Fun at the Beach

We headed to a nearby reservoir a couple weekends ago to cool off in the water. We've had lots of hot afternoons lately, interspersed with thunderstorms. The dogs were delighted to romp in the water.

The kids love to play in the sand anytime they can!

We went with some friends, and they had been there the night before playing in the sand. No one else uses these beaches, and we don't have tides, so their names were still in place.

Soon it was time to bury some kids. Ava was first. She wanted to be a mermaid.

My husband thought it might be fun to go fishing. Nothing was biting, though.

We helped bury Evan and Ryleigh.

Desert Girl became a mermaid.

It turned out that getting out of the sand pit wasn't so easy. But that didn't stop all the kids from wanting their turn!

Desert Boy and Ava were next.

Ah, relaxing in the nice cool sand.

They weren't so happy when we told them to get out by themselves.

Finally they succeeded.

Smiles again! They're such good kids, wearing their life jackets everywhere.

We still had more burying to do. The littlest kids always have to do what the bigger kids do! It was a fun afternoon.

You can imagine what the shower looked like when we got home! Nevertheless, we headed back to the lake just a couple days later for another adventure...to be continued...

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.

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!