We arrived Friday, late afternoon, and that evening and overnight it actually cooled off quite a lot, which made for pretty good sleeping conditions. The campground was packed, so we did not luck out with sites really close together, but we were able to share our site with Seth (the birthday boy) and Jill and their daughter, Olivia, who is about four-and-a-half months younger than Elsa. This kept group gatherings easier, having the girls there in the tents in the evenings while us adults hung out around the campfire. Four other adults were there for most of the weekend (the Bonhauses, Stephanie, and Brent), and the Testers (Matt, Virginia, and Baby Naomi) joined us for just Sunday through Monday.
Friday evening was filled mainly with setting up camp and cooking/eating dinner. On Saturday, we ended up going for about a two-mile hike down into the canyon to the base of one of the waterfalls and ate our lunch there. The waterfall was gorgeous and the hike was nice, but the trek back up the many steps and the hill out of the canyon was slightly brutal to this pregnant mama. And, really, to poor Jarrett too, who had not really carried Elsa in the backpack since our trip out to California last June. We have been working out and walking, etc., pretty regularly, but there is just something different about actually getting out on the trail. It was certainly worthy of breaking a sweat. The good news was that I did not feel too much muscle strain and was not sore at all the next day, so at least there is that. And we had the privilege of being serenaded by Elsa most of the way up with her new love of making up songs: "We go up, up, up the stairs..."
On Sunday, we went for about a four-and-a-half-mile hike around the top rim of the canyon. The views were outstanding, and Elsa ooed and ahhed over the trees and rocky cliffs. She seemed a little leery of the ledges on this hike, and seemed to need to reassure herself a bit: "Mommy, this isn't too scary..." Elsa ended up falling asleep probably about a mile into the hike, and slept for nearly the remainder, which was great because the sun beat down on our campsite and tent every afternoon, making napping situations pretty unbearable.
We came back to our campsite to see that the Testers had arrived, so we caught up with them and then ate some lunch. Apparently this canyon is fairly well known for its good hang gliding, so a little later that afternoon, we decided to take a drive up the road to where the hang gliders take flight. It was bloody hot standing out on the rocky ledge in the beating sun, but it was worth it to see one gentleman take off.
Over the course of the weekend, Olivia and Elsa had much fun together, which I was glad to see. There was a lot of visiting each others' tents and sharing toys and reading books together. And some splashing in the kiddie pool we purchased on our way to the campground. And one of my favorites -- Olivia's parents often call Olivia "Livi Lou." Elsa quickly latches on to nicknames, as she calls Merckx "Merckxy Boy" and James "Jamesy." So she certainly wanted to call Olivia by a nickname as well, only it came out as "Wendy Lou," which was super cute. And likely stems from the fact that her Aunt Bethany named the teddy bear she was given by her Uncle Stephen at Christmas "Cindy Lou."
Elsa has certainly grasped onto the idea of camping. She was so excited to go and so looking forward to sleeping in a tent and eating marshmallows and graham crackers. Putting her to bed was a little more challenging this time around, as the sleeping bag had lost some of its mystique, so she was not as lured into actually staying put in it or on it. And she learned to unzip the door to the tent. So there was a lot of getting up and trying to escape, but we figured it all out and made it work in the end. Overall, she did really well. And I couldn't let her go the trip without that promised roasted marshmallow. However, she wanted nothing to do with the beautiful smore I made for her. Nope -- she will just take the graham cracker, thank you very much.
We left Monday, intrigued that we were so close to the infamous Rock City, so we decided to go See Rock City for ourselves before heading home. It is certainly a tourist trap, but the gardens and rock formations are really quite interesting, and Elsa had a really great time with it all, especially when we would let her out of the backpack to walk around herself (necessary when walking through pretty tight crevices between rocks since the backpack wouldn't fit unless sideways and off Jarrett's back) and also in the Fairyland Caverns and Mother Goose Village. She thought seeing her beloved nursery rhymes somewhat come to life was pretty fantastic. Oh -- and the Three Little Pigs were at the entrance gate. What more could a little girl like Elsa ask for?
1 comment:
How fun! I love the pictures of the kids in the kiddie pool.
Post a Comment