A New Addition to Our Family

 A couple years ago I went into the Ace Hardware store and was bewitched by the sound of chirping chicks. I wanted to take some home with me immediately, but common sense eventually prevailed and I knew I wasn't ready. Last year we decided to wait one more year. All winter long we were waiting for the moment to get chicks, and it has finally come! We now have Chris, Martin, and Luna, joining us.

The kids are mainly in charge of feeding them and giving them clean water. We've been surprised just how much these tiny creatures eat.

Right now they're living in our laundry room, but it won't be too long before they transition outside.

A Little Tea Party

 Desert Girl has been spending a lot of time having pretend tea parties with a tea party set she got for her birthday. So I asked her if she'd like to have a real tea party, and her eyes got all big like she couldn't really believe her luck. And then she said yes.

So I got out the fine china (it's hand wash only, so it was very dusty!), and Desert Girl invited over her good friend Isaac, and we made cute little muffins and put toothpicks in cantaloupe and a tablecloth on the table and it was all so over the top! (Just like that last sentence.)

 Having tea is more about the pomp and circumstance than the tea, so we made a big production of picking our teas and our snacks. Then it was time to add the hot water, which was very hot. The kids really wanted to pour from the "teapot" on the table (the creamer), so I put cold water in that, and they added it to their hot water.

 They learned how to put napkins on their laps and how to dip their tea bags and wait for the tea to steep.

 We also worked on putting up the pinkie when sipping, but that's something we'll have to practice again!

They had a super time, even though they decided they didn't really like tea and would rather just drink plain water instead. It all made me smile. A lot.

Run Like a Goose at the Delta Snow Goose Festival

Delta, Utah holds an annual Snow Goose Festival late every February. Thousands of snow geese congregate as they rest on their migration from the Imperial Valley in California to northwestern Canada, near the Anderson River. In Delta, they forage in the nearby agricultural fields and also rest on the open water. To our surprise, there wasn't much open water, but fortunately enough near the reservoir inlet to allow them to have some space.

Although we like birds, I have to admit that what attracts us the most is the Wild Goose Chase, a 5K/10K run. The last two years the weather was miserable, and I decided that we weren't going to sign up until the week of the race, and only if the weather forecast was good. Fortunately this year the weather cooperated.

 Desert Girl did her pre-race dance moves sporting her princess running outfit (complete with light-up glitter princess shoes, apparently what every princess runs in.)

 After the 5k race, we posed for a family photo. I'm not sure why we can't all look at the camera at the same time!

 Several other folks from our area also ran (and did very well!), and we took a group photo by the edge of the reservoir. An excavator had moved away the thick ice for the upcoming Dunk, Dunk, Goose.

 Before that started, though, it was time for the kids race. They could do either 1/4 mile or 1 mile. Both our kids chose the 1/4 mile race. Desert Girl stood by herself and waited patiently. Desert Boy went up to the other boys, and I was amazed to hear them all trash talking:
"I'm going to win the race." 
"No, I am." 
"Well, I'm taller than you, so I'm going to win." 
"I'm 6, so that means I'm going to win." 
Oh, my!

 The shirts were adorable. Desert Boy sported the shirt from last year (the red "baby goose chase"), while runner #474 had on this year's shirt, a nice tech shirt.

 Desert Girl came in dead last, but had an awesome time running. She was so much into the spirit of things. She is still running whenever she can, because she knows she is a super runner, and she wants to get ready for her next race (whenever that might be!).

 We saw the Dunk, Dunk, Goose participants from afar--it made me cold just to watch them!

Then we went in search of food. First we went to another part of the reservoir, where we found a paltry three booths, and only pizza and donuts as food offerings. I guess the cold and wind of years past scared off vendors. So we went to the fairgrounds, where we found the quilt show and quite a few vendors, but only one food booth. We bought some food and headed outside as there wasn't anyplace to eat inside, and ate in the parking lot.

