Labor Day weekend snuck up on us this year and we didn't really have time to get a campout planned as we had hoped. We instead settled for a day trip to Payson and had an absolute blast (being able to return to a shower and comfortable bed at the end of it all was a bonus!). We hit the road at 7 am, car packed and ready for a day of adventure. What an adventure we had! Brayden couldn't stop exclaiming about the fact that "we're at a real cave, I've always wanted to explore a cave, I can't believe we are at a cave". The "cave" he was talking about was Tonto Natural Bridge our first stop of the day. It is truly an astounding natural wonder. We enjoyed a short hike down, the kids got down without skipping a beat, just the kind of hike we like. Once we got down there the boys could hardly be constrained and were filled with pure glee when Junior took them under the bridge to explore. It was really wet and slippery so I decided it would be best to stay back with the baby rather then risking a fall with him strapped to me (falling is something I do well). Kalei walked about 5 feet off the path and decided it was a little too treacherous for her so she hung back with me. We made good friends with the park ranger that was down supervising and enjoyed exploring around us.
Standing on top of the bridge
Hiking down. Brayden and Tavita were so excited we had to stop them from running out of fear of them going over the cliff.
As usual, Taiven was sooo good and just enjoyed going along for the ride
Making the final trek to get to the bridge. It was breathtaking!
Getting ready to go in
The boys had tons of fun exploring. They saw all sorts of caves and even bats!
Family picture (and yes, Kalei pulls this face for EVERY picture)
Kalei's little friend
I told her not to make a silly face this time, that I wanted a nice picture. So she craddled her face in her hands.
Our little fish going out for a swim
Our family of "warriors" (so named by another dad that was amazed at our fearles kids swimming all over the place and cannonballing off the cliffs while all the other swimmers were a little hesitant to do much of anything)
I just can't get over this cute little face!
Kings of the Rock!
Self portrait of one handsome fella!
Daddy can't resist her big brown eyes so he took her swimming despite the fact that meant having to walk back up in soaking wet shoes (we brought water shoes for the kids, forgot ours!)
Kalei doing her "cliff" jumping!
Brayden mid jump (I didn't get the rock he jumped off of, but it's about as hich as the one behind him) Pretty brave for a little guy!
That splash was my attempt to get Tavita jumping off the same cliff. I was eiteher to slow or too quick to get a good picture. But they were very brave!
May not look too comfortable, but he was snoring the last leg of the trip!
Enjoying a yummy picnic after a good hike. The kids had a lot of fun playing in the little creeks that were around as well as picking the giant reeds.
After the hike we headed into Pine, grabbed a banana split and some HEAVENLY fudge from the Fudge Factory. Then we walked down to the Honey Stand to get some local, raw honey, some honey straws and the yummiest peach whipped honey ever!
The GIANT beetle Brayden found on our walk
After filling up on enough sweets to last us a lifetime we headed over to the fish hatchery. The kids couldn't stop squealing and screeching in awe of all the fish that they saw. The fish down at the bottom were just about ready to be released into the lakes and they got progressively smaller as we made our way up to the visitor center.
Junior thought it was hillarious to tell the kids to look closely at the water then through a piece of fish food right next to them at watch the fish jump up at their faces. It was pretty funny every time and the kids fell for it every time and would jump up screaming.
Playing in a littel creek looking at the fish and searching for crawdads.
We ended the day at a beautiful park with a giant lake, super soft grass, big hills and a killer playground. The kids were in heaven! Taiven and I had a nice heart to heart on the finer things of life!
The rolled and rolled and rolled! (pay no mind to the random ice blocker that accidentally side busted into the picture)
All the rolling made for a few collisions!
Finsih the day with some yummy Mexican food and it was a trip for the record books! It was a wonderful day and we loved getting out and enjoying the beautiful state we live in!
