The Blanch Herd

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Out There (Walks and Skis and Skates and Sleds) {January 2022}

I usually title these posts "Hikes" for a certain month (and sometimes add the other outsidey things we do besides just hikes in parentheses). But this month we didn't have a hike (that wasn't already included in another post, like our time in St. George) to feature, so it felt weird to call it "Hikes" if there wasn't a hike included. But just because we didn't hike much in January doesn't mean we didn't get outside to enjoy the month in other, wintery ways. So, I created the new title "Out There" (makes me think of Hello, Dolly!) for this series each month to better reflect what we're actually doing. (How's that for a bit of random blogging backstory that nobody really cares about but I wrote about anyway? ;)

3 Jan 2022: Nordic Express Lift

Our first (and only?) time on the Nordic Express Lift this season.

6 Jan 2022: Nordic Valley Night Skiing

Gregg took Sam up for a few runs after dinner for the only night skiing any of has done this season. Night skiing used to be our only skiing! (Man, we are totally spoiled with our mid-day, weekday skiing. Have I mentioned that I love homeschooling?)

8 Jan 2022: Huntsville Ice Rink

A favorite outing pretty much every week (at least once a week) all winter long! This time we brought our new saucers to drag each other around on the ice with.

bonus video!

"spinning saucer"

8 Jan 2022 (continued): Windsurfer Beach Sledding

After our skating outing, we took the saucers to test out the hill at Windsurfer Beach for sledding. Our first go-down ended up with Callie sort of floating in her saucer in the slushy edge of the lake, but once we hiked (I guess this could actually count as a mini hike!) along the trail toward the marina and ended up on the hill opposite the parking lot, we had a great time sledding without ending up near the shore.

I just thought the lighting was pretty on this view to
the north.

Or, if you just send your saucer down empty, you can roll
down the hill in the snow to fetch it?

It really was a pretty good spot to sled.

10, 11 Jan 2022: Walks to the Park and to Pay the Water Bill

The snow was bulletproof - it barely made a mark when anyone walked across the field at the park - including me! The kids decided to be brave and go through the driveway tunnel in the canal just off the bike path on the way to Eden Waterworks. And more shiny, hard snow.

12, 13 Jan 2022: Back at Nordic

Livin' the good life! Two days in a row!

19 Jan 2022: Huntsville Park Ice Rink

Again. Always.

bonus videos!

speedy and tricky

21 Jan 2022: Bluebird Day at Nordic

Plus some freshies! The kids and Gregg tried out the powder while I enjoyed the fresh corduroy.

21 Jan 2022 (continued): Solo Walk Around the Loop

I loved the drifts I encountered along the route. The valley is so lovely after it snows and the sun comes out!

23 Jan 2022: Family Walk on Ogden River Bike Path

A sunny Sunday stroll together, trying to connect another section of the Centennial Trail from the parking lot on 21st street, to where the Weber and Ogden Rivers converge, and then further west till we got to the 19th West underpass. And then we turned around. Saw some interesting things along the way, including a little dam with an explanation sign saying that the water is pumped north into Willard Bay from there for storage for farmers and cities from Brigham City to Bountiful. I had no idea!

We got a good chuckle out of this sign
which was being overtaken by the tree it was describing.

We thought this biker art looked a bit like Sam
on his bike.

25 Jan 2022: Huntsville Park Skate Rink

A little snow on the rink didn't stop us from having a great time!

bonus videos!

hockey skillz and one-legged tricks

27 Jan 2022: Nordic Milestone

One mom + two kids ski day at Nordic while Dad was speaking at a conference in Greenville, SC. We lapped Crockett lift almost ten times that afternoon! Woo!

bonus videos!

jumps galore!

Thanks for following along with our outdoor adventures in January! Tune in next time for more of the same, but maybe an actual hike will be back on the docket . . . we shall see. :)

Sunday, March 6, 2022

MLK Weekend in St. George

Gregg's parents invited us to spend a few days with them in St. George in a house they rented from a friend. Heather and Scott's family were planning to join us, but covid (stinkin' omicron!) hit them, and they ended up staying home.

