Cultural literacy includes great movies
We also taste-tested 4 kinds of Girl Scout cookies and rated them to find out which one was the best. Thin Mints and Lemon-Ups tied for first with Samoas coming second and Trefoils third. However, every cookie was someone’s favorite.
We also watched Return of the Jedi a couple days later. It was unsurprisingly the kids’ favorite because it has Yoda and the Ewoks.
In 2020, we were supposed to have a family reunion, but we had to postpone it due to covid restrictions. This year, when it was decided to postpone a second time, my dad reacted a huge group site at Aspen Grove so that any cousins who wanted to see each other and hike up Timp mountain could do so.
We had such a great time camping and hiking and visiting.
I took the four littlest kids up to the waterfalls.
The 4 little kids and I made it to the second waterfall (which, I believe, is 2 miles, but felt much longer.)
Zeke took baby penguin steps all the way up, so it was 2 hours up, and we only made it because I bribed him and Skeeter with fruit snacks most of the way.
Banana Cream Pie and Apple Pie ended up hiking ahead with cousins because the twins and I were so slow.
Zeke kept asking me if I would carry him, and I kept saying “no.”
Skeeter had a lot more trail left in his legs. When we got to the waterfall, he asked “Where is everybody?” I told him, “all the little kids have gone back down ahead of us. The big kids are going to the top.”
“I want to go to the top,” says he.
“It’s 5 more miles,” says me.
Raising both fists in the air, he announced “I can do it!” (I considered it for about 2 seconds before I came to my senses and we headed back down to camp.
About 2/3 of the way back down, Zeke stopped a total stranger on the trail and asked super pitifully, “Would you carry me?”
I could tell that good-hearted guy was considering it 😂 😬 😬😬😬😬
I assured him we were fine and continued shepherding my boys down.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell on a hike if your 5 year old is actually tired or just bored. I think Zeke was actually tired.
The summit hikers’ report from the resident Captain
Great climb with the kiddos up Mt. Timpanogos, Utah elevation 11,752 ft. above sea level. This was a deceptively difficult climb, but we made it safely. The views were spectacular, and this ranks as the most scenic climb I have done. We hiked about 16 miles round trip and it took us about 14 hours.
This was the most difficult climb and tallest mountain that Cherry Pie and Key Lime Pie had attempted. Both of them did great.
We decided to glissade down the snow field instead of hiking back down the trail. You can see the scale of the mountain by how small we look.
The only thing better than hot, fresh naan is beautiful brown-eyed children eating the hot fresh naan.
The only thing better than that is eating the naan with them.
We had a good 20-minute downpour with no lighting.
When you are homeschooled, you either get no school picture, or really great ones.
This year, we got really great ones.
Monett Cub Run results: Blueberry Pie placed 3rd in his age division with a time of 25:06
The Man of the House won his age group with a time of 25:25!
(Blueberry Pie called his age group the “Neanderthal” age.)
In other news, Judging by the pile of butter knives on the counter this morning, my kids must have used a new knife for each peanut butter sandwich they made while I was gone.
At least they fed themselves. That’s a win for me.
Marvelous Pigs in Satin 