Arguably Scout’s favorite stop on our Utah trip was the crater that the kids and men swam in. It is smack dab in the middle of Midway, and is created by warm (95 degrees) water that comes from inside the surface of the earth. If you drove by it, it just looks like a hill of dirt. Luckily for us, we knew the wonder that laid inside that hill.
Here are the four kids before gearing up for the swim.
These three were ready while Scout was getting fitted for the mandatory life vests.
At first, there is a little wooden area where you can walk in and stand on the slats.
This was good for the kids to get used to swimming around where they wouldn’t bother everyone else.
(The crater is a popular place for scuba divers, and there were quite a few under the surface out in the middle.)
Here is Navy, a little annoyed at me for documenting her, “back floating”.
Once out of the wooden area, everyone just roamed around in the warm water.
Micah ran a race the day before, and was thrilled to be able to rest his muscles in the water.
There were some floating toys, and the kids just cruised around and loved it.
Grey made J his own personal dolphin.
Navy made Micah her own personal chauffeur.
Navy and Scout held hands some of the time.
This was when they opened the water valve, and the kids were in the current that pushed them to the sides of the crater.
But the fun continued. Britni and I finally left to go home and make dinner while they all stayed and had fun.
But as we left and saw the sign posted about “No Lifeguard On Duty” we both offered a silent prayer that our kids wouldn’t end up unattended in the center of the earth.
During the entire 10 days we were in Utah, we got one morning of snow.
The kids were beyond excited when they opened the door to falling snowflakes, and so we got right out there to play.
(Notice Icka in her undies — and yes, she was out in the snow in them a few minutes later.)
But I called her back in to get warm while these two shoeless boys went out for an “adventure”.
(I can’t ever blame my kids for being shoeless since I was the person who wrote “Midway” with my bare feet above.)
When they all came back, I got my two posers warm for the snow.
Meanwhile, Brit got RoRo and Grey ready also.
Here Navy is sporting the best hats on earth for the snow, although it is a bit small this year.
So the kids went out and had a few minutes of fun eating, throwing and running in the snow .
But the twenty minutes it took to get them all geared up was longer than they were out in it.
Because the second they got cold, they were back for breakfast.
He’s reaching.
He’s singing.
He’s talking.
He’s smiling.
He’s teething.
He’s loving his mom.
He’s loving his B.
He’s loving his Non.
He has perfect timing — as he pooped while I carried him from the bath to his towel, and he pooped perfectly on the bath mat.
He is my third helping of Heaven on earth.
Scout repeatedly asked for a bow and arrow for Christmas but when he got hurt, it went by the wayside. But after Midway, and the bow and arrow fun he had, he is all over wanting one again.
One afternoon, Scout and RoRo were out there for a few hours. Micah and Jason would head out a bit to see if everything was kosher, but they entertained themselves for an entire afternoon by trying to hit targets or go the farthest.
Look at RoRo’s form. Not bad at all.
Navy, on the other hand, was more interested in serenading the archerists with a little “Book of Mormon Stories”.
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This particular afternoon, we had some visitors in Midway.
And it wasn’t long before Micah had poured a “peach” for the guys and got shooting.
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So the real question is — who is hotter pulling the arrow back?
This looks pretty rugged and good.
But this gives Micah some stiff competition.
But the clear winner comes straight from my loins.
Seriously — how cute is this boy of mine?
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After a long and hard day in the country, these three needed to cool down with one of Utah’s finest — Creamies.
And then it was back to business.
One of our favorite things to do in Midway is ride the scooters. So this time I set up “Scootermania”. It was a scavenger hunt where each adult had a kid or kids on the scooter to go around the neighborhood and find different colored ribbons tied on different things.
Here is the gang. I was in the Ranger with J as a referee.
Seth came up from Bountiful, and had tons of fun on the hunt with Grant and Scooty.
Bella took Rosie and Navy around, and was in heaven with her two favorite girls.
Royal almost got the award for the day because he was awesome and finding the ribbons and getting off his mom’s scooter before she came to a complete stop to get them.
But the award actually went to Micah who has refused to ride a scooter for years because of a few idiot friends of his who have gotten in crashes on them. Nice bravado babe!
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and the only other award for the day goes to the cutest, sweetest and most chapped little boy this side of the Mississippi.
