She's Double Digits

She's a Tenner!

That sweet, cute girl is now a ten year old. This year for her birthday she wanted to go to Aumsville Pond with a couple of friends. They couldn't make her birthday so we planned her party for a couple days before. Their cousin C happened to be staying with us for a few days so he joined the fun. Deluxe picnic lunches and swimming for five at one of her favorite places on earth. She had a great day and was a lovely host.

That Friday we celebrated her actual birthday quietly at home. She woke up eager to open presents and have a yummy breakfast. I made sure she knew she could pick whatever activity she wanted all day long. So we started with bracelet and earring making with her new bead kit and cuddled while we watched a movie. After that, I offered a few more suggestions and she chose some alone time. I love that. I love that she felt comfortable spending her birthday anyway she chose, and part of that was all by herself enjoying her gifts and time outside in the sunshine.

I love this girl of mine. I love that she is learning to advocate for herself. I love that she has a tender heart but she is also starting to set boundaries with her friends and communicate her desires. I love that she enjoys dressing up in costumes and putting on bizarre makeup. I love that she wants to be involved in the Choose To Include program at school this year that allows her opportunities to hang out with the kids with disabilities. I love that the neighborhood kids look up to her. I love that she wants to be good and has a desire to finish the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. She is such a great girl and I feel so honored that I get to call her mine for eternity.

Luca Gets Creative

I love my girl's creativity. While at dinner at my parents' house, she made a cute little mouse/cat/creature and then proceeded to make clothes or her. At home she took  it to the next level and made a home with separate bathroom. I am in love with all of the attention to detail and tenderness she put into creating such a wonderful home for her.

Here is her darling creation for her to remember forever.

Marlers Go Backpacking - Day 3

Saturday morning, we had a quick breakfast and headed out. With a two-hour hike back to the car, a 3ish hour drive home, and a 4:00 meeting Matthew needed to get to, we had needed to get up and get moving.

Thankfully packing up went pretty quick and we were on our way shortly after 9:00 am. Dude, ever the kid to just put his head down and get a job done was in the front for the most of the way back.

Luca needed a bit more help. Matthew found on the way into camp on Thursday that she does a lot better listening to music. Thankfully we had just enough cell service to listen to spotify to help her along, but she and I also got a lot of mama-daughter time on that hike back. Slow but steady.

 
At some point about half-way back, slow and steady was getting a lot slower and a lot less steady and Matthew helped out his sweet little girl by carrying her pack the rest of the way. At first she declined the offer, stating that her bag was her burden to carry, but when we explained that she was right but she could still ask for help, she relented. Everyone was a lot faster after that. It helped to let her know that she's only 9 and this is a big adventure for a 9-year old.

Multiple miles later, we made it back to the car and while they were tired, they were definitely happier than they look in the picture.

So the question is, would we do it again. Matthew always enjoys backpacking, so he's a given. I was nervous since I haven't been in over 30 years, but it was way better than expected. I would super do it again. I had the kids give their assessment. 

First Dude:

In my opinion the best part of backpacking is the fact that this time we went with our cousins. The reason is that it is nice to have more people to play with that not only share the same-ish blood, you have similar interests. I had loads of fun playing on this particularly flat and big rock that we turned into our fortress. It was super fun.

The worst part of backpacking being the entire time we went I was getting munched by mosquitos. The reason I say this is because the bites stay with your for days and itch like crazy I HATE MOSQUITOS!!!!! Mosquitos are nature's demons and if we ever go back I would sincerely hope that it would be in a place that would have less mosquitos.

In conclusion I'd say that I would go back sometime. Because not only was the echo great, the scenery was awesome and the terrain super fun to play in. I know how to pack lightly and how important that is to the trip. So all in all at some point in the distant future I would say yes to going back to backpacking.

Now Luca:

So, one time in August we went backpacking. We drove like, 2 or 3 hours to get to the trailhead then hiked 5 miles to our campsite. Halfway through 1 cousin, my brother, and an uncle went ahead and got the campsite without the rest of us. My mom asked me to write to her about what things I liked, what things I did not like, and if I would do it again.

What I liked was getting to hang out with a few cousins and getting good leg muscles to make me healthy and seeing 2 baby deer.

What I did not like was seeing all of my poor family's bug bites and peeing in the woods and finally . . . The food! It was chewy and non fresh, just bleh.

Would I do it again? heck yeah! I'd totally do that again. and I can't wait to do it again.

