Zipline

 A little while ago, we went to the house of some friends and the kids were thrilled to try out their zipline. Desert Boy was the perfect size for it.

Uncle Tom graciously started him.

 All smiles! The first time he went whizzing into the tree at the end. After that, he figured out how to avoid a painful collision. Lots of people watched him, including...

 ...Desert Girl! I hope I'm not considered a bad parent for allowing my two year old to go on the zipline! She does great on the monkey bars at the playground and I've seen her hold on to a bar for over a minute, so I knew she was strong enough. The question was did she want to?

I asked her if she wanted to go.

She most certainly did.

 Well, maybe she has some reservations.

 And then she's off, with a long way down to the grass below.

 She went on about ten times and never fell once. I think she will be a strong cowgirl! (She chose her outfit.)

She especially liked it when her cousin caught her at the end. Whoo hoo!

I just hope that my kids don't get ideas about building ziplines off our roof. I can just imagine how much fun that would be.

First Day of Kindergarten

 Desert Boy started kindergarten today. The night before we went to the school so the kids could pick out their desks, play, and eat cookies. The parents learned important stuff like dress code and that the kids would get homework four days a week. The parents couldn't help smiling as the kids bounced around, obviously so happy to be going to school.

 Although from this photo, it looks like the boys might have a hard time sitting still at their desks!

We don't have many kids out here, so grades K-2 are in a one-room schoolhouse with one teacher and one aide. There are about 15 kids in the three grades.

I had to take a photo of los tres amigos in front of the school. I love how they are holding hands. (Do you see one extra hand in the photo? Any guesses who that belongs to?)

 This morning we did the first-day-of-school photo. Desert Girl insisted that she be in it too.

 At the bus stop we tried to get the kids to line up, but they didn't want to look in the same spot at the same time.

 Cute little Izaak. He's got a few years to go!

 When the bus pulled up and opened the doors, Desert Boy dashed to it.

 All the kids were so excited to go. They didn't look back.

 I think Henry wanted to go to.

At the end of the day, Desert Boy still had lots of energy. He had a quick meltdown when I told him he couldn't have a playdate with one of his friends that afternoon. But he soon recovered, and we went home and got the homework out of the way and played lots. After dinner he made his lunch so he's all ready to go in the morning.

I asked lots of questions about his day.
Favorite part of it? Lying down during story time.
What song did they sing? One about bears.
What did they do in P.E.? Puzzles. (I'm not sure if that's what they really did, but that's what he told me.)
Did they do math? Yep, but he couldn't remember what.
What letters did they write? A through G.
What stories did the teacher read to them? Actually, I forget his answer!

He said the school was warm, he ate most his lunch but not all of it, and overall, "School was great!"

Here's hoping for many more great school days!

A Walk in the Woods

Shoes? Check.
Cameras? Check.
Water bottles? Check.
LOTS of snacks? Check.
Pirate gear? Check.
Princess paraphanelia? Check.
Train sounds? Check.
We were ready to go hiking, a little walk in the woods.

 I was on the lookout for photos for a photo challenge, with this week's theme being fruit and flowers. I found some Oregon grape (Mahonia repens) berries.

 Desert Boy had expressed some interest in taking photos, so I let him use my old camera. Desert Girl just wanted a snack.

 Redroot buckwheat (Eriogonum racemosum), one of the prettiest late summer flowers.

 Our hike suddenly got exciting when we found we could eat some of nature's bounty. The wild raspberries were delicious.

 A butterfly landed on my shirt. It turned out to be a Pine White.

 The currants were at their peak, and the kids quickly learned how to forage for them.

 Yum!

 I saw this dragonfly (or is it a damselfly?) and that made me take the photo, but I didn't notice the spider dangling underneath till later.

 We made it to our destination, a bridge where the kids snacked and spent twenty minutes throwing sticks into the water. They really didn't want to leave, but finally conceded it would be okay as long as they had hiking sticks.

