October Happenings

It has been a fairly quiet October. Alison and I both traveled for work this month, but otherwise, we stayed close to home. Here are a few noteworthy things that happened:

Hiking Mount Grandeur

I really wanted to hike Mount Timpanogos this year. In fact, it was one of my goals. It did not happen. We had to reschedule the hike a couple of times in August, and then we tried to go the last weekend in September, but the weather did not cooperate. After that failed attempt, I had to admit we missed our window to hike it this year. Even though we couldn't hike Timp, we were still in the mood for some hiking, hence we decided to do one of our favorite hikes - Mount Grandeur. We went hiking the first weekend in October. It was a beautiful day for a hike. The fall foliage on the mountain was particularly striking. A funny thing happened on our hike. Although at the time it did not feel so funny. We hiked for a mile and a half before realizing that we were on the wrong trail. We backtracked to the beginning of the trail. We then had a decision to make. We could call it a day or we could complete the hike we set out on and reach the summit of Mount Grandeur. We decided to complete the hike. Grandeur (without our 3-mile detour) is about 6 miles round trip from the trailhead. We had a great time hiking. Since it was an odd calendar day Tex got to come with us and he could roam off-leash. He loved hiking and completed all 9 miles we hiked with ease. I am glad we, at least, got to hike one mountain this year. 

Cornbelly's Corn Maze & Pumpkin Fest

We have a tradition of visiting Cornbelly's with a group of friends. This was actually the 5th year that we went to Cornbelly's together. I think it will probably be the last. Cornbelly's has gotten really expensive (especially if you don't want to buy an annual pass) and really crowded. It was great to visit with some of our friends, and we were able to take Skylee with us (she loves Cornbelly's), but otherwise it was kind of a bust. Next year we are going to need to find a new fall activity - maybe decorating cookies or visiting a pumpkin patch. We love spending time with our friends in the fall, it is just time for a new activity.

Sleepover with Skylee

A couple of weeks ago Skylee called Alison. During the conversation, Skylee reminded Alison that we told her that if she ever wants to come over for a sleepover she simply has to ask us. She decided she wanted to come over for a sleepover. Skylee got her mom's permission and made a plan. We picked Skylee up on Saturday afternoon and we took her to Cornbelly's with some of our friends. After Cornbelly's we grabbed some dinner and then we stopped on our way home to get a dessert. We went to Dough Co., an edible cookie dough shop that is delicious. Alison and I got a half-batch to share and we got a half-batch for Skylee. She got the S'mores flavor with marshmallow topping. She totally won - her flavor was by far the best. We took our cookie dough home and watched Hocus Pocus (Skylee's choice). She was fascinated by the movie from start to finish. After the movie, I showed Skylee a replica Taj Mahal we brought home from India. We turned off all of the lights and put a flashlight underneath it to make it glow. This turned into a game where we used our hands to create shadow puppets on the wall. I also read Skylee the book "Love You Forever" before she went to bed.

In the morning Skylee came in and woke us up at 7:30 am. We were surprised and happy she slept in until 7:30. Alison asked her if she slept in and Skylee told us that she had been awake for a while, but she stayed in the guest room because she did not want to wake us up.  She is the sweetest! We got up and broke out a New York City Lego set Alison got me for Christmas. I had so much fun putting it together with Skylee. After we ate breakfast (Skylee had leftover cookie dough and eggs because she wanted something healthy for breakfast) and finished the Lego set we went to Brookside Park. This is Skylee's favorite park. She has nicknamed it the fun park. It is close enough to our house that we opt to walk. Many of the residents of Daybreak really enjoy Halloween. The neighborhood is littered with houses that go all out in their decorating, much to Skylee's delight. She would stop us in front of any house that caught her eye. We would stand in front of the house and she would take in all the little details. She particularly liked one house that had a whole gang of skeleton pirates all over the front porch - there was even one climbing up on their roof. This same house had a pirate ship coming out of their side door, and a mermaid skeleton - which may have been Skylee's favorite decoration. It was fun to see Skylee's imagination light up as she observed the decorations. When we got to the park we were the only people there. Skylee ran all over the park climbing and exploring. Tex was her little buddy he would follow her all over the park. Eventually, some other kids showed up and Skylee, who is a very social person, quickly made friends. Tex found a spot in the shade, but every few minutes he would run over and make sure Skylee was okay before returning to his spot. We finished playing at the park and it was time for Skylee to head home. We sure love hanging out with our niece. She is so much fun to be around.

Date Night

 A few days ago Alison and I had a really fun date night. Alison was already all dolled up from an earlier activity so we went to one of our favorite restaurants in Salt Lake City - Caffé Molise. This is a great Italian place. Then after dinner, we went to Just Add Chocolate in Lehi. Just Add Chocolate is a local business where you can make your own chocolates. They have all kinds of equipment and supplies. Alison and I made a little over 1 pound of chocolate and we made a caramel apple. It was a really fun activity and the chocolate was delicious.