As I’ve mentioned previously, the last few months in Hadley’s world have been tough. If you have any doubts what a nightmare middle school is for girls, watch this seventh grader’s poem that went viral about the pressures of seventh grade.
The good news is now that she’s removed from that social environment, we are seeing our beloved spitfire starting to reemerge. One of the results of her downward spiral were her grades–she went from the honor roll and feeling on top of the world the first two terms to a couple of Ds and several Cs as she struggled to turn her work in on time and stay on top of her exams. To her credit, she clawed her way out, ending up with all Bs and As but it reconfirmed that we need to hire a math tutor for eight grade because that was one of the triggers for a lot of her stress.
She got a phone and texting plan on her old iPod for her birthday and her first texts to me were 1) “Come get me” (during a lame assembly). And 2), While I was mountain biking, I got several texts from her while she was at an end-of-year event at school: “I’m bored.” “Entertain me.” Because I had nothing better to do.
She has put her love of art, drawing and painting on the backburner and has a new interest in photography. Her main Christmas present was a new Canon and since spring has sprung, she has become more excited about it (this is also likely related to her new Instagram account and desire to take good pictures).
I took this picture when she was a 2-day-old teen: She slept in until 1:30 pm and she didn’t notice the deer photobombers as she took her profile pic for her new Instagram account. P.S. Yes, that would be the Pumpkin Man in his patch even though he has been suffering with debilitating vertigo the last few days and I had to take him to the hospital clinic. BECAUSE EVEN IF YOU CAN’T WALK WITHOUT PUKING, PUMPKIN SEASON MUST GO ON.
She convinced me to let her skip the last half-day of school so we could go hiking on the WOW Trail. The kid knows how to manipulate me in the best ways. She somehow finagled herself a shopping trip to Park City to buy her new socks…and she came home with everything but socks.
I was working on an article for Discover Utah Magazine so Hadley had two zipline weekends in a row. The first was with the entire family at Adventure Zipline Utah, a super fun and casual canopy tour with plenty of adrenaline-charged moments. We were encouraged to do all kinds of zany stunts–our guides even did front flips off the platform!
Hadley’s adventure started during the 4×4 drive to the top of the course where she had to stand at the back of the vehicle, clip in her carabiner and hold on.
Those views of Mount Timpanogos aren’t bad, either!
The following weekend, Hadely and I conquered Zipline Utah overlooking Deer Creek. There are plenty of tour options available and we selected one of their more more extreme courses–8 ziplines and 2 suspension bridges. Our feet didn’t touch the ground the entire 2-hour tour as we flew from platform-to-platform, climbing lots of stairs. I wouldn’t recommend this tour for the beginner but we still had loads of fun, with the exception of the second-longest zipline on the course where I crash-landed on the platform. Not too fun and probably terrifying for our guide to see me careening toward him at 50 mph.
Suspension Bridge
Not recommended for those afraid of heights
That bad landing made us both nervous to try the Screaming Falcon, the longest zipline in the world over water–3/4 of a mile–but our guide assured us there was a different braking system on that zipline so we decided to go for it (especially after we saw on the guide’s DOG doing it; he even had his own harness!) We were apprehensive as they drove us to to the top of the mountain with the platform. Adventure Girl went first and it was a thrill to watch her disappear over water and it was my turn next. The sheer velocity made it difficult to catch my breath and I regretted not doing up my coat because it was flapping all around me.
Longest zipline in the world over water
But it was truly one of the most exhilarating things I’ve ever done!
One night for FHE, we let Hadley choose the FHE activity and what started as a casual stroll ended up having a 2,000-foot elevation gain. 
As I was limping down I commented, “Hiking and skiing are my favorite activities to do all together.”
She scoffed, “Together? You were like a mile behind me.”
Welcome back, Hadley.
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 