Jane and Seth were out of school for 3 weeks during September so we decided to make a list of things we wanted to do. This was an extension to our short summer break. We got a lot accomplished despite me having several days where I wasn't feeling well (migraine) and had to change plans.
The weather started to get cool. This trip to the park left me wishing that I had my sweatshirt with me! That cool streak didn't last long, but I enjoyed it while it was there!
Seth picked a friend and we went to the aquarium.
Seth wanted to stay in a cabin, so I found a cool little cabin at a place called River's Edge in Heber. It is on the south side of the Jordanelle Dam. It felt weird at first to plan this little vacation for just the three of us. Mark and Paul were in school, so I had to just do it with those who could come. We thought about having Daniel come with us, but didn't feel like we should leave Mark and Paul home alone for 2 days (they'd never go to sleep because of being on the computer!) It was good to get away with just the two little ones. We were able to to things that excited them but would have bored the teenagers!
We went kayaking the first day. We were going to do this last, on our way out, but the weather forecast showed rain, so we switched things around and it's a good thing we did!
Our cabin had a lovely view of the Timpanogos canal. It also had two bedrooms. The kids drew lots as to who got the top bunk for the first night (Jane won). I imagined staying up in my king-size bed all by myself reading and relaxing once the kids were in bed, but somehow I wound up sharing this bed both nights! Seth stayed with me the first night and then both of them the second night.
The first night we lit a fire and made smores. The campground we were staying at was practically empty so it was nice to have the solitude that isn't available on the weekends here.
We went to the Heber Valley Railroad the second day. They had a pretend gun fight and aside from it being loud, we enjoyed it!
The kids were excited to ride on a real train! We had a great little ride on the Heber Creeper. We had kettle popcorn and candy sticks to eat while we viewed the world from the train. The sun went down as we arrived back at the station and I had two tired kids!
We had a lot of rain while we were at the cabin (it had a metal roof and I loved listening to the rain fall!) We popped some popcorn and watched a movie when some of our plans were rained out. We played games, put together a puzzle, and got a little bit silly at times. When there was a lull in the rain we fed the fish in the pond, played horseshoes, walked along the canal, and played on the playground. We were able to do everything we had on our list except go for a hike. It was just too wet.
We took this picture as we were getting ready to leave. The camera was sitting on the picnic table on the back side of the cabin. This was our backyard for our stay. I could see this from the bedroom and deck. It was a beautiful view! This trip really helped me unwind and find my center again.
After our trip we did a bunch of activities to fill the time before school started. We went to Gardner Village for a witch hunt. It was the last week of September and the temperature was in the low 90's. It was so hot and such a contrast to that cool weather we had the two weeks before.
The night before school started back again, my brother Dan and his girlfriend Taylor invited us over to their new house for a barbecue. The weather was perfect and the company was fun. Jane didn't want to leave! I didn't get a picture of Dan and Taylor together, so this picture of my brothers Dan and Randy will have to suffice!
Phew! School is back in session and I'm making plans for our next break. We will have all of December off. Good times!
