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First Day of School 2020

I’m ecstatic to report that the first day of school 2020 went fantabulously well! That’s right; today exceeded my expectations in every way. The beginning of the day got off to a great start. The Mayor was at his desk ready to work when I woke up. My biggest fear for today was trying to wake up Goalielocks, but he was out of bed and ready to go very quickly. I almost fell over due to this pleasant surprise. Naturally, I was completely relieved.

Of course, getting up early sucks for me too. I’ve been keeping summer hours since March. So up until this week, I’ve been sleeping in until 7:30-7:45. Now I’m up before 7:00 am to make sure my two star pupils are ready for the first bell at 7:30 am. Thankfully, I went to bed early last night to help me adjust to an earlier wake-up. One of my goals is to ensure I get over seven hours of sleep every night. Fortunately, the earlier start to my morning meant less of a wait at my Dunkin’.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the day was that both boys were in a good mood. I think being back in school brings back structure and socialization that they’ve missed. While they’re attending school virtually, there is still ample opportunity for socialization in their classes. Meanwhile, I was able to go about my day without interruption. I won today!

Lastly, I bring you an urgent prayer request. These past six months have been difficult for everyone, but life has a way of reminding you that you’re fortunate. Deb was one of the first people we met when we first started hockey over a decade ago. She was a mainstay at the rink. I’m not sure she ever left. Her daughter Lia was actually on Goalielocks’ first rec hockey team. They were the Lightning and they won the championship. Lia is a figure skater but wanted to try playing hockey like her brothers.

A few years later, Deb’s son sustained a head injury during a junior game. Unfortunately, the doctors discovered that he had a malignant tumor. We were all devastated by the news. The hockey community was devastated. Thankfully, he underwent treatment that eradicated the disease. Sadly, the disease came back within the last year. After consultation with several doctors earlier this month, the doctors determined they had done everything they could. Consequently, doctors have placed her son Austin into hospice care. Please pray for Austin’s healing and peace, for Deb, their family, and friends as they navigate this difficult time.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read Mary Barton, by Elisabeth Gaskell. It is starting to get good!

*Gentle Flow with Jennifer at Open Heart Yoga Studio

*I ran one mile and walked a mile today. Naturally, I listened to Metallica and watched Curb throughout my run.

*I had another pile of Amazon boxes waiting for me today.

*The Mayor has hockey a two hour hockey practice tonight.

*BBG 2.0. week 12 day 1: legs, cardio and yoga

*Today is the first day of school 2020. Since it’s virtual, I didn’t need to go out an buy the 2020 version of the Members Only jacket.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk.

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Last Weekend of Summer

It’s the last weekend of summer and unlike year’s past, I’m not jumping for joy at the boys going back to school. At least not in this virtual environment. I’m not emotionally prepared for the daily, no hourly arguments with two teenage boys. We’re not in a space here in Palm Beach County, where the kids can safely go back into the physical buildings. And I fully support the move to start school virtually, but it sucks balls.

In my mind’s eye, I’m imagining my middle son having a conniption every morning. Since he will need to attend class at 7:30 am. Fortunately, the school has ensured that the virtual school this fall is very structured. In the spring, they had no structure, which was a huge problem for my boys. I can’t count the number of lies they told about their class schedules. It wasn’t until near the end of the quarter, my hubby and I found out the truth. Nonetheless, I see myself managing the bell schedules and trying to keep regular days and block schedule days straight. I see myself needing another vacation soon.

Tomorrow is my Hubby’s 38th birthday, Additionally, we have our first scrimmages of the season. Thus continuing the ten-year tradition of celebrating his birthday at the hockey rink. Honestly, I’m quite excited about the games since we’ll get to see all our friends from Goalielocks’ team last year. I’m not, however, excited for the drive to South Dade county. It’s never a fun drive in the middle of a Saturday. Fortunately, getting to see the kids play and see my friends makes the drive worth it.

Proof that I once had a tan

Sunday we’ll be celebrating his birthday and my sister-in-law’s birthday with a celebratory brunch. Once again, I’ll be making an exception to the norm by making my Christmas brunch caramel rolls. It is going to take all the self-control I can muster to not eat them all. Naturally, we’ll be enjoying bottomless mimosas, cholesterol bake, and hash browns as well. I’m sure we’ll play some Cards Against Humanity and maybe even some games on Goalielocks’ Jackbox.

