This list is getting smaller and smaller as the weeks go by. So that means our life is pretty much back to normal. Paul is still working from home.
We are still going to church in the building once a month for 45 min. Everyone is required to wear masks while in the building. A true 5 year old. At least he has it on 🙂
Stores are still restricting the number of people inside. See the line to REI. Yeah, we drove by and came back another day. I’m not going to stand in a line to shop at a store.
Restricting the number of people has had it’s advantages. The water park only accepts reservations. When the reservations are full, the park entrance is closed. This made standing in line for slides very enjoyable. With less people in the park, the lines were pretty short. We were able to get in a lot of slides!
The heat has been crazy! Look at that temp 103′! Eli has been asking to go back to the water slides, so instead of going to our usual water slide park, we decided to try something new and we went to Cowabunga Bay.
Surprisingly this was a fun little place. So much fun we ended up purchasing season passes.
The entire park was perfect for Eli. Lots of colors and water everywhere. Going up the stairs, there are buckets that fill up with water. You wait for someone to pass under and dump on them. Too much fun! The slides were perfect as well. They were just the right speed, without a pool at the end. He was able to go down EVERY slide by himself.
We set out for the first time as a family for an overnight camping trip.
Even Eli carried his own little pack. He carried his sleeping bag and a mini lantern. We carried the rest. He did VERY well! Very pleased with him. No complaining. He kept hiking up the trail to the meadow.
We have hiked to this meadow hundreds of times and know the area quite well. We knew this would be the perfect spot for our first overnighter.
We wanted Eli to look back at his first backpacking trip and remember all the fun he had, so he would want to do this again. He is very motivated by food so we packed lots of snacks and treats to eat along the way.
We took our time and looked at EVERY bug and ant. Eli found a lot! So we stopped. A lot. 🙂
Paul had a wonderful idea to bring the radios. I’m sure glad he did. We had a fun time with them. We each had a hand held radio and we talked on them ALL the way up 🙂
Almost there!
We finally made it to our camping spot. Not quite a mile. Eli did wonderful!
We had to hurry and set up camp. We were worried about the dark clouds that were rolling in.
After the tent was set up, we played lots of games in the tent.
See how tiny our gear is? All that folds out for our sleeping bag, a sleeping mat and a sheet to go over the sleeping mat.
We hiked to the river to pump some water.
Set up the solo stove to start dinner.
Paul lighting the stove.
I wasn’t so sure of this, but it was the only vegetarian pouch Paul could find. Dehydrated lasagna? How good can that be?
This was easy to prepare. Boil water, pour the water into the bag and seal for 20 min. The bag was really hot to the touch. I had a hard time sealing it up because the seal was so hot. We set it on a rock and let it do it’s thing.
After 20 minutes I was sure it was going to be lukewarm. Touching the package even after 20 minutes, was surprisingly hot. When I unsealed the package steam came out.
The lasagna was REALLY good. I would purchase again and keep some around the house for emergencies.
Eli got a kick out of eating in the dirt and on rocks.
After dinner we looked for wildlife. We did spot a deer that came through close to camp.
We played a few games of hide and seek with the radios.
Time for Eli to hide!
Time for bed. I unpacked my bear spray 🙂
Lights out. Literally. The tent had lights. How fun is that!
The following morning, we had an easy breakfast of muffins.
Went for a very short hike around the corner. We have been coming up to the meadow for years, but have never hiked past. So, today was a great opportunity to see what was up there. Unfortunately we didn’t get very far. We needed to head back to camp, pack up, and head out.
Hiking back down.
We will never go on another hike again without the radios. 🙂
It was a fun and successful trip! We are excited for more overnight trips next year.
When we drove into the valley, I had to take a picture of the temperature. 105′! I’m heading back up the mountain where it’s cooler 🙂
I run to keep up with the breakfast calories! We made Waffle Love waffles with lemon curd, and real whipped cream. Okay, this really was dessert to start off the day. You can see the sugar pearls in the waffles 🙂 They were really sweet, but delicious.
We went to the water park. This is the only park that is open in the valley, so it was packed!
Eli didn’t care. He was shooting everyone with water.
He played with every kid at the park.
We had fun!
We came home and set up the tent in the back yard.
For dinner, they roasted hot dogs.
Eli’s school introduced him to hot dogs. He came home one day saying how delicious they were and we needed to try them. So we roasted them and he loved every bite.
I can’t do hot dogs. Hot dogs are 8992 reason why I’m vegetarian. Except for fish. I can do fish. So for dinner I had grilled tilapia with lemon sauce, mashed potatoes, and roasted chick pea salad with a dollop of avocado dressing.
Time for bed. Eli was too excited and had a hard time getting to sleep. He didn’t think we were serious about sleeping in a tent!
He had the best day and ended with the best night!
During one of my runs Eli found a spot to rest. I sure love this little boy.
My favorite bakery is finally open! They were closed for two weeks 🙂 Mrs. Bakers bakery. LOVE their cookies….
…and their cakes. Okay, everything in that bakery is my favorite! This is why I put in the miles. I don’t have any control 🙂
Went to the swimming pool. It’s the middle of August and this is the first time we have been out to a pool. I know, I know. But we are just not water people.
The grass at the pool. Social distancing circles. Ha!
Eli practiced floating on his back. He is really excited for swimming lessons this winter.
Working on his arts and crafts.
In church I asked him to put on his mask. I looked over and saw this. He is a true 5 year old.
Superhero! Lots of dressing up in costumes in our house. He has the best imagination.
Last of the randomness. I needed to get shoes for Eli’s school uniform. It was a challenge to find black on black with a low price point. He is so hard on shoes. I didn’t want to spend a lot, because I have to replace them often. After shopping around for a few weeks, I found some for $2.00!!
