Sometimes My Kids Surprise Me

Friday night at the dinner table, I was telling Kurtis we still need to get backpacks for the boys before school starts.  Riley said, "I don't need one.  My backpack from last year is still good."  Amazing!  So I said, "Okay, we will need to get two new backpacks then."  And Riley says, "No.  We decided Kaleb can use the Speed Racer one."  That was Riley's when he was in kindergarten.  It probably won't last the whole year, but it will do for now.  But I was pretty surprised because I expected them to all want new backpacks.  Zach had to duct tape his by the end of the school year in May, so his wasn't usable this time around.  Way to save me some money! Yesterday, we went on a hike in Adam's Canyon.  I didn't really want to go.  I wasn't feeling all that awesome after I ate my breakfast/lunch.  I don't want to talk about it.  Any way, I got ready for the day, and about one o'clock, I turned to Kurtis and said, "When do you want to go on a hike?"  He said, "When do you want to go?"  I said, Eleven - no, eight this morning."  It was supposed to be 95 degrees yesterday, and I get hot and I don't like being hot and sweaty.  I need to move to Hawaii.  So about two o'clock, I said, "I need to take Zach to get a new backpack for school.  It starts Monday, you know."  So Zach and I went backpack shopping, and he wanted the one with wheels but I was on the phone with Kurtis when he was picking it out, and dad said no wheels.  Whatever.
When I got  back, I said if we didn't go now, we weren't going on a hike that day.  We left at around 2:50.  Adam's Canyon is like seven minutes away.  Apparently, the hike is 1.5 miles in and 1.5 miles out, and there is a waterfall at the end which is really pretty.  We made it to a big rock, and stopped for a drink.  Kurtis decided we'd gone far enough because it was 4:30 and we should go back home to make dinner.  We got home at 5:30, but we didn't get to see the waterfall.  I like waterfalls.
I have to say, Kaleb has gotten much more adventurous about hiking.  He fell on his bottom, cried for a bit, and walked it off on the way down.  He's so much better than when we went on our first hike to the waterfall near my parents' home.  Kurtis also commented that he may not be completely recovered from his 12 mile hike last week.  We're gonna go back.  In the morning.  And have a picnic at the big rock.  Or maybe by the waterfall.
Here are some pictures I took.  Some were blurry because it was windy (that helped me not be too hot), but it pushed me around a little and made it hard to hold the camera steady.  Sorry! :)

Heading up the mountain.

Cliffs

Riley kept asking me to take his picture so I could remember him.  He's funny.  This one could be his head shot.

We walked past a stream most of the hike.

Big tree in the middle of the trail!  Watch out!

If Kaleb felt the trail got a little steep, rather than freak out and refuse to move on, he did this. :)

Kurtis's new head shot.

This is the large rock we stopped at.  We've never been on this hike, so we don't know how far away from the waterfall we were, but we estimate our total hike was around 2 miles.

The stream on the way back down.

The kids thought this grass looked like a lion's mane.  I said a lion could hide in it pretty well if he were hunting.  They thought that was awesome.

Here is an idea for your next painting, Michele! ;)

Oh, and Michele, we've decided the next time you guys come out here, we should go on this hike.  It's really pretty, and even though I didn't want to go at the time, I'm glad I did.  I think we will go in the fall when the leaves are changing.  That would be even prettier.  And we will actually go to the waterfall. :)