Dizash!
Some of the many sights from our eyes in Midway….
Dash getting particularly tired on the front of Bella while out for a scooter ride.
Upon coming home from the store, while the boys (Micah and Jason) were watching the kids — we saw the kids out roaming. They literally roamed all over the place, and this time, they had met up with some girls who were on there way to catch salamanders.
In the afternoon, we bundled the kids up and took a Ranger ride looking for snow.
But a quick stop off before the snow was the crater, where we made plans to swim a few days later.
Here are the five weasels that might have had one of the best times of their lives all together.
Back on the Ranger, we saw cool animals along the way — deer, wild turkeys, etc.
Here is Navy getting a little loving guidance from Bella.
Think she liked it?
We finally hit the snow, and the kids were stoked.
At the store, we had picked up KoolAid to make homemade snowcones.
Royal jumped right in.
Scout took a few bites and then wanted to save his for later.
But all four liked them.
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On our way home, Dash fell asleep in the Bjorn while Scout and Navy did what they did best the whole trip in very dry Utah:
Dug for Gold.
My whole family was So excited to head up to Utah for our second annual Midway Winter Getaway. We were heading up to join Bella, Britni, Jason and family at Suggie’s place in Midway. Of course it was going to be awesome.
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So in an attempt to drive my favorite way (with kids asleep) I got up at 3:30am and transferred three sleeping kids to the car. We were off, and only had to stop to let Scout go potty, nurse Dash, and let Scout go potty again because he got stage fright the first time. But after we got on the road again at Bake Pkwy, we had smooth sailing until Vegas where we picked up Micah.
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Our drive was great. Micah and I chit chatted, he worked, I drove, he let me nap, he drove, I stopped for a delicious salad at Pizza Factory in St. George, we kept going. And then when we were minutes away from Provo, I led the kids in my favorite part of the drive — the chant once we saw the Y on the mountain.
B - Y - U
B - Y - U
B - Y - U
And then we sang Shem’s original song from when I was probably 6 years old.
B -Y - B - Y - B - Y - U
Do you want to smell my shoe?
If you don’t, I do not care
I’ll pull down your underwear.
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Nostalgia!
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As we were pulling into Provo, my kids were getting anxious to get out of their car seats for the first time. The weather was beautiful — a nice 75 - 80 degrees. (Which was quite different than what we wanted as we were supposedly going up to the snow, but it really was great weather.) So I came up with a fabby dabby idea. I asked the kids if they wanted to hike to the Y. I figured that Micah could get a trail run in, and I could let the kids get some energy out before we drove the last 30 minutes.
Everyone was game.
This is the first moment the kids were out of their seats, and they were wired.
(Did I mention that we were all in our pajamas. Remember we started our drive in the dark.)
Here we are pre-hike.
Funny how my great idea didn’t take into consideration that I would be trekking the Y Hike with a baby strapped to the front of me, three water bottles, my big camera around my neck, flip flops on and two kids who have never taken on such a hike — especially in a particularly high altitude.
Good thing Micah got his trail run in!
Just kidding.
But I did look like quite the spectacle.
First off, I tried to get the kids to carry their own water bottles. Scout had a pretty interesting idea of where to hold his. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite stay, and I ended up holding it by the first switchback.
Micah took off, and Scout followed.
Surprisingly, he was pretty good in his Ugg Boots.
Not surprisingly, he developed blisters that lasted the entire trip.
When we hit one corner, we saw a little patch of snow in the shade.
Scout ran to it, and I think the quote was, “Snow….glorious, beautiful delicious snow!”
Delicious?
Navy ran to it once she saw Scout in heaven.
I think she thought it was just as delicious.
(I know it was kind of nasty to let them take a few nibbles, but they were just so excited.)
After Micah ran for a bit, he turned around to check on us. We stopped at a bench for a family photo. Apparently the girl who snapped the shot didn’t think Icka, who was laying on the bench in a bit of a tantrum, should be part of the family photo. I am not sure if I agree or not.
After our brief stop, Scout realized that his blisters were killing him, and decided to keep going sans shoes. I knew we already looked out-of-control, so who cares about one more thing.
