Parkinson Family: Blacksmith Fork Canyon

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Blacksmith Fork Canyon

On Saturday, July 2nd (4th of July weekend) we headed up to Blacksmith Fork Canyon. This is a few miles South of Logan canyon, just East of Hyrum. We had originally planned on going camping but ended up just doing a day trip, which was still nice. We have never been there before, so this was an exploring trip for us. We learned that it is better to take a truck up the canyon than a mini van. There is a dirt road up to the camp sites and trailhead that is drivable in a mini van, but pretty rough. It is very pretty and looks like a nice place to go back to sometime and go camping!

We parked at the trailhead and embarked on our journey up the mountain to the waterfall at the top. I thought "1 1/2 miles- that will be a cinch!" (I have been training for a half-marathon and running 4-6 miles a few times a weeks so this seemed like a breeze.) Well, this was a little harder than I expected. For one thing, it was all uphill. And, I still think it would have been pretty easy with just Aaron and I, but with 4 little kids this was a different story.

For one thing, Aaron had on a heavy backpack with Jared in it (Jared is the perfect size for this :) and I was with Heidi at the end (the caboose). She walked no more than 1 mile an hour and I was there to coach her along. She did awesome considering her size and I was so proud of her. I joked with Aaron that half the time I was literally walking with one foot just in front of the other (baby steps) up the trail. It was enough to make me crazy! She was being very stubborn and refused to let me hold her hand so she fell a few times and still wouldn't change her mind. Finally, we reached the spot where the waterfall was. It was really pretty, and bigger than it has been in previous years (I am told) because of the high run off this year. We sat at the base of the fall and ate lunch. Then, we hiked back down. The kids were all real troopers as we had to cross the river 3 times and since the water is so high this year, it was pretty tricky getting over it. Erika and Kyle did great- They had so much energy and made it up no sweat!

Sitting at the top of the waterfall with the kids. I was a little nervous about this one,
but Aaron convinced me it would be okay.

Along the trail, the kids found a "throne seat" made out of rocks. We sat on it and pretended to be royalty.

After our hike, we stopped at a spot by the river and let the kids swim. We were all exhausted and hot so this felt really nice. Aaron played with Erika and Kyle by having them float down a little piece and he caught them when they reached him. They had a lot of fun.

On the way home, we all stopped for slurpees. I don't think a slurpee has ever tasted so good. Okay, I lied- they always taste good to me. (I think I could eat one every day and not be sick of them :) Yum!

That night after the kids were bathed and in their pajamas, we lit some fireworks in our yard. They had a lot of fun with that. Children bring so much excitement to the occasion- it wouldn't be nearly as fun without them. We love watching them get excited. On Monday, the fourth, we went and saw CARS 2 the movie in 3D in the theatres. The kids LOVED IT! Then, after some shopping, we went to see the fireworks at the park in Brigham City.

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Parkinson funnies

Nov 2012- Aaron was watching football on TV and Jared came out saying, "I want to go watch grass!"

Dec 2011- Heidi said one morning, "Mom, there's frosting on the house!" (on a cold day when frost was on the house).

June 2, 2011- Driving in the car Kyle said to his sister, "If you don't learn to talk, Jesus will make you talk Spanish." (He explained later that he actually meant sign language. That's how he thought it worked.)

Feb 28, 2011- Kyle said, "I don't like to have babysitters because they are only supposed to take care of babies!" Then we explained that they can take care of bigger kids too.

Dec 15, 2010- Kyle said, "I know how they make egg nog. First they dump in the eggs and mix them around. Then they put in the nog..."

Oct 20, 2010- Kyle said, "Mom, is some cheese blue?" I said it is called blue cheese but isn't really that blue. He said, "Well, then does it taste like blueberries?" I love all the questions he asks about how the world works- He's really trying to figure things out.

Oct 7, 2010- We were driving by Arctic Circle and Kyle said, "Is that the hamburger hut? I like that hut." I am wondering if he was remembering a time when we went to "Pizza Hut".

Aug 12, 2010- We were driving by a farm where there was a big fire burning up the field and Kyle said, "Dad, is that where the indians live?"

Aug 8, 2010- We were driving in the car and Kyle said, "Dad, I think I 'm truck-sick." "You mean car sick?" "No, truck sick- when you're sick in the truck."

Aug 2, 2010- We were headed off to a doctor's appointment for the baby and he was crying. Kyle said, "Mom, I think he's crying because you said he is going to get a shot."

June 28, 2010- The other day at dinner it was Heidi's turn to pray and daddy was helping her. She was just repeating everything word for word when he got to "Please bless it.." and said it 3 times. Finally I had to open my eyes to see what the hold up was. Well, little Heidi was just stuffing spaghetti in her mouth as fast as she could and it was hanging out all over. We all just bust up laughing. I guess she just couldn't wait any longer!

May 19, 2010- On the way home from the hospital after seeing their new baby brother, Erika said, "When I was born mom and dad said that I looked blue." Kyle said, "And when I was born I was pink and red. "

Dec 9,2009- The other day we were eating dinner and Kyle didn't want to eat. He said, "I don't like to eat aliens!" We told him there were no aliens in his dinner. Then, realizing what he was talking about, I said, "You mean onions?" He kept calling onions "aliens" and we got a kick out of it.

Nov 20, 2009- Erika lost another tooth at school today. Kyle said to her, "Erika, when my tooth gets loose and comes out, I'll give mine to you."

Oct 10, 2009- Today Erika said, "Mom, someday when I'm older, I want to get that recipe from you!"

Sept 9, 2009- We couldn't find our puppy anywhere and had driven all over the neighborhood to find him. Finally about 2 hours later Kyle showed up holding him and I said, "Where did you find him?" He said, "In the killer-box". "The what?" "The cooler-box". He had stuck him in a cooler in our backyard and forgotten about it. We were glad he was okay!! I felt terrible and gave him some extra TLC for a little while.

Sept 4, 2009- Erika said tonight, "You know what my favorite thing is about school? It's lunch... and learning... and break!" We said, "Isn't that the whole thing?"

Aug 17,2009- We were camping and had brought all our bikes. As we were leaving camp for a little while, Aaron commented that it might have been wise to bring a chain to lock up our bikes so they wouldn't get stolen. Erika said, "Or, we could have just brought a sign that said, 'DON'T STEAL!'".

July 12, 2009- Today at church Kyle looked at my Young Women's Medallion and said, "Mom, is that you on the necklace?"

July 3, 2009- Kyle had been sleeping down in Erika's room with some friends and came upstairs before we went to bed. He said, "Mom, there was some noise down there. I think it was the tooth fairy, coming to get the loose tooth."