Hike to Cecret Lake

I had heard about a hike through Albion Basin which let to Cecret Lake.  It was supposed to be an easy hike for kids.  I didn't realize how close some ski resorts are to Daybreak.  We drove across the valley and up Little Cottonwood Canyon.  We went past Snowbird and Alta ski resorts and just kept going, the last part of it on dirt roads.  This time of year was supposed to be prime wild flower viewing.  It was sunny at Rose's house so we were surprised that it was quite foggy and sprinkling when we arrived, but we had driven all the way up there, so we decided to move forward with the hike.  We made makeshift hats and jackets and then noticed that Claire had on flip flops and some of the other kids had on Crocs.  Oh, well, we kept going.  The hike was supposed to only be about 1/2 mile each way,  I think it was probably more like 1 mile each way.  It was really pretty with all of the flowers and probably would have been amazing if we could see more of the views.

There were lots of these little streams to pass over so, of course, the kids just got wetter and wetter.

We kept telling the kids that the lake wasn't much farther but at the end they didn't believe us.  We took this picture in the deep fog just at the base of the mountain.  The trail that led up to the lake was a bit steep with large rocks.  We were afraid that the little kids might slip on the rocks.  Andrew and I continued to the top while everyone else headed down the hill.

We finally it to the top!  It was still foggy and you couldn't see much of the surroundings, but it was still beautiful.

This was the trail going up to the lake.

There were lots of different colors of the dirt from the rocks and minerals.

We passed by one of the ski lifts for Alta.  The elevation says 9550 ft.

Natalie and the kids on the way down.  I think they ran most of the way down.  I would definitely like to do it again when the weather is better.  Still, they all had fun.

Our week in Utah part 1

We left Rexburg on Sunday morning and drove down to Utah.  We stopped at the newly constructed Ogden temple.  This temple was completely torn down and rebuilt, so it was still under construction last summer.  In fact, it hadn't even opened yet when we were there.  As you can see, it was quite bright outside.

We stayed at Rose's house while we were in Utah and they had just opened a new water park in Daybreak.  We headed over there on Monday to play.  For some reason Andrew did not want to play in the water, but Grant and Claire had a good time.

The next day we headed up to Salt Lake City and went to the Children's museum.  It was raining this day so we had to find something inside to keep them occupied.  We also saw a movie with the kids.

Grant loved the helicopter that they had outside.

They also had a Bob the Builder Exhibit.  

Another day we headed to a park in Daybreak that has some really fun things for kids.  The downfall  is that there is no shade for the adults!

There was a stream with different locks where kids could stop and start the water flow.

Claire and Elaina liked this climbing structure along with a long slide.

Relaxing in the cool water.

Their favorite part of the park was the zip line.  There was always a line and the kids had to be lifted onto it, but they did it over and over.

Heading to Utah

On Saturday morning we had to finish cleaning the house and washing the sheets before we could leave.  Before we left I realized that we hadn't taken any pictures of the house.  Here is the front of the house.  The front door, though, is at the back where you park the cars.  

This is the view across the street that you can see from the house.

Here was the front door with the cute bench.

The entry way.

This is the loft space where the kids all slept.

A view of the family room from upstairs.

We had planned to go to the same sand dunes that we went to last summer on the way home.  Since we got a late start we had lunch in Rexburg then we went to Natalie's house to get some cardboard and plastic sleds.  The kids started by jumping off the dunes.  

Danny tried the cardboard first, but it didn't seem to work well with either the adults or the kids.

Claire and Elaina tried the cardboard next, but they couldn't stay on it.  The sand got on top of the cardboard and would push them off.

The plastic sled worked the best.  Andrew went down with Chris and then Claire and Elaina did it.

Grant did not like the sand or the heat, so he spend most of the time in the car.

So much fun!

The worst part was climbing back up after the slide down.

Before we left they did some more jumps off the top.

We went back to Natalie's house for a little bit and we were supposed to keep driving down to Utah.  The kids started playing and having fun and they wanted to ride bikes.  Natalie had just gotten a pedal bike that she thought that Grant could ride.  He had never attempted to ride a bike either with or without training wheels.  He has just been riding his balance bike.  He got on this bike and within about a minute he was riding it up and down the street.  It was amazing.  He was so excited to be riding a big boy bike.  So then all of the kids got to riding bikes and we decided to just stay the night in Rexburg.  After playing outside for a long time, they went inside and had pizza and watched a movie.