Maple Canyon Climbing

This post could also be titled "Guys Vacation vs. Girls Vacation". Within this post, we would discuss the differences between the vacation that Sherri (Spencer's rock climbing BFF's wife) and I were on vs. the vacation that Spencer and his rock climbing BFF (Dad) were on. It would involve driving 9 hours with two crying babies vs. rock climbing all day long. It would involve wandering around Ikea with two babies vs. rock climbing all day long. It would also involve breast-feeding at a truckstop (Sherri), stopping at a lavendar farm, buying ice cream even though you know you are lactose intolerant (me) and driving 9 more hours back home with two crying babies oh and breastfeeding on the side of the freeway right next to a coyote head stuck on a fence vs....rock climbing all day. :) Despite the vast differences, it was really an awesome time. We would travel with these two (and their baby, Conrad) any time.

We went to Maple Canyon, Utah. Maple Canyon is an international climbing destination located right outside the teeny tiny farming town of Fountain Green, Utah. How anyone ever discovered that there was climbing up there, I have no idea.

Spencer's mom and sister and nieces even met us there for a few days but, somehow, I have no photographic evidence of that?? You'll just have to trust me that it was awesomeness.

Stay tuned 'til the end of the post for a funny story about my first booger-eating kid. :(

The infamous Dan climbing.

Nicest, funniest guy ever. Also happens to know every climber in the state of Colorado.

Hanging out in Spencer's Father's Day present--a lightweight and packable 2 person hammock. Conrad and Milo are adorable. Spencer's pretty cute too.
Milo was in heaven on this trip; cousins, climbing, and mountains.

That tiny speck in the distance is Milo on a rope swing that Dan and Spencer made on one of the climbing routes. Swinging from rope (in a harness) is pretty much the funnnest thing ever if you are an Anderson kid.

Spencer waaaaayyy up high on a climb.

Looking up one of the crazy offshoots of Maple Canyon.

We went for a family hike through here. The rocky bottom didn't make it very toddler-friendly.

Hmmm...Spencer? Dan? Not sure. But it's pretty cool either way.

Dan showing how narrow the canyon offshoot was in some spots.

Sherri and I looking like an ad for Ergo carriers. :)

Adorable and amazing Red Apple Cottage where we stayed.

This was in the town of Fountain Green, Utah. It was spotless, roomy, cool, and well stocked. There was a HUGE yard, a firepit, a barbeque and more than enough room for all of us. The kids favorite part? The loft that was up a very narrow and very steep staircase. They slept and played up there. Super fun.

Spencer helping the kids up to a crazy cave with some Native American petroglyphs in it.

The view out the car window on the way from Fountain Green to Maple Canyon. It was so green and so beautiful. I ran here too and it was stunning. I felt like I was running through a postcard.

Apparently, for just 25 cents you can buy hours of entertainment and embarassment (for your wife) at the delicious little Mexican restaurant in Fountain Green. Fake moustaches? Awesome.

Keeler eat a farmstand peach in the backyard. Sherri and I made it our mission to hit pretty much every single farmstand on our trip. Mission accomplished. We had some amazing fruits and veggies and some...not so amazing.

The cabin came equipped with proper head attire for cooking dinner.

More shots of the canyon on our family hike.

Adorable Conrad in his adorable carrier with his adorable binky. Seriously. The kid is adorable.

Keeler having a picnic on the stairs. He was soooo over having to stay home with the moms and the baby. :) He wore this backpack all day and kept saying "Cime. Peas? Momma? Cime? Daddy". The poor kid just wanted to go climbing too.

Watching out the front door for the dads and kids to get back from climbing.

One of the days that were getting ready to go up to Salt Lake for the day, Sherri was blowdrying her hair and I was watching Conrad and Keeler in the front room. Conrad was being adorable, as usual and Keeler (also normally adorable) was watching a cartoon on PBS. As I was watching him, watch the cartoon and reflecting sweetly on how cute he was and how funny he is when he watches tv (totally tunes EVERYTHING out around him) I watched him pick the MOTHER of all boogers out of his nose and....PUT IT IN HIS MOUTH (like it was no big deal, like he did it all the time). I did what any self-respecting spaz of a mom would do and screamed, "NOOOOOO!! No, no, no, no!!! We do NOT eat our boogers KEELER!!". Well, as you can imagine, my screams did two things. 1. Caused Keeler to immediately jump 4 feet in the air and start sobbing and 2. sent Sherri tearing into the front room with her sopping wet hair yelling "What? What? What happened? Oh my gosh!! What's wrong?!". A few things then happened simultaneously. Keeler began saying (through his sobs), "No momma! No say NO KEELER. No boogers Keeler. DAAAADDDDYYYYY!!!!" and Sherri began saying, "I thought one of them ate rat poison or something! Oh wow. I seriously thought we were going to have to make a trip to that little medical clinic or something. A booger huh?" Some might say that I overreacted. BUT, I know that many others would say that they COMPLETELY understand. The boy does not want to be THAT kid. I mean, really. We do not need a booger-eater in this family. You all know booger-eaters at school. Keeler does not want to be that boy. Sherri has assured me that, based on my response to Keeler and his (traumatized) response to me, she is pretty darn sure that he will never eat a booger again. Ever.

