Hiking with my Herd: Mt. Timpanogos Caves

There is just something about mountains. They move me. They uplift me. They calm me. They center me.

And I don't think I realized it until I left them behind for a couple of years when we moved to Arizona.

Brown. Big. Flat. Empty. Achingly empty.

And please don't try to tell me that those few hills scattered throughout Phoenix are "mountains". In spite of the eternal sunshine and heat I found much unhappiness in Arizona. There was a plethora of reasons but one at the top of the list was the lack of great, green, rocky earth piled high in inspiring heights.

And then we moved to Nevada. (Getting warmer...)

And then we moved to Utah. Behold the Wasatch Front! *angels sing*

I look out my windows every day and bid a very fond greeting to "my" mountains. They wave cheerily back, beckoning me, and all is right in the world. Whether they be graciously green, blushingly red, or snow capped and frosty they are lovely.

We've lived here for almost 4 years, the longest we've lived anywhere in our entire marriage. Every now and then we consider moving to another job in another state and my first question always is, "Are there mountains?" quickly followed by "But are they REAL mountains?" for I have become wiser after my two year Arizona sentence in which I discovered one man's "mountain" is another man's "molehill". Now that I know how essential REAL mountains are to my happiness I know better than to distance myself from them. No salary increase is worth it. 

I wish I could spend many more hours frolicking--ahem...hiking with a sense of decorum and dignity through them, but home and hearth requires my feet to stay firmly planted here and I must settle for my ritual morning/afternoon/evening gazes full of longing.

But every so often...I get to have days such as these.

To this soul there are very few joys in this world that can compare to being with some of my favorite people in my favorite place.

I had heard from several friends with children my children's ages that Mt. Timpanogos Caves was a great hike for families. We had stopped outside of it before on one our family drives but soon discovered that you have to reserve (and pay for) tickets well in advance. Finally a date was reserved and we looked forward to it with much anticipation. My sister and her family would be joining us. Hiking PLUS caves PLUS cousins!

On Friday (September 12th) at 3:15 pm we approached the forest ranger at the beginning of the trail. She asked if there would be any more adults joining us. After a quick safety briefing we began to understand her concern. This trail is STEEP and NARROW with no guard rails and the occasional rock slide. As we started hiking up the path I worried that I had put my family in unnecessary danger and questioned the sanity of my friends.

This didn't help.

And we all laughed at this. Though it was a sweaty nervous laugh that sounded more like heavy huffing and puffing.

 Steep. Yup.

 But cool. Definitely cool.

 And sooooo beautiful. Just gorgeous.

After 1.5 miles of hiking straight up a girl could use a bathroom. Oh look! There just happens to be one up here. "Last chance!" indeed. But I can't help but ask...Who is the poor soul who has to plumb these???

The view from the Loo

 The kids did great! We made several rest stops and let the candy flow forth. While this is definitely one of the steeper hikes we've done there wasn't as much whining on this hike. I think the promise of caves at the end helped as well as the distraction and fun of cousins.

We made it! 1.5 miles and 1,092 feet of elevation.

 The entrance to the cave. Though I'm quite convinced that if you recite an incantation or two you will walk into the love nest of a lost hobbit and a rebellious dwarf instead.

Cave popcorn

Cave bacon

The heart of the cave

The caves were impressive. A knowledgeable tour guide took us through in a group of 15 (our 12 plus 3 "fortunate" others). We saw lots of formations (cave bacon and cave popcorn), learned all about the mysteries of caves, and did cave yoga where we twisted, crouched, and sucked it in to get through all the passages. Joe was particularly happy about finding the cave bacon. "I'd know you anywhere," were his tear-filled words. And I don't know why someone always feels the need to bring up earthquakes while buried deep within the ground, but someone always does. This day was no different.

On our drive to the mountains Dee told us an old Indian story about star-crossed lovers that died a tragic death together deep in the cave. Their bodies bound and formed the heart of the cave. Our guide was a young geologist and full of factual information if not a tad geeky. But he was not fond of cave legends or folk lore and refused to recite any such "offensive tales". But we did find the heart of the cave (It was huge and as heavy as an elephant. FACT.) and we'll just have to rely on Dee to satisfy our need for cave myths.

