Monday, August 22, 2011

Yesterday we spent the day up at "our waterfall". I love that place. I used to skip classes in high school on the rare occasion that I had the Buick to myself (sorry Mom and Dad) to just go and enjoy the sounds and sights of nature. It's a little bit hidden, so running into people there is rare, but close enough to a parking lot that it requires no real physical exertion! Perfect!

I took Anthony here on his first ever visit to Utah in 2004.Nov18013

We celebrated my 24th birthday there in 2009.
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Last year, we took the kids up in late August, and Connor has been talking about it ever since.
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My kids have learned to be much better subjects. This is last year's sibling attempt.
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And this year's success!
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I'm not sure exactly why I'm so attached to this place. Perhaps it's the familiarity and seeing how it changes year to year. I love the deafening roar of the somewhat wimpy waterfall. I love feeling like it's my own little piece of heaven.

The kids love throwing rocks into the deeper pool at the base of the waterfall. You can hear Connor's "YEEEEAAAAH!" after he got a big splash from "the biddest wat eva"!
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In true Anthony fashion, he found a little bit of shade in a tiny cave. He was relaxing there when Connor decided he needed to rest with Daddy while eating his raisins.
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The Alaina crawled over and ambushed him, too. :)
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Oh, by the way, this kid NEVER stops eating. I've heard of growth spurts before, but this is ridiculous. For breakfast this morning, he had two large peaches, an entire pear, a granola bar, and a Nutrigrain bar. Then we had lunch an hour later.
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Alaina loves to collect little things like rocks, berries, leaves, and sticks and calls them her "little fwiends". She gets upset if she drops and loses one. Here she's looking for a lost berry. She found it.
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I love taking pictures of nature, but let me tell you, it is hard with a 4-year-old around! I have soooo many photos where I'm framing a macro shot, and right as I press the shutter button, a certain little boy's shoe enters the frame. :)
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My favorite part of the day was taking the kids on separate tiny hikes, then sitting and having a conversation with them one on one. Connor was actually the one to initiate these "time-out"s. We talked about school and friends and nature. It was wonderful. <3
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Connor wanted to sit in the sun for part of his "time out with Mommy". He likes to fry like me, while Alaina seeks out the shade like Anthony.
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When Alaina and I had our time alone, we talked about rocks, bugs, and dirty feet. Go figure!
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I think we'll have to make this an annual tradition!

2 comments:

Mary Ann Carlile said...

You definitely need to make that an annual tradition! Maybe that's why Connor is as tall as he is and Tori is not - she doesn't eat much at all! I love their "time-outs" How cute is that?!

Marinda said...

such adorable pictures. i love how your waterfall doesn't require much physical exertion... that's my kind of hike! i also like how there are rarely people there.... we passed a ton of people on our hike yesterday and i didn't like it! go away, people! i'm trying to enjoy nature! that is all.