June 2017: summer begins!

monthly photo summary

6/1: Arcade Fire released a single from their fifth album: Everything Now!
Jeff and I listened to Everything Now in the car together for the first time and we both loved it. The song has instant appeal. I can't wait to hear the rest of the songs from the album; they're releasing one a week until the full album is released at the end of July.

6/3: Little Red Riding Hood 2017

Amy Harman, Paige Sohm, and I drove up to Lewiston, UT to ride the 36 mile route of Little Red. This was my second time participating, but Amy and Paige's first cycling events! Amy drove us and our bikes up to northern Utah. Since we were doing one of the shorter routes our start time wasn't until 10:20. We parked on the street a block away from the starting line and made it just in time. The start was anticlimactic - it seemed like we were the only ones going fast. We had to pass dozens of riders going super slow. (What the heck?!)

The ride was lovely and uneventful. We had a rest stop just before mile 14, then it was no stopping till the end. It turns out the course was only 34 miles - not 36 - but it was flat, and the weather was absolutely perfect. On the way home we made a stop at Amy's favorite Logan bakery, Old Grist Mill, to get giant oatmeal cookies, and dropped Paige off in Brigham City to meet up with her husband. Amy's car had some issues on the drive home, which made for a slower, more eventful finish to our day. We agreed that it seemed a little silly to drive two hours to ride only 34 miles, but I'm so glad we did it.

6/5: Cheryl had her precious baby girl, Emily, on Friday, June 2nd! On Monday I finally got to meet her! Shalane and I brought dinner and stayed to hold the sweet babe. Cheryl had her dressed in the little pineapple romper I'd given her. Isn't she just so adorable?

6/8: FIRST DAY OF SUMMER!
Jeff had the day off and we packed the day full of activities to kick off summer. First up: Captain Underpants! I had basically assumed this movie was going to be lame until Jeff told me it was 85% fresh. As expected, the movie was full of potty humor, and the girls thought it was hilarious!

After the movie we drove to Park City to ride the alpine slide and alpine coaster. As usual, Ruby rode with Jeff and Ellie rode with me. I think next year they'll have to ride in their own sleds - it was a tight fit! The alpine slide is great, but the coaster is the real highlight. It never gets old. We picked the perfect day to go; hardly anyone was there and there were no lines! It would have been the best day to get an all-day pass! Because of the short lines we were done riding the two rides really fast. Ellie has fond memories of doing the Legacy Launcher trampoline and begged to do it. Why not? Both girls had a turn jumping and I couldn't help feeling that it was a waste of money.

We drove home on Wasatch once we got back to Salt Lake, and on a whim, stopped at Little Cottonwood Canyon to "hike" to Lisa Falls. We'd never been to this super-popular waterfall, which is barely a quarter mile off the road.

6/9: Will Hortin started a summer job doing wetland tours for little kids. I signed up the girls right away and they happened to be his first group. Will walked to our house to pick up the girls and went over the rules before they left. Will really wanted to pull someone in the wagon and Ellie was the lucky rider. (I was dying watching him pull her down the hill!) He walked them to Mehraban Wetlands, taught and entertained them for 90 minutes and returned them home. When they got back Will seemed genuinely surprised by how much fun it had been. He told me we could sign up to do it again anytime. Later he sent me pictures of the girls from the tour.

I finally got around to getting organized for summer on day 2. We had already written our summer fun list during FHE, so I just had to write it down, fill out the calendar, and update the bored list. We reamde the chore charts, too, and came up with a payment program for the summer.

6/10 & 6/11: Two of Jeff's cousins were in town for the weekend. Dane and Sarah's family (from Colorado) were here visiting for Sarah's grandma's 80th birthday celebration and staying with Vel and Wayne. Jered and Jo's (from California) stayed with us for two nights on their way to Idaho to visit Jo's family. Jared and Jo have three kids - Brayman (14), Skylar (11), and Logan (8). The girls liked having cousins around - especially the girl cousins - Skylar and Sierra [top right photo].

6/11: I brought the puppet stage to primary to teach Nephi's Courage. I bought Susan Fitch's clip art set and printed/laminated them to make stick puppets. Only one kid can fit behind the little puppet stage so it was a one-kid show, and senior primary did awesome! (I didn't have time to do it in junior.)

