Hiking, fishing, ziplining, swimming and more Canyons summer activities

Summer at Canyons is always fun and there is alway lots to do,

so we tried to take advantage of as many activities as possible with the kids this past week.

 The boys went on "a little 1/2 hour hike" which turned into a couple hour hike.

The boys are heading out on their little hike, 

while the girls took the gondola ride up to meet them at Red Pine Lodge...

where we met up with the boys a couple of hours later,

and they were very hungry by the time they made it up there.

After lunch we took the chairlift up and took a little hike to...

the lake pond up on the mountain.

We got Kimber a chair so she could sit and relax a little.

She was a good sport and didn't want to miss out on the fun even though she is pregnant.

We rented a paddleboat and we took the boat out on the pond.

 Tyler grabbed some poles and went fishing...

and Brooke joined in on the fun...

 They didn't catch anything but had a lot of fun trying 

and vowed to get better poles and come back next summer.

 After taking a little rest, Kimber was ready to take a turn on the paddleboat.

 While we paddled around the pond...

 taking pictures and enjoying the views...

 Dad and Brooke...

 and Tyler were intense about this fishing thing.

 Tyler waited patiently for the fish to bite...

 and waited...

but they finally gave up on the fishing and took a break.

They looked so cute in their matching BYU gear that I had to get a photo.

 We enjoyed a nice hike back to Red Pine Lodge...

 and the beauty of the aspens and pine trees.

 And we made it back to the lodge and took the gondola down the mountain.

We were tired and hot...

 so we headed to the pool to cool off.

 Even dad joined in on the fun.  I love Brooke in this photo!

She is still a little kid and can't keep her eyes open for the picture! It cracks me up!

 The next day we took the gondola back up the mountain

 to do the zip line adventure at Canyons.

 We started out at the demo zipline, where the guides taught us how to our equipment 

and get us used to the feel of the zipline.

 Once we each took a turn going on the demo zipline, 

we made our way over to the Red Pine zipline.

 Allie and Justin raced each other.   

Once we all made it down the Red Pine zipline, 

we were ready for the Look Out line.

 We had to take the Look Out chairlift over the canyon.

Ashley, looking good in her zipline gear.

 I volunteered to go first because I was so scared and just wanted to get it over with.

 Yeah, that's why I was so scared... that is what I was looking at...

yeah... that canyon is what I was going to be zipping across in a minute!

 All ready to go... and still scared!!

 Dad and I raced across the canyon and at first, I was scared to death and screaming...

 but then I realized that I was beating Dad and got excited 

and pulled down on the handle (which makes you go faster) as hard as I could

 and sure enough, I won!  I guess my competitiveness overcame my fear!

 Brooke, of course, had no fear.

 And neither did Ashley.

 Another view of the canyon.

These two are getting ready to go.

 Ashley and Brooke, crossing the canyon.

 I'm not sure who won that race and I don't think these two seem to care.

 Allie barely edged out Justin.

 The instructor told us that you pull down to go fast, lift up to stop, 

but you can get the most speed by lifting the handle up just a little bit 

and he called it the "sweet spot."  So here is Tyler, trying to find the "sweet spot."

 He's still looking for it... unfortunately, he didn't find it, in fact, it kind of slowed him down 

and he almost stopped before he got to the end of the line.

 Fortunately, he is a good sport and still had a smile on his face as he reached the bottom.

 Both of these boys had a good time.

 We took another turn on the Red Pine line and so I had to take another picture of "the little girls"...

 and our instructors wanted to get in on the photo fun and posed for us!

Hey, Kate, Courtney and all of Ashley's other lunging friends,

check out the lunge on that girl!  Nice pose!

At the end of our zipline experience at Canyons.

We are a happy crew and can't wait to do it again next year!

Always a good time at Canyons!