Quick update on Maya. Today she’s feeling much better although she is still lethargic. Excitedly, I was able to get her to eat some of her dog food this afternoon. This is the first time she’s eaten her food since Tuesday morning. Additionally, she’s been mobile throughout the day and drinking a lot of water. Hopefully, she’ll continue to improve as we go into the weekend. Based on her symptoms, she must have snuck something that made her sick. Thanks for all your well wishes for our sweet girl. She’s our first dog and we can’t imagine losing her.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read Mary Barton, by Elisabeth Gaskell.

*Gentle Flow with Jennifer at Open Heart Yoga Studio

*I ran one mile and walked a mile today.

*I had another pile of Amazon boxes waiting for me today.

*BBG 2.0. week 11 day 5: abs, cardio and yoga

*We have only three more sleeps until we start virtual school. This will be our last weekend of summer.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk.

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Connection

Maintaining a connection with the outside world during this time of quarantine isn’t always easy, but it’s super necessary. To be honest, I haven’t talked on the phone this much since I was a teenager. Okay, maybe I haven’t talked on the phone this much since the advent of the text message. In fact, if you know me well, you know I don’t typically answer my phone. Your best option to read me is to text me. Since I have a house of boys and three dogs, communicating via text is much easier since I often can’t hear myself think here.

Meanwhile, there will be plenty of connection starting next week as Palm Beach County Schools start the school year virtually. I fully expect my phone to be ringing off the hook with phone calls from our new victims. By victims, I mean my kids’ new teachers. Unlike last spring, this year the boys will be held to the bell schedule as if they were in the building. For me, this is a huge win. This brings structure to their day that was frankly missing in the spring. Naturally, Goalielocks will have to transition off of his third shift schedule back to a normal school schedule.

There is one major upshot to starting the school year virtually. I am saving so much money by not breaking the bank with back to school shopping. This is fabulous because for the first time both boys want fashionable (aka expensive) clothes. Truly, I’ve had it pretty easy these last several years. Since middle school, they have worn athletic shorts and t-shirts every day. At any rate, I do not miss the back to school shopping push. There’s nothing worse than hunting for a hyper-specific school supply in the bin after bin of school supplies. Naturally, I will have to take them school shopping, but for the moment I will relish skipping this ritual.

Me anticipating how I’ll feel next week

Today I spent most of my day nursing our sweet Maya. Fortunately, she seems to be doing a little bit better today. We were pretty worried last night as she wasn’t able to walk for a portion of the evening. Honestly, I was starting to think she’d be traveling over the rainbow bridge in the near future. Thankfully, she’s fully mobile today. Moreover, she’s been drinking a lot of water and has even eaten some food. This is the first time she’s eaten since Tuesday. Honestly, I’m relieved to see her having a much better day. Please pray that she continues to heal.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read Mary Barton, by Elisabeth Gaskell. This book is more my speed.

*Yin Yoga with Jennifer at Open Heart Yoga Studio

*I ran two miles and walked a mile today.

*I cleaned up a lot of messes due caused by my sick puppy.

*BBG 2.0. week 11 day 4: cardio and yoga

*We have one more weekday until we start virtual school.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk.

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National Dog Day

It’s national dog day and we’re celebrating with our three beautiful dogs: Maya, Athena, and Anakin. Unfortunately, this year it seems to coincide with illness for Maya. Hopefully, she will rebound in the next day or two, but I fear we have a tough decision coming our way. After all, Maya is eleven years old and has cancer. Until yesterday, she has been acting completely normal. Now she’s not moving a whole lot and looks sad. We are not ready to say goodbye, but we are not willing to let her suffer either. Please keep us and our sweet girl in your thoughts and prayers over the next few days.

The other two, Athena and Anakin continue to be their playful selves but are concerned about their sister. Not so concerned, however, that they’ll stop trying to steal her food. Nonetheless, both puppies plopped themselves near Maya this morning and kept watch over her. Instinctually, I think they know she’s coming to the end of her life. Eventually, I was able to get her to take some meds with peanut butter and drink plenty of water. She hasn’t been eating too much, but we’re trying to entice her with some yummy wet dog food.