6/13: We started our family day at Tracy Aviary. We used to go often when we had a family membership. Now I like to go back once a year to visit our favorite birds and see what's changed. Andy the Andean Condor showed off his wingspan for us as he stretched in his cage. The peacocks were strutting feistily, screeching and blocking the sidewalk. My new favorite bird was the green magpie. It was fun to see what the girls remembered from previous visits and teach them some new things.

We walked through Liberty Park to spend some time at the playground. On the way we stopped inside the free Chase Museum of Utah Folk Arts to see what was inside. The teeny museum houses a small collection of Utah art, including some American Indian artifacts. Ellie loved the beaded leather gloves and Ruby loved the pink quilt.
We went to lunch at the City Creek Cheesecake Factory where Ruby could get some delicious orange chicken.

6/14: I wanted to take the girls on a trail ride and decided on Jordan River Parkway since it's flat and easy. Getting all three of our bikes in the car was a bit of a puzzle, but I got them all squeezed in. We parked at the 123rd South trailhead and rode north almost to 106th. I had this fantasy that the girls would love it so much they'd ask to keep riding and we'd go like ten miles. In reality, their little legs were pumping fast while I was riding about as slowly as possible. When we got to a playground we stopped to play and then the girls voted to ride back to the car. We rode a total of 4.6 miles, which was probably a record for them. When we got home I left them at home and went on a 14 mile ride by myself.

6/15: summer dentist visits
Both girls were given the no cavities thumbs-up and the dentist told me it was time to get Ruby to the orthodontist (contrary to what he'd predicted 6 months ago). He said Ellie's mouth has grown so she has more room than she did, but she still has overcrowding and her crossbite that will need correction.

Zennie organized a get-together with us and Colleen's family at the new Bluffdale splash park. I had heard about it but didn't know anything about it yet. The park is HUGE and it was CRAZY crowded! It was the first hot weather day in a few days, plus a brand new splash park, so I had expected it to be busy, just not that crowded! I had recently seen both Zennie and Colleen but hadn't met any of their kids (except for Alice)! Ruby paired up with Claire (Colleen's 12-yo) and Ellie paired up with Olive (Zennie's 11-yo). I loved catching up with my old high school friends while our kids ran around.

6/16: Ruby and Alta went to the Wired day camp at Thanksgiving Point. They observed how electricity works, explored circuits, and learned how to make them. They also made Jitterbugs, windmills, and light-up LED cards. Ruby says her favorite part was playing with snap circuits.

While Ruby was at camp I took Ellie to Lehi Country Bakery for a square donut, and met up with Ellie B. at the Sandy splash park to play. I let her choose what she wanted for lunch and what activity she wanted to do for the afternoon. To my surprise she asked to watch Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets movie with me, which took up the rest of the afternoon.

That evening I took the girls swimming at Dimple Dell. Ellie wanted to try out her new swim cap and practice her swim strokes. I taught Ellie how to do butterfly and I taught Ruby how to do elementary backstroke. They had so much fun they begged to go back the next day.

6/18: Father's Day
I got information about the dads of the primary children for my singing time activity. I read clues and the kids had to figure out if it was their dad. When we figured out whose dad it was we would sing his favorite primary song. It was a huge hit! I was just sad that we didn't have time to do them all!

I gave the kids the tie with their dad's information on it to keep. I made a total of 24 ties for both junior and senior primaries. (I didn't hear back from all of the parents with information, so I didn't make them for all of the kids. I felt bad afterward that I didn't have something to give everyone though.)

Jeff's Father's Day dessert request was key lime cheesecake. I bought real key limes and juiced enough of them to get a 1/2 cup of juice. Thankfully, both the girls were interested in helping squeeze limes, which helped the process go faster. The cheesecake turned out perfectly, so worth all the work!

For Father's Day we gave Papa an Army hat, camouflage socks, and camo fidget spinner. We were all surprised when Papa figured out how to balance the spinner on his thumb right away.

