Saturday hike!

Last Saturday Spen decided that it was finally cool enough for us to hike to the Timpanogus caves.

We knew that we couldn't push Mase up the trail because of the rule of no strollers or wheelchairs, so Spencer happily carried Mase up on his back!

If you haven't hiked this trail before, it is a 1.5 mile paved trail that climbs 1100 feet in elevation. It's not bad, but it's sure not easy. Actually, it is pretty tough! Ethan had some rough patches and I kind of had to pull him along for parts of it, but he made it! Every step of the way!! :)

It was a gorgeous hike. If you've never done it, it should be on your list of something to do in the summers. Ethan sure liked the tunnels along the trail.


Mason only complained when we would stop for a break. He did not like to stop! He would pout and cry until we started up again. He was having such a good time riding on his dad's back! The only problem was that to go through the caves we couldn't bring the backpack, we had to carry him. He's heavy. He wanted me to hold him for most of the cave tour, but once there were wet stairs and I was too unsure he went back to his dad.

Ethan brought his walking stick that he and Spen made from one of our tree limbs. I did not like hiking with him hiking with a hiking stick!!! We had to leave it in a hiding place along the trail and pick it up on our way back down. It was driving me crazy being tripped and hit and having Ethan fall to his face! I always thought that walking sticks were supposed to be helpful for a hike. Not this one so much!~

Every corner you turned you got an even prettier view to enjoy. I kept making us stop to take pictures.

For those of you who don't know this about Ethan -- he LOVES rocks. He always has. He is an avid rock collector. We keep a marker in our car so that we can write on the rocks that he finds so he doesn't forget where he found it. We have rocks from Best Buy, from Taco Bell, from the Dr.'s office parking lot, places like that. He also has rocks from pretty cool spots like hikes at Lake Powell, or Florida, or California. He always is picking up rocks and putting them in his pockets. This hike was no different! We tried to convince him to not bring his own backpack, but he REALLY wanted to. When we got back to the car we discovered why. It was SO heavy with all of the rocks he had picked up along the way! I felt so bad that he had hauled that heavy pack up and down the mountain! Of course he had to have his picture taken by 'Rock Mountain!'

Here is our picture proof that all of us made it to the top! It was a really nice day. We are already planning on going again next year! We hope that Mase still fits in the backpack for at least one more trip up!