Hiking With Spencer And Sarah

We had a great hike at the monument with Spencer and Sarah even though only some of us went. We had two kids that weren't feeling good when we left so they stayed behind.

Shermie showing off his karate pose.

Matthew hamming it up for the camera. 

Annalyn leading the way for her Dad.

She did really awesome!

She ran around and ran around then finally needed a break.At least we had a use for the backpack since she was never in it. It made a good back rest!

I think though we should have actually left Shermie home too. He was sick when we got there and had a really rough time but he was a trooper!

Matthew was like a little mountain goat. Nothing slowing him down.

Titan did a great job and loved being out with the family.

Thanks Spencer and Sarah for the fun visit!!

Spring Break Hike

This morning  we called Grandma and asked if she would like to join us and a group of our friends to go on a hike to the Mica mine. We were SO happy she said yes. We met our group at the trail head and after loading babies in backpacks and rounding the kids up again we headed down the trail. The total hike is 2.5 miles.

There were probable about ten women with an average of three kids a piece. Kid's ages ranging for 5months to 11yrs. We were quite the group. They all did really well and we didn't have any probables.  Our friend Chase found this cool little beatle. 

We stop to eat our lunch at the mine. The kids were everywhere, climbing jumping, hiding, playing and eating. I couldn't believe they had so much energy.

Annaylyn fell asleep just before we reached the mine so she sleep the whole time we were there. The boys had so much fun.  Nicholas was very busy finding rocks and loading up his backpack. 

It was so nice that Grandma came. I always enjoy having her with us and so do the boys.

Shermie played king of the cave standing on a ledge at the top of the cave by himself.

It was such a great adventure and opportunity to get the kids out of the house and spend time with friends. The weather was perfect and so were the kids.

The boys had a harder time with the hike back do to their bounteous collection of rocks that they, "just couldn't leave"! It was so funny watching the struggle to carry them with all the determination in the world.

 
I beat Bocker's backpack weighed more than he did!












Matthew and Tuffer were just carrying big rocks that they "had to have".

Thanks Monica for getting everyone together.

Boys, Rocks and Dirt

This weekend Sherman decided to take us on a picnic and hike. So after picking up some KFC and some camel backs for the boys and ourselves, we headed up to the Devil's Kitchen. We went in the middle of the day (the hottest part no less) but it was still fairly cool with the breeze that was blowing up through the canyon. Shermie held Bocker's hand as they walked, too cutie. Matthew and Tuffer thought it was fun to race most of the time and to look for lizards. We found a cool rock that had huge holes worn into it by the wind and water. We got all the boys up into it for a picture.

When we started out we weren't really sure how far we would be able to go with Nicholas walking himself. But after half an hour we reached the end of the trail and he had done great! There was plenty of shade to sit in and have our lunch. Also there was a small water hole that has a waterfall when it rains. The boys quickly entertained themselves with throwing rocks into the water. What is it with boys and rocks. They just can't leave them alone. They're dad taught them to skip them on the water. Shermie was pretty good at it.

Not wanting to pack a bunch, we had gotten finger foods for the picnic. Chicken strips, wings, corn on the cob, biscuits and a bag of frozen fruit. The fruit was the best because it was still cold and it was a nice cool treat. Nicholas had dirt with his meal because he insisted on having one of everything which he set on his camel back in the dirt. Tasty! Oh whats a little dirt hurt right.

The hike back seemed to take less time then going in but we could see that had it been any longer we would have been carrying Nic. As it was he held his own. The boys, including Sherman Peter, decided to race up the hill to the car. Daddy lost because he has weak ankles and twisted it. So the boys won. Luckily it didn't seem as bad as it had been on previous occasions. He'll live. It was a wonderful family activity which we plan to do more often. The boys love it.