Spanish Fork Hot Pots

I realized today that yesterday was one of the last Saturdays where we have nothing going on before Iris leaves town, so I looked over her list of things to do before she leaves and decided we had better go to a hot spring.  I went back and forth between a few and finally decided we should just go all the way and hike the Spanish Fork Hot Pots.  I was really really worried about how well the kids would do a 2.5 hour hike, and I knew with carrying swim stuff and lunches that we wouldn't be able to carry both of them the whole way as well...

I love that you can see Peach's swimsuit tutu poking out!

 But they did surprisingly well!  The Frog walked almost all the way up, with a brief stint in the middle in the stroller.   Peach mostly was carried or rode in the stroller, though if she had her way, she would have walked more of it.

That's right... we brought our STROLLER!  Thank you thank you Phil & Ted's for making an AWESOME stroller that could carry my two kids on rocky paths for multiple miles.  I was terrified the whole time that one of the wheels would get punctured by the terrain, but we made it up and back w/out issues.  There were a couple of times we had to have the kids get out because the path got too narrow and/or steep, but it was mostly mild enough to be ok.  I am not suggestion you try this with an ordinary stroller though, be forewarned.

Iris soaking her feet in the hottest pool

 We got to the top and began stripping down (despite the freezing wind) but Peach wouldn't get in- "too hot!"  And The Frog felt the same way.  Peach seemed quite adamant about not getting in at all, so I coaxed The Frog down to a cooler spot.  However, once we got there, he was creeped out by the moss in that one, so neither of my kids really got in, and as a result, neither did I, since I had to man one of them.

 At least we got some pictures of us at the top!

 It was a nice hike- not too steep and well traveled.  The trail basically followed the creek the whole way up, which means Peach and The Frog would have probably enjoyed it more if we just stayed next to it and threw rocks into it all day.  I think I won't attempt this again until they are both much older... 5 miles is quite far and a long day for them.

 I felt rather stupid on the way up, receiving questioning looks from passers-by.  I was pushing an empty stroller while The Frog walked and Jay carried Peach most of the way, but it was SOOO worth it for the walk back.  While it took 2 hours to get up, we were able to cruise down in less than an hour, thanks to that beautiful contraption- which was needed because we were walking down during nap time and Peach was crying most of the way.  (I think she didn't like how bumpy the ride was, so I relented and carried her for the last 15 minutes of walking.)

PS.  The Frog fell asleep in the car- around 3:15 and slept all night again!!  Well, kinda... he woke up at around 3:30am, (which we suspected he might do) so we gave him a previously made sack lunch and set him up with the iPad, and went back to sleep.  What is with his sleep schedule lately?  Thoughts anyone?