A Trip to the Beach

Enough of the snow and cold, let's go to the beach!

The week before Christmas we actually had the chance to do that. We drove to the San Francisco area to visit my brother who was traveling and my husband's sister and her family. The weather was a bit rainy, but it was a lot warmer than where we had come from.

One afternoon we headed out to the beach to check out the tidal pools. We had checked when the low tide would be and fortunately it worked out for us to go when it was low tide, and it was a particularly low tide. That made it extra fun to see what's out there.

It was a short walk from the parking area down to the beach. Then we went down some stairs and had the tidal area right in front of us to explore.

We took Emma in her stroller, which wasn't the best choice, but it worked out for part of the time.

I loved it that my nieces, who have grown up in California, are still fascinated by all the cool creatures that live along the shoreline.

It felt like we were on a scavenger hunt, with each find bringing oohs and ahs.

The stroller was left behind at the edge of the rocks, and Emma was toted in my husband's arms. He stopped to look at Ruby's find. I'm not sure he knew what to think.

It was a strange little creature.

My brother enjoyed the coast. And he enjoyed getting away from the office!

We continued going farther and farther out on the rocks. We descended down into the middle tidal zone and found some starfish and anemones.

Look, everyone!

This seriously wasn't a posed photo, but it sure turned out well. The overcast day made all the bright colors really stand out. The rain made the creek running through the tidal area muddy, but that didn't detract from our viewing.

Nearby we found some places where just the salt water was trapped and found some beautiful anemones.

Ruby was good at finding things! She found a crab shell and had fun posing with it.

Emma certainly didn't know what to make of all this. It was her first visit to the ocean.

After awhile, we decided it was time to play on the beach. After all, digging in sand is so much fun. For all ages!

Emma knows what to do with sand, although this sand was a bit wetter than what she's accustomed to.

Sand is for eating! At least one time. After one mouthful she decided that was enough and didn't put more in her mouth.

Sigh.

I think that's progress.

Art on the beach.

Lola was doing some serious digging.

And then it was time to play with Emma and see if she would walk. She did well taking assisted steps.

High stepping on the beach.

Emma thought walking with her aunt was terrific!

Eventually the rain started coming down hard and we decided it was time to go. It was a great excursion, and one we will remember fondly!

Family Fun-Water Park

While we were visiting in Indiana, we decided to go to a water park for the day. Actually, we had decided this before we even all met up, as we have some real water lovers in the family. Plus, this was an indoor water park, so it didn't matter what the weather was like.

They had a couple smaller slides for younger kids, and Desert Boy didn't waste any time trying them out.

They also had a pool less than a foot deep for the really little kids. Emma loved it, and especially loved swinging with Grandma pushing her.

Yum, the swing tastes good.

I don't know how much water she consumed that day, but it was a lot.

Water is fun! She played at least a couple hours in the water.

Desert Boy played even longer. He was so excited to give everything a try, and he was happy to have so much attention from his grandparents and aunts and uncles.

This water park wasn't just for little kids, though. It had some attractions for those who liked a little danger and excitement. Or maybe a lot of danger and excitement.

Okay, it couldn't be that dangerous, but I'm kind of a wimp when it comes to high speeds, and I had gotten whiplash at a different water park several years ago, so I was feeling a little leery about the slides.

I let my brothers go down them first and tell me what they thought. My brother Andrew convinced me it wasn't too bad and took me down one of the slides that you use an inner tube for. It was so much fun, I went down again and again.

The slide was different than any other I had ever been on before.

First you went down a steep slide and then were shot into this circular part, where you went around and around. You slowed down, but you weren't done, there was a feeling of anticipation that something bad might happen. (Thanks, Ed, for this photo and the next one.)

In the middle of the round part was a tube leading down. You kept getting closer and closer to it, and then whoosh--you were flushed down the toilet into a steep tube.

And out into the drainage!

It was so fun we convinced my parents to go on it.

Besides, who can resist going on a ride down the toilet?

Okay, that wasn't the real name of the ride, but it was the name we used.

Here's waiting for my mom and brother to come out.

What would her reaction be? Would she like it?

They arrived with a splash...

...and smiles!

After all the excitement, it was time for floating the lazy river.

And two of my brothers had fun goofing off and trying to prove how manly they were.

Shae took Desert Boy for a float down the river.

