A Little Tea Party

 Desert Girl has been spending a lot of time having pretend tea parties with a tea party set she got for her birthday. So I asked her if she'd like to have a real tea party, and her eyes got all big like she couldn't really believe her luck. And then she said yes.

So I got out the fine china (it's hand wash only, so it was very dusty!), and Desert Girl invited over her good friend Isaac, and we made cute little muffins and put toothpicks in cantaloupe and a tablecloth on the table and it was all so over the top! (Just like that last sentence.)

 Having tea is more about the pomp and circumstance than the tea, so we made a big production of picking our teas and our snacks. Then it was time to add the hot water, which was very hot. The kids really wanted to pour from the "teapot" on the table (the creamer), so I put cold water in that, and they added it to their hot water.

 They learned how to put napkins on their laps and how to dip their tea bags and wait for the tea to steep.

 We also worked on putting up the pinkie when sipping, but that's something we'll have to practice again!

They had a super time, even though they decided they didn't really like tea and would rather just drink plain water instead. It all made me smile. A lot.

Run Like a Goose at the Delta Snow Goose Festival

Delta, Utah holds an annual Snow Goose Festival late every February. Thousands of snow geese congregate as they rest on their migration from the Imperial Valley in California to northwestern Canada, near the Anderson River. In Delta, they forage in the nearby agricultural fields and also rest on the open water. To our surprise, there wasn't much open water, but fortunately enough near the reservoir inlet to allow them to have some space.

Although we like birds, I have to admit that what attracts us the most is the Wild Goose Chase, a 5K/10K run. The last two years the weather was miserable, and I decided that we weren't going to sign up until the week of the race, and only if the weather forecast was good. Fortunately this year the weather cooperated.

 Desert Girl did her pre-race dance moves sporting her princess running outfit (complete with light-up glitter princess shoes, apparently what every princess runs in.)

 After the 5k race, we posed for a family photo. I'm not sure why we can't all look at the camera at the same time!

 Several other folks from our area also ran (and did very well!), and we took a group photo by the edge of the reservoir. An excavator had moved away the thick ice for the upcoming Dunk, Dunk, Goose.

 Before that started, though, it was time for the kids race. They could do either 1/4 mile or 1 mile. Both our kids chose the 1/4 mile race. Desert Girl stood by herself and waited patiently. Desert Boy went up to the other boys, and I was amazed to hear them all trash talking:
"I'm going to win the race." 
"No, I am." 
"Well, I'm taller than you, so I'm going to win." 
"I'm 6, so that means I'm going to win." 
Oh, my!

 The shirts were adorable. Desert Boy sported the shirt from last year (the red "baby goose chase"), while runner #474 had on this year's shirt, a nice tech shirt.

 Desert Girl came in dead last, but had an awesome time running. She was so much into the spirit of things. She is still running whenever she can, because she knows she is a super runner, and she wants to get ready for her next race (whenever that might be!).

 We saw the Dunk, Dunk, Goose participants from afar--it made me cold just to watch them!

Then we went in search of food. First we went to another part of the reservoir, where we found a paltry three booths, and only pizza and donuts as food offerings. I guess the cold and wind of years past scared off vendors. So we went to the fairgrounds, where we found the quilt show and quite a few vendors, but only one food booth. We bought some food and headed outside as there wasn't anyplace to eat inside, and ate in the parking lot.

After a stop at the playground, we went to the West Millard Swimming Pool. I had called ahead but had gotten no answer (or answering machine), so we were sad when we found a sign saying the pool was closed to be replastered. (Swimming after the Wild Goose Chase has become a tradition, and is such a nice way for the kids to have fun and the adults to work out sore muscles!) To try and quench the kids' tears, we went to McDonald's and redeemed the ice cream coupons they had received in their race packs. While I was in the restroom, a nice lady from Tooele who had come down for the festival asked if I had seen the geese. I said just from very far away, as so much of the reservoir was covered with ice. She gave me directions to a spot that was close to the geese, and we had a great viewing spot!

