We went on one large snowshoeing adventure with our younger kids at Tibble Fork. It was a pretty easy hike along the road for the first part, and a lot more interesting after we got off the road. We followed the backside of a stream until we came to the lake where we started from.
If the lake was frozen over (it usually is), we could have had a 2-minute walk to the car. But it was a sloshy mess, so we turned around, crossed the stream (good thing winter boots are generally waterproof, and when that fails, wear wool socks), and were just in time to crash an engagement. (We literally ran through to get out of their way ASAP.)
We also enjoyed Highland Hollows one frosty morning, and another windy morning at Utah Lake. No pictures from that one, but we did see a bald eagle.
Our family has been to theme parks, but not Disneyland. I’ve been a few times, Peter went when he was one, but it was everyone else’s first time.
It was rainy. We went to the beach by ourselves the first day we drove in.
And the next day we experienced Disneyland as uncrowded as it probably ever gets. We also were very wet for most of the day. We basically did all the rides, the longest line was probably 20 minutes. And went back at dinner time to dry off. The hairdryer in our hotel got a lot of uses, drying out everyone’s shoes.
Zack was scared of the first few rides, like Pinocchio and Snow White. That didn’t bode well for the rest of the trip. He did struggle with being scared, and usually, we just pushed him on the ride anyway. He always enjoyed himself afterward. By the very end of the trip, he was able to go on a rollercoaster without freaking out.
My older kids definitely liked the rollercoasters the most. I think they rode Incredicoaster 5 times. None of us loved the more traditional dark rides: our worst experience was getting stuck multiple times on The Little Mermaid. Genie + helped us avoid lines, except for the Radiator Springs Racers line that was posted at 90 min and ended up being 2.5 hours. Luckily, we sent the three older boys on the single rider line, and they were done in under an hour and proceeded to explore the park without their parents. Luckily they did not lose each other, but they did try once. That was the only long line we stood in, and we did ride nearly every single ride in both parks.
The final day was the only day that we really had good weather, and that also meant bigger crowds. But we’d already done most everything, so it was a pretty chill day. My favorite ride was Guardians of the Galaxy. I also liked things like being on the Millennium Falcon, and going out to Tom Sawyer Island. The atmosphere is cool. And I liked doing everything, even watching Great Moments with Abraham Lincoln. But ultimately it felt a lot fake, was expensive, and wasn’t my favorite vacation. Worth doing, but only occasionally.
You might notice in the pictures that we didn’t bring Evie. She stayed back with Grandma and Grandpa and ended up with the stomach flu for most of our trip.
Winter can get rather slow. It feels a lot like this:
We have been a bit busy. The older kids are all playing basketball. Many of us have gotten various illnesses. We did make some snowmen and snow forts, and we’ve gone sledding when there’s been snow. We’ve been working on a few house projects: updating the banister and adding a hall. And often not doing all that much, and that’s fine. Sometimes the highlight of the week is trying out cookies from Costco, and nothing is wrong with that.
We spent the last day of Christmas break on an adventure. I let the kids choose from several options, and they went with Goblin Valley. Because it’s a giant playground. We played games, explored, and climbed, and had a great time. Henry is the one going off and exploring the most, Zack wants his picture taken, Curtis is the hide-and-seek winner, and Peter likes games better than taking in the scenery.
Sometimes I worry I’m forcing the kids to go on too many adventures that they don’t care much about. Because I have in the past. I was all ready to not go on this ambitious day trip, but when asked about it, the kids did want to go. They do sometimes like to do things that aren’t video games.
The boys have been asking for a Nintendo Switch for years. We already have an Xbox and a good gaming computer so I didn’t see the point. But when it gets so important to them that it is the top thing on their Christmas list for all four of them…they got a Switch this year for Christmas.
Christmas break has been playing a lot of video games. I make them go outside, do chores, and read books to earn more time. We also drove for an hour and a half to the closest sledding hill, due to crazy warm weather. We even played outside at the park, and there were lots of people there which is strange for December. We’ve had a lot of time with cousins, going to parties and having sleepovers. We made it to a jump park, Stars basketball game, Thanksgiving Point, and a short hike. Still a couple of days left, and the kids are learning that if you actually help Mom with chores, she’s a lot happier.
We enjoyed family reunions and trips to Vernal, Mesa Verde, Yellowstone, and a couple’s trip to Grand Staircase Escalante. There was lots of fun spent swimming, hiking, fishing, going to parks, and fun locations like the jump park and Lagoon.
People living at our Address 11
We finished renovation on our home, and this year we did our kitchen and a lot of landscaping. Grandma and Grandpa live in the apartment downstairs, the seven of us live upstairs, and Great-Grandpa and my sister fill the rest of the house. We love living so close to family most of the time.
Extra Activities 25
Peter did basketball, track, flag football, and more basketball. He also takes piano lessons and does percussion and went to EFY. Curtis was the rookie of the year for his tackle football team and did basketball, knowledge bowl, coding club, Space Camp, Clear Creek, and soccer. Henry did some swimming, theater, garden club, and choir. Zack loves preschool, did some swimming lessons, and itty-bitty soccer. Evie loves cats and Grandpa. Liz played volleyball, took two sections of her exam for landscape architecture, and had several residential design clients. Joe was busy at work but did manage to finish a woodshop project he started two years ago.
Some weeks are hard. My husband’s mom died after a long battle with cancer. Although she had been sick for a long time, her actual death felt rather sudden.
During her funeral, we were able to see a lot of family we hadn’t seen for a long time. It was a long day though, and on the way home all but two of us slept.
She always remembered birthdays. I will miss her handmade crocheted presents and Christmas pajamas. She was kind and patient and did a wonderful job raising nine children.
What have we been up to lately? We went to the aquarium and saw Santa. Joe took the boys who wanted to go to a Salt Lake Stars game. We went to the Leonardo. Not pictured is a trip to Temple Square to see my sister sing in a choir, visiting our cousin’s house, and sledding. We also did a double Thanksgiving this year. We were at our house with the Walker family and then went to Joe’s brother’s house a couple hours later for the Braithwaite Thanksgiving. Too much turkey, but honestly not enough pie.
Here’s what I’m learning about doing lots of fun things with the kids.
You have to plan ahead. Good intentions do not translate into doing things. Planning does.
Not everyone needs to go to everything. Splitting people up actually gives a lot of opportunities to have one-on-one or alone time as needed. And not everyone likes everything.
Sometimes it is good to force people to go. My oldest did not want to go to the Leonardo but enjoyed it. If you force people to go to things they don’t enjoy though, it just makes things less enjoyable.
You often don’t want to go, but rarely regret going.
It’s better to plan how often you want to go do things and find activities to fill that, than trying to go to an unlimited amount of activities. Ideally, I like doing one thing during the week in the afternoon/evening with the kids, and one thing on Saturday. Anything more than that is too much.
Liz Braithwaite 