Hiking the Y

When we look down the street from our house it's a straight shot to the Y on the mountain. It's a beautiful sight from across the valley. We are always pointing it out to the kids and this year we thought they were getting big enough and told them we would take them to the top.

Today was the day! (before it got too hot).

I've hiked the Y a few times in college, but that was a long time ago. I remember hating the hike because there isn't much shade, there are a million switch-backs and it's deceptively steep. 

But we didn't tell the kids all that. We just said we were going on an adventure!

We took many rests.

Paige kept asking if we were there yet.

Levi kept sitting in the dirt and drawing with his stick.

Ashby kept stopping and saying he wanted to go home.

 And then something clicked.

Ashby was the biggest surprise. From standing stubbornly in the middle of the trail and crying to go home, to suddenly running ahead and encouraging everyone to go just a little farther, we wish we knew how to trigger that happy motivation all the time. He actually ran the entire second half of the ascent!

WE MADE IT!  And somehow everyone still had a smile on their face.

Man, it's scary at the top. That Y is so extremely steep. We didn't venture onto it, but we watched some silly college kids get crazy on the steep, lumpy slope.

 Cody was jabbering the whole time, pointing excitedly at one thing after another.

 We looked across the valley and tried to determine where our house was. We were pretty sure we could see the elementary school and where our street would be.

So, I zoomed in closer with the camera, and sure enough - that's our house!

 We took a minute at the top of the Y to call Grandma and sing happy birthday to her.

Brian continued the happy-birthday-phone-call with his mom during the walk down. It helped distract him from the debilitating pain in his knee. When we stopped to rest and let him catch up, we noticed his leg was shaking, and he finally let go of his pride and let me carry Cody the rest of the way down.

Despite any complaining and scraped hands & knees, the kids all said they were happy they kept going to the top. They can do hard things!

And then we celebrated with a late lunch and ice cream from the BYU creamery. 

Good family outing, but I'm pretty exhausted now.