last weekend was real good. my brother brandt has come to utah after being in iraq for a year and all of the siblings got together on saturday for dinner and a bonfire up the canyon. earlier in the day heidi, the kids, brandt, and i went to cherry hill. i forgot how much fun that place is. there are waterslides, a lazy river, and some wild rapid waterfall ride (you ride down on your inner tube to small pools of water). the waterfall ride was so funny because halle and little cole went with us and they barely fit in those huge inner tubes, but they held on strong. cole went with me one time on his own inner tube and i held onto to his arm from my tube and his face was hilarious. he was smiling from ear to ear and i loved it! it was so fun. halle and cole had a blast on that ride. the waterslides area was themed as medieval times with castles, knights, and the slides were painted like a dragon (with spikes and all!). and let me tell you, those slides were fast. halle and i were cruising down those things. way fun. we took a break from the swimming at one point and ate some snacks whilst cole performed his infamous robotic dance. see heidi's blog for video footage. after the swimming and snacks we headed home to eat some dinner picnice style. we ate hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, and grapes galour. then we packed up the cars to have s'more fun (hah! didn't even plan that!). we created a large fire complete to roast marshmellows and burn jeff's old paper documents and whatever sticks halle or cole could find lying around. oh i did find my own roasting stick, i noticed while i was sticking it in the fire it resembled an oversized cigarette. pretty funny. we had on unannounced guest visit us, mr. skunk. but he ran across the camp site into the bushes somewhere and heidi kept a close watch on that bush the remainder of the night. good thing too because little halle and cole wanted to see it up close...yipes. after our bonfire we headed down the canyon and plan on doing a sibling camp out in southern utah this weekend. which i'm overly excited about!
on sunday while i think everyone was at the temple dedication (because i procrastinated getting a ticket...yeah i know) i went on a hike up provo canyon in the aspens. it was gorgeous and peaceful and wonderful. i drove up the alpine loop to the very top and got out for a hike. i took some pictures along the way and enjoyed every minute of it. this was my first time hiking alone and i wasn't too sure about it. i don't think i'll do it again. but it was good nonetheless. i happened to walk past an area where all the bushes and plants were trappled over, it looked like some elk or moose had camped there for the night...scary. after my experience with a moose last summer (in august too!) that was enough for me to turn back. i think i want to head back up there when the leaves turn. anyone is welcome to join me. :)
