Bear River Cabin

We kicked off fall with another great adventure to the Anderton Cabin. We had a few less people this time than last :( but still enjoyed our time together, just the 4 of us. 

The leaves were perfect... I may or may not have taken a million pics, just of their beauty!

We spent ALL day Saturday in the Ranger, exploring new places we hadn't been before. 

 About 10 minutes into our outing we turned a corner to be {almost} face to face with this beauty! Brett stopped dead in his tracks. And I had this scary feeling, like..."do we turn around...no, these things turn like boats, she'd totally catch us by then! Do we just wait?!" After about a 2 minute staring contest, she bolted back into the woods, and we proceeded slowly. Sure enough her calf was right there with her. 

 We took a rocky trail up to Lym Lake. As we got higher the colors disappered, and not because of elevation.... it must have been burnout from a previous fire. All the quakies were basically black trunks.  Once we got to the lake, it was breathtaking. SO Serene. So still. Nobody around. 

 We decided it was a great place for our picnic. 

 We spent the afternoon on random trails, just taking it all in. When the kids would get fussy we'd stop and let them explore to get their wiggles out.

 Jet was in heaven with dirt and rocks galore!

 I mean.... how could we not just keep driving around?! Look how inviting this is. Fall in the mountains is hard to describe. You just have to experience it!

 A little make-shift visor to keep the sun off Jet's fair skin. 

 We wore them right out! 

But of course, the naps re-charged their batteries!

 Not sure, but I'm guessing when Jet takes his shirt off, he feels a need to display his manliness and wrestle! Emri is usually laughing too hard to defend herself.

 Sunday we laid low. We took the kids to the fish pond below the cabins and let them feed the fish. THEY LOVED IT! Jet threw his fish kibbles in one at a time (most landed 2 inches in front of him)...

Emri, tossed her's in by the handful. She loved making a whole swarm of fish bubble up to the surface all at once. 

 We spent a little time at the river...."skipping" rocks :) Jet was really getting into it.

 The view from our deck of the fish pond...

 My greatest blessings...

 Monday we headed home and were planning a little hike on the way out, but the cold, wind and rain set in and ruined those plans. :( We stopped at Mirror Lake and let the kids play for a bit (like only 10 minutes, because it was seriously so cold)!

We ate our picnic in the car and headed out. We came home through Kamas instead of Evanston. I'd say the drive is a lot prettier this way! Most of the leaves we saw at the cabin were yellow. These flourescent orange ones were beautiful!

 Brett even got spoiled and was able watch several football games on cable... doesn't happen at our house unless it's on regular TV these days. #gradschoolbrokeus !! What a great way to kick-off the Fall Season!! 

Toddler Scripture Study

".... and they were all trapped in a dungeon!" 

That's Emri's version of The Book of Mormon that she read to Jet recently :) He was pretty attentive, but I think we've got some teaching to do!

 "Yep Jetty, that's Jesus!"

 The other funny thing....when we talk about Joseph Smith, Emri says, "I know him...from Pocahontas!" (uhhh, John Smith?!)

Fall Ball

One of my happy places is the ball field. In fact, that's where I spent most of my Spring, Summer, and Fall nights during my college years. It's not {as} much of a priority these days...but still makes me sooo happy to get out and play in the dirt. :)

I hooked up with some old teammates this summer for a charity tournament....then they added me to their fall team. YAY! Loved every second. 

 I was needed at 1st base. Different than the usual 2B, but I loved it! We played co-ed in Morgan.... and won some pretty slick champion t-shirts last week! Go Team!

Jet @ 19 Months

 As I journal these each month I can't believe how fast time slips away! And why all of a sudden at 19 months does he look so dang big?! Maybe it's because he's finally got some teeth!

 He's a waterbug...we're all going to miss summer around here :(

 Loves to jump on mom and dad's bed...

 Not too sure about carwashes...

 Our Labor Day hike :)

 They're best of friends or worst enemies....depends on the hour.

 He drinks well out of a waterbottle...which Emri didn't do for a long, long time. Too bad he's not that great a cups. He is always soaking wet when we pick him up from nursery!

At 19 Months, Jet:

• has had some crazy, sleepless nights....I'm blaming it on the molars!
• Cut 3 molars in a week! #S (Aug.21), #B & #I (Aug.29)!
• Throws a HUGE fit if we cut/break food into small-ish pieces for him. A couple examples are...an oreo cookie, cheesestick, hot-dog, piece of bread....thankfully some new chompers will help with this issue!
• He's becoming more and more independent....and knows exactly what he wants. The problem is his limited vocabulary. He points and says "uh" A LOT! This can be a very frustrating guessing game for both parties involved :)
• LOVES to read now! His attention span is much longer than it used to be. Several times a day he will make a stack of books, climb on my or Brett's lap. Point at the books and say "uh" and he's ready to be read to. I'm very happy about this!
• wasn't eating well, so Brett brought the plastic kid table in from outside.... and he LOVES to sit at that rather than in his high-chair. He eats off his and Emri's plates now. If only I could get him to stay put! Meal times are very drawn out these days!
• Is walking quite well....and fast for just starting a month ago ;) He loves to go on walks outside and refuses to hold my hand while we go...even down the steep hills in our neighborhood. It about gives me a heart attack, but luckily no big spills yet! Fingers crossed.