After a stop at the playground, we went to the West Millard Swimming Pool. I had called ahead but had gotten no answer (or answering machine), so we were sad when we found a sign saying the pool was closed to be replastered. (Swimming after the Wild Goose Chase has become a tradition, and is such a nice way for the kids to have fun and the adults to work out sore muscles!) To try and quench the kids' tears, we went to McDonald's and redeemed the ice cream coupons they had received in their race packs. While I was in the restroom, a nice lady from Tooele who had come down for the festival asked if I had seen the geese. I said just from very far away, as so much of the reservoir was covered with ice. She gave me directions to a spot that was close to the geese, and we had a great viewing spot!

 One photographer was at the edge with a lens nearly as big as him!

We hung out in the warm sun and watched and listened to the geese for awhile. They are truly spectacular.

Desert Survivor's Backyard Bird Challenge--Check In Week One *Updated

*Updated bird identifications--see below

Western Scrub-Jay on feeder

Are you taking Desert Survivor's Backyard Bird Challenge? It's easy: How many birds can you find in your backyard this year? Keep a list (we have one in the sidebar now), and add to it each time you find something new.

The kids and I are having a lot of fun with the challenge. I'm impressed with how well they are learning the common birds in the yard. To help encourage birds to come to the yard, we've been putting out birdseed. Both kids love to spread seed.

The most common birds are pinyon jays, which come in a raucous and rowdy group, and the tiny dark-eyed juncos, which don't seem to mind the commotion and go about their business picking up seeds.

Nevertheless, we did get some different birds to our yard:

Cassin's *House Finch (Updated--thank you, kind birder!) The flash of red caught my eye and I couldn't help but do a little happy dance!

Then I saw the tiniest glimpse of yellow:

A pine siskin.  *I thought it was a pine siskin, but really it's a female house finch. Those tricky females! Pine siskins should be around, so we'll keep looking! Pine siskins live higher up the mountain in the summer, where they like to be in pine trees. But in the winter, they come down to the valleys to find food. Pine siskins are also finches, and they like to hang out in mixed flocks, which explains why I saw both these birds on the feeder at the same time.

We got some great close-up views of those pinyon jays. We enjoy watching how the birds move around and interact.

We started our challenge on February 1, and as of February 8, we are up to 14 backyard birds. We should add a couple more winter birds this next week, as we've seen and heard some close to our yard, but not in/from our yard yet. Keeping a list is helping us keep our interest up.

I'd love to hear in the comments or on the Desert Survivor Facebook page how your challenge is going.
Happy birding!

Happy Advent!

 Today is the beginning of Advent, the first of four Sundays before Christmas. It happens to coincide with December 1, which is quite handy for an Advent Calendar. A couple years ago we made our own Advent Calendar with old Christmas cards. This year I wanted something a little different, and after an Internet search settled on a family-themed Advent Calendar.

The first step was to cut 24 pieces of card stock into roughly the same size.

 Then Desert Girl affixed a Christmas sticker to each one.

 I showed Desert Boy the list of family activities from this blog, and he ran and got a pencil and started writing some of them on the back of the cards. He wanted to keep them a secret from me, as he added some of his own ideas.

 Desert Girl watched the progress of filling in all the spaces.

 Finally we put the Advent Calendar up on the refrigerator. Every day has a family activity. I wanted to add a prayer to each day, so I got some ideas from this website.

 The prayers are short, something Desert Boy can read.

What are the family activities for the first two days? I just had to take a peek (for blogging purposes, of course).  Here's what we're going to do the first two days of Advent!

Do you use an Advent Calendar? If so, what kind?

A Day in Sacramento

Back in October, Desert Girl and I took Amtrak from Salt Lake City to Sacramento, a 13-hour journey. Then we spent two nights in Sacramento before returning. Here are some of the things we saw and did during our stay in Sacramento; hopefully they'll get you started on trip planning if you decide to visit this beautiful city!

 We had passed these whimsical statues the day before when we got off the train, but on Thursday we really had a chance to enjoy them. Desert Girl liked that they were just her height. And where can you find them?

