Sand Hollow Aquatic Center

 While we were in St. George last weekend, we had one nice day and one rainy day. We headed out to explore one of the fabulous trails in St. George on the nice day. This trail started at the Sand Hollow Aquatic Center, which is near Santa Clara. We were the only ones on the trail and enjoyed the great views. It's one of the shorter ones, about a mile long. When we got to the end, Desert Boy was amazed that I wasn't going to have him go any further and that all we had to do was turn around and go back!

 I liked the signs, and we talked a couple minutes about safety in the desert.

Then it was time to go to a destination the kids craved: an oasis in the desert.

 Being desert rats, we always are eager to find some water, especially when we can recreate in it. So we headed to the Sand Hollow Aquatic Center.  It has a very interesting construction that covers two separate pools, a lap pool that the swim teams can use (and that is slightly cooler) and a recreation pool with a variety of fun things (and that is slightly warmer). The light-colored roof and windows made it so they don't need lights during the day. Another feature I liked was the family locker room.

 When we walked into the pool area, our eyes immediately went to the water slide. You walk up two flights of stairs to get to the top, then have a relaxing ride down. The slide discharges you into four-feet deep water with quite a current, which made for a little extra swimming challenge for Desert Boy.

 I loved that Desert Girl could go down with me on the slide, as long as she wore a life jacket. In fact, they make all kids 3 and under wear a life jacket while in the pool area.

 Desert Girl also loved a slide that was a little more her size--the frog. She even got brave and went down face first, even though she ended up with a face full of water every time.

 Some water bubblers made for fun entertainment.


Desert Boy spent lots of time over at the lily pads. They had ropes attaching them to the bottom of the pool, but they moved quite a bit. A cargo net overhead helped provide a little extra stability as one tried to get across them without wiping out. (It was slightly reminiscent of the TV show Wipeout.)

 Desert Girl even gave it a try. (Isn't she getting big?!)

We spent a couple very enjoyable hours at the aquatic center. Desert Boy wanted to go back the next day, but we had other plans. Nevertheless, we will be back!

2013 Fire and Ice

This past weekend we headed to Cave Lake for the annual Fire and Ice Festival. Down in the valleys it was frigid, but up in the pinyon/juniper zone, the temperatures were in the 30s and very pleasant.

The last two years I've entered the snow/ice sculpting contest, but the last two years it's been cancelled due to warm weather! (See what we did here and here.) Fortunately this year it was cold enough to have the competition. But alas, I did not enter. That was okay. It was great fun to go look at the sculptures and do some of the other activities.

 One of those activities was sledding. Desert Girl was ready!

I went down with her multiple times, and each time at the bottom, she said, "Let's do it again!" I have never seen her so enthusiastic about sledding!

She's quite relaxed, as you can see!


Desert Boy did some sledding too, and even managed to find a little jump. But he had much bigger plans than just sledding. He also wanted to do the snow bowling.


It was fun, but it sure made you appreciate the automatic pin setters in the bowling alleys!


We enjoyed some time with friends at the lake. Here's Sam on his way to what looks like a strike.

Of course we had to do a couple tours of the lake to see the ice sculptures.

A lake monster

Race car

Ore cars

King Kong

 And my favorite, an Icthyosaur (Nevada's state fossil)

Well, seeing all the snow sculptures made Desert Boy really want to do one. So he did.

 Gathering snow.

 More snow

 The great and fantastic snow volcano!

Maybe next year we'll enter again. This year's weather was super, and it was really fun to be out there.
To hear the music (and see the dancing and snow sculpture in action), check out this short video:

New Wheels

We've got some new wheels at our house.

They even have racing stripes. In fact, they're yellow flames. Very cool looking.

Better yet, these new wheels are energy efficient.

Are you ready to take a peek?

Here are those new wheels! This is Desert Boy's new solar-powered car. If you're wondering if the frame really is cardboard, the answer is yes. It can make it tricky for assembly.

We needed some sun and a relatively flat, snow-free, and smooth place to give the car a try. So we headed to the post office parking lot. It was still cold enough that we bundled Desert Girl up in her snow pants, but after all the extremely cold temperatures lately, it felt sort of warm.

The kids gave the car a good workout. It turned out it would only run when it had gravity helping a little. The cracks in the concrete were often too big an obstacle. That just made it more fun, as the kids got to interact with the car more, "helping" it along.

Desert Girl even got to try. (Don't you love her owl hat? My sister-in-law made it and I've gotten so many comments about it. Desert Girl doesn't want to go out of the house without it.)

It might be awhile before solar cars become practical, but for now, they are fun and a good excuse to get out of the house!

My Thoughts on Cruising

 This will be the last post about our vacation. It was such a wonderful change from the cold and snow that is now limiting our outside time! My brother Andrew organized the family event, and our group was 16 in total. We chose a family-friendly ship, complete with waterslides. After we boarded, it was one of the first things we visited. They had three different sizes of waterslides, from Desert Girl's size, to medium, to really large. And Desert Boy was just tall enough at 42 inches to meet the height requirements, which made him so happy.