 One photographer was at the edge with a lens nearly as big as him!

We hung out in the warm sun and watched and listened to the geese for awhile. They are truly spectacular.

Signs of Spring

It may only be the beginning of March, but we're seeing some definite signs of spring around here. This morning I was shocked to see a flower blooming! True, we've had a warmer winter than usual (sorry, all my friends in the Midwest and East!), but it still seems early. Here are a few photos showing harbingers of spring.

Spring storm clouds

Migrating Snow Geese

Trees budding (uh, oh, this could be trouble!)

A spring flower (hat) at the Winter Carnival

My mini greenhouse

New sprouts in my garden

It's only a week until the time changes, and then it will feel even more like spring.

How to Make Birding Fun When There Just Aren't a Lot of Birds Around

It's time for a check-in on Desert Survivor's Backyard Bird Challenge. How are you doing? We've had a very slow couple of weeks, with only a rough-legged hawk added to our species list. But we've seen some birds outside our yard lately, like Canada geese, mallards, mountain bluebirds, western meadowlarks, and sandhill cranes, that we are hoping we can add soon.

Even though we are in a bit of a slump, we still hit 15 birds for the month of February, which is pretty awesome. Even better is when I checked our list, hanging on the refrigerator, and noticed a new entry (this was before the rough-legged hawk):

 Sure, red-tailed hawks are our most common hawks, so a sighting of one didn't have me jumping up and down. What did is that Desert Boy had taken the initiative to write it down. He spotted it with his dad, and was so excited about finding his very own bird.

That made me think he might be ready for another little tool to make birding a little more interesting for him:

So we bought Bird Log Kids: A Kid's Journal to Record Their Birding Experiences. Desert Boy was excited to have his very own specialized journal. Here's his first entry:

The journal is great because he includes birds anywhere we go, not just in the backyard. We saw about 5,000 snow geese near Delta, Utah, when we went to the annual Snow Goose Festival (to be reported soon on this blog!). That made an impression. When I pointed out to Desert Boy that we had 15 backyard bird sightings, and that would fill up half his journal, he got pretty excited. We are taking it slow, though, with only a couple entries a week so he doesn't burn out.

I have to say that participating in the backyard bird challenge has made me a lot more aware of the birds that live in the yard. We see about 15 European starlings, a couple Eurasian collared doves, a handful of dark-eyed juncos, a northern flicker, a magpie, and some pinyon jays almost every day. I scan the yard every time I go outside, looking for something out of the ordinary. A great horned owl hoots me to sleep a few evenings a week.

If you haven't started the Backyard Bird Challenge, it's not too late! The rules are easy: keep track of what bird species you see in your backyard! Now that we're starting March, it will be interesting to see what different birds appear from those we saw in February.

In the meantime, if you see an interesting bird, don't be afraid to "whoa" and enjoy the moment!

Note: this post contains an affiliate link, wherein you will be able to purchase an item (or anything else you put in your cart for 24 hours) for the same regular price but I will receive a very small commission, which helps keep these posts coming. 

Biking with Kids on St. George's Urban Trails

St. George, Utah, has a wonderful urban trail system. We took our bikes on our last visit to take advantage of it. You can find a map of the trail system here, although I wanted a larger version and was able to get one (along with a lot of other great information) from the BLM office on Riverside Drive (follow the signs to recreation information).

I had previously ridden some of the trails with the kids, including along the Virgin River, and found the trails amazing. Here you are, in a fairly large city, but you can get away from it all so easily and be right next to nature!

Canada geese on top of a cliff next to the trail

For this trip, we decided that we would try out sections of trails we hadn't been on yet. To entice the kids, we linked up several playgrounds. After all, what kid can resist, "Do you want to go for a bike ride to a playground?"