Eli put on my floppy hat and said he was ready to go! We were ready too! We had a day of hiking planned.
We drove a few miles down the road to the trail head of Ruth lake.
The beginning of the trail was very rocky and dusty. About .5 miles in, it was green and VERY beautiful.
A fun little bridge to cross.
Every direction was just beautiful.
Many ponds along the way. The water was so clear, it reflected everything.
One mile and an hour later, we made it to Ruth lake.
After lunch, we walked around and we found lily pads! The last time I saw lily pads with flowers was in Giverny, France. This was a delightful surprise.
Lots of wild flowers.
We caught the end of wild flower season. If we were here 2 weeks ago, this place would have been blooming with color.
We walked around the lake and found many spots that would be great to set up a tent. Many plans were made today for next years backpacking!
On the drive back to the camp ground, we stopped at Pass lake do do some fishing.
Teaching Eli how to fly fish.
Back at camp, we took the boat out to do more fishing. On the other side of the lake we saw this rock river bed that went up the mountain. We wanted to see what was on top, so we docked and made our way up the river. Like I said, this is a day of hiking. 🙂
At the top of the river, we came to a secluded meadow.
These Uinta lakes are just the most beautiful lakes I have been to. After walking around a bit, we found another spot to do some camping. We have a lot planned for next year!
The second day at the lake was packed with fishing!
I started my day with running. Of course. Only 2 miles. The hills were brutal. Paul made me feel better telling me it’s harder to run in higher elevation. Okay, sure. 🙂
For breakfast we had mascarpone cheese pancakes and fruit. Due to being a crazy year, this was our first camping trip out with the trailer. I didn’t take inventory of what we needed before we left, we just packed what we needed and left. So today we found out we didn’t have cups or forks. The only cups we had in the trailer were mini dixie cups. 🙂
It was a great day to be out on the water.
Captain Eli! This was his highlight. He was constantly asking to steer the boat. And we were constantly asking him to turn away from the bank, other boaters, and to slow down! He kept cranking up the speed every chance he got.
When Eli wasn’t captain, this is where we found him. Hanging over the side playing with the water.
This is where you found me. Reading and snacking.
Eli caught his first fish!
After a few hours in the boat, he really wanted to get out and swim. He didn’t last that long. It was a nice day out, but the water was freezing!
That evening we had tin foil dinners. LOVE them. They are tasty and clean up is the best! Eli thought it was funny to put our food in the fire and then actually eat it! We had salmon, squash, mashed potatoes, and monkey bread. This is the first time I did bread in foil and it worked! It was a little toasty on the bottom, but that was easy to scrape off 🙂
Apple crisp for dessert. This is also a first for me. It turned out pretty good! We definitely will be doing this one again.
Not only was it tasty, but it was a bribe to get Eli to finish his squash. 🙂
That evening, Paul taught Eli how to fly fish. Listen to that laugh. We have such a cute little boy!
I need to make note we stayed in camp site 9. This was the best spot in the campground. This was our view. No neighbors, just lake. It was also nice to head down the hill with the boat and not have to drag it across the camp ground and then down a hill.
Eli didn’t waste any time. He immediately pulled out his toys and played in the dirt.
And then played with water in the dirt.
Many buckets of water came up 🙂
That evening we made s’mores.
I didn’t have to ask little Pea to get into his pajamas that night, or any of the nights. He hopped in bed and was slurring his words while reading his book. He played hard!
After running the brutal hills yesterday, I skipped running and we went for a hike instead. We went to Ledgefork Trailhead.
We started out on Erickson Basin Trail.
Paul took his backpack for a trial run. He packed it with his sleeping bag, tent, stove, water filter, bottle of water and little snacks. It weighed 14.8lb. This isn’t everything he needs for a full pack, but for a trial run, it wasn’t bad. We are planning on doing a backpacking trip later this summer.
Eli was too funny. He kept handing me things. Flowers, and magical leaves. He is such a cute boy!!
sfdf
We hiked to a river and tried out the water pump with a filter. A hose goes into the river, you pump out the water and it filters it into a bottle.
How does it taste? Really good. Who needs to purchase a $2.00 bottle of sparkling water? 🙂
Eli begged me to have my phone to play a game. It’s been 2 days without electronics and he is going crazy. Paul told him if he spots a deer before he does he can have the phone. That got Eli’s attention and sure enough, Eli spotted one we missed!
We headed back to the cabin and packed up and headed home.
At home after we unpacked the truck, Eli wanted to watch TV for min. This is how I found him. Why did he have is hiking pack on? He said so he didn’t have to get up to get water. Nice. Good thing we are an active family and we get out often or I would be worried!
The next morning, I pulled myself out of bed and went running.
Hill after hill. This picture does’t look like that big of a hill, but it was a 70% downhill grade 🙂 I felt like I was back at the Swiss Mountains! They were steep and kept going. Every turn was another hill.
I could only do two miles. Brutal!
The run was worth it. Breakfast of french toast bake, fresh berries, and real cream!
We packed a lunch and drove up the street to Smiths and Morehouse lake and took out the canoe.
Eli enjoyed his ride 🙂
Getting a 5 year old around water is a no brainier that he will get us and himself wet. He really liked having water ALL around him.
Eli couldn’t help it. When we got closer to shore, he jumped off and went swimming 🙂
After lunch we took the bikes out for a bike ride.
Our bike path started out like this…
The trail ended like this.
This was the best picture out of the weekend! Toward the end of the trail, we followed the river and there were nothing but bugs, and mosquitoes! EVERYWHERE. We tried to take a quick selfie and this is what we took 🙂
I ended my evening like this. 🙂 Being out on the the deck every morning and every evening with chocolate milk and my kindle was my highlight of the weekend.