6/19: The girls and I took the CX-5 up to Bountiful to get the oil changed. We walked to Parson's Bakery to get donuts and the car was done before we got back. On the way home we stopped at Target to visit Jeff and do a little shopping. Ruby thought she needed a sun hat and beach bag. (So we took a picture instead of buying them!)

6/21: We had a day of chores and laziness at home. Our big outing for the day was visiting the library to turn in the girls' completed library reading challenge sheets. They each got to choose a free book and enter their names into a drawing. On the way home we stopped at Hokulia to try their shave ice. (There's been a Hokulia cart in Draper for several years but we'd never tried it.) We each got a "short board" shave ice, the smallest size. They're ginormous!

6/22: Gracie's mom invited Ruby and Ellie to go to Cowabunga Bay with their family in the evening. Ellie was hesitant about going but she decided last-minute that she wanted to go. They played at Cowabunga for two hours and came back in high spirits.

6/23: The girls had been begging all week to go to Draper outdoor pool. I made them earn it and we finally had a chance to go Friday afternoon. Alta and Ellie happened to be there with their sports camp group and their other friends. Ruby and Ellie were so happy to see their friends.

Cheryl's mom, Margo Catts, had a book signing at King's English Bookstore for her first novel, Among the Lesser Gods. I finally got around to reading it and had finished it the night before. Amy and I went to the book signing, where Margo talked about writing the book, read an excerpt, took questions, and signed books. I've met Margo a few times before, but I felt totally starstruck talking to a real novelist! Cheryl and Benjamin and the girls were there, of course, and we got to hold that sweet tiny baby!

6/24: It was our assigned week to help clean the church. I went on an early bike ride and got home just in time to take the girls over. We swept and mopped the cultural hall. Ruby also helped mop the bathroom floors with Olivia Bytendorp.

That afternoon I took the girls to Target to spend some of their hard-earned allowance money. Ruby and Ellie worked out a deal that Ellie would buy a two-pack of Hatchimals, and they'd each get one. Then Ruby would buy some Thinking Putty for both of them with her money. Thus the whole purchase discussion process on the floor of the toy aisle.

I gave symphony tickets to Jeff for Father's Day. When I found out that the Utah Symphony was performing La La Land I knew I had to buy tickets. The concert was at USANA amphitheater (waaaaay out west) and didn't even start until 9pm. We couldn't find a sitter that would babysit that late so Grammie offered to have the girls over for a sleepover. When Jeff got home from work we dropped off the girls and we went to dinner before going to the show.

The whole experience was wonderful. We had fabulous seats. The music was magical. I was amazed by how perfectly the symphony played in sync with the film. My one disappointment was that nobody could see the piano player. He was front-and-center but the audience's view was obstructed by the keyboard player's podium. I had just the right spot where I could see the piano player's hands on the keys, so I had to be satisfied with that.
The show didn't end until 11:30! I was so grateful that we didn't feel like we had to rush home to relieve the babysitter.

6/25: The Larsen cousins stayed at Grammie and Papa's house on their way back from Idaho on their way home to California. The kids all got to play badminton and capture the flag on Sunday evening. Right before dessert Ruby turned on the hose and everyone got soaking wet.

6/26: The girls went to Color Splash art camp at Kendali Art Studio in Sandy.
"Paint-filled squirt guns, bubble art, foam sidewalk chalk, and tie-dye backpacks will help you beat the heat at our most popular summer camp! Come ready for some serious outdoor summertime art fun! Wear your old swimsuit and sunscreen - we'll be making giant messy art that Mom just won't let you do at home!"
Perfect. They were at camp for four hours - just enough time for me to go on a 22 mile bike ride and get a pedicure. Yayyyy!

That afternoon I finished reading The Candymakers to Ruby and Ellie. Ruby's teacher had read this book to her class this year, and when we needed a new book to read Ruby was adamant that we read this one. I didn't love this novel at first but I ended up loving it. The girls were so into it they'd beg me to read it in the mornings or afternoons in addition to our nightly reading. Ellie told me she didn't want me to finish reading it though, because then we wouldn't be able to read it anymore. I totally know that feeling.

