Adventures in the Jell-O Belt

My family had a family reunion planned for the end of July in Utah. We typically extend any trip to Utah to see my family to include time in other parts of Utah or Idaho to see Mr. Frisby's family (and vice versa). The family reunion was set to begin on Monday, so we headed back to Utah the Friday before so we could see some of my extended family as well. We set out early in the morning to make the long trek and, of course, were appropriately dressed:

We were fortunate to have my sister traveling with us. Stella LOVES my sister and had a great time with her in the back seat. We switched off driving, of course, so I ended up in the back with Stella while my sister was driving. I wasn't nearly as entertaining as my sister, so I had to bust out one of the new toys I got for Stella for the drive. Mr. Potatohead was a HUGE hit.

After the long drive we made it to Utah in time for dinner with some of my cousins. We stayed with another of my sisters that night. The next day, Mr. Frisby headed off to go mountain biking with his brother since he wouldn't be able to see him later in the week when we had planned to see Mr. Frisby's family.

I decided to join some of my family for a hike to Stewart Falls that my sister had planned. Last time I hiked with Stella, she did pretty well and walked much of the hike herself. She liked walking this hike, too, but it was slow going since she wanted to stop and check out everything. My sister had borrowed a baby hiking carrier, so I put that on and Stella enjoyed the ride.

The hike to the falls went pretty well. I would hand snacks back to Stella and she was pretty happy. She would get out and walk periodically, giving me a nice break. Still, Stewart Falls and a lunch break was a welcome sight for all of us.

We ate lunch by the river and played around for awhile. It was about this time that Stella started to get really tired and grumpy. It was nap time for her anyway and, on top of that, she was already tired from the lack of sleep the day before (she doesn't sleep well in cars). She enjoyed playing by the water, but was irritated that I wouldn't let her walk in the water with her shoes on.

I tried to take her shoes and socks off so she could play in the water, but this proved to be a serious offense. She would not cooperate for even one picture.

After we ate lunch and played around for a little bit, I decided it was time to get the girl back so she could sleep.

I took a quick group photo of the hikers and then I rounded up the ones who rode in my car and headed back down the trail.

Within a few minutes, Stella had fallen asleep in the carrier and I got to do the return hike with 25 lbs of dead weight on my shoulders (the hiking carrier was not the best quality and not the most comfortable).

The next day my shoulders were bruised from the backpack. When we got back to the parking lot, Stella woke up and needed a drink after the hard hike back.

The hike was fun in spite of my subsequent pain and that evening we got together with some of my other cousins. The next day, Sunday, we had brunch with my brother and his family and went to church with them to avoid all the chaos at my sister's house. We also stayed with them that night and then we all headed off to the family reunion on Monday. And thus began our adventures in the Jell-O Belt. I'll stop here because the reunion deserves posts of its own.