Timpanogos Cave

I took advantage of staying with my parents and planned to go see Timpanogos Cave with just my two big kids.  It was so fun!  I've never been to that cave before and I enjoyed the beautiful hike up there.  It was about 1.5 miles up to the cave plus a little bit of walking around in the cave.  My fitbit said it was about 4 miles total.  The kids did great!  Here are Matthew (8) and Anna (6) on our way up.

Grant (4) also really wanted to go, but I'm pretty sure I would have ended up carrying him, so I was glad I made him stay behind this time.  There will be plenty more hikes in his future.  Here are more pictures of our ascent.

 It's a paved trail with some steep drop offs.  It was just right for our crew.

Matthew, who seems to have loads of extra energy, was being silly on the way up and down.  The 4ish miles wasn't enough to make him truly tired.  I gotta get this kid in cross country.

 We stopped a lot to enjoy views and hydrate.

They didn't even bicker that much.  Hooray!!

We got to the cave entrance a little early and got to go through the cave with the tour ahead of our time slot.

 At the cave entrance

I've been in a few different caves over the past few years and this one did have some unique cave features I don't remember seeing in some of the others.  It was very pretty.  Anna was very nervous about being in the dark cave and clung to my arm for a lot of the time.  But it was still fun.  It was also nice and cool in there - nice break after the warmish walk up.

 Different interior pics.  

 And then it was time to go down.  Going down was quicker and easier, of course.

And the kids still had plenty of energy.  No whining or crying.  :)

Matthew took a picture of Anna and I on the way down.  I carried all the water and gatorade.  It reminded me of the incline...and how Scott carried my water for me.  Don't get me wrong though, this hike is about one million times easier than the incline.

And back at the bottom staring at the river.  So beautiful!!  I'm so grateful I had a chance to go with Matthew and Anna!  It was awesome!!

This is the Place

We visited This is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake a few weeks ago.  I think I went there when I was younger but haven't been in years.  My mom got Anna a pioneer bonnet.  We tried it on Emma.

 Emma kind of liked it.

 Anna in the bonnet

 Matthew wore a hat too.  A Raytheon hat from my dad...and an homage to Scott's new job

 Here we are in one of the cabins at the park.

It was a one room cabin with a loft for the boys to sleep in.

Matthew thinks about climbing up to the loft.

Maybe we should get something like this for our new house.

 Matthew rolling a hoop down the street.

Anna doing laundry the old fashioned way.

 So industrious!

 We got to pan for gold...or gold colored rocks.

The kids loved it.

It was a cute little man made stream.  Lots of fun.

 Anna found some "gold" nuggets.

 There was a little splash pad there.  Grant was very enthusiastic about playing in it.  

Here he is taking a water spout to the face.

 Grant had splash pad remorse afterward.

He was sorry he was wet.

I did warn him before hand.

 We had lunch and then got ice cream and all was right with the world.

Also our clothes were pretty much dry after half an hour or so.

 John getting his ice cream

 Some of us made a big mess, but everyone felt better.

We did different crafts and rode a train around.  We saw a print shop, bank, saddlery and some other things.  The kids also got to have a little horse ride.  I walked next to John while he was on his horse.

 Here is Grant on his horse.

 Anna got the stubborn horse that only wanted to walk when absolutely forced to do so.  

I won't say anything else about that.  :)

 Matthew's horse was more affable and willing to walk around without additional prodding.

 Practicing our horse milking on a plastic cow.

 Emma pooped out

Climbing on the tiny train in the kid sized village.  There were a bunch of little houses there to play on and climb in.

 Anna on the train.  It was a warm day, but we survived and still had fun.

Bean Museum

We've been having lots of summer adventures...and I am really behind at documenting all the fun.  Five kids, traveling and long distance house hunting are all keeping me busy.  Here we are at the Bean Museum at BYU.  If you are creeped out by taxidermy you may not like the Bean, but the animals are cool to see and it's free.  A good activity for kids.  John was in heaven!  He ran around squealing and pointing to all the animals.  So excited!  He found a hippo.

Matthew and a cougar.  Maybe it's Cosmo?

More hippos!

Creepy!!

It's just like being there!  (SHIVER!!)

John loved seeing the bugs!

He shouted about this butterfly made of bugs for quite a while.

The majestic zebras

That moose was huge!

Seeing the scale of the animals was one of the best parts.   I think Grant was starting to feel grumpy in this picture.  Put it in perspective, Grant.  At least you aren't getting eaten by a bear.

And we walked over to the creamery and got ice cream after.  It was hot so the ice cream melted quickly.  I think we had to get rid of John's cone soon after this.  We had fun at the museum and I'm sure we'll go back.