I wrote about The Bell Jar yesterday and ways to lift it. One of the ways, I’m trying to improve myself is by increasing my cardio fitness. Since my diagnosis of Graves, I have struggled to even come near to my previous running pace. I’m still a good two minutes off per mile from my personal best. In order to improve my results, I’m taking part in a running challenge. It’s quite simple: run at least a mile every day. On days where I have strength workouts, I’m only running a mile. On all other days, I’m running two miles. After each run, I’m cooling down with a mile walk. The challenge is effective because it’s not a great distance, which means less impact on my body and my time.

Thus far, I’m ten days into the challenge and I’ve run fourteen miles and walked ten. After each run, I do my yoga stretching routine to ensure my muscles stay happy and healthy. Since the weather has been ridiculously hot, I’ve been running on my treadmill. This is good because its steady state and I can easily gauge my performance. Of course, I also watch Curb during every run, which makes it good super fast. I freaking love Larry David. One of these days, I’ll share my “Larry” moment.

Tonight we have hockey practice for both of the boys. I’ll be making dinner practice, while the hubby will handle Goalielocks’ practice. Then, after dinner, I’ll take the Mayor to his practice. This way my Hubby can rest and enjoy some playoff hockey from the comfort of our couch. He’s been working in Miami and then driving to the rink to help with practice. Unfortunately, this job lacks a/c, which really wears you out in the August heat.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read Mary Barton, by Elisabeth Gaskell. This book is more my speed.

*Slow Flow and Yin Yoga with Kaye at Open Heart Yoga Studio

*I ran one mile and walked a mile today.

*In honor of National Dog Day, I’m excited to share some pictures of our puppies with you!

*I cleaned up a lot of messes due caused by my sick puppy.

*BBG 2.0. week 11 day 3: upper body, cardio and yoga

*It’s tough to be a parent, especially in this environment. I think I want to protest the return to school virtually.

*We have one more week until we start virtual school.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk.

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The Bell Jar

I recently finished reading Slyvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. Admittedly, I was not super familiar with Plath or her writings before I read her book. Yes, I had heard of her and her untimely death, but beyond that, I knew nothing. In fact, I didn’t even know what to expect when I started reading the book. Well, at least until my dear friend Terri asked if I was emotionally stable. Whelp! I was totally stable, but starting to question my decision to read this book during the bleakness of a global pandemic. My morbid curiosity got the best of me, so I read the book. Alas, the scene in Family Guy between Lois and Meg finally made sense to me.

Despite the gravity of the book’s storyline, I decided it was important to read it. Plath is a terrific writer, who I was starting to enjoy. However, there was something off about the heroine from page one. Her internal dialogue was not something I could relate to. For example, I didn’t understand why she referred to people in their lives by their full names. Instead of saying my boyfriend at Yale, she would write Buddy Willard. I’m not sure why, but it just struck me as odd. I found myself unable to relate to Esther and her apathy towards her amazing internship in New York.

At one point, just like when I read Nabokov’s Lolita, it was uncomfortable to read. Perhaps because I know the ending of the author’s story or the honest and unbridled look at a person’s downward spiral was unnerving. Also, I felt like I was intruding on a deeply personal struggle. As Esther, aka Sylvia, devolved into her depressive state it got harder and harder to take. I struggled to relate to her struggles. Perhaps this is because the majority of downward spirals I’ve witnessed have taken a narcissistic bent on social media.

There was, however, one theme that I felt we could all relate to during this pandemic. Plath writes several times how Esther feels trapped under the bell jar with no air and no escape. For those stuck in the bell jar, the word itself is a bad dream. To me, 2020 kind of seems like a global bell jar. I say this, by no means, to minimize Esther’s/Slyvia’s struggle with mental illness. I say it because we all have felt like we’re trapped without a way out of the 2020 “bell jar.”

Eventually, Esther receives the treatment she needs and is able to resume her life at college. For us, eventually, the pandemic will abate and the bell jar will be lifted. In the interim, it’s important to find ways to lift the jar and give ourselves room to breathe. Here are a couple of ways you can do that:

*Get outside – walk, run, hike, bike, swim. The great outdoors are cathartic as is exercise.

*Adopt or foster a pet

*Exercise – Youtube has plenty of free workouts If your gym is currently closed.

*Find a community to connect with. It doesn’t matter if you’re meeting up in person or on Zoom. Connect with people.

*Check-in on family members and friends. Particularly, check-in on the elderly, who haven’t been allowed visitors due to the pandemic. Imagine how lonely they must be and how grateful they would be to hear your voice.

*Start something new. I will be starting a book club this week as it is a great way to connect with people. If you’re interested in joining, let me know.

