't give scores they just say whether he completed his routine at a blue, red or white level. Blain earned Blue on Pommel, Rings, and Floor. He got red on vault, high bar, and parallel bars.
Blain and Kiya with their ribbons and medals!
Blain so proud of his awards
Blain had the best floor routine that I've ever seen him do! His coaches were all smiles and gave him big hi fives. He held his handstand for the full 3 seconds and his goal of keeping his toes together was easily met even though he usually forgets.
Blain has worked hard for the past 3 weeks so he can do a pull up without the coach's help on the rings (his goal) He fought so hard and did it all on his own! Way to be so strong Blain!
It was so fun watching Kiya who I never get to see because she practices on Thursdays when I work. She does so good and keeps herself so straight!
Blain's goal on pommel was to keep his bum off the horse which is really hard for him. He did really good on his side swings and even got his legs over the handles pretty good! Way to get a blue on this hard apparatus Blain!
Blain had a fall on the parallel bars a couple weeks ago on his dismount and ever since has been a little timid. His goal was to dismount with strait legs but he curled them like he usually does. He just needs a little more confidence on his back swing and then he'll be golden! His v hold has gotten longer though! It was barely half a second a month ago and I'd say it was almost 2 seconds for the meet.
There are quite a few hard skills on the high bar that Blain is still working on. His goal was to stick his landing which he accomplished! He still needs to work on his hanging pull over and his back hip circle but he's pretty close to getting both of them! Keep working hard Blain!
With his prize slime!
Start of Summer School!
Zeyta is not attending summer school but she comes with me to eat lunch with them and pick them up from school. Avenlea is put in a Kindergarten going into 1st grade class since the preschool class was all filled up - but her teacher told Nate she has been doing awesome helping other kids and following directions really well. Blain is most excited by the pile of spilt Orbies by the playground an Chloe is excited to have some of her best friends in her summer school class!
Almost hiking Cataract Gorge: I've been reading about this amazing place in the Uintas called Cataract Gorge and we almost found the place. There is very little about the hike on the internet and I don't have access to a good map but we found the road that lead to the hike, but a blog I read said to turn off the road about 1/4 mile down so we did but turns out we should have kept going until the end to reach the actual trailhead. We did find a beautiful little waterfall next to a calm slow flowing lake/river. We also found MILLIONS of mosquitos and didn't bring any bug spray. It was still a fun little hike. We hiked up river until we found the head of the river then turned around. It was pretty marshy and wet in a couple places but if you pick your way around those little streams and don't stay too close to the river it wasn't too bad!
Chloe and Blain at the top of the Gorge. I was a little nervous when we saw the start of the trail because it went down a very narrow ledge with a sheer drop off. But that soon turned down onto a more secure looking hill and then came down by the river and waterfall.
My sweet family by the river
The group at the end of the trail we took
I forgot the carrier on the last hike so I promised Zeyta I would bring the carrier for her this time. I feel like I should "forget" it more often since she hikes so well on her own, but it is nice to have her in there rather than on my or nate's shoulders when she needs a break.
What the goofball?!?
Zeyta only came out of the carrier at the very end
Avenlea had been begging for a turn so she was super excited when Zeyta asked to walk on her own
Shoulder rides!
We crossed the river over some well placed logs
Trying not to get our feet wet!
Snacks at the car were short lived because of all the mosquitos... next time we'll come prepared! But what a beautiful area to spend the evening!
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