Water Boy

On our recent trip to the Midwest to visit family and friends, we also had several opportunities to play in water. And Desert Boy loves water. I think that might even be an understatement. Most kids like water, but I think kids that grow up in the desert see so little of it get extra excited because they know water's a scarce resource.

One of our stops was the Face Fountain at Millenium Park in Chicago, an interactive place that was attracting large crowds. The water isn't deep, no more than an inch or two, but it feels oh so cool.

Desert Boy was lucky to have a couple of young ladies willing to accompany him around the fountain. That was great for me because I didn't have to keep a constant eye on him.

Instead I could watch the man-made waterfalls and occasional spurting of water. Desert Boy wasn't too sure about the spouting water, but some of the other kids got right in the spray.

Despite the shallow water, Desert Boy found a way to get wet--just get down and splash!

This fountain was at Lincoln Park zoo, and water squirted out of various spots in a random pattern, so it was a challenge to run through it and not get wet.

Of course, Desert Boy sort of wanted to get wet, so he inched his way closer to the water spray,.

The most water we encountered was at the hotel pool. Desert Boy jumped in by himself, was toted around the pool, and practiced swimming. But his favorite activity was to be thrown into the pool. We quickly learned that he just sank to the bottom, so the catcher had to be quick to pull him up. He wiped his face off, scrunched up his nose, and then said, "Do it again, do it again."

So he got thrown in again...

...and again...

...and again. Oops, something didn't go quite right with this entry. That didn't faze Desert Boy, though. He still wanted to do it again. 

Notice how so many different people are throwing him in? His aunts, uncles, and grandpa definitely wanted to have their turn!

Now every time we go to a hotel, Desert Boy wants to go swimming. And jumping. And go flying through the air. I think he's turning into an adventure junkie.

Desert Boy Goes Flying

A couple weeks ago, Desert Boy got to go for his first plane ride with his Grandpa in the two-seater Cub airplane.

He wasn't too sure what to think at first.

But then he relaxed and thought it was cool to look at everything from a different point of view.

This is the pond on the ranch, which is often filled with hundreds of geese and ducks this time of year.

The meadows are full of cows. I'm not sure if Desert Boy realized they were cows or not. After all, they do look quite different from this angle.

Here's part of our little town. It sure looks brown late in the summer--almost all the vegetation is past its peak. The trees provide welcome shade. Many are quite old, with some planted by the first settlers over a hundred years ago.

This is a view of town looking out towards the ranch, where the irrigated meadows make it look a bit greener. The fire hall and school are in the lower left-hand corner.

Desert Boy liked his trip. And every time he sees an airplane, or even a contrail lit up by moonlight, he gets excited and points them out! I think he'll be wanting to go on some more plane trips in the future. 

Playing in the Sandbox

Desert Boy shared his sandbox the other day with Baby Aaron, who is about 10 months old. 

Desert Boy looks like he is trying to be helpful, but looks can be deceiving.

Desert Boy explains to Aaron that he's not ready to share.

And from the looks of it, Aaron isn't too happy!

It was good for them both to get a little time with another young'un, even if they aren't the best of play partners. It won't be long until they're out roaming around, building forts, climbing trees, and trying to raft down the irrigation ditches. Thinking about all that makes the sandbox seem like a great idea to me!

Lunchtime Horseride

We headed over to the cookhouse at lunch the other day and saw some horses were joining us. Desert Boy got very excited, but we told him he had to eat some food before he could ride a horse.

After lunch, his new buddy Baby Aaron rode with his dad. Desert Boy watched and wanted to get on, too. He had to be patient and wait a little bit. That's not easy for a two-year old!

Nevertheless, Cousin C got on his horse and Uncle Dave took Desert Boy over to greet the horse, Shelley.

And then Desert Boy got to ride. He was tremendously excited. 
But he still managed to mug for the camera. He's well-trained!

Summer Fun: Cooling Off

It's July in the desert, and even though we live in the high desert, the temperatures have been creeping into the high 90s and even over 100. So we've been looking for ways to cool off and beat the heat. One way was an obstacle course with a water trap. Th goal was to swing over the pool without falling in.

The kids quickly learned how to get wet if they wanted to.

Then it was on to the boogie-woogie on the unstable spool.

Desert Boy met up with his little friend, Ava, and they decided to go for a walk with Ruby.

Desert Boy sure looks like he's enjoying life!

Of course, he's happy in most any situation, and will ham it up for the camera. 

Squirting Mama is always a great past time. I don't even mind when it's so hot.

But all things lead back to the swimming pool. It was easy enough to swing one person across, but what about two?

Should I be worried?

Escaping the Heat

Yesterday it got to 99 degrees in the valley. So we headed high up on the mountain to find some cooler air, and sure enough, at the trailhead at about 10,000 feet it was 70 degrees. Yeah! We started out on a hike towards the bristlecones with eight kids and two moms. 

Desert Boy hiked some on the way up, and two of his cousins were really helpful, guiding him over the rocky terrain.

We stopped to smell the flowers. They all learned that these Polemonium flowers smell like skunks!

The flower is pretty, but stinky.

The real excitement came when we reached a patch of snow.

The girls made snow angels,

while Desert Boy threw snow balls at them.

Up ahead, some of the older cousins had found a wonderful snow-covered hillside and were busy sliding down it.

You could get some good speed on the slippery slope.

They did it over and over again, enjoying the speed and the cold.

Amazingly, no one even got hurt!

Eventually we had to leave, and one of my nieces helped carry my camera back to the trail. I enjoyed looking at the photos she took on the way.

Happy cousins.

"I'll make a face because I want to."

Peace, rock glacier.

"I just ate something really tart."

The end of the hike ended with a snack--animal crackers dipped in Nutella. Everyone agreed that was the best snack ever in the entire universe.

Especially Desert Boy. He slept the whole way down, but he woke up for the snack. He wouldn't miss that for anything.