*Watch playoff hockey- the games have been incredible and there is no better sport in the world.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read Mary Barton, by Elisabeth Gaskell. This book is more my speed.

*Vinyasa with Jennifer at Open Heart Yoga Studio

*I ran two miles today and walked a mile..

*BBG 2.0. week 11 day 5: cardio and yoga

*It’s tough to be a parent, especially in this environment. I am lamenting the start of a new virtual school year.

*We have one more week until we start virtual school.

*Since last Monday, I have ran 12 miles and walked 8!

*Today I received my first Butcher Box.

*For dinner, we are cooking bison chilli. It should be good!

*I am missing the mountains. I wish we were still travelling.

*After this week, I will only have one week in the BBG 2.0 cycle.

*I learned a new word today tittynope. This word means a small quantity of something leftover.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk.

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Left on the Mountain

Yep, you read that right I was left on the mountain. It all happened at the Farmington Creek Trail just south of Layton. I picked this trail for our Thursday hike because it features: a car cemetery, two waterfalls (including the one you could rappel down to), and a moderate degree of difficulty. Admittedly, I am not fast on my ascent up the trails. Due to the Graves disease, I’m mindful of my maintaining my heart rate and regulating my body temperature. This, of course, is not always easy when hiking. Consequently, my ascent was slow, measured, and littered with water breaks.

On the flip side, the hike for my boys was quite easy. Goalielocks soon pulled away from both the Mayor and me as he ran up the trail. I was jealous at the ease with which he tackled the mountain. In protest, the Mayor sped ahead on his own. Fortunately, when the Mayor got to the first waterfall, he waited for me. On the other hand, I couldn’t find Goalielocks. The challenge became the fork in the trail. Unfortunately, the park service hadn’t clearly marked the trail. Fortuantely, we were able to ask local hikes which way to go. Meanwhile, we had no idea which way Goalielocks had gone at the fork.

I decided to follow the trail to the second waterfall hoping we’d find Goalielocks on the trail. Undeniably, I was nervous that nobody had seen him. At this point, we were so deep into the canyon that we didn’t have cell service. As we continued the trail, the Mayor again took off down the path. Meanwhile, I vacillated between anger, frustration, and awe. As I rounded the bend, I saw a vintage car overtaken by the forest with bullet holes all over. It was quite picturesque. At this point, the Mayor came back to me expressed his discontent with the hike, and headed back to the car.

Now they really annoyed me. Yet, I was determined to see the waterfall. I continued down the path looking for the ropes that would take me down to the base of the waterfall. As I searched the area, I finally got a call from Goalielocks who was at the car waiting. Eventually, I found the ropes that could take me down to the waterfall. However, with unreliable cellphone service and nobody near me, I wasn’t willing to risk a fall or injury by rappelling down to the waterfall. Consequently, I started making my way back to the car where both boys were impatiently waiting for me.

Since I knew they were safe at the car, I was in no hurry to finish my hike. The canyon and trail provided beautiful vista after beautiful vista that I wanted to take it all in. Also, the ascent wore me out as it was a vigorous hike. When I made it back to the first waterfall, I took a seat on a large boulder near the side of the stream and relaxed for a bit. In this spot, the mountain stream and shade cooled the air. It was a magical spot to rest and recover before tackling the sunny part of the descent to the car.

While I was sitting at the waterfall, the Mayor made his way back up the trail in search of water. I had brought my backpack, filled with water bottles and oranges to keep us nourished throughout and after the hike. However, since I was the only one willing to carry it, all of the supplies were with me. Consequently, when he got thirsty he had no choice, but to seek me out. Naturally, he received quite a tongue lashing from me once we met again on the mountain. Soon after we met up with Goalielocks, who had come up the trail looking for me out of concern it was taking too long. Of course, I had been almost four miles deep into the trail, so it wasn’t going to be a quick return.

Goalielocks took a left at the first waterfall, which took him on a significantly shorter trail. Eventually, both of the trails meet up near the second waterfall. However, his trail was overgrown as it approached the waterfall trail. Goalielocks headed back the way he came since he wasn’t sure where the trail led. The hillside where he hiked was filled with vintage cars, known as the car cemetery. On our descent, I learned that he had told his brother where he was going. Unfortunately, the Mayor neglected to tell me this. I was super annoyed with the Mayor at this point. I want to rappel down to the waterfall and I couldn’t because I was alone. Naturally, we spoke at length, on our way back to the Airbnb, about the importance of staying together during hikes.

