These Are a Few of Our Favorite Things

Gregg spent a few days in Vermont the second week of July (the 8th-11th), so the kids and I used his absence as an excuse to have a multi-day sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Providence.  (Side note: I once said to Sam: "let's go to Grandpa's house" and in his whiny, tired voice he complained that "no! it's Grandma's house!"  I couldn't convince him otherwise.  And I get the same "clarification" when I try to assign ownership of their truck to Grandma instead of Grandpa. :)  I guess he's got things figured out.)  

We dropped Gregg at the airport early Sunday morning and hurried back to Eden to go to church.  After church and lunch and a nap (though not a very long one) for Sam, we headed to Cache Valley, where we pulled into my parents' driveway about 2 minutes before my mom got home from her ward.  Talk about timing.  We spent the rest of Sunday through Wednesday evening eating and visiting great grandparents and riding in Grandpa's truck and hiking/picnicking at Tony Grove and playing with cousins and picking berries and eating and playing some more.  It's always a fun time at Grandma's house.

A highlight for me was Monday morning at Tony Grove, my happy spot in Logan Canyon.  Heather and Grace, Kylie, and my Elwood Grandparents came along for the drive through the canyon, a hike around the lake, and a picnic in the shade.  We were lucky enough to snag "our" spot at the end of the picnic trail, and my grandparents sat there with our stuff while the rest of us took the nature trail around the lake.  This is probably the first hike I can remember ever doing as a child, so it was fun to have my kids hiking it now, too.  When we got back, and after we ate our lunch, the kids did a little splashing in the water, while a bull moose munched on the trees across the way.  We got to watch him for a few hours and it was most delightful.  

We also had some interesting visitors to our site, including the giant girls camp group that just tromped on through (beyond our table is not actually the trail, but they didn't seem to mind).  I was in the bathroom with Cal, so I missed the whole affair, but Sam told me, "it was like a parade!" Ha!  There was also the couple that asked to sit with us, "is this the end?  Can we share your table?"  And the painter (who my mom knew from growing up in North Logan) and his sons who set up their easel and painted the scene while we watched (the rest of their family, a mom and wife and sister, showed up later to round out the group.  So, while it wasn't exactly a remote and isolated morning at the lake, it was glorious and restorative and perfect just the same.

Checking out the stairs at our picnic site.

She's playing on the rock that I used to play on.

The wildflowers were incredible and my photos just don't
even do them justice.  But I took them anyway. :)

Ready to hit the trail!

bonus video!

"butterflies"

I spy Great Grandma and Grandpa waving at us across the lake.

I'm sad my finger got in front of the lens on this one.  But
I'm posting it anyway.

A little crimson and gold throw back.

Gracie slipped and took a plunge into the chilly
water.

Zoom in at about 11:00 from Cal's head to see
our moose friend on the edge of the lake
in the willows.

Group shot on the log - it's tradition.

Such terrible lighting, but thanks to the random
lady who ate her lunch at our table for taking
this one of us.

They're great!

Callie's high point might have been the berry picking.  Grandma had one big beautiful strawberry she saved for Cal to pick (because that's what Grandmas do).  And Kylie inherited a massive raspberry patch at her new house in Hyrum.  She invited us to come pick some (and keep them!) so we jumped at the chance.  Callie was in berry heaven.  She could eat as many as she wanted and picked and picked and picked.  We brought home a bag full of berry mush to freeze for later (and eventually make into jam).

Callie was so excited she got to pick and eat
(and share) this beauty from Grandma's
plant. (She usually runs to check the strawberry
plant for fruit before she even goes inside when
we get to their house.)

In her happy place.

Cousin time is always a good time, and it certainly was fun to watch these funny cousins playing in the pool.  Mostly they wanted to dump the water out of the pool by the cupful, and we figured if that's what was making them happy, then why not?  Eventually they discovered that they could carry cups of water to the garden to water the beans.  I don't know how many trips back and forth they made, but I'm sure the beans were happy about it.

You know I love me some clouds, so when I walked out of Wal-Mart Tuesday evening and saw this, I was that crazy lady holding up her phone in the parking lot to snap a pic.  Wow!  What a sunset!  It filled the entire sky.

And last, but not least, was a trip to Fredrico's.  This place holds many fun memories for me since I spent a lot of lunch hours there during college.  We helped Ky clean out her apartment Wednesday morning, and after all that hard work (especially with some extra "helpers" ages 5 and under) we decided to treat ourselves to some pizza for lunch.  Yum!

Gregg's flight came in earlier than expected on Wednesday evening, so we hurried through dinner and hit the road in order to catch him shortly after he landed.  Our timing worked out perfectly and we were back home by bedtime.  And then it was prep mode for our next adventure of the week: camping at Red Canyon with the Blanchards!  (Stay tuned for that post, coming soon(ish).)