Independence Day 2015

Gavin's busy doing an internship thing this summer, but he got four days off for the fourth! Woot woot! We celebrated having him home by attempting to hike the Brighton lakes, and spending time with family. 

I say "attempting" because we didn't actually make it. Halfway into the hike, Gavin bit into a starburst, so we had to turn around and head to a dentist because the stinkin starburst pulled off a crown from one of Gav's back teeth! LUCKILY he has a family friend who is a dentist and he was able to do a quick fix on his day off. Thank you thank you!! 
I will post info on this hike once we actually do it! Gorgeous nonetheless! Plus... if Gavin hadn't eaten that starburst the wrong way, we never would have seen that beautiful moose! 


We dropped by my parents house to say hi and hang out, then went to his parent's house for a family party with lots of funny little kids! 

We wore O out! He was more interested in glow sticks than anything else. He fell asleep during the city's fireworks! He hasn't fallen asleep in my arms in months, yet alone when explosions are going off! I'm glad he was happy though and let us enjoy the show! Thank you to everyone who helped make it a fun holiday!

Four Corners

Day two of our road trip consisted of a whole lot of driving through the middle of nowhere. New Mexico, apparently, is almost as bad as Wyoming.
We stopped at the four corners, which is what I expected- boring and worth seeing. The monument was  run by Native Americans trying to sell their jewelry and decorations. I thought I'd see that everywhere in New Mexico, so I didn't give much thought into buying anything there. Looking back, I wish I would have! They had some really cool, authentic stuff! 

Little O in four places at once!

That other family photo bombing us <<<

And a postpartum back-bend. Yikes!

Then, we were back on the road! I wanted to see Chaco Culture- a National Park of Native American Ruins. So, we drove way out of the way in order to spend time here. We turned when we saw the signs and discovered that in order to reach Chaco Culture, one must drive about 12 miles (45 minutes) on a dirt road. It was this point in time that I discovered my fear of being alone. 
A couple miles onto the road, we were out of service, in the middle of nowhere, with LITERALLY no one and nothing around. Completely alone, and I was terrified! I chickened out and told Gavin to turn the car around, It was hot outside, we had a baby in the car, and we were driving a Mazda that had just reached 200,000 miles. If something were to have happened to us, we would have been screwed. I've never been so scared in my life. If anyone every wants to go back here in a car that is more than 5 inches off the ground and has less than a six digits on the odometer, let me know. I'd still love to visit this place.

Not going to lie, there were some sketchy parts of New Mexico. And the only other things I could find to do were hikes to hot springs. That did not sound appealing with the weather conditions! In all, day two consisted of a long long time on the road. (A.K.A. lots of Signing Time and Baby Einstein on the portable DVD player). We finally made it to Santa Fe and booked ourselves into a hotel where we spent the next couple of days. 

Delicate Arch

I know this is late...again, but I want to keep this blog up because I don't journal or scrapbook! Turns out working full time and taking care of a 7 (!) month old is pretty busy! 

We had to take our first family road trip a couple weeks ago. Salt Lake to Dallas is a looong drive. So since we were going to be in the car at least 3 days, why not make it 5 and see the sights, right? 

We started off our trip with a drive to Moab. We hiked up to Delicate Arch with Owen on our backs. We were pretty worried about him in the heat, but we kept giving him water and pedialyte and spraying him with a squirt bottle and he was fine. Do any other parents spray their kids with squirt bottles? 
This arch is huge! The hike was a little difficult considering the heat and a 75th percentile baby on my back, not hard enough to turn anyone away though! Gavin's hat blew off at the top of the hike and a random couple hiked down to find it and bring it back to us. They earned the f-pod title for the day! If you do this hike, consider this a fair warning: it is VERY windy once you get to the arch!

What's a trip to Arches NP without a picture of Balanced Rock?!

Something I loved about Arches Park was that English speakers were a minority. It made me think about how blessed we are to have the backyard that we do. There were a lot of people from other countries and cultures. I love that people come from all over the world to visit our beautiful state, but with all do respect, some of them have no idea what they are in for! 