So we had a morning of school and work on Friday, 14th January, then left around lunchtime. I drove while Gregg continued to work from the passenger seat, and we got to the house in St. George in time to cook up the Papa Murphy's pizzas (we picked up in Cedar City) for dinner. We had fun exploring the big, fancy, house, playing lots of the new games they had in the cupboards, watching Phineas and Ferb and various sports on the giant TV, bouncing on the huge love sacks, and just generally getting settled in for the weekend.

Such pretty crepuscular rays on our drive down, I made
Gregg snap a pic since I was driving.

Gregg drove the last stretch from Cedar to St. George, so
I snapped this pic - it's supposed to show the major slow down
on the freeway headed into St. George. It was solid red lights for
10 miles, what with all the northern-Utahns headed south for the long
weekend!

On Saturday morning we took it easy, eating whatever and whenever we wanted, piling on the love sacks in all kinds of new ways, playing more games (our favorite for the weekend was Tenzi - we might need to get a set for ourselves!), eating more snacks and cookies, and getting outside as much as we could. The kids and Gregg and Grandma took a walk to check out the neighborhood, we all hopped on our bikes to ride along the path that was next to the house, we played disc golf at the park down the road, and then came back for more fun at the house. We picked up Cafe Rio for dinner, which was tasty, as usual, though I wasn't so happy with my meal the next day (as you will come to find out shortly, dun dun duuuunn!).

Sam sandwich!

The game cupboard was well stocked.

Let's go ride our bikes!

Three generations.

Photo bombers at the park.

The new Red Cliffs Temple is coming right along!

On Sunday morning, I woke up feeling a little off in my guts. But I ate a light breakfast and we watched church and then had our lunch dinner. I wasn't sure if my stomach was feeling hungry or something else, so I ate a bit of lunch, and when that didn't settle things, I started worrying that I was sick. Should I still go visit Grandma Thornley like I had planned?! I didn't have a fever, and no one else was sick, and I hadn't thrown up or anything, so we decided to go. We had a great visit with grandma, got to see her room at Trudy's house, got to see Trudy's preschool in the garage. It was so good to be there and talk to and see her since it had been two years since I last saw her, before Grandpa died!

We left Grandma's and were headed to meet Paul and Kim at a trail to take a walk in the sunshine. As soon as we started down the road, though, I knew I was in trouble. I started feeling nauseous, clammy, dizzy, like I was going to throw up. Gregg pulled over and that's just what I did, on the side of the road, near Brigham Young's summer home. Ack! As soon as I was done, my stomach felt instantly better, but I started shivering and had a terrible headache, so we skipped the walk and went back to the house and I hopped in bed. And I stayed in bed for hours, trying to sleep, listening to podcasts, reading a bit, freezing and then burning up, and achy all over, a crazy whirlwind of symptoms and unpleasantness. After a while, Cal came up to snuggle with me and read me a chapter of Anne of Green Gables and bring me cheerful get-well notes. That sure helped! Eventually, I felt better enough to wander downstairs and eat a handful of crackers. Those stayed down and I went back to bed. I don't know what the rest of the fam was doing during my sick hours. I think they played games and read books and watched cartoons.

Sunday morning snuggles, though don't let their faces fool you,
they really do enjoy these!

A fun time visiting Grandma T. And I'm so glad I didn't
have my sick episode until after we left her house!

Grandpa always has funny things
to show the kids on his phone.

It is always nice to have someone read you a story when
you're feeling sick.

On Monday, I was feeling much better, and so I ate a regular breakfast and immediately wished I had been a bit more patient. I never threw up again, but things were still not 100% down in the ol' stomach region. But I had energy again and we only had a few more hours down south, so we got outside to enjoy the sunshine while we could. We found a trail that sounded cool, but once we got to it, realized it was going to be much steeper than we anticipated and opted for a second choice back down the road the other way. The trail we ended up at was a short one through the red sand to see dinosaur tracks! The tracks were right there in the middle of the trail, with barely a sign to point them out. But I tell you what, every time I see dino prints in the wild, it is quite thrilling! Just think! Millions of years ago, they were walking right here! We explored more in the area and found Baby Elephant Arch (it really is a tiny arch) and just enjoyed the views and the warmth and the desert.

By then, it was time to head back for lunch and after lunch we packed up and made the journey back home. So while it wasn't a perfect getaway weekend, we did have a lot of fun, especially spending that time with Grandpa and Grandma.