Our Spring View Farms Trail Adventure

by Tom Johnson on Jul 24, 2011
categories: family

Aaron and Tara Carpenter and their kids are visiting. After we came home from Church, they and Shannon all wanted to take a nap, but the kids had a lot of energy. I had good sleep the night before, so I decided to take them on an adventure while the others slept.

We went to the Spring View Farms Trail.

It was about 95 degrees out. The kids were practically melting in the heat. As soon as they spotted shade, they ran to it and wanted to stay there. We needed better sun hats for an outing like this. At least we had enough ice water.

What I find fascinating about hiking with kids is how observant they are. One of them immediately spotted this spider web and wanted me to take a picture of it.

Eventually we came to this wetland opening. I believe this is Spring View Farms Park. At first it looks mucky, but when you get closer, it's as interesting as a tidepool at the beach. It's full of insects, bugs, and things swimming in the water.

At the park this tree was leaking sap. Big gobs of it.

Of course the kids wanted to eat it. (Not really.)

Lucy gets really red in the heat. It made me wonder if she was getting sunburned, but no, she just gets red like that. In the cold, she always puts on extra clothes too. She needs a moderate climate, I think.

This park has some beautiful flowers. I should learn the names of these different flowers so that I can better understand them.

Here's a group of daises.

Here I found a bee on a flower.

Let's zoom in.

Avery found a snail. She was aware of Fibonnacci sequence of the snail pattern, I think.

When the kids spotted little minnows in the water, they were absolutely mesmerized.

Hard to photograph, but you can see some little fishes here. We weren't sure if they were tadpoles or minnows. Avery thought they were tadpoles, but that would be a crazy amount of frogs when they mature.

Callie lies dead on a low table that appears to be a grave marker.

Lucy is so stylish in her zebra pants! I love how kids are never shy about having their picture taken.

The end. Had to sneak one picture of me in there. I have had this shirt since Egypt, so at least 10 years.

As I was thinking about our little hike, it was so simple. The whole adventure lasted about two hours, no more. Yet this is by far the most memorable event of the day. I had so much fun. These kids are at such an impressionable age.

I fear that I'm just now figuring out how to be a father, and my kids are already growing up. I want to do activities like this every day, if possible. They don't always like nature hikes. But some kind of adventure is always a big hit.

My premise in these adventure hikes is that you don't have to travel to India to have an adventure. You can see plenty of interesting things right around your home. We happen to live in a wetlands area along the Jordan River, and I'm not even sure what that all means, i.e., what animals and insects the area is full of. We are often blind to the wonders around us.

If I could, I would change everything to do more adventures like this. I'm not sure why I haven't. Kids are so eager. As long as I get a good night's rest, I am up for nearly anything. My patience is infinite, and though these kids easily tire of walking, we always tend to find something worthwhile. The experience is quite bonding, more than I would have thought. I once had a goal to do three adventures a week, but somehow the kids reacted to it as a chore. If I mix it up, so that we're not always traveling in nature, I'm sure they would be much more agreeable to the adventures. After all, if all you see is the same nature scene every time, it's not much of an adventure.