Despite all the drama on the mountain, this was definitely one of my favorite hikes. The trail affords incredible views of the Great Salt Lake, the valley, the mountains and the canyon. Everywhere you looked, it was absolutely beautiful. Moreover, it was an incredibly peaceful hike as the trail was not crowded. I look forward to hiking this trail again with Jake and my hubby. Hopefully, we’ll get to see some fall colors on the hike and even have the chance to rappel down to the waterfall.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath. This is an interesting book.

*Gentle Flow with Jennifer at Open Heart Yoga Studio

*I went for a mile run. Yesterday, I ran two miles.

*BBG 2.0. week 10 day 5: Abs, cardio and yoga

*It’s tough to be a parent, especially in this environment. I am lamenting the start of a new virtual school year.

*We have two more weeks until we start virtual school.

*This morning we were in cone of uncertainty for TS Laura.

*Goalielocks has his first official practice this evening. The new season has started. Party on!

*This week I have run seven miles so far!

*Today I ordered my first Butcher Box.

*For dinner, we are cooking a HelloFresh meal. I can’t wait to taste it! We are loving HelloFresh.

*I was left on the mountain. I had no trouble surviving the ordeal!

*Recently, I’ve been collecting checks for our team fund.

*I learned a new word today soupcon. This word means a small amount.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk.

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Replenished

After a wonderful two wonderful trips and a week to recover, I’m finally feeling replenished. Both of our July/August trips were soul-soothing and nurturing. Admittedly, I had a much harder time leaving Utah than I did leave the Keys. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to leaving my oldest son behind. Thus, in leaving Utah, I left a big piece of my heart there. My goal was to write every day, but I found myself, selfishly, wanting to savor every last minute with my airmen. And even once on the plane home, I found myself cherishing the visit and not wanting to share my feelings. Lest that feeling of deep internal happiness and peace be lost upon sharing my feelings.

My mom warned me halfway through the trip that I should probably take it easy because it was going to hit me like a truck when I got back to Florida. Naturally, she was right. However, there were so many trails to hike so many new vistas and waterfalls to explore, I couldn’t hold it back. After all, the Rockies weren’t going to climb themselves. Of course, this is probably why it took me over a week to feel replenished.

I planned our last two days out west to be action-packed. On Friday, we took it pretty easy comparatively and went back to the Hill Aerospace Museum. We had gone the day before, but Jake wanted to explore it with us. This quickly became one of our favorite spots. Unfortunately, they were assembling an F-117 stealth fighter, so the fighter wing was still closed. All the more reason to go back for another visit when we head back that way later this year. It was fun to take in the history of the Air Force with my man in uniform. It was even more fun to see kids react to him in uniform.

Afterward, we headed back on base to grab lunch at the BX and hang out at his dorm. The BX was nice because it offered variety at the perfect price point. Once we had our lunch, we enjoyed some vintage Simpsons episodes as we ate. The boys were itching to play COD against each other, so they spent the next hour or so playing Xbox. As a mom, I’ve never been so gratified to watch my boys play Xbox. Perhaps because they’ve been apart for so long or perhaps it was the big smiles on their faces. Either way, I was one happy mama. For dinner, we went back to our favorite Rovalis before heading back to the Airbnb. Sadly, I had to pack us up, so we were ready to leave the next day. The highlight of our Friday night was a dip in the hot tub.

I woke up Saturday morning to my alarm followed by a text that Jake had made it to our AirBnB. Fortunately, for me big brother was willing to risk life and limb to wake up Goalielocks. Truly, it was nice not to have to face that epic task. Once everybody was up and ready to go, we packed our cars and headed south to Big Cottonwood Canyon. Jake wasn’t able to hike with us to Donut Falls, so I wanted to be sure he saw the Canyon before we left. This time we chose a hike up the Willow Lake Trail, which was just a few miles west of Donut Falls. As expected, Jake was blown away by the natural beauty of the canyon.

Jake and I stayed together for much of the hike. Goalielocks quickly sprinted ahead, while the Mayor not so quietly complained ahead of us. On this hike, we gained about 1,600 feet. The hike started at nearly 7,000 feet above sea level. My calves hated the beginning of this hike. Jake and I stopped multiple times to stretch our calves. Admittedly, I also needed to take a moment to let my heart rate drop a bit. This hike was through a beautiful birch and conifer forest with views of the surrounding peaks everywhere you looked. When we got near the top, it opened up into a meadow of wildflowers with a backdrop of the forest and mountains. As I told Jake, the view did not suck.

