Ruth Lake

DH's parents came in town for a few days to attend and participate in MJ's baby blessing. On Saturday we decided to try out a hike in the Uintas to a lake that we haven't been to before - Ruth Lake. It took quite a while to get everyone ready to go and lunches made and packed for a picnic once we got to the location. Once everyone was loaded into the cars DH noticed that one of the tires on the minivan was low. When he went to fill it up he noticed that we had a nail in the tire. DH and his dad were able to fill it up enough for me to get it to the tire store to see if we could get it repaired. So I took the van, Mom N, and 4 of our kids (including the two youngest) to the tire store. Once we got there they said it would be about a 45 minute wait. So we sat down, fed MJ a bottle and Mom N got some bags of popcorn and water for the kids (offered for free in the waiting room). In the meantime DH and his dad and the other two kids went to the grocery store to buy some grapes for our lunch.

We actually only ended up waiting about 30 minutes and they were able to fix the tire and we were on our way again. We had DH's mom drive the van so that I could take care of MJ in case she needed something on the drive and then DH drove his car with his dad and Luke and Kitty. Apparently Kitty was complaining about being hungry and/or bored most of the drive so DH stopped at Mirror Lake first to see if we wanted to eat there. We decided not to - it was pretty chilly there and it is quite a bit of work getting everyone in and out of the cars so I didn't want to make an extra stop.

So we got back on the road to find the Ruth Lake trail again and finally got there. Once we were there we opened up the back of the van only to find out that not one of us had bothered to load the cooler into either of the cars. Here we were at the start of the trail - it was past lunchtime - we were all starving and the only thing we had in the cars to eat was a full bag of Doritos, a half-full bag of sour cream chips, a couple of packages of fruit snacks, and the bag of grapes that DH had just picked up at the store. We also had a couple of boxes of Capri-Suns and some water bottles and sports drinks.

We filled ourselves up as much as we were able and then started on the hike. The newspaper said that the hike was about .75 miles each way. I carried MJ in my sling and DH held Kay's hand and helped her. The kids did great on the trail with really no complaining from them. There were a couple of smaller lakes that we passed before we made it to Ruth Lake. Luckily we were sheltered from the wind for the majority of the hike and it wasn't nearly as cold there as it was when we stopped at Mirror Lake. Once we made it to Ruth Lake, Kitty had to use the bathroom (of course) so Grandma helped her out behind some bushes since I already had my hands full with MJ - thanks Grandma.

A small lake on the way to Ruth Lake
The trail at this point continues on to another lake called Lofty Lake which DH really wanted to hike to. So we ended up sending him along with his dad and M&M and Luke. I found a spot next to the lake to feed MJ. I also scrounged around in my backpack and managed to find a few lollipops and mints for the kids to suck on. Once MJ was ready to go Mom N and I headed back to the car with the little kids. We hiked very slowly with me carrying MJ in the sling and holding Kay's hand as well. Kay was exhausted by the time we made it back to the car and she fell asleep almost instantly once we started back home. Not more than 5 minutes of our arrival back to the cars, DH's group made it back as well. They ended up not making it all the way to Lofty Lake because they didn't feel that everyone in the group was quite up to it. On the way back home DH's car stopped to pick up some KFC for dinner and some of the kids in my car ate their sandwiches as soon as we got home.
Looking for rocks to throw into Ruth Lake
Blondie was not feeling very well this day. She had a little bit of a sore throat the day before and then was cold all day on the day of the hike. She ended up hiking back to the car with MJ's blanket wrapped around herself. Once we got home from the hike she crashed on the couch and didn't feel like eating anything for dinner. She went to bed early and then woke up not long after that just screaming and crying about something - she never did tell us what was wrong. Then she went to bed again and woke up feeling and acting just fine on Sunday...