August began with nothing special, expect that I found myself with renewed motivation to work on my health and fitness. I found myself a beginner running program and started doing it at the gym, plus using myfitnesspal and a meal replacement shake. I'm hoping to see great results in this month!
I also took the kids to buy some new shoes, because we were making plans for a hike with cousins!
They were very excited to send Daddy pictures of the shoes they'd picked out, although we ended up having to get others for Connor because they weren't the right size by the end of the week.
On the 2nd, Caleb txt me to tell me to expect him home late and sent this picture:
We've been having a lot of wildfires here in Utah, much like the other surrounding states!
At the beginning of the week I talked to Caleb about the hiking trip we had planned, and expressed to him my desire to have a carrier that I could use for hiking and that wouldn't hurt my back like the one we have. I showed him some ideas and he said it would be ok to get it order. It arrived Friday afternoon, and I was so excited to try it out!!! Thanks, my man!
Later that evening, cousins arrived! It was the start of the Olympics, and my sister had brought the cutest ideas and supplies for crafts and little games for the kids! They had a blast!
Saturday morning we woke up and headed to the 29th St Trailhead. We were so excited! My kids hadn't ever hiked before, so I was a bit apprehensive, and none of us had ever done the trail before and weren't sure what to expect.
At first Evelynn wanted carried, but Connor led the pack! I kept having to call that kid back to me and tell him to wait where I could see him. It was dusty and hot, and kind of ugly at the beginning.
Eventually the trail got more forest-y and rocks started littering the trail. We we came upon a bridge that crossed the stream running downhill, Melinda and I couldn't resist pictures! It reminded us of our childhood "fairyland trail" at Sage Hen Reservoir.
Honestly, it was a challenging hike with kids. We were all hot and it was uphill the ENTIRE way, but we made sure to stop and drink water whenever we felt it was necessary. Evelynn had quickly decided she wanted to hike herself, and she was adamant that "I do it MYSELF!!! No hold my hand! Don't TOUCH ME!"
Shortly after these pictures were taken, I found my groove a bit and just wanted to reach the top. I managed to take the lead with Connor and kept up with his little mountain goat energy. Caleb wasn't far behind with Evelynn.
When we reached the top it was cool and a fine mist from the trickling waterfall was so refreshing! We all had snacks that Caleb had hiked up in a backpack and then took some pictures before heading back down the trail.
Liam LOVED the lillebaby carrier we had gotten. He hardly made a peep the entire hike, expect to turn and holler excitedly at some dogs hiking back down past us.
Melinda and I were so excited to get to hike together! After all, that's a memory that highlighted most of our summers growing up.
To be honest, I was so proud of myself on this hike. I haven't been hiking since the summer after Caleb and I were married. But I did this hike with relatively little trouble, and I got to show my kids how wonderful hiking is! I felt a bit like my old self on this hike, and it was an amazing expereince!
It was SO much fun to get to do this with my sister's family! We like to joke that we're the next cool generation of siblings that hang out and their kids are besties, and that's totally how it felt on this hike
And I of course can't forget to mention how extremely proud I was of my little kiddos on this hike! It was there first time, and it wasn't easy! But they powered thru it and shocked us all, and I was grinning ear to ear watching them!
Our hike back down went fast, but my kids were pretty worn out and Evelynn ended up being carried part of the way, while Connor (he tripped and fell and bonked his knee) cried nearly the whole way, but hiked it still. They were tough kids, and we were so proud!
Cousins had to go see their other Utah family after getting cleaned up, but we had such an amazing little visit with them!!! Definitely one for the books! :-)
And on one last positive note, yesterday the kids and I went to all 3 hours of church for the first time in months! After all the sickness in June, all the Idaho visits in July, I could hardly remember when I last had all of them there the entire time. I took pictures as a "way to go" for myself.
As summer is drawing to an end, I look back at the fun stuff we've done the last couple months and feel grateful for the life I have! We hope you all have been getting to do some wonderful things, too!
No comments:
Post a Comment