Halloween 2019

It snowed in Elk Ridge the week of Halloween. And it was COLD. Not too bad in the valley though. So on Halloween day I took all the kids but Lincoln (he was at ASA) to the Springville trick-or-treat on Main Street. It was a decent temperature with the sun still up, and I think everyone had fun. Then we had to run and grab Lincoln from ASA, and hurry home to have dinner. Then we bundled everyone up in their snow suits, because it Elk Ridge there were several inches of snow on the ground still. Lincoln, being 12 and too old to trick or treat now, stayed home. Aaron and Oslo stayed with him. And I took everyone else out in the snow and cold. Ivan and Ollie went as snowboarders, Adelia went as Princess Elana, Ruby was an arctic mermaid, and Cal was a baby shark (so was Oslo). Lincoln dressed up as pre-Hogwarts Letter Harry Potter for his classes at ASA today. Elk Ridge doesn't get many trick or treaters because it's all up hill and the houses are kind of far apart. BUT the people who live there make it worth your while. Lots of them give out full size candy bars, homemade doughnuts, hot apple cider or hot chocolate. My kids were in heaven, and agreed to share with Lincoln when they got home. After trick or treating we watched ET and had wassil. It was a good Halloween. 

Oslo's first Halloween as Baby Shark

normal mermaid

arctic mermaid

Pre-Hogwarts Letter Harry Potter.

Our pumpkins

"Into the woods I go, to lose my mind and find my soul." -John Muir

In fall I feel the pull of the wide open spaces. Especially after a long pregnancy and a summer trapped inside with a newborn. Get. Me. Out. Aaron doesn't like me to take the kids hiking by myself, because he worries that if something happened to me, or one of the kids, I wouldn't be able to get us all down the mountain. I guess his point is valid. But it rubs the wrong way, especially when he is too tired or busy to want to hit the trails when he's home on the weekends. BUT, there is this little trail up Payson Canyon called The Grotto, and it is short and close to the road, and not difficult at all. And I feel confident hiking that one alone with 7 kids. (That's a funny statement isn't it? Alone WITH seven kids. Ha! Welcome to the paradox that is my life.)

And today I needed nature. For my sanity. The Grotto burned in the fire last year. And the trail has been closed all summer. But it recently opened. And you can see the burn scars, but it wasn't as ruined as I'd imagined. In fact, we must have hit it at precisely the perfect time, because it was gorgeous. The landscape was stunning, actually. And we almost had the trail entirely to ourselves (something that never happens here, there are always a million and one people). I guess I'm a bit of a Charlotte Mason-ist, but I feel like we were all happier out in the wild. I feel like the kids needed the great outdoors as much as I did. The get along better when we're on a trail. And then get along better when we get home from the trail. The exercise and fresh air is a cure for all of us.