Utah Fall Leaf Fun

When we arrived in Utah, the big Ash tree out back had only dropped a handful of leaves. A few days later, and the backyard was covered! We hit the leaf jackpot perfectly this year, and, remembering their leaf extravaganza from last November, Samantha and Amelia couldn’t wait to dive in. With the earthy smell, crinkly sound and crisp feel, Meredith was in sensory input heaven.

2015 in the leaves… they were so little!

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Samantha and Amelia helped rake up a pile for about two seconds before giving up.

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Swing + huge leaf pile = awesome.

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Crash!

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Again!

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More attempts at leaf raking.

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Here we go again.

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May day!

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We’ve lost one!

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We found a foot!

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Amelia contemplating the meaning of life.

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Leaf angels.

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Meredith had just woken from her nap and begged to be a part of the action.

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Be careful what you wish for…

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THESE LEAVES ARE SCRATCHING MY FLAWLESS SKIN.

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The girls experimented with different variations of crashing into the leaves, including standing up.

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Hip, hip, hooray!

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I wonder why mom hasn’t fed me any of these yet?

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Nom nom.

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We couldn’t have asked for a better fall leaves experience!

Lots of love,

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Hiking at Cascade Springs, Utah

One of our must-dos for the trip was to see some real fall colors. Grammy suggested hiking around Cascade Springs, and it worked out to be the perfect fall color experience… at least in theory. Sometimes I wonder why we go to all the trouble to plan fun and interesting outings, thinking the kids will be overwhelming grateful for such cool parents and will therefore be cheery and pleasant the entire time. This rarely ever works out! Someone is cranky, someone is hungry (well, can’t really blame Meredith), someone’s stomach hurts, someone is bored in the car, someone touched someone else’s leg… it never ends! And yet, we carry on.

We enjoyed a pleasant drive up Provo Canyon, past Sundance and through the Uinta National Forest until we reached Cascade Springs. Everyone was happy on the drive and the views were breathtaking.

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Cascade Springs was the perfect kid and baby friendly “hike,” with a boardwalk, colorful trees and babbling brooks and bridges galore.

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S and A pretended they were bear hunting.

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Meredith enjoyed views from the top.

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One of the twins’ favorite bedtime stories recently has been the Three Billy Goats Gruff, and they kept peeking under the bridges, asking if there were any trolls lurking. cascade-springs-utah-oct-2016-8 cascade-springs-utah-oct-2016-7 cascade-springs-utah-oct-2016-6

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30 minutes into our hike, S and A started slowly deteriorating, complaining they were tired and alternately hot and cold. The same scenario happened the last time we went on a short hike over the summer at Grotto Falls in Utah. Jake and I decided we needed to toughen these two up, stat!

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A pleasant morning for a mountain stroll with a pleasant baby.

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We didn’t make it all the way through the loop, but decided to head back before complete meltdowns ensued.

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As I recall, S and A were fighting over who got what blanket and complaining about not being able to wrap the blankets all the way around them. As you can see, Meredith was still a happy camper.

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I want luuuuuuunch!

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There were signs prohibiting picnicking (???!!!!) at Cascade Springs, so we drove a ways down to a scenic outlook on the side of the road and set down our blankets there. The famished twins decimated the food in the cooler while Meredith had her first baby pooplosion in the wilderness. Jake held her bare bottom over the side of the brush and let her have at it.

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Daddy and twins. cascade-springs-utah-oct-2016-3

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Scenic place for a baby lunch.

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The girls.

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Amelia was giving me a heart attack.

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Not sure what Samantha is trying to convey here, but it definitely wasn’t “Cheese.”

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Classic Sammy pout face.

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We’ve come to expect at least one bad attitude at any given point during our excursions, and once our expectations are lowered, things seem to work out better! Just keep swimming… just keep swimming…

Lots of love,

Signature

S’mores, Meredith’s First Tooth, and Almost Crawling

Grammy, Uncle Mike and Ali built a fire pit while we were in Utah and the twins were honored to be the first ones to try it out! If only we had had this when we were having backyard campouts as kids!

Roasting s’mores and hot dogs with Grandpa.

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Meredith awaited her version of s’mores (i.e. graham cracker) patiently.

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Samantha and Amelia pretty much consider themselves experts at s’more making by now.

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Oh yeahhhhh!

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Since birth, Amelia has always been the least messy of the two.

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Where’s mine?

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It’s about time!

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Helping themselves to seconds and thirds.

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Other backyard fun included the ever popular (and probably hazardous) glider.

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Play doh is a winner wherever we go.

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Rosy cheeked Meredith seemed constantly in awe of her new surroundings.

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She reached several milestones in Utah, including her first tooth!

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She also started rocking back and forth and crawling backwards for the first time!

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She was sooooo close to crawling forward! Just a little more practice! Her frustration was real!

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Lots of love,

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Cornbelly’s at Thanksgiving Point

Growing up in Utah, fall meant wearing boots, apple cider, scones, getting lost in REAL corn mazes (not the kind here in California that you can see over), and getting chased by masked Freddie Kruegers wielding chainsaws in the haunted Halloween versions of said corn mazes. Since the fall activities in California, often marred by random October heat waves, just don’t have the same authentic flavor, we had to get our fall fix when we visited Utah.

We visited the grandaddy of all fall kiddie carnivals at Cornbelly’s at Thanksgiving Point while on our trip. Carnivals are a total money pit, in my opinion, but the twins were in heaven (and Jake was too– he’s such a sucker for the roasted corn, churros and carnival games!) It seemed like all of Utah decided to go the Monday night we went (maybe everyone decided to do their FHE there?) and there was such a dizzying array of activities calling the girls’ names that we could have easily been there all day.

The girls spent so much time flitting around in wonder and delight that we didn’t even make it to the actual corn maze, (apparently voted one of the top ten corn mazes in America?) I guess the corn maze (and the haunted Freddie Kruger/chain-saw version) will have to wait for another time down the road.

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All dressed up and ready to go!

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I was saddened to realize the girls didn’t know who any of the Peanuts characters were. Fortunately, they were showing It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown outdoors that night.

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Meredith was a little dazed with all the excitement.

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I think I actually heard the twins’ jaws drop when they saw Cinderella’s carriage. Talk about the coolest thing ever to a three year old girl!

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Amelia sat and stared in wonderment.

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Suckered into face painting. See what I mean about money pit?

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Samantha approved.

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While Samantha was getting her face painted, Amelia dragged me over to the princess playland. She was too shy to meet the princess, but willingly helped herself to the dress up clothes and pranced around on stage.

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Carnival snacks with Grammy.

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The giant air pillow seemed to have the longest wait of all the attractions there… irresistible to kids!

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Got milk?

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Trying their luck with steer roping.

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Eyes drooping, Meredith was more than ready for bed, so my mom and I took her home, while Jake (who had driven separately to meet us there after working remotely) stayed there with the twins way past bedtime. The girls came home full of stories of carnival games and caramel corn, and collapsed into bed.

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I really need this at home!

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Lots of love,

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