There’s been talk on my purusing of social media if parents of young children are happy.

Having kids is hard. We went to the Ogden Nature Center last Saturday. It’s a great place with lots to do. But the kids struggled to walk even a half-mile. They’d complain that their legs hurt or just cry, and we carried Evie most of the time and Zack for some of the time. This part of parenting doesn’t have a lot of joy.

But then we would get to our destination: treehouses, playgrounds, ponds with birds. The kids would run off, their tired legs forgotten, and enjoy themselves immensely. And I got to join in that joy. A treehouse for an adult is not that fun, but with a child, it is magical. I’ll take the hard walks for those wonderful moments of happiness and joy at the end.

It’s been busy. Peter has a million sports practices doing club basketball, high school basketball, and soccer. Curtis finished up his basketball and started 7 on 7 football. Henry has been in a play that did performances last week. Zack has had swimming lessons. I’ve had garden design clients and gardening. Joe’s been sick for a few weeks but is finally on the mend after getting meds. It’s crazy but in a good way.

I went on a field trip with Zack. He wanted me to go so badly, and I surprised him. He loved it. I did not, but sometimes it’s worth making your kids happy.

And there is still lots of leisure, we got a new couch that has been getting lots of use. And it looks exactly like our old one: the problem wasn’t the aesthetics but the couch breaking out the back, thanks to kids. Luckily, it’s also been warm outside, so it’s a lot easier to keep the kids entertained. Except for Evie, who thinks she’s old enough to ride her strider bike down the street all by herself: I have to keep a close eye on her and have lost her too many times.

I was in the mood for a day trip, so I hauled my family down to Capitol Reef. We hiked Cassidy Arch, and mostly ran out of steam after that, and went home. Zack did get his junior ranger badge, even though we made it to the visitor’s center 5 minutes after they closed. Parts of that trip were hard: we had kids get lost and grumpy, but it was a beautiful hike and worth going to. Sometimes life isn’t about pleasure, but doing hard and beautiful things.

Some more pictures from the week. Curtis has had basketball, Peter’s done a bunch with band (that he doesn’t actually like, but he is pretty good at), and Henry made a model of the digestive system for school that he also accidentally broke the day it was due. No worries, his dad was around to glue it all back together.

My sister and I hiked up Big Cottonwood Canyon to Hidden Falls, and along the Mill B trail. It was still snowy, but a nice day.

These are just random shots. It’s time to prune, time to start gardening again (and I already feel behind). We’ve also been finishing projects we decided to start before gardening season began, like the table. The table had too many times of resanding to try again, and eventually just deciding it was good enough. And also a picture of cereal….Peter loves Lucky Charms, and when it was on sale at Costco, I sent him this picture and asked if I bought enough. He said no, although he was happy about it.

And Curtis had a birthday, and is now officially a teenager!

Peter finished up his season on the freshman basketball team. He improved a lot as a player and had good opportunities to contribute to his team. He started some of the time but usually played as the sixth man. (I think he should have played more, and probably had the most potential out of anyone on his team. I’m biased.)

A couple of shots from going to the Butterfly biosphere. Evie and Henry loved touching all the butterflies and bugs.

My kids had a random Friday off of school, and I was looking forward to a day to have fun. Joe also usually has Fridays off. The tentative plan was to go down to a National Park. But then something came up, and we had to shorten it and decided to go to Fillmore. And more came up, and we ended up not going anywhere. I was disappointed.

But then I was talking to my sister and she had independently made plans to go to Fillmore on President’s Day. We decided to go together. It was a wonderful day trip. We started off at the Lava Tubes. This place is cool. It has caves, tunnels, and valleys to explore. We’d been there about four years ago, and I’ve always wanted to go back.

After exploring the Lava Tubes, we went over to Meadow Hot Springs for a soak. I had recommended this trip to my sister and she said it exceeded her expectations. It’s pretty remote, and you drive to what looks like nothing in the middle of nowhere and find really cool places like the lava tunnels and hot springs. My photos are not doing the place justice, at the really cool places I was too engrossed in everything (or in a pool) to take pictures.

We also went snowshoeing after a decent snowstorm. It was long, just long enough to realize I need new snow shoes if I go again. The kids had a hard time going up but enjoyed themselves on the way down.

I live near Utah Lake. If it gets cold, some of the lake can freeze. And then if it warms up again and gets windy, there are ice stacks on the shore. I’ve known about them for some time, but knowing when and where to go out there can be tricky. Luckily, social media exists.

The first time we went out, the lake was frozen over.

And this is a week later. I went on a Friday, and brought more of my family to enjoy it a couple days later.

It’s a good reminder of how quickly things can change, and also how fleeting moments are. The ice stacks are only there for maybe a few weeks a year, and some years they aren’t even there at all.