autumn fun, and hats.

Autumn is so beautiful. I've always loved it. I think I appreciate it even more now that it's pretty much the only time of year that the temperature is just right for being outside.

Yesterday we decided to make the most of a lovely, sunny afternoon, by getting out and enjoying a walk in the Logan Canyon. We originally planned to do an easy stroll along the riverside, but changed our minds and went for a more challenging hike up to the wind cave. It's a cool kind of rock arch, quite high up. Trev's friend Rajendra came with us, and we talked about the differences between American and Indian cultures. It was lovely.

Here we are near the beginning of the 2 mile trail.

Rajendra carried Luke for quite a bit of the way. He needed something to slow him down- his great long legs meant that one of his strides matched about 5 of ours (mine)

I carried Lainey for most of the way, but near the top, I just got so tired...I think you could barely even tell I was moving...so Trev took over for a while.

We made it! And yes I am a little red in the face. So out of shape. But we enjoyed gorgeous scenery from the top and were refreshed by a cool wind.

Look at these colours. Just beautiful. I just love the colour combinations that nature comes up with!

Okay, now let me just promise that I am not going to be a crazy hat lady who posts pictures of her hats every day. Just one last time, though... here are a few of my finished pieces.

This one is for a friend's baby. I used anew pattern and the sizing was off so the one pictured didn't fit the (week old) baby. I am making the next size up for her.

Just experimenting with colour here- what do you think? Okay, or too....clashy?

And this last one is extra warm because the yarn is a wool blend (but it's soft not itchy)

That's it for hats for a while. On to other things from my ever-growing list of stuff to try. How will I ever find time to try everything?

American West Heritage Center

While my mum was here, we took a trip to the American West Heritage Center, which is right here in Logan. They have various different activities at different times of year; our intention was to enjoy a walk through the corn maze.

We obviously picked a good time to go because we were the only people there. I'm not lying- there was no one else in sight and we had everything to ourselves! Perfect for a trip with toddler and baby :-)

A kind employee started up the 'train' just for us and we went around the spooky track several times.

Then Luke got to have his first solo pony ride. The little pony was so cute and just his size. He seemed slightly bewildered at first but he loved it!

Then on to the corn maze. It was a perfect day for it. Nice and warm but not too hot. A beautiful blue sky as a backdrop to the beautiful, tall, green stalks of corn. The maze was a little longer than expected but we had a pushchair (stroller) for each of the kids so it was okay. (Just working up an appetite for our yummy dinner at Sizzler later that night)

Mum wondering which way to go.

Map reader Trev feels confident in his navigational skills. Actually he was quite impressive.

Lainey being her usual adorable self.

After we completed the maze, we decided to have a quick look at the super slide. I couldn't resist- it looked so fun! I probably should have tested it by myself before going down with Luke because you do get very buried under the hay at the end, but he didn't seem to care. He became a super slide junkie and went down with each of us in turn.



Mum took a little extra persuasion, as she was wearing a skirt. But I knew she really wanted to try it out :-)


Before we left, we checked out the little goats in the petting area. They were just adorable!

All in all, we had a really fun afternoon. Thanks for treating us, mum!

Tony Grove Lake

We decided to go to Tony Grove Lake for the afternoon. It's a small glacial lake about 45 minutes drive from us, up the Logan Canyon. We had a nice picnic lunch in the peaceful surroundings. Then we went to explore the Lake a little. It's quite beautiful. At over 8000ft elevation, it is nice and cool up there, surrounded by pine trees and wild flowers.

The sad thing is, that while we were there, a man drowned whilst trying to swim across the lake. So suddenly there was a whole assortment of rescue divers, sherrifs, ambulances, and a helicopter. They found the body this morning.

We did enjoy our trip, but left in a sort of daze. It really was a sad thing to happen. The guy was only 20 years old.

Camping

We finally had our first camping-as-a-family-of-four experience. It was fun. We camped on the ranch, on one of the meadows that is quite close to the houses, just in case. Trev's parents, and several of his siblings were camping out too. We camped for two nights.

Our tent is tiny. (see pic below- ours is the little red one) But how much room do you really need for sleeping, anyway? Probably a tinsy bit more than we had, but we all slept fine.

Here's Trev with our nephew, Taven. The babies sure seem to have a thing for his chest hair.

There was plenty of delicious food to eat. Luke kept on going back to the grapes :-)



Lainey and her little rug-buddy Taven. The babies were really so good, I was quite amazed. I think that even the little ones like to be outside, and there's always plenty going on to look at.

Trev's youngest siblings, Annie, Jessie and Zack. To be fair to them, I did take this picture first thing in the morning.

The yummy dutch-oven peach cobbler made by Trev's dad, Kelly. It really tasted delicious.


Whereas Luke is happy with just a simple tomato.

It's a shame the summer is drawing to a close, so there won't be many more trips like this. But when they do happen, they really are fun. I just love to relax with my little family, enjoy good company, great food and beautiful surroundings. That's when life feels complete.

Branding

We went to the ranch to help out with/watch the branding. Luke loved seeing the cows up close but didn't like the calves crying. I decided not to include the pictures of the actual branding. As well as using branding irons to burn the ranch brand into their skin, Trevor's dad also cuts a 5 inch 'waddle' into the calves' foreheads. It's basically a flap of skin, so as you can imagine, it involves quite a lot of blood. They also gouge the horns out, if the calf has them, and put rubber bands around the baby boy calves' testicles! Nobody ever said that ranching was a glamorous job!

Lainey and I spent quite a bit of time in the car, since it was a windy day.

Grandpa took Luke for his very first horseback ride.



What an exciting, and tiring day.