stewart falls

Yesterday was a pretty great day.

I slept in and had a really lazy morning. Around noon, I headed over to Maleah's to babysit baby Makani. She's about eight or nine months old (Soph - help me out on this one, I can't remember) and is at one of my favorite ages. She sits up on her own and likes to play - but she hasn't quite figured out how to crawl. This means a stationary baby that is easy to occupy. And Makani is probably the most easy going baby I've ever known, so the three hours I spent with her consisted of lots of giggling (mostly me) and drooling (mostly her). I didn't bring a camera, so I don't have any photos to share. But picture this: a wide, toothless grin, next to no hair, wide eyes, and big kissable cheeks. So precious.

Also, this baby is currently teething and she STILL wasn't fussy or disagreeable. I'm not exaggerating when I say - most. easygoing. baby. ever.


After babysitting, Jon came and picked me up. We made lunch at his house and then headed up to Sundance. We hiked up to Stewart Falls and had a really nice afternoon/early evening. And I do have pictures of this - so get ready.

The landscape was absolutely gorgeous. We rode the lift up, hiked over to the falls, and then hiked back down.

This is a picture of what we saw from the lift:

I get pretty nervous when it comes to heights, so parts of the hike were a bit nerve-wracking (think narrow trail with a sheer drop on one side). Surprisingly the ride up in the lift wasn't too scary. I think because it's manmade and has a security bar I had a false sense of security. Like, "Oh! Sundance maintains this. There's no way I could ever fall out and die. No big deal." Although I couldn't help but think about this story I read a few months ago.

The whole hike was just gorgeous. I couldn't get over it.

The falls themselves were really pretty too. And cold. And very tall.

The water was SO COLD. Jon insisted upon us taking a picture of our feet in the water. I agreed but immediately regretted it.

This is a picture Jon took on our way back down. You can see the waterfall off in the distance.

One of my favorite parts of the hike was the fairy throne. It was in this area where the trees were really dense and the stream got shallow enough to easily wade through it. In the center of the stream was a stump in the shape of a throne.

Fairies. Or drops of water on the lens. Whatever.

And then, of course, the drive home. The drive down the canyon always seems so much shorter than the drive up.

After the hike I came home and showered (which felt really amazing). Then Jon came and picked me up again. We also got Braden on the way and then we went over to Tom's to watch The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. I was the only one who had seen it before and I was really excited to have everyone watch it. In the end, I think they liked it (but probably not as much as I do). We played Soul Calibur for a while and then watched the Mammals episode of Life (as narrated by David Attenborough, not Oprah).

By the time I got home it was really, really late. So late, in fact, that Lana was just getting up. That was a weird exchange - good morning! good night!

Anyway, a great day from start to finish.