Gavin made the spot-on comment about a group of foreign tourists who "look like they just went to REI and bought a bunch of crap that they don't know how to use". I wish I could give you a visual without sounding racist. We then referred to these clueless tourists as "desert wanderers" because there was no better term to describe them. We laughed so hard over this!

It's a shame we didn't have time to explore the park and Moab even more, but Christmas came early and we did buy ourselves an annual national parks pass! So which of you 75 year olds wants to go back with us soon? 

Stunt Run

I like to blog about things a month after they happen. It's cool.

 I want to post a lot of updates on our month of June- the trips, the fun, the not-fun, and pictures of O. 

Until then, enjoy this video, filmed at the end of May. Oops!

Stunt Run from Madi McCleary Scott on Vimeo.

Ghost Falls

Gavin quit his job in February so that I could go back to work without sending O to a babysitter all day every day. We figured that since he was still in school, it'd be better for him to be the one without a job besides taking care of a baby. Gav graduated at the beginning of May and doesn't start his internship until June, so the month of May has been great for playing on my days off! I'm almost caught up on journaling about all our adventures!
Last weekend we went to Ghost Falls, behind the Draper Temple. All the wild animal warnings and rattlesnake warnings almost scared me off... but luckily we didn't have any close calls!

Use these links to get there:

• http://utahsadventurefamily.com/ghost-falls-hike/
• http://www.willhiteweb.com/utah_hiking_trails/ghost_falls_trail/corner_canyon_109.htm

The KKBK and the Fairy Forest

KKBK stands for Kamas Kabin Breakfast Club. I love how I can show up at half time with my best friend and not feel like I'm missing out! 
We played Team Uno. Girls won. The boys fished. And we stopped for pizza and ice cream on the way out.

On the way home, we made a 30 minute detour to go to a fairy forest! This was the weirdest, most random, coolest thing ever! Like so random I can't even describe it! If you are on your way to mirror lake, pull off by mile marker 17 and cross a little river. You'll find yourself in the middle of tons of painted rocks and trees and jewels. It's kind of hippie ish but for little kids. Whatever it is, I thought it was sweet! 
People paint rocks and trees and anything they can make pretty and leave it in the garden for visitors to enjoy. It's free game for anyone. I think it's called the fairy forest because people make and paint little homes from rocks that fairies can live in. I guess?? I'm glad we stopped. 

Use this link if you want to get there. And bring your own paint or something you want to leave behind.

Green River Trip

I love my job! Some days it is hard and I feel very underpaid. Some days I feel like I just suck. Some days I feel heartbroken for girls and the families I work with. Most days though, I feel accomplished and like I'm doing something that actually matters. Most days I have pride in the progress my girls are making, the work that my team puts into the girls, and how far I have come in being a mini-therapist! And sometimes I just love my job because we get paid to do fun things- like go on a 3 day camping and river run adventure! 

The second night that we were at Green River, all the therapists put on a "spirit guide ceremony". It was so cool! There's no way describing it could do it justice. The location of the ceremony was so serene... the sun setting, the wide and calm river, the tiki torches, the circles of people, God's architecture in the background. The ceremony was based off traditions of Native Americans who once lived in the area. Therapists picked a spirit animal guide for each of their girls and their parents and presented the girls with a charm of their animal and a 30 second explanation of why it's fitting. 

After the girls and families went to bed, staff got to go back to the ceremony ground and in a much more casual way, be presented with their spirit animal. 

The spirit animal guide I was given is the beaver.

• "Beaver qualities include being a do-er- willing to do what it takes to get the job done. The work you do contributes to the greater good. You'll stick with a task until it's completed, no matter what obstacles may appear. You are very loyal, resourceful, organized, and focused."
• "Learn from the beaver when you want to bring your ideas and goals into reality, when you want to resolve conflicts with people around you, or when there is a job to be done."
• "When the beaver shows up, it means this is a time for purposeful and directed activity. Don't be busy for busy's sake; let your actions be focused and intentional. It's time to change your environment in a way that makes you feel more secure and comfortable."

Also, speaking of work, I'm a little stressed with how short-staffed we are right now! Let me know if you know of anyone looking for a part-time job!