Waiting for the cave water to drop off a stalactite. We learned cave water is very pure and safe to drink.

After about an hour of cave exploration, we reentered the world, no worse for the wear. The caves were very interesting for the kids and adults alike. Definitely worth the ticket fee.

We made it through!

The family that caves together...

"And don't forget to sign the book on your way out." I couldn't resist.

Neither could my sister. Nerds.

Again with all the gorgeous!

Steeeeeeeep! Do you see how far up we are? It made you dizzy just to peek.

I'm very proud of the kids. They did really well hiking and following the rules so that we could enjoy the day. This was a great adventure for all of us.

Oh these two.

When I tried to sleep the night after our hike I couldn't relax with several mini nightmares about one of the kids or myself falling. It wasn't so scary while we were on the mountain but just thinking about how badly it could have gone afterwards was heart pounding. I'm very grateful that the day went well and no one was hurt.

What a gorgeous gorgeous place! I can't believe we've lived here as long as we have and just barely made this trip. It was beautiful and challenging and just plain fun. We saw several people hiking up and down and up and down again just for exercise. I think I'm going to have to return and do that very soon. I'm already feeling the need for some more elevation.

"What are men to rocks and mountains?" ~Jane Austen

Back to School, Back to Blogging?

The last few weeks I feel my heart yearning again for the self-fulfillment of blogging. It's probably partly thanks to a need to fill the emptiness from three kids being back in school. I've wandered over here a couple of times thinking maybe I'll write something up. So far nothing has happened. Maybe now? If anyone is reading this then "now" happened. Hooray!

School year 2014-2015 has been in session for three weeks. I was so ready for it. Which makes me feel a hefty dose of Mom Guilt. No other year have I been so excited to send my kids back to school. In fact, I was always kind of depressed at the thought of having them go back. But this year I was counting down the days. Let's blame it on the screaming/teasing/fighting sessions between Child #3 (Elle) and Child #4 (Cee). That contention and noise level took an immediate and very noticeable decline the very first day of school. Ahhhhh. Sweet audible relief!

The best image I could get of the hallway tantrum

After a summer of living on the battle front imagine my surprise to find that my girls really do love each other. That first day of the new year Cee and I visited Elle's classroom shortly after school had begun for a brief meeting with the teacher and parents. When it was time to go Cee clung to Elle with everything she had and began to cry when I tried to pull her away. A very toddler tantrum was thrown in the hallway when I finally pried her away from her sworn enemy/bosom buddy. I never knew "hostility" was a love language. You learn something new every day. 

As previously mentioned, the three oldest children are now all in school for a full day. (Yahoo!!) They were less than thrilled about returning. I mean, we did manage to have one of the best summers EVER this year so it's understandable. But still...when I was a kid I LOVED going back to school. Old friends, new friends, new teachers, new clothes, and best of all, NEW SCHOOL SUPPLIES! These three weren't feeling the love Monday morning when the alarm went off for the first time in months, but they were speedily convinced all was well after that first day. 

Dee is loving his 4th grade teacher. She's very chill and casual, even though she has a whopping 32 kids in her classroom! (Ugh!) He came home declaring her to be the best teacher ever and wished he had her for every class EVER. Very high praise indeed. 

I met Jeigh's teacher briefly that first morning. Less than an hour into the school year and she already had her shoes off. As a big fan of bare feet myself I'm not judging her for that. What I didn't care much for was her sarcastic manner and abundance of eye rolling along with the inability to make eye contact. Sarcasm is lost on 3rd graders. And their skeptical mothers.

We've already had some issues with Jeigh's homework this year. As in the back-breaking amount that is coming home each week. The second week in Jeigh was sent home with a THICK packet of math, language arts, and spelling. We worked together on it every night for 2-4 hours. Each night ended in tears of frustration on Jeigh's part and deep breathing and counting to 10 on mine. In spite of our best efforts we still had to turn in empty pages on Friday. I was hoping it was just a fluke but when the next week was met with an even thicker bundle I sent a message to the teacher asking to speak with her. 

These are 3rd graders. This isn't college. They are at school for 7 plus hours a day only to have to come home and work for an additional several hours?! With that load of homework there was no time for chores, room cleaning, piano practice, sometimes reading, dinner prep (for me since I had to sit and help her through every part), much less down time, play time, or family time. With two other school-attending children I cannot give that much time to one child's homework, even if I wanted to. Even as much as I love school, believe me, this isn't something I want.