We finally made it up to the lake where Goalielocks had made friends with a mama duck and her ducklings. It was incredibly peaceful at the lake. The trail was never crowded. Since we were now up over 8,500 feet, the temperature was cool and the gentle breeze felt wonderful. After making the effort to climb to the lake, we hung out for awhile taking in the scenery. Next time I’ll bring a blanket and some snacks as there are plenty of spots near the lake to enjoy a picnic lunch. Naturally, the hike back down the mountain was much easier and enjoyed it together. Hiking Utah and enjoying nature with my boys and Melody was my favorite part of the trip.

I booked a red-eye flight, so we could spend all Saturday exploring the area with Jake. As a hockey family, we made the obligatory pilgrimage to Pure Hockey and the local rink in Murray. I found an awesome brewery just south of Pure Hockey for us to try for lunch. We had an amazing meal! I can’t tell you how much we enjoyed supporting the locally-owned restaurants and stores. Anyway back to lunch, I ate the best BBQ wings I’ve ever had. We finished off our day, with a tour of downtown Salt Lake City including Temple Square, the Capitol building, and the mall. By the time, we headed to the airport, we had seen and done a lot for one day.

As the time of our departure drew nearer, my heart grew heavier. I couldn’t help lamenting that this incredible trip was about to be over. Honestly, I drew it out as long as I could by hanging out at the cell phone lot for as long as we could. When it was time to say goodbye, my heart was full of joy and pride, but also a little broken. I don’t suppose it will ever get easier to leave one behind, but I am blessed that he is in a great place. He’s got a wonderful job, boss, and community of support surrounding him every day. Reluctantly, I boarded that plane back to Florida and then spent all of last week recovering. Thankfully, I’m back to my regular routine.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath

*Vinyasa yoga with Jennifer at Open Heart Yoga Studio

*I went for a two mile run. Yesterday, I ran a mile.

*BBG 2.0. week 10 day 2: Cardio and yoga

*It’s tough to be a parent, especially in this environment. I am lamenting the start of a new virtual school year.

*Goalielocks has his first official practice this evening. The new season has started. Party on!

*Have you ever seen a proboscis?

*Today my hubby sent me the best picture of my sweet Anakin.

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Another Day, Another Adventure

Another day, another adventure. Such has been our trip here in Utah. I love it here. Every day we spend time exploring the surrounding national forests, canyons, and mountains. Each trail gives us a special gift. Whether its a realization about life, a pretty view, or shared memories. Regardless of the adventure, everyone has taught me something or given me something in return. For example, our first hike here taught me that you should save the hard hikes for after your body acclimates to the altitude. Meanwhile, the hike to Donut Falls showed me the beauty and vastness of God’s creation.

Yesterday was no exception. We got a late start to the morning, which was fine because the temperatures have cooled down a bit since the 100s over the weekend. Also I knew the trial we were headed to had a lot of shaded areas. Lastly, we all needed to get some rest as Tuesday was a very busy day. My day started with an early trip into Salt Lake City to drop Melody at the airport. Fortunately, the drive was super easy and I got another hour of sleep once back to our AirBnB. Yesterday’s adventures included the Green Pond Trail near Snow Basin and the Hill Aerospace Museum. Both of these stops on our adventure tour were well worth the time and effort.

The Green Pond Trail is an easy to moderate trail near at the base of Mount Ogden. You do gain about 400 ft in altitude throughout the path, but it is a gradual ascent. The trail itself starts at an elevation near 6,000 feet. Honestly, this probably would have been the best trail for our first hike. Indeed, it is an excellent trail for mountain biking and for kids just starting to hike. Throughout the trek, the meadows and forest surround you. You can see the mountains through the canopy of the trees throughout, which makes for a beautiful vista. Overall, the hike took about an hour and burned nearly 600 calories.