 The sun peeked out from the storm clouds and made the mountain mahogany seeds glow.

 The trees look so cool!

Here are the kids sharpening their wood pirate and princess knives. They made up lots of games on the hike back, which made me delighted as in the past I've had to make up games for them. They also thought it was lots of fun to run down the trail, and Desert Girl would yell out, "Running," and then take off. They already want to hike again today, so I think that means we had a successful day.

Millard County Fair 2012

 I really wanted to go to the Millard County Fair, as I really enjoy county fairs. (Yep, when the kids get slightly older, we'll be making a pilgrimage back to the county fair where I grew up.) The Millard County Fair runs Tuesday through Saturday. We managed to make it Friday evening in time for the Danny Newell All-Star Band. I loved the big band music, with lots of jazz tunes.

 In fact, I am going to have to get my trumpet out and see if I can still make some music.

 The band inspired Desert Girl to dance.

 Desert Boy joined her. Before long, there were a few couples dancing. It was hard to sit still and listen to the music.

 The kids talked me into snow cones. I finally acquiesced, figuring if they were busy eating, they would sit still and be quiet for a little while.

 Desert Girl added to her stickiness.

 As the concert went on, we were treated to a gorgeous sunset.

 I had to get up and check out the clouds.

 It was magical.

 Following the band, we stayed for the outdoor showing of Cars2. Desert Girl found a new friend and wanted to stay with her during the movie. She even managed to stay awake through the whole thing.

At one point, Desert Boy looked up and said, "Mom, look at all the stars!"

The next morning we got up, had breakfast, and went to see the exhibits.

 The kids wanted to color a picture at the entrance, which gave me a great opportunity to go look at things with a little more attention.

 This awesome dragon was made by a teenage boy out of pinecones.

 What a wonderful chest!

 The doll is topping a cake.

 The kids wandered around some of the exhibits with me, had fun trying out some physics experiments at the University of Utah Cosmic Ray booth, picked up deputy sheriff badges, no smoking kits from the public health nurse, and more.

 Then it was time to go to the free inflatable slide and bounce house. The kids were delighted.

Later in the day the kids had their faces painted. They were worn out, so it was time to pack them up and head home. What expressions, eh? They managed to stay awake for some grocery shopping, but they were snoozing for most of the drive.

The White Pine County Fair is in less than two weeks, so we can go enjoy another fair soon!

Scenes from the Ranch

 I saw this strangely-colored tree as I was coming out of my driveway. It took me a minute to remember that the weed guy was spraying Russian olives today. Russian olives are a nasty invader that can turn a meadow into a thorn forest in just a few years. They grow really fast and are aggressive. This one isn't more than two or three years old, but it's already fairly tall.

 Normally the leaves are olive green in color. The bluish hue make them seem like fantasyland.

Down the road I noticed big birds out in the meadow. I zoomed in to find the group of sandhill cranes that likes to summer at the ranch. During the spring and fall we see a lot more as they head north and then return on their migration, but a few have decided that this little part of the Great Basin is just right for their summer vacation.

One was really intent on grooming itself.

Meet Desert Boy's newest pet: a roly poly. He was so excited about finding it under some rocks. He collected it and some dirt and gravel and wanted to take it home. I didn't exactly agree, but found it in the van. I said it wasn't going in the house, but he could keep it in his tree house. Desert Boy wanted to know when he could move into his tree house. What would you have answered?

Before I knew it, Desert Boy had taken a bottle out of recycling and had decided that would be the new home for his roly poly.

(If you're wondering what I answered about the tree house living, I told him he could live there when he turned 18. That's the same answer I gave him when he asked about skydiving.)

The roly poly's name is Dirt. By the way, the name for his slightly deformed crawdad (probably due to too many catch-and-releases) was Snapper. It's probably good I record all these, because when he tells me later that I should let him have another pet, I can show him the list of all his pets.

I'm wondering how long Dirt will live in his new bottle in the tree house. Any guesses?