Paddle Fest

For the past couple of years one of our local state parks has put on a paddle-fest. It's a free event for the community. I've never been brave enough to take my kids by myself since I hate crowds and my kids tend to scatter. This year we decided to see what all the fuss was about, and even though Blake had to work and I still ended up going by myself with 3 kids, we did it! 

The biggest attraction for the kids is the waterslide set up on the boat ramp that slides down into the lake. My kids played on this for hours. On the beach side of the lake, there were paddle boards, kayaks, and canoes you could take out, but we didn't even do any of that. Maybe when the water slide starts to loose its magic we'll venture to those type of things.

 I was worried Grant wouldn't like the slide, but he loved it! He laughed the entire way down and we ended up going down over and over.

 We had so much fun the first day we even went back for another day of fun! This time Blake's mom came with us. It definitely was nice to have an extra pair of eyes and hands!

 Brooke found a friend from our neighborhood and they had a blast together!

Outings to Moonshine Arch and the Green River

We'd visited Moonshine Arch once before when Brooke about 18 months old, but hadn't been back since. Being able to drive up to it in the razor was quite the different experience than hiking our way in! The kids loved exploring the rock formations and imagining that the overhanging cliffs were once Indian dwellings. It was a great way to spend a Saturday night.

We made brownies and the kids were so excited to take a plate of them to our neighbor.

We went on a drive up the Flaming Gorge and stopped to see the green river and dam and all the overflow they were letting out from the gorge.

This garbage near the river has been decorated with hundreds of bumper stickers. The kids thought it was pretty awesome.

We parked at the top and then hiked down a trail to get to the river.

There's so much water in the river this year that it was coming out of these holes in the boat ramp. The kids loved getting their feet wet.

Seeing all water being released from the lake behind the dam into the river:

#MaeserHighwayFire

I came home from running errands last week to a huge plume of smoke rising behind our neighborhood. A fire had started not too far away and we were on alert to be evacuated at a moments notice. A couple neighborhoods closer to the fire had already been evacuated.

 It was kind of a scary feeling thinking about if we had to leave, what would I bring with us? Our most important documents are in a secure location (at least I hope it is), so when I thought about packing up our car, I really only set out a bunch of flash drives with our family pictures on it, our computer, and our scriptures. As I walked around the house thinking I should be filling boxes or grabbing things off shelves, I came to realize that most of what's inside my house are just things and could be easily replaced.

Luckily, the wind changed direction so the fire started heading away from our neighborhood and we weren't evacuated. By the time Blake got home from work we were able to drive the razor up on the mountain behind our house to get a better view of what was going on.

 The kids were totally involved in watching all the aircraft fly overhead. They were scared, but curious and we had some good discussions with them about fire safety and the role first responders play.

 The next day, the fire was mostly contained but fire crews were still working nonstop to put it out. We stopped at Blake's mom's house and just down the lane, at what we consider "our pond", the helicopter was making trips back and forth to get water. It was amazing how quickly the helicopter could fill its bucket, go dump it, and then be back for more.

I am so grateful for brave men and women who protect our community and are willing to serve in positions that are underpaid and underappreciated so we can have a beautiful, safe place to live.

Flume Remains and County Fair

Another part of the Basin Blake didn't know about...the remains of an old flume built by the first settlers. They wanted to divert water from a creek and build a wooden flume to do it. It took a lot of work and unfortunately didn't work. You can hike the remains and still see the tall wood platforms that were supports for the flume.

 It was a mile to the remains and a mile back to the car. Grant walked almost the whole way! He tripped and fell near the end, so Blake carried him.

You would think, year after year of seeing my county fair pictures, that the Little Red Barn was the only thing offered. That's not true, but it's definitely my favorite activity we do! We've been going to this since Brooke was about 18 months old. The whole set up is so cute and the kids love pretending to be farmers, the animals, and the treat at the end!

 The bike was just a little too big for Grant to pedal. This teenage volunteer was super  nice and helped him out.

 We went with some friends and all of them loved their frozen treats at the end!

 We stopped by the craft/lego area. Brooke was in heaven making crafts to her heart's content and my boys made some lego creations that they turned in for a prize.