Afterward we headed to the Hug-Hes Cafe in north Ogden. Since we’ve been here, I’ve been trying to take them to local spots. This one reminded me of Perkins as it had a bakery and a simliar lunch and dinner menu. Overall, the food was very tasty and inexpensive. This restaurant is also famous for its giant sugar cookies, so naturally I picked up three for the boys. Post lunch, we headed to Target to pick up some more snacks and a lot of water. We’ve already gone through more than 40 bottles of water throughout our hikes. Thankfully, they recycle here. I wish they had refill stations at or near the hikes as that would be much more efficient.

Once we had our supplies in hand, we headed to the Hill Aerospace Museum. It was awesome! We got there later in the day, so we didn’t have enough time to take in all of the exhibits. Consequently, I’m hoping to go back there today or tomorrow. Also the fighter wing was closed and the boys really want to peruse that exhibit. One thing that I loved about the museum is that it is staffed by retirees, who served in the Air Force and really have a passion for the history of aviation. Naturally, we also stopped in to the gift shop where I bought a rosewood model B-24 that will be displayed in our family room. They did have some wonderful sketches of the planes, but none featuring the B-24 on which my grandfather was a flight engineer.

As for our evening, we went back to the dealership to finish up the paperwork for Jake’s new car. That took way longer than it needed to, but this is always the case. For dinner, we headed back to In-N-Out burger so Jake could try it at last. After enjoying their burgers two nights in a row, we have all decided they need to come to Florida. Their burgers are phenomenal! We spent the rest of the night chilling at the AirBnB and were all in bed early. Today promises to bring more great adventures in the great outdoors.

Places we visited yesterday:

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read North & South by Elisabeth Gaskells.

*We are going back to visit the Hill Aerospace Museum.

*Another day, another adventure is in the cards.

*We are off to hike more magical places.

*There are some homeless folks here, but they seem to have shelters and programs in place for them. You see very little panhandling here.

*We’ll be grabbing dinner with Jake.

*The Mayor continues to be this trips Jester.

*Today my hubby sent me the best picture of my sweet Anakin.

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Magical Places

Utah is full of magical places. Yesterday we hiked to Donut Falls, which is located in Big Cottonwood Canyon. The entire canyon, the national forest it contains, and it’s majestic peaks make it a truly magical place. Since we got late starts to our weekend hikes, we made a concerted effort to start this hike earlier in the morning. This way, we would avoid the heat of midday. Fortunately, the canyon is at over 7,000 ft above sea level, and the temperature was in the mid-70s for the entire hike. The drive through the canyon was spectacular. It is an absolute dream!

The hike to Donut Falls is considered an easy hike, which is true. There are some difficult spots where you have to safely traverse up and down wet rocks, but that wasn’t too bad. At the end of the trail, is a beautiful waterfall. However, I was unable to see the donut. In order to see the legendary donut falls, you have to scale the rocky waterfall. Admittedly, I was not sure I was up to the task. It looked like a steep, wet, and scary climb. We made our way up the path to take a picture overlooking the falls. During this ascent, I decided I could handle the ascent up the waterfall to Donut Falls.

Thus the four of us began our ascent to Donut Falls. We traversed the creek via rocks and logs so that we could get to the climb. Unfortunately, we chose to ascend to the falls on the side, which was a much harder climb. Consequently, Melody and the Mayor decided to go back to shore. Goalielocks and I braved the slippery rocks and made our way up the waterfall. It was tough as the stones were smooth and slick in many places. However, the climb was worth the effort. The views of the canyon and the waterfall from Donut Falls were majestic and beautiful. It is definitely a hike that will satisfy your expectations. After our descent, we spent some time taking in all of the natural beauty of the falls before heading back to civilization.

After our hike, we headed to downtown Salt Lake City to explore and grab lunch. We shopped Trolley Square, the Gateway and 9&9. I wouldn’t go back to 9&9, but did like the antique store at Trolley Square and the Gateway has some fun activities for families. We also made our way to Temple Square. It was hard to get a good picture of the Temple as its undergoing construction to make the roof earthquake proof. Nevertheless, the Temple is gorgeous even when surrounded by construction equipment. The grounds were also a magical place that contained many buildings, such as the Tabernacle where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs. All in all, we liked Salt Lake as it was easy to navigate, but we enjoyed our hike and Big Cottonwood Canyon more.

We had a full day, so after our last shopping stop, we headed back to our Airbnb. For dinner, the boys and I had In-N-Out. The burgers lived up to the hype. Meanwhile, Jake and Mel enjoyed a date night back at his dorm. On Monday, we went to the dealership so that Jake could buy a car. He needs a car to drive to his job and get around his base, which is vast. Tonight we will go back to the dealership and finish up the paperwork for his car.