Then Desert Boy hung out with Aunt Mary.

He knows how to have a good time.

Meanwhile, it was time for the new baby to try out the water. She liked it quite a bit.

And Maria delighted in splashing while swinging. She liked the pirate slide even more, going down it an estimated one hundred times.

Emma and I spent some time together in the baby pool.

I noticed my fingers were getting pruny. It's been awhile since I've been in water so long that that has happened.

All in all, it was a super day! I'm ready for the next day at a water park. And I have to say that having it indoors was nifty, no need to apply sunscreen or worry about wind.

Sub-alpine Hike

A couple weeks ago I wanted to go on a hike. My husband was at work, which meant that it was going to be me and the kiddies. So I mentally geared up. Even though it can be a bit of a challenge to go for a hike with two young ones, I really wanted to get out of the desert heat and escape to the mountains. So we packed our backpacks (Desert Boy is required to carry one now, although I take out most of what he puts in it), and headed up to 10,000 feet to the trailhead. The temperature was fabulous, in the 60's.

The trail I selected was a loop, about two and a half miles long. I carried Desert Girl in a baby carrier, which meant Desert Boy was going to have to hike the entire way by himself. I knew physically he could do it, but mentally he would have to be persuaded. So we played games, and he remembered one from a previous hike, where we looked for hollowed out stumps.

The flaky bark on this Engelmann spruce caught my eye, a victim of spruce beetles.

I showed Desert Boy all the flaky bark at the base and the numerous holes in the bark on the tree. He probably won't remember it at all, but sometimes I can't muffle the ecologist in me! Even if my audience is a three-year old.

Bridges and elevated walkways are automatically counted in the fun category, and they don't take any extra persuading to cross.

We spotted this unusual knot in an aspen tree. Where I grew up, the Native Americans and early settlers sometimes twisted trees like this to mark trails, but I'm not sure what caused this one.

Then Desert Boy started in on the "Are we there yet?" questions. I had told him that we were going to visit two lakes, and although it was apparent that we weren't at a lake, he couldn't resist asking the question.

Repeatedly.

So we started a new game: throwing pine cones.

It was a pretty good game, lasting about five minutes.

Then it was back to, "Are we there yet?"

Fortunately we found some more distractions: some deer and then this Uinta chipmunk.

Then we proceeded with more of the same question.

Finally we got to the lake, and both kids were delighted. Desert Boy was mainly happy because I would finally let him eat a snack, and Desert Girl was happy because she could sit.

She cooperated with me for a scenic photo.

And then she said, "Come on mama, isn't that enough? I think you're taking too many photos."

Desert Girl can be opinionated like that.

Besides taking photos of my adorable kids, I also took lots of flower photos. I've been able to keep up my A Plant a Day blog better than I expected this summer, and in the process have been able to learn many more plants. I even jumped into the grasses, a plant family that has intimidated me in the past.

Oh, and if you're wondering what the flower is, it's some kind of aster. I'm not actually one hundred percent sure which one. I have a few (or more than a few) photos of plants that I still have yet to identify. So when it's all cold and snowy this winter, I'll be able to reminisce about the warm summer weather by looking at my 'unknown plant' photo file.


It was obvious that winter isn't all that far away by the low level of the second lake. Most of it had evaporated or drained away during the summer.

Some other people were at the lake when we were, and Desert Boy decided that they were his friends (we had never seen them before, but Desert Boy didn't let that stop him). He wanted to hike back to the trailhead with them. So when they left, we scurried to pack up our backpack contents and started running after them.

Desert Boy followed closely for a long way. Then he got distracted by some logs.

He wanted to walk on the logs, and I told him to go ahead.

He was balancing carefully. Oh, and if you're wondering about the outfit, he picked it out. He really wanted to wear the pajama bottoms, and I didn't see that it mattered, so I told him fine. He has quite the fashion sense.

He continued playing on the logs until he fell, then we managed to catch up to the other hikers (who had stopped to talk to other hikers). We followed them back to the trailhead, Desert Boy entertaining them by pretending to be a train. He was a very loud train, especially since he had packed his train whistle, but they fortunately didn't care.
It was a great hike, especially once Desert Boy stopped asking, "Are we there yet?" He didn't ask that any after the first lake.

Thank you to all hikers who encourage little kids--it does make a difference!