Cedar Breaks, Mulan (and a week of being unprepared and unphotogenic)

I feel like we spent the first half of the week recovering from our last trip out of town. To be honest, I'm still struggling to find my equilibrium in a summer schedule that's both fun and productive . . .

Wednesday, I tackled the aquatic center on my own with all three kids. Surprisingly, they did pretty well. Andrew's old enough now that he can do some things on his own (the slide, etc.), so that helps him from getting frustrated with the slow pace the rest of us keep. Oliver enjoyed splashing in the shallow parts of the pool--at least, until his lips started turning purple and we decided we'd had enough for one day.

My mom came down on Thursday and we took Evelyn down to Tuacahn for a performance of Mulan. I'd never been to the smaller, indoor theater, but I liked it: it was intimate, air-conditioned--and, more importantly for my daughter--we were done by 8:30 instead of 11:30. Evelyn loved it. Well, okay, she could have done without the entire middle (which terrified her: she was sobbing out loud at one point). She also received solicitous attention from several of the retirees sitting around us: *two* different people offered her a mat to sit on, so by the end of it, she was elevated enough to actually see the stage pretty well.

Afterward, we discovered that the main characters came out to the lobby, and snagged a picture with Shang, Mulan, and the official-whose-name-I-never-remember.

On Friday, we decided on an impromptu hike to Cascade Falls. It wasn't until we reached the trailhead (following the ranger's directions) that I realized I'd been here before--two years ago, as part of the Clark family reunion.

The problem with impromptu hikes is that sometimes you're less than prepared. We did pack water, sunscreen, and snacks, but I failed to consider the temperature difference between home and the mountains. When we left, the weather was cloudy and in the seventies. I suppose I assumed it would be the same up higher, too.

Well, not quite.

We drove through some pretty spectacular low-hanging clouds on the way up--at times it was difficult to see the winding road around us, which freaked Andrew out no end. Then we drove into a rainstorm. We started to rethink the hike, and then the weather started to clear. But it was still cold. And we had no coats.

So we got creative. I found a 0-3 month windbreaker suit in the trunk that still sort of fit Oliver--as long as we didn't try to fit his legs into it. We put leg warmers on Evelyn's arms, and my mom carried a wool blanket from the trunk. Andrew was a little cold--for about five minutes. After that, his body energy warmed him up.

In the first of our unphotogenic poses, you can see how dark the sky was when we set off on the hike. It actually made for perfect hiking weather: low sixties, breezy, beautiful.

 Oliver was not impressed by the cascade at the end of the hike. Judging by my picture, I wasn't either. (I think I was actually trying to commiserate with the baby, but mostly I just look sort of stoned).

 Then we took my mom to Cedar Breaks since, despite the fact that she's visited us numerous times, she'd never actually been up here. She was shocked, I think, to find such dramatic landscapes so close to where we live. (You can't see it in the picture, but there was a gentleman standing outside of the log barriers taking a professional picture. My kids were pretty freaked out that he was so close to the edge. For that matter, so was I. I like my heights safely barricaded, thank you.)

Fortuitously, we managed to hit Cedar Breaks right in the middle of their July wildflower festival--and just after two weeks of heavy (for us) rainfall. So the wildflowers were pretty spectacular, as you can see in the backdrop of this picture.

I think everyone but Oliver enjoyed the trip--and he at least got to nap on the way home. Our only real mishap happened on the way home. We'd stopped for a treat/lunch and Evelyn wanted a soda. But she managed to spill it less than half a block from the store. Luckily, my mom was able to jump out and take care of things before too much damage was done (though she got drenched in the process, as the rain had resumed).

We spent Saturday morning working on the yard with the help of our hired hands (aka Bubby and Poppy). As a result, our yard and home now look like someone actually lives there.