I was so nervous to meet with the teacher but fortunately she seemed very understanding and gave us permission to cut it off at 30-40 minutes a day. Math is the priority, then Language Arts, then Spelling last. I assumed this was on top of reading so an hour of homework total each day. I'm absolutely good with that. I think a little homework is great but nothing like we were doing the first week. 

Here's the remaining problem: I'm too OCD to let her turn in those empty pages so we still slogged through every single page of homework and spent far more than an hour a night. 33 years old and I still can't defy authority. That's my own weakness. I need to work on that. What's best for my child is more important than pleasing some 3rd grade teacher and hours of homework every night is not what's best for an eight year old child. Balance. Balance in all things.

Elle's 1st grade teacher is very sweet. This is her first year of teaching and she looks like she's 14 years old. With her youthful looks, soft spoken manner, porcelain skin, and rosy cheeks she reminds me of a character you would find in a children's book, such as Miss Honey from Matilda. I think she will be perfect for Elle who is the child I worry about the most.

Even with this very kind, gentle teacher Elle is having a hard time transitioning to a full day of school. She has come home grouchy every single day. She has been extra whiny, mean, and stubborn. Getting her to do her daily reading has been especially trying. I figure she's just tired and overwhelmed from a full day but I hope she makes this adjustment quickly. (Please oh please oh please!)

I laughed harder than I have in ages at this. THIS is my life right now.

One thing she is loving about school is the gluten free lunches. I was really worried about how to feed her at school. Gluten free bread is less than appealing fresh out of the bag. I shudder to think how it tastes after several hours of sitting in a lunch bag. She has had a lot of fun trying the variety of hot lunches from the school. This is a huge relief for both of us.

While all the kids are off at school, Cee and I are left to our own devices. It has been quite pleasant to spend the quiet hours of the day with just her. I foresee much spoilage in this child's future; it's almost like she's an only child. I suppose the baby of the family has all the fun (...says an Oldest Child).

First day of school lunch and cookies with Mom

These kids got a little spoiled too with our traditional first day of school ice cream trip

She and I have started some very casual, yet purposeful educational efforts about three times a week. Since we don't care to get dressed if we can help it I've dubbed it "Preschool in Pajamas". So far our lessons have been "let's read a book and then do a little activity based off what we read". Very little effort but it's going beautifully. This is the most successful I've been with preschool ever. Before my "lessons" were too big and grand and structured. Plus there were too many kids at home to focus on. This is very quiet and homemade and takes only 15 to 30 minutes. I should probably humble myself a bit, but I can't help taking great pride in our little school sessions. She seems to be loving it too.

So that's the nitty gritty of the beginning of school this year. As much fun as summer was, it's always nice to get back into a schedule and a routine. And in a couple of years...it might be MY turn to head back to school too! What a terrifying/exciting thought!

Oh one more thing! It's super silly, but I'm giddy about this little Amazon purchase:

I was pretty sick of wasting my money on pathetic pencil sharpeners that basically chewed up the ends of our pencils. School work has never been sharper!

Of Fossils and Family Pictures

Spring Break rolls on...

Today we took a little trip to the local dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. The kids and I have been here before, but Daddy was a first-timer. It's been a little while since we've all been, so it was fun seeing all the displays and skeletons again.

Cee has been doing really well with potty training. Only...she refuses to go on any toilet seat but her own little seat than can be placed inside larger toilet seats. I imagine it can be pretty scary for a little bum to be dangling in such a precarious situation. So...I did the only thing a mom who doesn't want to lose any of the precious potty training progress she's made could do.

I carried a tiny toilet seat around in a plastic bag inside of a back pack.

I'm a mom. That's how I roll.

Don't laugh. It worked. Twice.

By the end of the trip we posed for a family picture. And I realized, for the millionth time, that there is no such thing as a perfect family picture. With a family of six, it is inevitable that someone will be crying or picking their nose or asking for something to eat or staring off into the distance or yelling at someone else to smile or blinking or imitating Bart Simpson or missing the dinosaur in the picture.

We just take multiples and hope for the best.