6/27: Day 2 of art camp and Jeff's day off! We took the opportunity to try out a new hike to scope it out for a family hike. We had just enough time to try a new sushi restaurant for lunch before camp was over. The girls both loved the camp and the fun projects they got to do.

That evening we went to Thanksgiving Point Gardens. Ruby came up with a new hide-and-seek game: she'd take my phone, she and Ellie would go to a different part of the garden and text us a picture from their new location, where they would wait until we found them. This was the first text picture, an easy clue! The picture clues got harder each time, and the last one we had a hard time locating them! It was so fun!

6/28: Ally came over to play for the afternoon. They literally spent the entire playdate washing my car and washing the garage floor. They were both way into it. Funny hard-working girls!

I finally took the girls in for haircuts for the first time since last August! They both needed a serious trim; Ruby had 1.5 inches and Ellie had 2 inches cut off. They probably have the same length hair now!
We had already kind of decided this would be their last visit to Cookie Cutters and this visit solidified that decision. The stylist didn't even fully blow-dry or style their hair. So disappointing.

6/29: We spent the afternoon at Cowabunga Bay. I ordered a new waterproof case for my phone since my other one cracked last year. I successfully pre-tested the new case, but after I'd taken a few pictures I noticed there was water inside it. Boo!!! Glad I got a few cute pics though!

June hikes

Friday, June 1: White Pine trail, 3.72 miles

We went to see how much snow was still on the Red Pine/White Pine trail. (This was the day that Ruby didn't want us to come to the talent show.) There was a lot less snow and the whole trail was a snowmelt creek. We both thought "Ruby would love this!" We crossed the bridge to try picking up the Red Pine trail but we couldn't figure out a clear trail. We opted for White Pine again and hiked it until we would have had to start hiking in the snow.

Saturday, June 3: Red Pine trail to the bridge, 2 miles

Jeff took the girls to Red Pine trail while I was driving up to Logan for Little Red. They went first thing in the morning and it was still cold! Jeff texted me these pictures and I almost felt like I was there.

Tuesday, June 6: Lake Blanche, 8.6 miles

This was our last date hike for the school year and we wanted to try a new hike that would be best to do without kids. It's a long, challenging hike. Reaching the lake felt like a real achievement. From the north side of the lake we could hear loud rushing water and followed it to find a waterfall running underneath a sheet of snow (top right pic). You'd have to see it to appreciate how cool it was!

The hike down felt long and it just got hotter the lower we went. We stopped to watch a woodpecker for a few minutes but otherwise we tried to hike back as quickly as we could.

Tuesday, June 13: Donut Falls, 2 miles

We let the girls choose the first summer hike. It was no surprise that they chose Donut Falls. We spent the morning and afternoon downtown and this was a good pick for a short evening hike.

The girls had been busy making lots of movie trailers on iMovie and wanted to make one with pictures and videos from the hike. Ruby used my phone and Ellie used Jeff's phone to take photos for later use. It was hilarious to listen to them talk about what kind of shots they wanted to get and plan out their video. Lots of the pictures were throw-aways but some of them were pretty cool.

We hiked to the waterfall but there was so much water we couldn't get very close without getting freezing wet feet. We hiked up the hill to see the donut hole from above, and hiked back down. Summer hike #1: check.

Thursday, June 15: Bear Canyon Bridge (from Hidden Valley Park), 3.3 miles

Jeff worked at Genoa and was home early enough to squeeze in an evening hike. It was still warm but not too hot. We started at Hidden Valley Park, which is the longer but less steep way to get to the bridge. Ruby really wanted to go down to see the water in the canyon but it was getting late. We got to watch the sunset on our hike back to the park.

"On our drive home we saw that the Sprucewood sprinklers were on so of course the girls had to play in them so they did. They ran through the mist until they were soaked. They said they wanted to play in them again" (written by Ellie). Jeff even joined in! Walking back to the car Ellie said, "Ruby, wasn't that the best thing you've ever done in your life?"

Saturday, June 17 - Ruby's 9.5 birthday: Stewart Falls, 4.1 miles

We took a bit of a risk choosing to hike Stewart Falls on a Saturday. We got a parking spot though and the trail wasn't much more crowded than we'd seen before. The water flowing over the falls was so strong it was spitting mist into the air. To our disappointment, it looked like you'd get knocked over if you walked underneath the waterfall. We played it safe and decided we'd come back later in the summer when the snowmelt has slowed down.

