Fruitcakes

 Desert Girl turned six last month, and to celebrate we had a couple little parties. We had talked about cakes beforehand and Desert Girl wanted to have a fruitcake. We were in the city the day before her party, so she got to pick out the fruits she wanted, which made her very happy. Then she helped decorate the cake.

The weather was atrocious, with a big blizzard, but some of her friends managed to make it over. They had fun drawing pictures with her new art set.

I can't remember exactly what they were doing here, maybe dancing? Then it was time for cake. Most of the kids enjoyed the fruitcake, although at least one wasn't too impressed.

The next night we had a little party for family and tried making some fruit cupcakes along with some banana chocolate chip muffins. With the increased rates of obesity and diabetes in the country, I want the kids to see that they can still have a great time without consuming so much sugar.

Desert Girl looked forward to her treats.

Some of her cousins and other family were able to come over and celebrate, which made her very happy. It's not easy having a winter birthday, but this time it felt a little more summery!

Super Fun Colorful Milk Demonstration

Desert Girl came home from school one day this week and asked if we could do a science experiment. I happily agreed, and knew exactly what we would do. One of my brothers had recently sent me a link to a video on Facebook that showed this demonstration. The demo would be a fun art project that showed a little chemistry in action.

Super Fun Colorful Milk Demonstration
Step 1: Put whole milk in a saucer. (whole milk is important here; 2% or creamer would probably also work)

 Step 2: Add a few drops off food coloring (we try to avoid artificial food colorings in our food, but I'm glad I saved these because they are great for science experiments!).

Step 3: Add a drop of dishwashing detergent. Dawn was recommended, but we use an eco-friendly one and that worked out fine.

Step 4: Watch what happens.

Step 5: See the crazy swirls as the colors dance.

Sometimes they make fun patterns.

Step 6: Explain what's happening. I found Steve Spangler's explanation very good. (In a nutshell, the soap's hydrophobic ends are racing around trying to attach to the fat molecules in the milk.)

You can add another drop to watch the reaction longer.

We had so much fun with this demonstration that it had an encore performance after dinner. And in writing up this blog, I found that it's possible to do with Elmer's glue, which then hardens and leaves a lasting impression of this fun reaction. Look out for future art projects!

Desert Girl Turns 5

 Desert Girl turned five recently. We were out of town, so we had to postpone her party.

Fortunately the weather cooperated, and when we took treats to her preschool, we were also able to do a piñata outdoors. The kids were so excited.

They had a lot of fun swinging at Tinkerbell.

After two rounds, the piñata still hadn't broken, so I just scattered the contents on the ground. I didn't want the kids to get too sugared up, so they grabbed for organic fruit snacks, mini bubbles, stampers, and some random toys around the house. (Sorry, other parents, I just couldn't take stray army men and animals any more. Hopefully they have found a happy place in your house!)

We also had a little family party. Desert Girl loved the attention. The guys loved playing an airplane game. Ha, ha.

Desert Girl is in a big doll phase right now, so she was very excited to open a doll with accessories. She ran and got a little tiara to make the doll even more a princess.

When it came time to cupcakes (which she wanted to help make because now that she's five she has the privilege of cracking eggs), she was still clutching the doll.

Fortunately she's not too girly. She was offered a ride by her uncle in one of the ranch's small planes, and although hesitant at first, she eventually worked up her nerve and got in. She peered out the window the whole time and took in a different view.

I'm sure she will have lots of fun times as a 5 year old!

School Christmas Plays 2014

 Desert Boy goes to a one-room school with ten kids total in grades kindergarten through second grade. Every year his teacher picks a different theme for the year, which is an excellent idea to keep things fresh and the kids engaged. This year the theme is different countries, with each student picking one. Desert Boy chose Norway (I think at least partly influenced by the movie Frozen, which he honors frequently by singing the songs from it). The teacher writes the Christmas play, and this year the students were visiting the International Space Station and telling each other about the countries they came from.

They made such cute astronauts!

It took me a little while to get my manual settings correct for the indoor lighting. I was doing better by the time the next group came on stage, the 3rd-6th graders, who also attend a one-room school (actually the school has more than one room, but all 15 kids are in the same classroom with one teacher). They took us to the tropics for a pirate-themed play with lots of song and dance numbers.

They had obviously put in a lot of time to get the choreography right and memorize all the songs and lines.

Afterwards Santa arrived, and my kids ran to get in line to visit them.

Desert Boy had no qualms about sitting on Santa's lap. He asked for a toy light saber. But later, in the retelling, it sounded like he wanted a toilet saver. So now that's a family joke.

Desert Girl wasn't at all certain about sitting on Santa's lap. She couldn't think of what she wanted. She got uncomfortable.

I thought she might cry. Finally she got her bag of candy, peanuts, and a Cutie, and quickly departed.

Most of the kids enjoyed their visits with Santa, though, including this little guy whose father was afraid that his child might recognize Santa. I think he was safe.

Merry Christmas! The excitement is building in our house.

