"Hike"

I don't know why, but I've had a hankering to go on a family hike, and last year taught me that hiking with kids can be fun, as long as you're fine with not actually reaching the top :)  There is a trail head within walking distance of our house, and we STILL hadn't investigated, after living here for 5 years!!

About to get going.

Peach lasted about 10 minutes on her feet and I carried her the rest of the way.

We saw a scorpion!! I've never seen one in the wild and didn't even realize we had them here in Utah!

I saw this flower that looks like a thistle, and thought I'd take a picture, since my mother-in-law's maiden name is Thistle and she likes to collect thistley items.  (thought it might come in handy someday...) unfortunately, as I was taking the shot, I realized it was riddled with bugs.  Yeah.  Those are the black dots :)

We also saw several lizards!

This is us at the "top", or really the turn around spot I chose so we could make it back for Hazel's nap.  The Frog was really enjoying himself and we had a hard time convincing him to go home before we reached the top.

The Frog was nervous about going down the path.  Sometimes it felt a bit slippery.

I guess we didn't make it back in time for Hazel.. She fell asleep on the way down.

The bottom of the trail had a few picnic tables, so we sat down and munched on banana bread.

It was fun, but in the future, I'll actually research the trail first and try to find one that is more shady for the kids. (and maybe less steep)  I foresee us doing this at least one more time this summer :)