Tuesday, June 20: Silver Lake (AF Canyon), 5.7 miles

At the time I remember thinking this was kind of a long hike to be doing so early in the season but we went anyway. Ruby and Ellie definitely do better on hikes they've done before, which helped, but it was surprisingly hot for being high up the canyon. They both whined a lot about being "sooooo HOT!" The lake was icy cold and the mountains were majestic dressed in green and white.

On the way up Ruby and Ellie dipped their heads in the stream to cool down.

We're standing right next to the top of the lake spillover waterfall. At this point Ruby had already taken a dip in the lake, and wouldn't you know it, now she was "sooooo cold!!!"

On our way home we had a late lunch in Lehi and went to see the National Parks Adventure film at the Thanksgiving Point Mammoth screen.

Thursday, June 22: Cecret Lake (from Albion base), 6 miles

We knew the summer road to the Cecret Lake parking lot was still closed and we wanted to hike through Albion Meadows anyway. I expected snow up by the lake but we started seeing snow piles at the beginning of the hike - and there was just more and more the higher we hiked! Most of the trail for the last mile was covered, which made the final ascent slippery.

This was our first time seeing snow and ice still on the lake. It was full to the brim. There were little waterfalls above the lake where there isn't usually, and the far side of the lake was so covered in snow that you couldn't even see the boulder field.

I've decided this is the best time to hike Cecret Lake because it's not busy! We were the only ones at the lake for a little while before we were joined by a solo hiker. Going this early you miss out on peak wildflower season, but I'll take less people over wildflowers, at Cecret Lake anyway.

As with most hikes, the way up was slow and whiny, and the way down was all smiles. They loved "skiing" down the big fields of snow and climbing up the crusty ice mountains left by the snowplows. Near the Cecret Lake parking lot Ruby saw this ice mountain [bottom right photo] and said, "Ellie, isn't that snow just calling our name?"

Jeff slid down this tall snow mountain [far left photo], followed by Ruby, who got off track and hit a hard bump and got hurt. After that Ellie decided not to slide down too!

I believe this was the hike that Ellie told Jeff, "Deal with it - HEAD ON!" in this gruff voice. This has since become Jeff's motivational phrase on family hikes.

Special Note: We finally bought the girls their own Camelbak ("hiker drinkers" as we call them for some reason) backpacks! They get to pack their own water, snacks, tissues, and bandaids.

Tuesday, June 27: Dog Lake (from Big Cottonwood - Mill D North), 5.3 miles

Ruby and Ellie were at Color Splash art camp for four hours. We tried out a new hike to scope it out for a family hike. Our hike book said it is a 4.6 mile easy hike - perfect, right?

The one thing we didn't like about it was all the mountain bike traffic. The bikers were mostly coming downhill but it gets annoying to have to get off the trail every couple minutes to let a biker by.

The best part of the trail is the mid section [far right photo] where the trail parallels a lush stream flanked by aspen trees. We might have to do this hike again in the fall just to see it when the leaves are turning. The "lake" is one of the least impressive of the alpine lakes we've visited. Next time we'll take the fork to Desolation Lake instead.

Thursday, June 29: Bear Canyon Bridge (from Orson Smith), 2.5 miles

It was another Genoa workday for Jeff and a cool (compared to usual) evening for a hike. We got a later start and opted for starting from the Orson Smith trailhead.

We got to the bridge and had time to go down to the water this time. When we got back to the bridge it was the golden hour, everything bathed in golden light. While Jeff observed some magpies and chukars, Ellie took a moment to gaze pensively at the valley below. Both the girls wanted me to take pictures of them since it reminded them of the lighting we had during our family photo session.

On the hike down Ellie told me "This is the best hike ever, honey."

We got post-hike treats at Hokulia - Jeff's first visit. Jeff was telling Ruby about how, at work, when someone asks for his name he says, "JIFF!" She was cracking up like it was the funniest thing he's ever said.