 The U.S. Courthouse! They were definitely unexpected, and I'm sure there's quite a story behind them. (Here's a bit of the story.)

We passed the Amtrak Station and headed south to the California State Railroad Museum. We had been fortunate enough to see the Utah State Railroad Museum earlier in the year, and we wanted to see what California had to offer.


The museum was impressive, with lots of trains and explanations. We walked through a sleeper car, where the volunteer graciously took our photo. It was interesting seeing the old-fashioned sleeper car and comparing it to the modern Amtrak sleeper we had just been on the day before.

Then we headed over to the dining car, with a peek in the kitchen and then the elegant seating area.

A volunteer conductor let Desert Girl ring the dinner bell.

Despite all the cool exhibits, interactive demonstrations, and amazing information, Desert Girl's favorite spot was the play area, with eight train tables available.

As we were leaving, I couldn't resist snapping a photo of the celebration of the meeting of the Transcontinental Railroad. We had visited Golden Spike National Historic Site earlier in the year, and seeing references to it made me remember that fun trip! It was also interesting learning about how the railroad progressed from California to the East Coast, and the idea-men and stakeholders needed to do that.

We spent about 2.5 hours in the museum and easily could have spent more time if I had let Desert Girl play longer or if she would have let me read more exhibits! I suspect we'll be back sometime when she's older.

Right outside the museum we found Old Sacramento State Historic Park. We wandered over to the river to take a look and then started meandering through the historic district. We ate some lunch and enjoyed people watching.

We also checked out the River Walk on the other side of the river.

To get there, we crossed the big gold bridge, called the Tower Bridge. It was really neat. If I had dared to run out in the middle of the highway, I would have spotted the Capitol building framed by the bridge. But I used common sense and stayed on the sidewalk with Desert Girl.

We wanted to get an even closer view of the river. Also, I figured it might be good to take a little break from walking. So we signed up for an hour long river cruise. (In some ways traveling with a child can be a little challenging, but then there are bonuses like free admission for young children.) We didn't see any sea lions on the dock, but I did appreciate the sign.

Before long we were on the Sacramento River. It was a beautiful day, and it was so nice to learn a little more about the history of the area.

The city's water pumps are housed in this interesting-looking building. On the side are water depth markings. The Sacramento River fluctuates a couple feet a day at Sacramento due to the tides. The river has also been known to flood, at times quite severely.

Here's a view of the Tower Bridge from the water. It sure looks bright! We didn't see any big ships on the river, but Sacramento is considered a deep water port, and the bridges open or raise in various ways to permit huge ships to pass by.

After our boat ride I had one other thing I wanted to see in Old Sacramento: the Pony Express Monument. The Pony Express trail is near our area, and it was neat seeing the ending place for the mail. Someday we'll have to check out the other end!

From Old Sacramento, we wandered a bit and got some ice cream, and then we headed to the State Capitol. We had explored the grounds the night before, and today we had more time to explore.

Except that Desert Girl fell asleep, so I hung out in the little movie theatre for half an hour to let her get some sleep! Then we were up and walking again, checking out some sculptures.

As we walked along, we saw so many fountains. At each and every one, Desert Girl said the water was warm. It wasn't really warm, but she said it was warm. Why? She wanted to swim. In every fountain. It was funny, but I did resist letting her strip down and swim. Sometimes we country hicks can have a little class! (Even though it really would have been fun to swim!)

One of the ugliest fountains I have ever seen.

So as we were nearing the end of our 4.5 mile walk (I didn't know it was that long till I got back and mapped it!), we stopped to get a pedicure. It was the perfect ending for a long day.

Desert Girl knows how to have a good time. She stopped and smelled the flowers all day long, and insisted that I did too.

Sacramento's a great place to visit! We found that the weather was terrific in October, and we easily made our way around by walking. I was impressed with how polite traffic was--the pedestrians always had the right of way. I feel like we just scratched the surface of things to do.