Mountains of Fun

On Saturday, we took a trip up to Mt. Lemmon with Mom and Dad. The kids had such a blast, I believe at one moment Nate said, "This is the best day ever I've ever had EVER!"

The Trip

It takes about an hour to drive up the mountain so that leaves plenty of time to talk about how the bears will eat us and we might fall off a cliff. (My kids don't get out much... they were a little paranoid.) So, on the way up the boys ask if there are bears. "Of course!" I say, "but they won't bother us. We probably won't even see one."

"But what if we do mom?"
"Well, Grandpa has a gun and he'll use it if he has to."
To which Nate inquires, "Grandpa has a gun? Is it heavy assault, light assault, medic or artillery?"

Yeah, I know. Too much Call of Duty...

Then, they started to notice how we were getting higher and higher up the mountain. I started hearing a whole lot of "Don't look down!" and "AAAHHHHH!!!" But as we crossed a few bridges, they noticed the cages and walls built to keep the rocks from sliding down the mountain.

It's funny how literal kids can be. I'm thinking when Nate had his lesson about the Great Wall of China, he believed that actually meant the kind of stone they used or something, because the following conversation about the bridges ensued...

Nate: "Wow! It's the wall of China!"
Ethan: "No Nathan. The wall of China is bigger, like that one." (pointing to the next bridge)
Nate: "That IS the wall of China!"
Me: "Boys, the Great Wall of China is in CHINA."
Nate: "How do you know THAT mom?"

You can see my face, can't ya? lol

The Trail

We made it up the mountain without falling off bridges, being attacked by bears and we even saw the Great Wall of China! They were soooo excited to go exploring and hiking on the trail around Marshall Gulch.

The Crew ready for some adventure!

Grandma and Alex throwing rocks in the stream. Grandma found a worm. "Eww!"

Here's Alex chucking some rocks in the stream. (None of the videos are more than about 30 seconds, so they should load quickly.)

Here's Nate trying to build a dam.

Olympic Rock Throwing

Every time Alex threw a rock, he would wait to see if it hit the water. If it did, he'd wait about 5 more seconds before throwing his hands up in the air like a gymnastic dismount and declaring "I WIN!" (Also in this video is Ethan throwing a ginormous rock into the stream right behind me, thus soaking my backside!)

"Papa, I win!" "Cheese!"

We started hiking the trail which , at times, became very narrow with 6 ft drop offs. Katie and Alex were fearless, running up the trail. Ethan started freaking out about falling and out of nowhere Nate screams "I don't wanna die!". So I tell Mom, "Hey, I need to help I-Don't-Wanna-Die Nate up the trail. To which Mom replies, "OK. I'll take I-Don't-Wanna-Fall-Ethan." Ha!

Once we started crossing the stream, Katie wanted to show us what she was made of: soaking wet shoes. She kept hopping across on the rocks before Grandpa could show her the best way. Nate eventually followed suit. Wet Monkeys! Alex, however, got to ride on the "Papa Carriage" across each stream.

"Yeah, I got a sweet ride. Check it out."

Of Picnics and Dams

We stopped for lunch near another small stream. Grandma and Grandpa brought sandwiches and goodies. We chowed down and then went over to the 6 inch deep stream where the Rock Dam was being constructed by engineers Kate, Nate and Ethan. As the water pooled up, Alex decided it was time for a swim.

Here you will see the documentary of not only how the dam was constructed but also how much half-naked babies enjoyed it.