Flyin' Solo

I can't really describe the feelings/weirdness I had walking through airport security alone. No kids. No strollers. No diaper bag. No bubbles, stickers, or endless supply of fruit snacks to keep little mouths quiet. Not even my hubby's hand to hold. Just ME. And my carry on.  I felt like I was forgetting something. Or everything!

I was off to Dana Point, CA to visit one of my dearest friends!! (Thank you Brett, for granting this  birthday wish--I'm a brat!) Katie had to be responsible and work...for a few hours the first day. So, I had some alone time. What I loved about this trip was we didn't really "plan" anything.... just did whatever sounded fun at the moment!

Oh, and I realized that when I don't have kids to attend to, my camera is in my hand at all times! TONS OF PICS!!

Thursday I went on a morning run...which ended up being more around 10:30, (because the only schedule I had to work around was my own). Bad idea! HOTTT! The view made up for the heat though! Dear Ocean, I've missed you so! You need to be a part of my life more often!

 I came "home" (such a cute apt she has)...

did a little stretching, ate breakfast and did some reading at this cute little bistro on the back patio. :) Katie picked me up for lunch, a few errands, then back to the house for a change of clothes. 

 While Katie saw a couple more clients, I did this.....

 ...and this at Salt Creek Beach, Dana Point. SO RELAXING!

 I died and went to heaven that night....ever heard of Sno2go?! Let me break it down for you: shaved ice (naturally i went with tiger's blood), "stuffed" with soft-serve vanilla ice cream, drizzled with sweetened condensed milk, and topped with whipped cream. SEE, (sugar coma first, then) HEAVEN!!

Friday we were a bit more adventurous...well, we tried to be anyway! We woke up early (still have sleepy eyes) and headed to Laguna Beach trying to make "low tide" to get over to another little beach where there's awesome shells and sea glass. We were a bit late and the tide was rising so we couldn't make it to the spot we were planning. 

 Instead we hung out for a while and snapped a few pics. So gorgeous here!

 Whale watching was calling my name....I've never seen a whale in the wild. And after our "tour" I still haven't!! haha!

 We did, however, come across a pod of dolphins that were very active and so fun to watch! They swam right along with our boat for quite a while! One even jumped right up in front and splashed us...of course I was too involved in watching I didn't get a pic of that!

 We got rainchecks to come back another time....they "guarantee" to see whales, if not, refund! So....maybe in the future I'll see some!  :)

 We went to the Rainbow sandals outlet in San Clemente and I purchased my first pair of Rainbow flip flops :) All I know is for $40 bucks those flip flops better last forever! haha! (Everyone says they do)!

Friday night we went back to Laguna to try to make low tide... this time we were racing against the sun!  Here's what it looked like when we arrived. That rock face in the right of the picture was the first obstacle. We hiked around it...

 ...into this little cove (which is semi-filled at low tide) and totally covered when not (kinda freaky). Here's Katie helping her friend Becky up. Sidenote: I started up it myself at first, (obviously not thinking) my hand slipped and I fell, landing on my feet....on boulders. OUCHIE! Katie, then boosted me up and I was a gimp the rest of the trip. 

 We walked along the face of this CLIFF. I am too old/scaredy-cat for this stuff! There were a couple times I really was like, 'what the crap?!'

But, when we got over to "Crescent" it was totally worth it!! Funky shells everywhere....

 No sand, just a "beach" of shells and sea glass, and tide pools! 

 I felt like a kid! So fun to gather up these cool treasures! See those stairs in the background.... yeah, it would have been cool if we knew the people with the private/locked staircase up the face of the cliff! 

 In the time we were there (maybe 30 min??) We watched the most breath-taking sunset I'd ever seen! It was SO perfect!

 Probably my favorite pic of the night...

Even though my feet were dying from my little fall incident... I was so glad we went!! It was a cool adventure that I think only "locals" might know about and I loved it!

 Saturday we slept in (I won't tell how late)! Then headed to Three Arch Bay. I love that Katie has some sweet connections and is on the "list" at the gate to get in here! Our home for the day. Really. Like for 6 hours. If we hadn't run out of food, we might have stayed longer! ha! 

 While we laid there, Katie kept looking at me, making sure I wasn't bored. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I think in past life I might have been a beach bum! I could do this. all day. everyday.

 Where 3 Arch Bay get's it's name...the arches in the rocks. 

 Thank you Kate for getting a picture of me falling....again. 

 Being dorks. We're good at it.

Oh hi, cute (not so) "little" cottage. Can you be mine one day? 

 This was probably the most relaxing vacay I've ever been on. Just what I needed. So rejuvenating, and a bestie to share all the fun with! 

To sum it up....HEAVENLY!

Thank you to Katie, who let me crash at your pad and showed me all the local fun at Dana Point. To Bridger, who scored me some super cheap tix to get there. To Momma Max and Brett for splitting up kid duties while I played and to Brett who let me slack on my motherly duties for an amazing weekend away! It was perfect!! (and I'm already wondering when I can go back?!)