Monday, we had more of a low key day. The kids all slept in late, which was not surprising given how busy we were over the weekend. When they woke up, we visited the Pineview Reservoir, which afforded incredible views of the mountains and the Wasatch National Forest. The water was cold and refreshing, but we none of us remembered our bathing suits. We grabbed a quick lunch at Subway before heading into Ogden to explore the botanical gardens and historic 25th Street. We didn’t love the botanical gardens, so we weren’t there long. Unfortunately, when we went to the historic 25th street, all of the shops we wanted to visit were closed.

Places we visited Monday and Tuesday:

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read North & South by Elisabeth Gaskells.

*We are going to visit the Hill Aerospace Museum.

*We are off to hike more magical places.

*I’m going with Jake to finish the paperwork for his new car..

*There is no rain here, so no need for an umbrella.

*Today my hubby sent me the best picture of my sweet Anakin.

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Snow Basin Resort

Yesterday our adventures took us to the Snow Basin Resort, which is on Mt. Ogden. After a busy day Saturday, we all overslept. Consequently, we got a reasonably late start to our day. I was a bit worried that the heat and altitude would again be too much for us. Fortunately, I was wrong. We took the gondola up to the ski lodge, where the hiking trail to the summit of Mt. Ogden begins. Technically, you could hike up the entire mountain, but we were not about that life yesterday.

The scenery on the way up Mount Ogden was beautiful with mountains, valleys, and even a lake in the distance. It was a bit hot on the way up as the gondolas are fully enclosed. Once we reached the top of the ride, however, the temperature was significantly cooler, and there was a gentle breeze. The ski lodge was beautiful, with beautiful amenities and A/C. We took a brief respite in the lodge before heading up to the summit. Admittedly, I was quite nervous that this hike would be as challenging as Saturday’s. I think we were all pretty nervous.

Thankfully, this hike got off to a much better and more leisurely start. It wasn’t until the mid-point of our ascent to the summit that it became challenging. First of all, there were a lot of loose rocks on the trail, which makes it hard to find your footing sometimes. This was particularly true on the fringes of the path. Second of all, we were at an elevation of about 8,000 feet, which is a challenging environment for people not accustomed to the altitude. Nevertheless, I still felt much better throughout this hike than our first hike Saturday. The scenery throughout the entire hike was impressive. Moreover, while there were plenty of people and dogs on the hike, it remained quiet and serene. There was an incredible sense of peace on the mountain.

This time we all made it to the end of the hike. The summit of Mount Ogden did not disappoint. As you looked east, you saw the Great Salt Lake and Ogden. We even saw where we had hiked the day before. As we looked to the West, we saw the lake, national forest and several mountains. A top the summit, it was breezy and comfortable. Goalielocks found the perfect place to soak in the majesty of the mountain, while we finished the hike. Naturally, we all felt a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in completing the hike. While this hike had some difficult points, it was well worth the views afforded at the top of the summit. We will be going back.

Afterward we headed back to the AirBnB to change, so we could head to the mall and grab some lunch. Comparatively speaking, the mall was rather lackluster to our malls in South Florida. Nonetheless, it provided a good indoor activity when the heat of the day was at its peak. We also explored several cool stores and boutiques that we’ve never seen before, which was fun. For dinner, we headed East to Taggerts, which has been an institution in the Morgan Canyon for over a century. The service was quick, my soup was delicious and the burger didn’t disappoint.

We ended our day by dropping Jake back off at base, so he could be ready for work today. Our night ended comparatively early last night because we were all utterly exhausted. In fact, two of the three kids traveling with me are still sleeping. It’s almost 11:00 am here, so I’ll probably wake them up in a few minutes. However, after all of our activities over the last two days, I’m glad they’re sleeping in and catching up on some rest.

Places we visited yesterday

*Snow Basin Resort

*Taggart’s Grill

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I finished The Song of the Lark, by Willa Cather last night. Tonight I’m starting North & South by Elisabeth Gaskells.

*We are headed to Pineview Reservoir for some new adventures

*I’m going with Jake to buy a car tonight.

*Morning and afternoon meditation

*The truth is I’m looking forward to another day of adventure.

*We’re heading back to 25th Street for dinner at a cool burger place.

*Today my hubby sent me the best picture of my sweet Anakin.

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