We started at the Riverside trailhead and went upriver towards Slickrock Park. Due to a detour we had to do some of our own route finding, which included riding on some dirt right next to the Dinosaur Discovery Center, which we had enjoyed last year. It didn't take long to get to the unique park, which consists of two huge boulders.

 The boulders are about 12 feet tall and have some challenging routes up them (some I certainly couldn't do!). It was a fun change from a regular park. Then we headed on the bike trail (which included an unexpected portion down an alleyway) to 2540 East Park. This was a fun park, and the kids enjoyed the playground.

Next we rode a few blocks to go over to Centennial Park. It's so much fun to check out the different playgrounds, and the kids liked the different challenges. After playing a bit, we rode a few streets over to Middleton Wash trail, and got on at the beginning.

 The trail is fantastic, going through tunnels and over bridges next to a scenic creek. Since we don't have very good places to ride bikes where we live (except on the highway, which is certainly not ideal for kids), I am so grateful to have the opportunity to use these multi-use trails.

 Even better in Desert Boy's mind was that the whole trail was downhill.

 Once we got back along the Virgin River, the kids asked to stop and throw rocks. We said yes, after all it is often the simplest pleasures that give the greatest joys. Desert Boy thought he wanted to swim, but once his toes touched the water, he changed his mind. Maybe some other time.

So if you're heading to St. George, check out the urban trails. They have so many, and they are great for a walk, ride, or skate.

Snow Canyon State Park with Kids

 We recently headed south for some warmer weather and decided to visit Snow Canyon State Park. It's been many years since we've gone, and when we paid our admission fee, the nice volunteer recommended that we do the petrified sand dunes hike. We took his suggestion and found a fascinating place.

 It was a really overcast day, which kind of dashed my hopes of getting some awesome sunset/moonrise photos, but it was still a great day for hiking.

I'm not used to seeing so much red rock, so I really enjoyed it. This is Navajo sandstone, about 183 million years old, and in layers up to 2,500 feet thick.

The views were outstanding.

 I loved the patterns in the sandstone and tried to figure out how the layers had been preserved with so many different angles.

 We stopped for an all-important snack break.

  We followed the hiking trail for awhile, then decided to make our own loop back around. Desert Boy wanted to try some rock climbing.

Desert Girl had to do what big brother did!

We really enjoyed the Petrified Sand Dune stop. Then we went down the road a bit and stopped at the sand dunes. It was getting late and the sand was quite cold, so we didn't stay long.

Lots of other families with kids were having a great time there.

We had one more stop that had been recommended as very kid friendly: the 1/4 mile Jenny's Canyon.

 The parking area was small, but since we were so late in the day, we had space. We walked on the sandy path, which didn't exactly agree with her sparkly red shoes (I didn't realize her hiking footwear until we had already left the house!).

 The trail quickly enters a narrow slot canyon. It was dark at the end of it.

In fact, soon we had to use the flash to get photos. This was the perfect length of hike to end the evening. Then it was time to get some food and hang out.

There's lots more to see and do in Snow Canyon, including 38 miles of hiking trails, 3 miles of a paved multi use trail, camping, caving in lava tubes, and rock climbing, so we'll be back another day!

A Muddy Little Cave

 We went with some friends into a little cave. It's been awhile since the kids have gone caving, so they were excited to venture into the unknown.

The first part of the cave was walking, but then Desert Boy found a little crawlway. The next thing I knew, he was charging down it and wanted me to follow.

 It was big for him, but not for me!

 To my surprise, Desert Girl followed. She may be a princess, but she doesn't mind getting dirty

 Our wallowing in mud was rewarded with sights of several small pools of water, something I hadn't seen before in this cave.

 Desert Girl checking out one of the pools.

 One of our friends came part way into the crawl too. Do you like Desert Girl's caving outfit? She picked it out herself.

 Soon we were out in the natural light, where we could see just how dirty we had gotten. It was a fun cave!