P.S. Keeler totally ratted me out to Spencer when he got back from climbing. "Daddy. Mommy. No Keeler. Eat Boogers. No Boogers Keeler. NO MOMMA.".

Pierce (Porter) Family Cabin '11

The tradition of spending a weekend at the Pierce family cabin carried on this summer. Really, it's the Porter family cabin. Confused? Porter is named after his Grandma's family...last name Porter. Now a first name Porter.

We went with the Davises and the Pierces. We've all been friends since our oldest were babies and have been together through babies, adoptions, moves, school, new jobs, and all sorts of other adventures.

These kids are all so funny together. They've known each other for so long and played together so much that they just fall right into rhythm. There's no bickering, no fighting, no whining. It's lovely really. (Except for Keeler and Beckett. We'll talk/laugh about that in a minute.)

Silly kids.

Really Jude is the funniest. A baby who doesn't mind his sister's grubby fishing hands in his mouth assisting in his "silly face". Love it.

Serious kids.
Fishing families.
The cabin is in a gated mountain community with a (stocked) fishing pond and a swimming pool. Yep, it's amazing.

Daddy helping the kids fish.

Porter was the big winner of the trip. He actually caught something. Too bad it was a duck. A really freaked out quacking duck with a whole gaggle of freaking out duck friends.

Anderson kids. Day 3.

Another "coulda been an engagement photo" photo.

No trip to the cabin is complete without s'mores.

Dang "no burn" thing almost killed our buzz. Fortunately, you can just microwave those new giant marshmallows and it's almost as good. Especially once Spencer figured out that it was a microwave/convection oven and quite trying to convect things and started microwaving them instead.

Boy adventures involving lots of sticks, hiking, horseshoes, and Spiderman Rock.

I still don't know what that is/where that is but they went there. Love it when you can tell the kids that they "have to stay within shouting distance".

The girls (Isabel and Laila) were so tired that they put THEMSELVES down for a nap. So funny. We found them all spooned up on the top bunk together like this. 30 minute catnap later and they were ready to rock again.

The property has a stream running through it with a sandy beach. Every trip there involves some sort of reconfiguration of the water flow and building of a waterfall. This one was no exception.

Melissa is truly one of the craftiest and artsiest (yes, it's a word) people that I know. She brought all the supplies and the kids got to tie-dye t-shirts. They've done this together a few times and love it every time. Colorado kids right?

Becket and Keeler in a rare moment of peace.

Laila, Isabel and Porter checking out a caterpillar.

There was so much adventure, bug-catching, hiking, and exploring on this trip. Perfect.

The two year old duo playing in the stream. Wait for it....

Early morning braiding and water play.

We could barely get the kids to eat breakfast before they were out the door playing outside.

And the truth finally comes out.

This would be how these two nuts spent most of the first day of the trip. Keeler shrieking because Beckett is doing something totally benign (say....breathing) or silly (say...pouring water on Keeler's already wet feet). Oh boy. One of our goals in speech therapy has been to help Keeler defend/express himself when he feels threatened by other kids (when playing or at daycare etc.). Let's just say that we had tons of practice on this trip. Turns out, he feels threatened quite often. Like every 5 seconds sometimes. Don't worry grandparents, we've made big strides. Thankfully, Beckett is still willing to be his BFF despite his drama and hystrionics. :) (They are now, officially, in friend love.)

Sage managed to capture one of my favorite "Keeler's thinking" faces.

We call this one, "Proof that Spencer is an Anderson".

(We might also call it "pervy/weird uncle" but only because of the weird stance he's assumed. I mean really.)

Back Pack Nap

Top of the hike. Looking over Colorado Springs. Dads hiked together, kids hiked together, and moms lollygagged behind and talked forever. We feel so blessed to have such amazing friends to share our lives with.

Ready to hike in front of the semi-creepy sign.

