April 2015

Henry and Cindy at their cousin’s birthday party at Thanksgiving Point:

After the party we were able to get some discounted passes for the whole family, so we went back a lot during the spring,

Another fun adventure in April – hiking to Battle Creek Falls in Pleasant Grove. 

The hike doesn’t really involve any rock climbing, but Henry likes to work on his “Doing Risky Things” skills whenever he gets a chance, so he spent most of the hike not actually on the trail.                                 


All the kids sitting on a tree.  You would think I’d be used to how many kids I have by now, but it still sometimes takes me by surprise when I see them all together like this.  It’s a little alarming (but it also makes me happy).

   

Henry thought it might be fun to go all the way under the falls.                                          

It turned out not to be super fun.  Mostly he couldn't breathe.  

Easter:                         



And more baseball in the backyard:

Oliver with his prize for winning our family March Madness bracket tournament:

Our rental house was only about 5 minutes from the mouth of American Fork Canyon, so we spent a lot of time up there hanging out and building fires.  Something we missed so much while we were living in Texas!
Also, I cannot explain Rachel’s face.                           

Rachel and Lizza decided to build themselves a homemade teeter-totter.  With mixed results. I greatly admire their creativity!

Take one:

Take two:

Snowing!  In April!  I guess this is a thing?                                             

Henry playing baseball:                                                                       

Lizza playing soccer:                                                                                  

Also in April – a trip to Yellowstone National Park.  So happy we live close to Yellowstone again. 

Things we did:

Played Dutch Blitz and Spot-it in the lobby of the hotel:

Hung out at the pool (Five children swam; one worked on juggling skills).

Worked some more on juggling skills.  Tristan decided this was a thing he should know, so he taught himself by watching YouTube videos.  And then practicing a lot. He amazes me with his resourcefulness.

We also ate lunch on the banks of the Firehole River:

Walked around geyser basins:

Posed cutely on bridges:                                                                               

Saw Old Faithful:                                                                                            

And woke up early to go spotting for animals:




Other things we did:

Hiked:                                                                                                  

Learned cool stuff about Yellowstone from Dad:

Had lunch breaks at Mammoth picnic area:

Saw amazing waterfalls:

Did some late night hotel swimming.

And pretty much wore ourselves out every day.  It was a great trip. 

When we got back we did this puzzle.                                                    

The end.