Desert Girl and the Monkey Bars

 One afternoon while we were waiting for Desert Boy to finish his piano lesson, Desert Girl had a chance to play with her friend Ella. Ella started across the monkey bars, and this really impressed Desert Girl.

So Desert Girl took a turn. She's 4 1/2 now and can be quite stubborn. I knew she really wanted to do the monkey bars, because on the way home from our fall vacation we stopped at the great playground in Austin, Nevada, and she gave those monkey bars a try.

She began across, those little hands holding tight, eyes focused on the next bar...

…legs flailed, hair flew, and she became even more determined...

…but sometimes determination isn't quite enough...

…but sometimes it is.

So did she make it across? Watch the video to find out!

Hiking with Kids-North Schell Peak, Nevada

My husband and I will soon be off on our tenth anniversary trip. We decided to climb Mount Rainier, at 14,410 ft. To prepare, we decided we should hike one mountain peak a month, and we've amazingly been able to stick to that training plan.

In April we hiked Crystal Peak, 7,108 ft, 2.5 miles round trip, a few hundred ft elevation gain.

In May we hiked Wheeler Peak, 13,063 ft, eight miles round trip, about 3,000 ft elevation gain.

In June we hiked Mount Moriah, 12,050 ft, 7.5 miles round trip, about 2,000 ft elevation gain.

In July we hiked Pyramid Peak, 11,998 ft, 8 miles round trip, 3,900 ft elevation gain.

And in August we hiked North Schell Peak, 11,883 ft, 6 miles round trip, 2,800 ft elevation gain.

Here's the story of the North Schell Peak trip, a peak I really enjoyed.

The night before we stayed at the Timber Creek campground. Since it's not far from Ely, we fully expected it to be full, but only two other campsites (of about 11 there) had tents up. Each site had a concrete pad, fire pit, picnic table, and lots of space. Potable water and pit toilets were nearby.

It was a chilly night, and we woke to frost on our packs. So we got up, left the tent in place, drove to the end of the road, and started hiking. We followed an old road through the aspens.

The old road followed Timber Creek as it curved to the north. The scenery was gorgeous.

The trail climbed steadily along the drainage. I hadn't even expected a trail so far up, so was very pleasantly surprised. The creek went dry, but we did find an occasional spring.

I even found a few ferns in a cool, moist spot.

And also a deer skeleton. Even though it's bow season, we didn't see any hunters.

The trail petered out as the creek bed merged into alpine slopes. We stopped for one of many snack breaks and snapped a quick family photo (I've learned not to wait until the top!).

Then we knew we just needed to go up. A gentle ridge beckoned us.

The lupine was still blooming, although some seed looked ready.

We found some wood up high on the slope, above any trees, indicating that the forest used to be up higher on the slopes.

Although Desert Girl was carried for about 500 ft elevation gain, she did most of the hike. One technique that was particularly effective was for her to share her dad's hiking poles. When he moved a pole forward, that helped propel her forward.

Desert Boy was charging ahead to the summit, except that what he thought was the summit was a false summit. It was a hard lesson to learn. Fortunately the bribe of pizza after the hike helped rekindle everyone's spirits. Plus as we got higher, the scenery was so dramatic.

Finally we only had the last ridge to climb, past the small wind shelter.

I got distracted by the alpine plants, which are so diminutive due to their short growing season and harsh conditions they have to withstand.

When I looked up from photographing plants, I saw my husband and kids making good progress.

The ridge had looked so sharp from below, but was not at all hard to hike up. We were glad we had our coats, it was cold!

And then we were there! Even our dog Henry made it.

Of course the top isn't the end of the hike, it's only halfway! We still had to get back to the vehicle. We debated going back the way we had come (which would have been a good idea and easier) or following the ridge and taking the straight line down. Since we seem to be suckers for taking the hike less traveled, we followed the ridge.

A huge group of ravens hung out in the leeward side of a saddle.

The buckwheat was beautiful.

Someday I'd like to hike a lot more of the crest. The Schell Creek Range is 142 miles long. I don't think I need to hike all that, but a few more miles would be beautiful.

Can you spot the people? We didn't see anyone else on our entire hike. The register from mid-July had seven people signed in. Nevertheless, North Schell Peak is a popular peak with those wanting to hike peaks with greater than 5,000 feet prominence. (Here's a list of ultra-prominent peaks in the lower 48).

It was blustery on our way down.


Although the landscape views are superb, I like taking in the little details, too, like the little wasp. It had a variety of flowers to visit.

Some of the quartzite rocks had interesting patterns in them.

And here's a pretty butterfly.

The scenery was absolutely spectacular. Have I mentioned that already? I know that I certainly never pictured Nevada looking like some of it does. The Basin and Range topography makes for a huge diversity of habitats.

Before long we reached a huge aspen grove, with most of the aspens bent due to winter snows.

It took us four hours to get up and about 2.5 hours to get down, with a round-trip total of close to six miles. It could certainly be done faster if you didn't need to take as many snack breaks!

Before we left the canyon, we had to stop at the playground. Yes, Timber Creek campground has a playground!

I hope to get back to the Schell Creek Range to do some more hiking. It is gorgeous and uncrowded.