Sage was Awesome Mom (as usual) and brought each of the kids a journal and a fun pen so they could write about their trip and take notes on their hike. There was a little misadventure when Porter left his along the trail...and didn't notice for about a mile but, otherwise, they were the best idea ever.

Colorado dads.

Love a man who will rock an Ergo. Love those dang Ergos. Like, really love them. Like, kind of obsessed with them. Best baby carrier ever.

Hiking with Daddy. Keeler is fond of yelling "Back Pack!! Kee'er back pack!". As in, "Put me on your back in the Ergo and hike off into the sunset because that thing is awesome. And give me a stick to distract me or I will poke you in the ears and repeatedly steal your hat."

Isabel on her own private island. Nevermind that it wasn't actually an island. She was still fond of calling it that. And of acting out a variety of scenes from books while over there.

A little shot of the scenery around the cabin. Dirt roads, mountains, and trees. So beautiful.

The big one...

This summer was full of trips and fun. Oh and we moved. Oh and we put our house on the market, staged it, sold it, panicked that we'd sold it that fast, commenced searching for a new house, panicked that we couldn't find a new house, then found it in the nick of time and moved. A few posts are coming your way...hope it was worth the wait.

The big trip.

In June we headed north to Yellowstone. To say that it was an adventure would be a GIANT understatement.

Really, it was the drive there and back. The time in Yellowstone was fantastically fun. But, 11 hours in the car with three kids anyone? Yikes. Did I mention that one of them (ahem, KEELER) hates the car? That he employs all sorts of "crying wolf" techniques to get out of the car? Need examples? "Ouch!! Mama! OUCHIE!!!!" "Hurt, Mama! HUUUUURT!!" "Hot, Daddy. HOT. Daddy. HOT DADDY. OUCH!!!!". You get the picture.

Thankfully, once we got there it was all rainbows and butterflies. Or something like that. More like buffalo and foggy frosty meadows but, again, you get the picture.

We ALL went.

All of us Mestas peeps. Except Kaitlin (Ethan's GFF) wasn't there. And she's one of us.
View from our Kabin.
Yep, with a K. Because that's how they roll at the KOA. This was our view in all directions. I ran through this terrain and felt like I was on top of the world. A very green and big world.

One of my favorite pics evah (thanks Ethan).

Milo and Grandma Kim planning our route. This pretty much sums up traveling with both of them. Grandma is planning and Milo is learning.

Old Faithful and the happy couple.

(It should be noted that I am in a rain jacket. My first one ever. I think I am actually a grownup now. I have weather-appropriate attire. Well some anyway.)

One of my favorite adventures of the trip...a hike to the lower Yellowstone falls.

Hiking with my Dad always brings back good memories. :) This trip was really one big trip down memory lane. The last time I was in Yellowstone, I had long braids, a woven cowgirl hat, and a one piece sunsuit. And a mom and dad ready for adventure. Not much has changed really.

Shoulda' been in black & white. I love these two (and the shadowy runner in the front!).

Coloring and camping go hand in hand in our family.

My favorite camping activity when I was little involved going out in the camper every year and rediscovering all of our camping coloring books in the cupboard above the couch/fold-out bed.

Keeler having a "back pack snack" on a hike.

Newly knighted Junior Ranger.

He worked hard for that patch and the inappropriately large/sharp safety pin.

Second newly appointed Junior Ranger.

Being sworn in.

This Ranger took her job VERY very VERY seriously. I would too. Just sayin'. She had a masters in something Forest Rangery and presented an excellent program on birds in the park.

Cutest best buds.

That sweet hand-holding was actually a death-grip that was maintained throughout this trip. We had visions of Keeler dashing off to sit on a bison or "sfimming" in a geothermal pool.

Hiking buds looking over one of the giant geothermal walks.

Milo was SO over these. He was not a fan of the smell or the steam. He was more into the 459,356,987 bison that jammed the roadways throughout the park.

The clearest of the billions of "from the car" photos taken by Milo and Isabel.

Hiking cousins.

Thankfully, this was the coldest day. Layers and layers and layers. I think that this was the walk where I was asked by a woman pushing one baby in a $1000 stroller if "those were ALL my children" and "Do you have SIX children?!". The children she was referring to were my children (3), my nieces (2), and MY BROTHER (6'3" man with a beard). Ouch.

Our favorite of the Kabin ammenities. Everyone needs a porch swing.

Amazing view from Jackson Lodge. Really pictures could never do it justice.

Lunch with cutie Isabel.

This was a Thursday around 11am and we were the only people in the diner under the age of 60. We got TONS of attention. And affection. :)