Utah trip -- kayaking at Payson Lakes

Later on we drove up Payson Canyon to kayak at Payson Lakes. That's a lot of "Payson" for one sentence....

It was just as beautiful as I remember it.

Oh the aspens! I miss your quakiness.  (Nice legs, Kaira....)

We spent most of the day there, so everyone had ample kayak time.

I bribed Megan to go out on her own. She didn't like it ONE BIT. But I'm positive she was proud of herself....way deep deep down inside. Deep deep down. Way down there.

Or maybe she's traumatized. Hard to tell.

While the others were out kayaking, we grazed on the plentiful offerings of our potluck picnic.

I mean, just look at that well-rounded chip selection! And I won't even mention the jello-parfait.

Delish.

We basked in the sun.

Mathew had more than his fair share of sodas. You do know you already have one in your hand, right Mat?

And I was jealous of Kaira's cute suit cover-up.

There was a 15 minute black hole of terror when Mathew and Ethan floated around a bend on two bright orange floaties and then the floaties came back with no boys. I immediately knew they had drowned and my life without them played out in my mind in every excruciating detail.

But they just hopped off to go on a little hike.

The little terds.

Then I did that thing that only moms can do where you yell at them and cry and laugh and hug them at the same time all while solemnly swearing to yourself that you will never let them out of your sight again because heaven knows you've learned your lesson.

Little terds.

The rest of the day we just snacked and hung out...(love your fingernails, Mom!)

And tried to shake the dirt off the towels to find somewhere to sit.

Finally... one of the best parts....when everybody falls asleep on the drive down and I get a precious 20 minutes of pure, beautiful, Payson-Canyon-wind-in-my-face silence.