Sinking

My dad, Bryn, and I went for a hike above Tony Grove to look at a few of the sink holes hiding up there. We enjoyed our excursion despite being off trail for significant portions of the hike, and even found the sink holes we were looking for.

There is a large meadow filled with wildflowers and crumbly dirt at the top, and it started raining on our way down. If I could bottle that smell somehow, I would make a million dollars, even if I was just selling it to myself. Well, maybe I need some help with the economics on that, but you get the point. Best smell on earth.

Tony Grove Lake

An osprey providing a soundtrack for our hike

They're diving into the lake

Thunder Shower - I've been down this one with Lance before

A better perspective of how massive these holes are- the drops are toe tingling.

The meadow!

Very scary sink hole- this one goes down further than I care to think about.

The view from above- we only hiked 3/4 of a mile from the lake as the crow flies, but the elevation gain was something like 1,000 feet.

Double arch cave

Rattlesnake Bite

My Dad, Bryn, Ivy, and I took a ride up Millville Canyon. It was dusk, and visibility was low. When we were almost to Wide Ford, a 3 foot rattlesnake lying stretched out in the middle of the road leapt up and struck the Rhino, and then slithered off into the bushes. I think the vehicle will recover, but I was a little shaky for a few minutes.

Excursions toward Bear Lake

Horseback riding near Beaver Mountain

Bear Lake classic: fresh raspberry shake from La Beau's, follwed by a trip to Peter's parents' cabin where we enjoyed the vista and the shade of the deck swing

A Sunset hike at the Limber Pine trail

Round the Lake We Go

Dad enthralled the little ones (and me) with a porquois tale of the Monkshood flower (highly poisonous, BTW).

The condensed version of the story: Once, there was a monk with two beloved parrots. An evil sorcerer chased down the monk and turned him into a flower. If you open the hood, you will see his two parrots.

Ivy loved the story, and relentlessly pestered Grandpa to tell her such stories about all the flowers in the area.

The Landscapes of Tony Grove

I never tire of the beauty of the top of the canyon. The drive itself is breathtaking, the flowers were in full bloom up near the lake, the air smelled of dirt and sage, and the air hummed with bees and dragonflies.

Lewis Turner Campground

We camped for three days up at Lewis Turner near Tony Grove with my parents and Laura and Tim and family. Although the campground is not as lake-centric as Tony Grove, it was quiet and peaceful, had flushing toilets and almost-potable water, and we pretty much had it to ourselves.

The kids turned the loop into their personal track, and spent hours running, roller-blading, and hopping around it. My dad also introduced them to the wild Utah Serviceberries growing around the campground.

Other memorable campground moments include:

• That time Calvin got fire ants in his pants and I had to strip him down in the road to shake them out 
• The giant grasshopper Bryn caught and tamed (christened "The Cricket")
• Entertaining three different sets of visitors: My mom's sisters Rosemary and Ranae, and my friend Jenn and her mom. It was wonderful to see them all.
• Lily crawling under the width of the camper under the camper
• Hiking to a spring and swinging on the gate

Racing around the loop

Modeling shots

Miss Lily was kind enough to do a birthday photo-shoot with me. She was more interested in eating grass and pointing out the doggie (horse) in the back pasture than looking at the camera, but we tricked her occasionally into looking up (Bryn was my helpful attention-getting assistant).

SMOLDER

Tasty, tasty grass

Dam Fun

Mike and Jill graciously brought their jet skies up for us to play on at Hyrum Dam, and a great Dickey family party ensued.

Mother May I Have a Cookout

We had a cookout up the canyon. Besides our usual service project of returning rocks to the river, we also engaged in an epic game of Mother-May-I. Dad was "Mother,"

Ivy was completely enchanted by the game.   Mom demonstrated the trickier instructions, like scissors steps and the umbrella twirl. Bryn was her usual competitive self and when instructed to take 12 baby steps forward, proceeded to explain that as a baby she was really quite a big stepper and so won the game. Amelia immediately scorned such a blatant exercise in following authority, and left the game to sit on my lap and suck her thumb in protest.

Girls Night Out at Great Meadows

Calvin and Peter were feeling homebody-ish tonight, so Ivy, Bryn, and I set off for an adventure at the local bird refuge.

She may or may not have swallowed a canary.

She had run ahead before I had a chance to warn her of the dangers of approaching geese, especially ones with offspring. Luckily, this ended with little more than hissing.