Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween, it's such a fun holiday when you have an excuse to be a kid again. It's like a trip back to kindergarten and the dress-up corner with a chestful of wonderful costumes and accessories. You decide who you want to be for a moment in time and get all decked out. And then when you're tired of being that person or thing, you just take off the costume and go back to being yourself. Or try on another costume. And another. And another. (We had a big costume chest in kindergarten, I still remember it.)

The candy part of Halloween is like being a kid again, too. I ate so much candy as a kid. I can't eat so much anymore (thank goodness!), but every year at Halloween time my sugar intake increases. It's probably a good thing I live far from stores so I'm not even tempted by half-off candy the day after Halloween.

Emma looks like she has plenty to say about Halloween, too. She's talking about a lot of things these days. And she even says Mama. At least it sure sounds like Mama to me.

Another thing I enjoy about Halloween is the chance to be creative, so I picked up a pumpkin from the store and brought it home for the kids to enjoy. While I put away groceries, Desert Boy decorated the pumpkin with marker.

Then it was time to carve it. Desert Boy didn't remember last year's pumpkin innards and was a little grossed out by the hanging seeds. I encouraged him to touch them so he could feel the sliminess of it all.

Like most little boys, he thought it was pretty neat.

He had seen his friend Ava's pumpkin and the candle in it and couldn't wait to put a candle in his pumpkin. He waited with great anticipation as we found a candle and something to light it with. Then we had to turn off all the lights in the house to appreciate the glowing face.

I told him I wanted photos so we had to turn the lights back on, and he grudgingly agreed.

The glow on his face made the pumpkin worth every penny!

Hope you have a fun Halloween!

Picnic Lunch

After we had our walk last Sunday, we went into the nearby campground so we could have a picnic lunch complete with a fire. Desert Boy loves picnics, and Desert Girl loves sitting in the dirt and eating it and sticks and bark.

Oh, let's add pinecones to that list.

She has mastered the contemplative look.

Desert Boy was eager to help with the fire. No surprise there. It took awhile to cook the hamburgers, but they were worth the wait. It kept getting colder while we were there, so we appreciated the hot food.

Desert Boy had decided to bring his umbrella and then found where he wanted to set it up. He and Emma had their little picnic in the dirt.

Afterwards, Desert Boy had a lot of energy again, so I took him for a bike ride around the campground. Some of those hills were a little challenging, and I was expecting him to biff on one of the downhills, but he stayed upright.

As you can see, most of the aspen leaves are off the trees. They must have known that it was going to snow the next three days.

Downward Dog

This is Emma's version of crawling...

...or maybe an early yoga move...

On the Slide

I had to go to town earlier this week to get the van windshield replaced, so we had four hours to kick around town. Flu shots, shopping, and eating took up some of the time, but the kids really wanted to go to the playground. So off we went, and after Desert Boy played for awhile on the "big" equipment, we went to the "little" slides so Desert Girl could have some fun, too.

They found they could sit side-by-side, and Desert Boy immediately came up with some kind of train analogy. Desert Girl just enjoyed being by her big bro.

They both are good at hamming it up for the camera.

Then it was time to go down the slide, and I was impressed with how well Desert Boy took care of his sister. He put his arm around her to help her.

Emma doesn't look too certain about going down, but they did fine.

She even gave it a go alone.

Like the sock that is about to fall off? It did a little later and I never found it again. Somewhere out there is a lonely white sock.

It probably won't be the first.

Then it was time to make a different train and go down again.

This way also worked well.

Desert Girl is going to like playgrounds as much as her big brother!

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!

Emma Laughing

Sometimes there's nothing like a little baby laughter to totally brighten your day, to make you reevaluate your priorities, to lighten your load, to help you live in the moment.

A Camping Adventure

So I was thinking we should go camping and enjoy some of that great nature and outdoorsiness and listen to the wind in the trees all night and hear the crickets chirping and listen to the birds wake up early in the morning.

My husband said, "Open the window. We can get all that right here plus sleep in a comfortable bed."

And he was right. But I got Desert Boy on my side and we convinced him we should go anyway.
Desert Boy was extremely excited to go camping. We didn't go far from home, and we went to a developed campground so we had bathrooms and running water nearby, nice amenities with little kids. But still, we were camping. We set up a tent and had coolers of food and buckets of supplies, and sleeping bags and sleeping pads and headlamps and loads of other stuff.

The cousins and their parents came up to eat dinner with us, which was proceeded by an Emma photoshoot.

Kayli, Megan, and Caleb were also going to stay the night with us and give Desert Boy some entertainment (or channel his energy, depending on your mindset).

Megan was dudded up in her cowboy hat and boots.

Before long the burgers and steaks were on the grill and we were ready to eat.

I'm not sure if this is Kayli's impression of the food or if she just likes making faces for the camera.

After dinner, we wandered down to the ranger evening program and learned a little about some animal adaptations to the desert.

And then it was time to eat again. After all, one of the best parts of camping is eating. We put all the ingredients pictured above together to make some yummy S'mores.

I hadn't had one in a long time and I had forgotten how good they are!

Then it was time to get in the tent. The kids had a little tent party, while my husband and I relaxed a bit outside. Then it was time for us to go to bed.

My husband looked in the tent and said, "I'm going to go sleep in the van."

What? That left me and five kids in the tent. What a wuss.

Actually, I was just jealous he had thought of it before me. Emma refused to sleep unless she was on the same tiny air mattress as me, and Desert Boy woke up before the birds even began singing, waking up his cousins (and me) in the process. I was not a happy camper in the morning.

We eventually made some breakfast burritos and that made everyone a little cheerier.

Desert Girl thought camping was fun because she got to play in the dirt.

Then I asked the cousins to take Desert Boy for a walk and my husband to take Desert Girl and I went back into the tent and went to sleep.

When I got up, I wandered out to see where the kids were, and they were playing school in the picnic area.

Caleb had a lot of fun cutting things with his knife, and Desert Boy really wanted to help.

My hubby came down and joined in the fun.

And because you can't have fun in our world unless you get dirty, Desert Boy went over to the fire pit and started playing with the charred bits of wood.

Ah, good times. Caleb and Desert Boy.

Megan.
Kayli.
And Emma, who managed to get a stick and eat it.

This is an interesting texture and flavor. A little chewy, with a tangy wood taste. Perhaps I should try eating more sticks.

On second thought, the aftertaste isn't so great. Perhaps I'll reconsider.

Maybe I should stick to dirt and leaves.

Desert Boy still asks almost every day if we can go camping again, so I guess that means it was a successful trip!

We packed everything up so that it will be easier to go the next time. Now I just need to work up the nerve and not think so much about my comfortable bed.