Did You See the Donut?

Neither did we. I would have liked to help Chandler hike all the way to the hole and the cave at Donut Falls. However, it is a little tricky when you are carrying this:

We had some uninterrupted, extra time together so we decided to go where Chandler hadn't been before.

I'm always confused about which canyon it's in so we meandered up Little Cottonwood until we hit Snowbird and then made our way to Big Cottonwood. I know, I know. You'd think someone like me, who has lived in Utah the majority of her life, would be able to keep the two canyons straight. ANYWAY, it was good time to chat with Chandler, one on one, while Watson snoozed in the backseat.  We ate lunch at the beginning of the trail and lolly-gagged our way to the bottom of the water fall.  Chandler practiced his rock climbing skills along the way.

Lots of people had the same idea so it was fun to see how other people were climbing through the water and making their way up or down the falls. I love when I have time with Chandler when he or I don't feel pressure to "hurry up" to get to the next task or thing. It is so rare. We get to have real conversations, it doesn't happen often enough. On our little hike he said to me, "Don't you think kids are growing up too fast?" I said, "Yes, I really do. I want you to be a kid for as long as possible. That's one reason I'm not ready for you to have a cell phone yet." He went on to explain he doesn't want one either, until he's 14. (Can I get that in writing?) and he wants to just be a kid. These little moments with him make me feel really grateful to be his mom, even if I'm just his step mom. He is still mine, and I count myself lucky.
As we found our way back to the car we came across a very sociable chipmunk. It nibbled on a pretzel while watching us and then climbed a rock to have a conversation, with us. It sure made a lot of noise!
Chandler took a great action shot of it.

Our "little" hike turned into an afternoon event but it was totally worth the time.