Antelope Island

I wanted to do something fun with my kids on Friday. Things have been stressful with trying to find a home and the kids will be starting a new school very soon. So I wanted to take them all out for a little day's adventure. At first I thought I would take them to Temple square and do that sort of thing, but then I thought that it might be boring. Ruth and Kate had learned about the Salt Lake while we still lived in Kansas, and they were excited to try out floating in the Salt lake. So I decided to take all 7 of my kids to Antelope Island. We packed our swimsuits, sunscreen, and a bunch of snacks and took off for Antelope Island. When we got there, we decided to go to the beach part first and maybe hike near the Buffalo part later. I thought it best for us all to use the bathroom first. The lines were kind of long, so that took about 15 minutes. Then we started down the hill toward the Salt Lake. Unlike most beaches (ocean and lake beaches) I have been to, the parking lot and amenities were very far from the water. I was carrying Baby Joseph, but we hadn't gone more than a few steps when I realized that the sand was too deep for Anya to walk through. So I picked up Anya too. The sand was very deep and hot, and the sun was very hot too. Right away, we were all thirsty. But I had left all of the water bottles in the car because I thought it would be easier to walk back up for drinks and snacks rather than trying to carry everything down. So I carried two kids through thick hot sand, then through hard rocky, prickily salt flats, and then through millions of flies to get to the water. Joseph wanted to eat at this point, so I had to sit on the nasty salty sand to nurse him, while all of my other kids except Anya ran into the water. When Joseph was done, I went into the water carrying Joseph and holding Anya's hand. Anya was excited about the water at first. She ran in, sat down, tried to lay down, but then she got some water in her mouth. Anya then started crying and gagging while I picked her up. I thought, "Well, this is not good for you." I told her to get out of the water. But Anya really wanted to swim, so she repeated the above steps again and again. I kept trying to get her out of the water, but she would not. Ruth, Kate, and Johnny all tried floating in the Salt Lake, and just like they were told, the water has so much salt that it does make you float with no real effort on your part. At first, they thought this was really neat, but after a few minutes Ruth declared that all the salt was making her skin burn. Kate said the same thing, and Johnny said that the water was really disgusting and he just needed a bath. Adam and Rachel still seemed to enjoy splashing around, and they liked that they could wade far into the water and it still did not get very deep. So I let them play a few more minutes before I suggested we go back up to the car. I told everyone to get their shoes on and start walking back. I grabbed up Anya (I was still just carrying Joseph) and decided to get a head start. But Rachel started crying because her feet were too hot from the hot sand. I told her to get her shoes on, but she could bot I find them. I looked for Rachel's shoes, but I could not find them either. So I carried Anya and Joseph up as far as Kate had walked. I had Kate hold Joseph and stand with Anya. Then I traveled back and carried Rachel up to Kate, Joseph, and Anya. Ruth came running up at that point and asked to help me. I gave Anya to Ruth to carry, and then I carried Rachel and Joseph. Ruth was obviously having trouble carrying Anya. So I traded Rachel for Anya. So Ruth carried Rachel piggy back through the yucky salt flats and up the steep hill covered in deep soft sand. I carried Anya and Joseph. Since Ruth and Kate were still saying their skin was burning from all of the salt, Ruth, Kate, Rachel, Johnny, and Adam went straight to the showers. I took Joseph and Anya to the car to get some water and then I drove to the showers and got the other kids. They said that the showers were freezing, but I think that was probably good after the long hot walk back up to the parking lot. After everyone rinsed off a bit, we sat at a picnic table covered in part by bird poop and the kids had a big junk foody snack while I fed the baby again. After I cleaned up the food mess, I buckled my 7 sandy, salty kids into the car and we left. We decided not to do any hiking given that Joseph, Anya, and Rachel could not walk. (Rachel could not walk because she had lost her shoes.) We did drive around to see the buffalo, but we did not see any. So then we drove home through Salt Lake City during rush hour. When we got home everyone took real showers and sat down for a movie. I think the movie was the highlight of the day. I do not think I will attempt a trip like Antelope Island again until all of my kids can walk through deep sand in the hot sun. I'd have to say that while it was hard and not at all fun, Ruth was a very big help with the little kids. She was really like having another adult along. So thank you, Ruthy for making my life easier and happier.