Fall Colors

Fall is one of my favorite seasons and after a very wet winter last year the colors seemed to be exceptionally good.   We went on many drives and hikes to enjoy the colors throughout the season!

Hike with preschool buddies

Mountains are a patchwork of color as seen from our house

Looking up Little Cottonwood canyon just east of our house

 Enjoying the fall weather at Snowbird Ski Resort

Hiking with neighbor friends

Preschool zoo fieldtrip

 

Jonas and I got to help chaperone the Brighton Preschool zoo field trip. Maren has loved attending preschool twice a week at the high school this year.

Snow?

 This is what our neighborhood looked like on October 6th!  It looks beautiful but way too early for snow for our liking.  Never thought I had a "winter" birthday.

Yosemite National Park

 

We planned a 10 day long trip to meet up with friends and family in the valley of Yosemite National Park.   The first day we drove to just outside Reno for the night and then the next day drove in the back way over Tioga pass and through Tuolumne Meadows.  We'd never been to that part of the park and it was gorgeous but chilly. The Bakers drove from Texas, the Hyltons and Justin Carraway flew from Virginia, our neighbor Richard flew in from Utah, and the Feinauers came from Sacramento all to join us for a week of camping, climbing, hiking, and fun in the park.  We had a couple sites right next to each other and took turns preparing breakfasts and dinners,we ate good all week long!   We'd split up each day into various groups to climb, hike, or relax at camp.    One day we headed up to hike through one of the groves of Giant Sequoia trees in the park.  Those are massive trees!  Another day the moms and kids enjoyed the hike up to the top of Vernal Falls while the rest were climbing Snake Dike up to the top of Half Dome.   The older kids all completed the Junior Ranger program so they had various activities to check off in their books.   Whitney did her first multi-pitch climb while we were there. On our way home we stopped to stay the night with the Johnsons at their cabin in the Sierras. 

Roots of fallen giant sequoia

The Grizzly Giant- one of the largest living giant sequoias, thought to be over 2,000 years old!

Moms go play

 

Some friends and I were able to sneak away for a couple Mom's days on the lake while our older children were in school.  The early fall is the best time for boating as the air temperature is perfect, the water is warm, and you have the lake to yourself which means glassy water ALL DAY LONG!   The little ones come along for the ride but love just hanging out and swimming on occasion.  

Pictures in the sunflowers

There were sunflowers everywhere this fall so I thought it would be fun to take pictures of the kids in this field of them nearby.

 Trying to get a group picture but it quickly deteriorated, due to Jonas hitting his sister with a stick!

What Jonas really thinks about taking pictures!

Lake Powell #2

Labor day weekend we headed down to Lake Powell for our second trip of the summer.  This time Sue and Jimmy joined us for the fun.  It was the first time we've taken anyone on a boat camping trip with us.  It was a little tight in the boat but we had fun with the company along.   This time we launched at Wahweap marina for the first time to be able to check out the lower half of the lake.  We found a great campsite in West Canyon with our own little cove that was perfect for the kids to swim in.    We spent time checking out some slot canyons in Face and Driftwood Canyons.   Each required swimming a little ways through the narrow slot before you would hit dry land and could hike.  We also made a trip to Rainbow Bridge with a stop for gas and ice cream at Dangling Rope marina.   Of course lots of time was spent skiing, wake boarding, and riding the tube.  Whitney even tried water skiing for the first time getting up for a few seconds. 

This is how we'll travel next time!