Tuesday's Hike: Timpanogos Cave

Despite living half an hour away from this awesome cave for most of my life, I had never been there before...until recently, that is. It's pretty much the coolest thing ever. Actually, it is a steady 45 degrees inside the cave at all times of the year, so it's recommended you bring a jacket on the hike despite how roasted you may get hiking up.

The highlight of our hike was getting sworn in as junior rangers at the end of the tour. We even got stickers to prove it. You, too, can help save the caves.

Things to know about this hike:

• You have to pay to get into the canyon initially, and you have to pay separately for cave tour tickets
• Time: 45 minutes up, 30 minutes down, but the rangers give you an hour and half to climb up
• Location: American Fork Canyon
• Difficulty: Intermediate, although the path is paved
• Hazards: rock slides, R.O.U.S., and too many rules because it's in a National Forest

Celebrating our Country, Old-School

Because of overcrowding, the Colonial Days previously held in Provo was split into two groups this year, and we attended the Colonial Fest portion in Orem. I'm totally going to make going to this an annual tradition each Fourth of July! I learned so much, and I feel as if I barely scratched the surface of the knowledge to be had! Plus, my mom was a super sexy pilgrim (she made her own outfit!), and I wanted to support her efforts of knowledge-spreading.

There were so many intriguing displays! I learned all about old photography techniques, and watched live-action demonstrations of kick-wheel pottery, blacksmithery, military drills, and amputation (the demonstrations for the latter were only hypothetical, though. Dang it.)

Then the baby was bad, so we had to put her in the stocks for a while to teach her a lesson. She was sorry, so we soon let her out, don't worry. Viva living history!

Peek-a-roo

We recently got the photos back from Princess Poopy Pants' newborn photo shoot, and wanted to share some of my favorite pictures:

Our awesome and talented friend, Andrea, took these for us. You can see more of her swanky work on her photography blog, here.

'Round the Campfire

Camping is a big part of my family's summer. Our family is the "find-a-dirt-road-and-follow-it-to-a-flat-enough-spot-and-enjoy-the-wilderness-and-take-your-shovel-on-your-bathroom-break" type. That way, we can all soak in glorious solitude together, and Maggie can run amuck to her heart's content. It works for us. While I haven't been able to stay overnight on any camping trips yet, the nugget and I joined my family for an evening of tinfoil dinners and campfire festivities in Wallsburg Canyon.

It's a gorgeous area, and not too far from home, so it was easy to pop up into the mountains for a visit. I took along my guitar and we sang songs around the campfire. One of my favorites is called "Babes in the Woods." Do you have a favorite camp song?

Tuesday's Hike: The G

If I'm going to be honest with you, which I always am, I technically didn't hike the trail to the G on a Tuesday. That said, I also didn't hike the actual trail to the G on the way up because I took a wrong path, so the trail info won't be perfectly accurate. Sorry! Next time I go, though, I'm going to take a sharpie with me and add my John Hancock to the edifice along with the myriad of signatures.

Things to know about this hike:

• Time: 40 minutes up, 30 minutes down
• Location: Pleasant Grove
• Difficulty: moderate (but we took some wacky side-roads, so the real trail might be a little easier)
• Hazards: skinwalkers, steep inclines, and heavy undergrowth (so don't hike this trail alone unless you like spending time with the likes of muggers and rapists)

Julius Caesar

This was a first-time read for me, and I loved it. This book belonged to my great-grandfather and is over 110 years old. How cool is that? I gotta love good old Claren and his taste for supreme literature. Without further ado, "Friends, Romans, Country(wo)men..."

Themes to consider while reading this most excellent tragedy:

• Shakespeare's use of puns
• The good of the one vs. the good of the whole
• Killing out of love, not hate
• Ghosts and prophets
• Women's intuition and gift of prophecy
• Exploration of friendship
• Immortality and mortality: regarding Caesar as Deity, as ghost, and in relation to Divine Right

Tuesday's Hike: Battle Creek Falls

P Double-B loves hiking and wanted to introduce her aunt and uncle to a trail they haven't been on before, so she took them on the trail to Battle Creek Falls. Fret not. We luckily got back to the car just as the sun was going down, so we didn't encounter any ghosts.

Things to know about this hike:

• The trail head starts at the historic site of the first settler-Native American conflict in Utah Valley, so if you're into history, the location is of added interest
• This hike is super family friendly, but keep them away from the fast water
• The trail continues past the falls, so add that to your adventures list
• Time: 20 minutes up, 15 down
• Location: Pleasant Grove
• Difficulty: easy-peasy lemon squeezy
• Hazards: rock slides, wild rose bushes, water running through the trail when the creek is too high, and skinwalkers who haunt the canyon at night

Stinky Cheese

The only time a male model came to our figure drawing class, he was not nude and his feet smelled terrible (which aspect is difficult to replicate in a 2-D drawing).

(Pastels on Paper)

Tuesday's Hike: Squaw Peak Trail

Following a sumptuous family BBQ, Daddy-O asked if I was going on a hike later in the day, which was his way of saying that he wanted to go on one. Always up for adventure, Baby Baxter suggested the Squaw Peak trail because she loved it so much the time before. Naturally, we took her expert hiking suggestion.

Things to know about this hike:

• Coming down can be more difficult than going up because you have to carefully navigate the steep parts without slipping, but it can be done injury-free if you're an expert (Apparently only one out of five of us was an expert on this trip, and she ran the whole way back because she's crazy like that.)
• Time: 40 minutes up, 40 down
• Location: Provo (access through Provo Canyon)
• Difficulty: moderate
• Hazards: loose rocks and gravel on the steep and narrow parts of the trail (wear soft things in your back pockets for extra padding when you land on your tookus)

I Have to Share This

When Pepper was born, our friend, Cynthia J, whipped up this gorgeous play-time quilt:

Isn't it amazing? Cindee is Superwoman! I keep the quilt at work and let the nugget roll around on it and enjoy the bright colors. It's pretty much her favorite thing ever. I just had to take it home to snap a photo of it to share because it's too beautiful to keep cooped up in an office for months, don't you think?