02/07/2011

Last week we went on a kids-free vacation. Well, almost. We did keep Ivy with us (she's still nursing, you know) and we only had the weekend to ourselves so we didn't drive very far. But it sure felt like a vacation, with only one little person to worry about (ok, I admit I still worry about the small ones that are not with me at the moment, but that's different). It's amazing how much time we spend every day on getting 4 kids out of the house, in and out of the car, negotiating, trying to keep them all moving in the same direction, etc. When you only have to do it with one baby, you all of the sudden end up with so much time on your hands, that you wonder if you somehow managed to stretch it and pack 30-ish hours into one day. I wish I knew this back when we only had 1 baby, and I felt like I could never ever possibly get any busier...

We spent all Saturday driving to places, hiking, doing some fun shopping. We decided to explore the Alpine Loop this time, and settled on hiking to Stewart Falls. All those websites with hiking trail reviews weren't kidding when saying it was a popular hike, especially on holidays and weekends. We still enjoyed it immensely, even though I prefer feeling less 'crowded' when hiking. The views were breathtaking, Mt. Timpanogos didn't disappoint, and the falls weren't so bad either. Ivy was a champ, and was quite content as long as we kept supplying her with chunks of Larabar...

there's an impressive amount of aspens in this canyon, definitely a must-see in the autumn




there was a lot of cold spraying from the falls, hence the lovely effect of the sunlight hitting the water droplets on the lens


and did I mention there was a LOT of snow on the ground down by the falls? I was not prepared for that, and was slipping all over the place in my 'shoes'. I think this is the dirtiest feet I've had since I was kid. Sunblock and dusty trail will do this to you


we did find a perfect spot on the rocks for a nursing break (don't let my pasty white knees distract you from the spectacular overlook)

can't complete this story without a cute baby photo, right? And yes, it's an Ikea towel on her head. Thank goodness we picked up a bunch of those on the way to the canyon. I'll also shamelessly say thank goodness for creative thinking on my behalf when we realized we didn't bring a hat for Ivy's fuzzy q-tip of a head. I am sure she appreciated it, even if she doesn't know it

By the end of the day, when we finally got home, we felt like we'd been gone for 3 days. And it was a good feeling, even if we still had piles of half-folded laundry all over the floor...