I never could figure out how to go fast down the yellow slide, but one of my brothers and sisters-in-law could really whoosh down it. (Thanks to various family members for this photo and several of the following ones.) I was intending to perfect my technique on the At Sea day, but it turned out that it was so windy that day they had the big slide closed.

Here was the view from the tall water slide stairs towards the front of the ship. We were on a five-day four-night itinerary, leaving the afternoon of the first day, spending time in Key West the second day, Cozumel the third day, at sea the fourth day, and returning to port at 8 am the morning of the fifth day.

 We left the port of Miami at 4 p.m., and it was interesting seeing all the tall buildings. I can't imagine what it's like in hurricane season!

 We had two U.S. Coast Guard boats accompany us down the channel, with a guy at a machine gun on each. It was different.


The sun was setting as we left the port, and my brother Ed captured the above photo, with a second cruise ship following us away from the city.

One of the main reasons people go on cruises is to eat, and we quickly found our way to the food.

 Desert Girl discovered her love for butter--with a little bread to go along with it. She got to put her own butter on her roll, and some meals didn't consist of much more than that for her.

 In addition to three meals a day available in the formal dining room, there was also a main buffet and several other places to eat. And in case you're hungry at some strange time, pizza and ice cream were available 24 hours a day. Desert Boy ate ice cream four times one day and thought he was in heaven.

 Croissants need a little extra butter, right?

 The ship had a mini golf course, but both times we used it the wind was blowing so hard that it was really hard to play.

 The kids thought it was great fun anyway.

 We went to a variety of shows, such as comedy and singing and dancing. We had some members of our group chosen to go up on stage for a couple of the shows, which made it extra fun to watch.

 One event we went to was towel folding. You may see fancy-folded towels if you come visit us!

 Desert Boy and Desert Girl both enjoyed Camp Carnival. Desert Boy went several times and came back with various projects, including some sand art and a t-shirt he colored. Desert Girl's favorite was a crown she got so that she could be a princess.

 The upper berth became a hangout space. Some of the rooms can technically hold up to five people, but I'd say that would be crowded. We managed fine with two adults and two little kids in our room.

 We all liked hanging out at the back of the ship, where the wind wasn't as strong and we could relax and look at the seemingly endless ocean.

 A collection of towel animals. The service throughout the ship was attentive and polite.

 Desert Girl giving her towel bear a hug.

 I would have liked to have spent more time in Cozumel, but overall the cruising experience was pleasant. We got to have lots of family time and had a variety of activities. I probably wouldn't do it every year, but I'd consider it again in a few years. One of the best parts of the trip was relaxing in warm weather--I so much enjoyed outside time with family when I knew it was so cold back home. We might have to find another warm destination for next winter!

Christmas Nativity Play

 The kids were able to participate in the annual Nativity play this year, something my budding actors really enjoy. This year Desert Girl was an angel and Desert Boy was the innkeeper/priest. I managed to get them to stand together before the start so I could get a photo.

 Then Desert Girl promptly went and tickled her cousin, who was trying to get in a quick nap on shepherd's hill.

 The play is led by the magnificent Sharon, who manages to pull the whole production together despite kids missing practices, limited rehearsal time, and difficulties learning lines. I'm amazed at how she does it all. Thanks, Sharon!!

 After a quick run through of the songs with the piano, it was time to take their places.

 The angels crack me up every year, and this time was no exception.

 They sit center stage for most of the production, and it's just a little hard to sit still and look angelic that whole time.

 Hmmm...

 The audience got a good laugh when an obviously pregnant Mary came out to announce to Joseph that she was with child. Where had he been that he hadn't noticed?

 Soon Mary and Joseph were looking for a room, and the Innkeeper told them loudly, "All my rooms are full!" Desert Boy really got into his part and said his lines with a lot of emotion. He always learns his lines faster than I do.

 Then the baby was born and wrapped in swaddling cloths.

 Meanwhile the shepherds out on shepherd hill were learning the exciting news.

 The angels went over too, and one little angel couldn't help but give a look at her shepherd friend.

 Before long, Three Wise Men were on their way to the Newborn King, with a stop at King Herod's palace, with the guard and priest in attendance. The size discrepancy made the Three Wise Men seem even more impressive!

 The angels were still up on center stage, and Desert Girl was having a mighty hard time sitting still.

 I'm not sure what she was looking at, but it had to be interesting.

 It was almost See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil!

 The older angels were cracking up.

 Then it was time for the grand finale, Joy to the World, and bows. Well done!

 Isaac and Desert Girl were mighty proud of themselves.

It was a really enjoyable production. Again, I don't know how Sharon manages to do such a good job with such limited time. We're so grateful she organizes it, as the kids have such a good time and it is so fun watching them.

Following the play, we attended the candlelight service, which was beautiful and helped us get ready to celebrate Christ's birthday and the bringing of light into the world.

Merry Christmas!