Navy was probably the hardest hiker. She was fully capable, but she wanted to stop at every little thing. And when I have a boy who is rearing to go, and a girl who wants to stop and smell every flower, or stop to catch numerous lady bugs (her pets), it was quite the juggling act.
Here is Scout, way ahead of us, showing us a “Y”.
This was about the highest we went. We didn’t get all the way to the Y — or even half way, but we had a good time. The kids have talked about it a bunch of times, and I was glad to be the hostess of a fun memory.
We turned around and started walking back down. Scout was great at first, but when he stepped on a sharp rock, it all went downhill form there.
But as long as Micah was in charge of Navy — we all made it eventually. Even if there was a point where I was hauling all of my garb — which now included Scout’s shoes and even Scout for a bit. I finally called down to Micah and made him return to get Scout on his back.
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Once in the car on our way out of Provo, I saw that we accomplished what we set out to do. Our kids got all of their energy out for the remainder of the car ride. But by the looks of it all, maybe we had worn them out a little too much.
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Once we hit Midway, our first stop was the new kid’s room.
Suggie made it into a barn, and it is darling. There is a swing in the middle, and about anything else you can think of. The kids were loving every second of it. So they played and played.
But after baths and dinner, my kids went to la la land as quickly as you can imagine.
It was quite the day, with the sweetest ending of Midway.
Scout has been wanting to ride a bike for a long time, so I took him on a date. We headed to a grassy hill, and I ran along side him for a few runs, and tried to get him to do it on his own. I wish the fist time would have proved to be successful, but he had a lot of hesitations when I would let go.
Here he is trying to get the bike rolling by himself, but putting both legs on the pedals was a bit scary for him.
Here he is after a three feet solo ride once I let go of the handles.
The good news, is he was liking it. It might take a few more attempts, but hopefully he will nail it pretty soon.
(I’m sad to report that he was very cautious — more so than ever, and I am sure it is due to “the fall” off the swing. The poor guy has a mother who will make him overcome any fears, so we will be trying again soon.)
Our afternoon started off with me folding laundry and announcing for the kids to take their clothes off and stick their swimsuits on because we were going swimming. They were stoked, and Scout undressed and then announced he had to use the bathroom. Navy (the one without the slowed-down leg) ran in faster than Scout and sat on the potty first. She is the most out-of-control tease that has ever lived. And usually she really gets to Scout. But this time, I was really proud of Scout. He walked right in and said, “Navy, I said I had to use the potty first, so you better move, or I am going to go potty on you!” I heard this and went in to break it up as Navy was yelling. But by the time I got in there, Navy was hanging on to the side of the potty while Scout was going about his business. She looked at me with surprised eyes and was just about to tattle, when I said, “Navy, I guess you shouldn’t tease next time.”
So afterward, I made them “Best Friend It Out”. That means I better see them act like best friends before they get to go on with life. If I am really annoyed, they have to hold hands and yell “Best Friends” three times out loud. Somehow because they are doing it together, it makes them laugh and feel like they are on the same team.
This was the first attempt.
(Note: Navy put her own swimsuit on inside out.)
Then Scout went crazy.
Which sent Navy over the edge.
And the hugs turned into wrestling moves.
And the kisses were a little aggressive.
But for the moment — they were best friends.
And that moment led to an entire afternoon in the hot tub as true best friends.
My Big Boy has taken some big strides lately towards his independence.
First off, Skilly was feeding him his bottle when all of a sudden, he started feeding himself.
And then not two hours later, he rolled over about four times in a row. Even he was surprised! I’ll admit that he has rolled over before in his crib. And I know it because he started on his tummy and ended up on his back. But the first official time I actually saw it was today — just 6 days shy of turning 5 months old. It’s amazing that Scout rolled over at four days (a few times in a few days)– and regularly at four months. But Dash hasn’t even had a chance to get rolling, because he is held every second of the day unless he is sleeping.
(Sidenote: Dash is wearing the outfit I loved to put Scout in. This is where my love of cuddly outfits began. I bought it when we took Scout to Hong Kong, and he wore it nonstop after that. Anytime it was cold, I put him in his blue dog get up. Good to see it is going to good use again. But it doesn’t come out often because I really capitalized on the warm cuddly outfit sales this year, and it is one of many in Dash’s drawer.)
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