*las montañas

Yesterday we hiked up in Big Cottonwood Canyon to Solitude Lake. It was a perfect little hike, a mile past the Silver Lake boardwalk.  Ben and I really savored the day, thankful for the gorgeous mountains we've been able to enjoy these 6 years.

 

This is going to be one of my favorite pictures ever :)  

Vera was being so sweet: holding Edie's hand and just being a good, kind big sister without any parental prompting.

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Last week Ben's dad came out for a day to take advantage of the beautiful Utah mountains as well. He and Ben spent the day fishing on Strawberry Reservoir and then came back to take us girls out for a fancy dinner at Fresco. How sweet is the picture of them kissing their Grandpop?

 

*103

It was a hot hot day today and we were stuck at home without a car. It's gone surprisingly well and I'm just blogging about it now as we wait for Ben and Mike to get back from fishing.

The girls played mama and baby with the cushions on the floor - one of the first times they've really played - and Edie really got what was going on. They played in the sprinkler and sandbox, colored, took a bath, had a Popsicle at Tia's, watched Bug's Life ( one of those times I wish Edie would just sit and watch a whole movie!)...

I love the picture of Edie basking in the sun and of the two of them in the cushions :)

*un sábado

Before we move, I want to have as many normal, everyday days as we can.  Ben actually drove a trailer over this morning and so the girls and I were alone for the day.  We started the morning out at the farmer's market with Jen and Graham.  It was pleasantly uncrowded and not too hot - pretty nice!  Besides our snacks, I bought corn, peaches and broccolini.

Cute little friends:

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Later in the afternoon I taught Vera the "stay on the cushions or the crocodile will eat you" game:

She turned it into "we are going on a trip on a boat and need a bunch of snacks and books and all our toys" on the couch game.  I took this picture of her being sweet to Edie - something we are not seeing so much lately :(

 

I knew we needed to get out again at some point and so we walked/biked to a gelato place on the other side of the park.  I made them eat a token dinner before we left and basically counted the ice cream for our meal.  Vera got lemon poppyseed which she surprisingly loved.  Edie had chocolate peanut butter [she loves choc!] and I got honey lavendar and hazelnut :)

"cheese!"

We stopped at the little playground for a while on our way back:

 

On the final stretch home, we stopped to take pictures near the greenhouse. I just love this building - I think it's been there like........ 100 years?  I don't know, ask Ben :)

I like this picture.

Vera wanted to take a bunch of the flowers - it would be fun to get her a little throw away film camera some time...

I asked Edie to put her arm around her sister and she said no and ran away:

I just love mini daisies:

and that's our Saturday!

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*on the way to Emerald Bay...

10 seconds later:

I love this picture! When your babies start to grow up, you get to hold their sleeping bodies less and less, and I savored the moment snuggling her up in this little nest on the floor.  She stayed asleep here on the boat for over an hour while the rest of us hiked up to the falls.  Ben stayed with her :)

Vera was a decent little trooper on the hike - only complaining that she was hot about a dozen times :)  I say that seriously - she usually isn't up for much of a hike, but she did really well!

Emerald Bay is so beautiful - huge tall trees, Tahoe granite everywhere, smell of the Sierras...

I love this picture of us in front of the Vikingsholm just after Edie woke up:

*anyone else get that "on the way to Emerald Bay" song stuck in their head?

*as a child I always hunkered down in the bow of the boat on the way to Emerald Bay, sure we were going to crash and die :)

*lake hahoe

... At the lake for a couple weeks, having a lovely time!

Edie calls it Lake Hahoe - on a hike up to the little angora lakes she pointed out "baby hahoe" :)

*meanwhile

As much as I love to travel, I am lamenting a bit the lack of a lazy summer routine.  Here's some photos of normal life from in-between travels:

I planted even more peas this year - they are just so tasty and so much fun to eat!

A beautiful coolish morning at Red Butte a few weeks ago.  Did you know Edie loves babies?  In-their-face kissing, saying hiiii, patting them not-so-gently on the head kind of loving.  Jubilee ["Bobo" or something like it] is definitely one of her favorite babies!

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Our neighborhood pool - one block away!

Trying to capture Edie in the air:

Eloise inside on a hot day:

Just today we had Stella over!  They have been in the Netherlands about 18 months now.. the girls write letters sometimes and still talk about each other a lot.  Vera is always asking - is Stella going to bed now? Is Stella just waking up??  Today they picked right up and played so well together, very sweet :)  Stella speaks fluent Dutch now since starting Kindergarten there in February - so amazing! 

Edie and I are off to Nevada tomorrow to get help with preparations for Liz' wedding!  Ben and Vera will drive over this weekend.  This will be the first time [besides the night Edie was born] that I will be away from Vera!!! 

*el camino

On both legs of our trip to California we were forced to take major detours: on the way down, I-15 was closed due to a chemical spill, on the way back it was closed due to a wildfire.  It's not often and entire freeway is closed, yet we were lucky enough to catch two closures in one trip :)  The first time, we took a detour a little north to Pahrump, Nevada and then into California along the southern edge of Death Valley. It added some to our already long drive, but it was worth it - so beautiful.  You probably know that I love Nevada and it's barren, arid landscapes!!  Only one picture..

On the way home we decided to take the detour through Zion National Park [as opposed to waiting all night for freeway to open], which we'd never seen.  It was absolutely amazing - we can't wait to go back and see it again.  It was dusk and we were making a quick decision whether to find a place to stay the night or drive all the way home.  Edie was being a little fussy and not sleeping well, so thankfully we happened upon "the last room" [do they all tell you that??] in some junction. 

It was so beautiful and so not like anything you've ever seen.  I will also always remember singing *twinkle twinkle little star* the entire drive through the park... Edie was fighting sleep and if I tried to fade the song away or even change the lyrics she would rouse and yell more toto-toto!!!  It was pretty funny.

We had some dessert before bed at this classic small town touristy diner.  Edie occupied herself pouring all our waters into the coffee cup and onto the floor - we were to tired to intervene.  Our "motel" room was a makeshift cabin apparently attached to the owner's house - a little odd, but clean.  It would have been comfortable had all four of us not been squished into the one queen bed :)  It was a fun little family adventure that we will definitely remember!

 The next day we continued our detour route... at one point we stopped in the middle of the road for 20 minutes to watch this herd of sheep along the hillside and crossing the road - the girls were so cute and excited.

This wasn't the fire that had closed the freeway, but it was pretty impressive!  

 

Anyway, thankful to be home for now ...