She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain When She Comes

We thought it would be fun to take the girls hiking for Memorial Day. I told them about Timpanogos Caves last year and we never got there, so we went today. I knew it would be busy with the holiday, but we decided to chance it anyway.

We arrived just before noon and we got the sweet spot of visiting the caves at 5:20 pm. And since I didn't feel like sitting around all day, we went right back home and took a nap. Well, Tyler and I slept and I think the girls played. I set the alarm and it was a good thing too, because I was OUT, dreaming the sweet dreams. I don't think I fully woke up until we got back there and started hiking (which is a little scary since I drove).

It is about a mile and a half up the mountain and it is a fairly steep hike. The girls were troopers the whole way. Ivory even walked most of it herself. We stopped to take some pictures and my girls are such posers.



You can especially tell in the family picture (it feels a bit Charlie's Angels to me).



We made it to the top eventually—I think Ivory only made it because she wanted fruit snacks at the end.

Somewhere along the way June asked me if I was going to use my pictures and blog about the day. "Of course," I said. She really wanted to help out and add her two cents, so here is the day according to June:

We saw the cutest squirrel chipmunk ever. She couldn't remember the word chipmunk and kept calling it a squirrel. It came so close to us we could have reached out and grabbed it.



We went inside cool glittering caves. We saw a frog, a camel (and his broken leg), and a crocodile about to eat the camel. Yikes! Then we saw the caramel sundae. These are all rock formations that looked like different objects.

We had lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of fun when we went to the Timpanogos Caves. We ate fruit snacks and trail mix. We saw in the dark with a candle. We saw pretty leaves and rocks. We met Ranger Josh. I saw a lot of pretty flowers and some that hadn’t bloomed yet.



We had an awesome time! The End.

Everyone was a bit exhausted by the time we reached the bottom of the hill. We stopped and grabbed a pizza, but that wasn't enough to keep Ivory awake. She fell asleep with the crust in her hand.



Sadly, we couldn't get her into the house without waking her up and now she thinks she's ready for round two; all the other girls are asleep and Ivory is busy reading a book to herself in bed. Talk about your power nap.

My personal favorite moment from the trip was listening to the dialogue coming from the bathroom at the top of the mountain. Since it is at the top, there is no plumbing; just the hole in the ground. Robyn finished up, looked down and asked, "Where's my pee?" I explained the situation and moments later when June used the rest room, I heard, "Where's my pee?"

My least favorite moment was my perpetual fight with Mother Nature. My allergies were off the map. I took my staple—a whole roll of tissue. I knew that going hiking was nasal suicide, but my kids are worth it.