Weekend Adventures

In 2013, after my husband and I welcomed our first child, we began looking for homes in the suburbs. At the time we lived in Salt Lake City near Sugarhouse Park.

As we debated what community to look for homes in, we desired to buy where the kids would have friends in the neighborhood that they would go to school with. We wanted them to be able to play ball in the cul-de-sac and walk home from their friends by themselves.

As we looked at finances and our personal priorities, we finally chose a home that was seven miles north of the city. Close enough to city to pop in to go to the restaurants that we love, and attend the parks that were extremely diverse with foliage and people.

We also felt good about find a neighborhood where our kids could play ball in the streets. The neighborhood was full of children my sons age.

Sometimes I have made dreams for myself, but when life gets busy I don’t take the time to fulfill those ideas. But in the case of us popping back into the city that we love, we have been consistent.

This blog post is dedicated to the fun adventures that we have done the last couple of weeks of summer, before school starts in Salt Lake City.

What are your favorite summer activities to do with children? I would love to hear in the comments below!

Writing is My Hobby

If you’re new here, Hi, I’m Cami!

I started my blog over two years ago, personally wanting to capture the rawness of the difficulties of mental pain. Blogging and writing is a gift as it has helped relieve me from my personal internal feelings. It has helped relieve the problem of feeling alone through many days of extreme binary feelings of gratitude for the beauty that I’m surrounded by, and the reality of pain that I have been experiencing for years now.

You can read the reason that I started this blog in a post titled: An Introduction to the Why!

I committed to writing in my postpartum period with my third (and last) child, a little blondie named Mae. It was time for an update on her, my health and mental well-being and to record the magical beauty of summertime where we are raising our little ones.

3 Summer Activities We Enjoy In Salt Lake City

This year we attended the Salt Lake Farmers Market at Pioneer Park the first week in August. The treat that we talk about all year, and return to the farmer’s market for is the Apple Cider Slushy sold by Pyne Farms. They are located at the North-East corner of the market. But I suggest going to the center in the food truck circle (on a hot day) to buy the slushy. This cart is visited less, so the slushy is the best consistency!

Salt Lake sits at the high 90’s low 100’s in July and August. On a hot day these are the most refreshing drinks! A perfect treat for kids as well!

Pictured is my so Weston with his fresh slushy. We had bought two apple ciders to share as we entered the park, but they weren’t frozen enough for us, so we bought another one to share as we had lunch.

In the food truck circle in the middle of the park there was a local distillery that set up a tent to sale alcoholic beverages. (I don’t remember seeing this in past years.)

They set up a gate around their tent so they could ID, and keep their service separate from everyone else in the park. This distillery had brought two older guys in that were playing live covers.

Mae turned lunch time into a dance party, and her and I twirled around as the crowd around us was eating lunch. I love this about Mae. She sees life in a fresh way! Why shouldn’t we make afternoon lunch into a dance party?

Some other fun treat we found was fresh kettle corn, and local ice cream from a dairy out in Tooele, Utah.

This event runs from the first of June to the middle of October.

There is a wild-flower season at the top of the mountain road! It is later then blooming flowers in the valley, because this meadow was covered with snow until the middle or end of June. If you are in Salt Lake City the end of July, this is totally worth the drive!

This year we went to Albion Basin at the begging of August. There is easy parking on the top of the meadow where the flowers are plentiful!

I would say that if you are walking the designated loop, and roped would take around twenty minutes to walk. I went with my sisters and three of us had toddlers. It took us about an hour. We were a little late in the season, and all of the daisies had dried up. There was still plenty of color, and I always love a drive in the mountains, so it was totally worth the trip!

There is a lot more hiking to be done in this area, but with a young family, I thought this meadow size was perfect. This adventure, forty minutes from the city, is up Little Cottonwood Canyon. It cost $12 to drive up the road and park in designated parking.

A shoot off road from down town, leads to a magical space where trees actually grow. If you have ever visited Salt Lake, it is a high desert. Not a lot grows with out watering it consistently. This is why this river walk is recommended. Trees grow naturally as the water quickly flows out of City Creek Canyon.

This little park is just east of the Utah Capitol, and there is a path that leads you gently down the canyon wall. We started walking down the path that Memory Grove Park leads to on a Sunday afternoon. It was 20 degrees cooler under those trees.

Curtis and I have good memories at this park. We took our engagement photos there the month before we were married.

For more information about the trail system here, visit this website: VisitUtah.com

Health Update

If you read some of my earlier blog posts, you quickly see that each postpartum period that I had invited new challenges to my body. I have had a hard time walking because of tension in my hips and lower back.

I’m not here to tell you a sob story, because I truly believe that life is beautiful. The cards that we are given, even though they invite sorrow and tears can eventually be something to be grateful for.

If I take the time to spend time in nature, stretch daily, and take a shower, I am getting through each day with a reduced amount of pain. I will continue these practices, but writing–writing has been something that I love and will continue to do. My story of pain invited me into this space where I can write, and for this I will ever be grateful.

My invitation to you is to investigate your own story. Within these unique stories that we hold I truly believe that there is space to transform through inner alchemy. This is why I share, to invite others to share their story as well. Please comment below if you would like further communication with me.