So I guess the Marlers are game for going again!

Marlers Go Backpacking - Day 2

The second day dawned bright and beautiful. Jared had the great idea to finish the hike to the top of Mount Yoran after breakfast. Everyone was game except for Dude and Matthew didn't feel comfortable with him staying back at camp by himself, so they stayed home together. Luca and I went, slowly but surely up to the top, well almost the top. The very tippy top looked a little dicey, so the two of us found some great rocks to enjoy the view and let the rest of the boys and men finish it without us. We might now have gone the full way, but I feel pretty great about the view we enjoyed while we waited.

After we got back, I felt bad that Matthew had missed out and encouraged him to go on his own hike after lunch. Jared and John both readily agreed to another hike, and so after lunch they summited Mount Yoran on the other side while the kids and I stayed back at camp. 

The kids found an epic rock and spent hours whittling spears, talking out of the earshot of prying parents, and played all sorts of king of the mountain games.

They also swam. The water was cold, but that didn't stop them from enjoying it all the same. At one point, I gave them the challenge to swim to the other side of the pond, they all started but Dude was the only one victorious. He was pretty proud of himself, although we declined to swim back, preferring instead to walk barefooted back around to where we were. 

They played card games, including rich man, poor man, and war (surprisingly enough that was the highlight game for them).

And then Luca found some bark chips and made phones out of them. She started calling her cousins and they answered on their own bark chips and soon there were a lot of bagels, bombs, and cookies that were being ordered, delivered, and blown up. I thought it was odd and a bit gruesome, but they had a grand old time.

I relaxed, went on a solo hike, took fun pictures of my children, and then relaxed some more. It was a great day for all of us.

Marlers Go Backpacking - Day 1

This is a first for the Marlers. We went backpacking together. Matthew's gone in the past five years. I went once when I was 12, but we as a family have never gone. Last summer the kids decided it was activity they were excited to try, reasoning that they enjoy camping and Matthew and I enjoy hiking, so it must be a reasonable compromise. I invited my brother and sister and their respective families, hoping my brother would use his extensive planning and backpacking skills to help make our first experience a good one. 

And then last Christmas we had the idea of buying everyone all the gear they would need but while standing in REI, Matthew and I thought that maybe it was a lot to spend on an activity we don't even know if the kids or I will enjoy. 

Thankfully we have very generous friends who leant us all the items we needed. And off we went, Jared and his two youngest boys, my brother-in-law John and his youngest son, and the four of us. We started hiking at about 6:00 on Thursday evening. Not ideal since we had about 5ish miles to our campsite and the sun would set at some point while we were still on the trail, but it was the earliest Jared could make it work for him, he was running the show, and these little beggars could not be choosers.

Here the kids are, and us as a little family while we are still at the trailhead. Everyone is super pumped to be there and eager to start our adventure.

Here we are at some point along the hike, Matthew and I still going strong, the kids showing just how much they don't enjoy hiking.

And another stop along the hike. So many mosquitos that the bug spray starts becoming a necessity. Everyone is a touch tired, but still in fairly good spirits.

We got to our campsite about 8:30 but the sun went down at about 8:00 and somewhere in the 7:00-8:00 time frame, Jared, our fearless leader, his son S, and Dude got separated somewhere out in front of us. We yelled to them, but they were far enough ahead not to hear us. We hoped we were still heading in the right direction since we were quickly losing light and didn't know how much farther we still needed to go. We also gently banned any further breaks and kept the kids moving as quickly as possible. Finally, Jared came back for us and helped us go the last few minutes to our campsite where we very quickly put up our tents and got everyone situated before they got to relax with their cousins.

Definitely an exciting first start to our adventure.

More Aumsville Pond

I very much realize I have posted multiple times Aumsville Pond, how much I love it, etc, etc. But for reals. It's amazing. This particular afternoon we were joined by Luca's friend G, cousin A and his mom, my sister, Melissa, and cousin A's friend. 

Luca and friend G mostly just hung out in their inner tubes chatting while Luca's LOL doll "Miss America" sat in a chair and watched the fun. They interacted with the boys from time to time but mostly they just wanted alone time.

The boys had a grand old time fishing with anything they could find, jumping off the rope swing and just jumping into the pond on their own. Look at those cool action shots I captured!

We stayed for at least three hours and only left because it was dinner time and we didn't want Matthew to think we had abandoned him. Hooray for yet another lovely afternoon in one of my most favorite places and for feeling like a fun mom from time to time.