Traitors and Tyrants and a trip to “the Cave”

Timpanogos Cave, that is.  We decided that Halle and Josh were old enough to make this rite of passage hike.  I have so many fun childhood memories of hiking the cave with my family, aunts, uncles and cousins, that I was excited to share this same experience with my kids.  It is a tough hike—1 1/2 miles and 1,065 ft of elevation gain.  But, we brought lots of water and snacks and were confidant that the kids could do it. As we were getting ready to leave Josh said, “I sure hope there are no “Traitors and Tyrants” inside of the cave!”  Where does he come up with this stuff???
While there were no traitors or tyrants, the cave tour was amazing.  The kids did really well on the hike up, and Halle absolutely loved every minute we were in the cave.  Josh liked it to, but it got a little long for him.  He got a free ride down the mountain, and my quads got a killer workout from steep downhill hike + child on my back.  This will definitely be a repeat activity. 

Annual Pilgrimage to Utah

I met my parents in Rawlins to send the kiddos off on their summer vacation to Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  I expected Blake to throw a huge fit when he realized I was going to leave him, but he just waved and waved and said, “Bye Mom!  See you later!”  Not a tear in his eye.  On the other hand, Josh and Halle were crying buckets.  Josh had been counting down the days since April, so I was shocked that he was even the least bit sad.  But a few miles down the road and a lot of jokes from Papa and Uncle Roger cured him.  Ice Cream at Little America Helped too :)

As was expected, the kids had a marvelous time being spoiled rotten, and hanging out with their cousins.  Jack and Blake have a love/hate relationship.  Blake loves to bite, and Jack hates it. 

Some of the festivities included:

Feeding the ducks at Adventure and Learning park: Playing in the hammock and jumping on the tramp:

A treat from the Pink Shop everyday when Papa came home from work:

Watching the Children’s Parade in Lehi:
(Gotta be one of my all time favorite pics of the cousins)

And who could forget the Princess Festival.  Halle had a splendid time again this year, and in case you are wondering, she is STILL a REAL princess!  Thanks to Grandma Cornell and Grandma Banks for sharing this special day with her. 

   

They also had a great time spending a few nights with Grandma and Grandpa Banks—playing on the jeeps, hanging out with their Banks cousins, watching fireworks, and going to the splash park.  It’s no wonder my kiddos always beg to move to Utah!

Weekend Get-away

Thanks to my wonderful parents, Rusty and I had a few days to ourselves before I had to head out to girls camp.  With the kids shipped safely away to Utah, we packed our bags and headed for the hills.  Or mountains, to be exact.  We had a quadrathlon of events in Breckenridge—running, mountain biking, tennis, and hiking.  And that was all before lunch!  It’s amazing how much you can do when you don’t have to take care of tiny ones.  After enjoying the outdoors and eating lots of yummy food in Breck, we headed down to Buena Vista to raft on the Arkansas.  Wow.  That’s all I can say.  The river was running unusually high this year and the rapids were amazing.  I also looked pretty amazing in my wet suit.  Too bad I didn’t get a picture ;) If you are ever in that area, please stop and eat a burger and onion rings from a little hamburger dive called “K’s”  I am still dreaming about it. 

  

(This is at the top of an incredibly LONG mountain biking hill.  The view was amazing.  Wearing jeans to go mountain biking---NOT amazing)

We concluded our getaway in Colorado Springs at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort.  More tennis, hiking in Garden of the Gods, and an awesome lantern tour through the Cave of Winds. 

Blake and BlogFrog turn two

This post is late in coming, but the pics are cute.  If you all will remember, Rusty quit his job at Ball Aerospace to go full-time with BlogFrog when Blake was 3 days old.  Although technically BlogFrog is much older than 2, I will always think of that crazy time as similar to giving birth to twins.  So, here are the birthday boys, Blogger the Frog, and Blake.