Playing with Water

A couple weeks ago we had a wonderful, warm Saturday morning, and we met up with some other moms and kids in the playground. The kids went down the slides, hung out on the swings, chased each other around, and did all the normal playground stuff.

Then one of them wanted a drink. The water from the water spigot is usually delicious--cold, mountain water. On this particular day, a hose was attached to the spigot. And that hose meant it was time for even more fun.

While the bigger kids took the end of it, little Isaac and Emma found a leak in the hose that was just perfect for them. The next series of photos show them exploring the leak and figuring out how to stop it. They might be little, but they are already learning to be good at managing water!

Aha, the water is stopped with Isaac's foot.

The cat Alaska stops by to watch the little kids.

Meanwhile, here's what's going on at the end of the hose.

Aron is taking a big rock to the "construction site."

It's hard to believe we had such nice weather the kids could wear short-sleeves and sandals. It's back to snow today. It has definitely been a tumultuous spring, which I guess has made us appreciate the nice weather even more!

Backyard Biodiversity Challenge #3 - Mammals and More

How are you doing with your birds?

Since I last posted, I've noticed American robins and collared doves (which were around earlier in the winter, I just didn't notice them the days I was looking around the yard). A new bird for the year is the Yellow-headed Blackbird. They are so colorful. It's too bad they're not found in Indiana, as with their black and yellow coloring they are perfect for Purdue.

If you need help identifying birds, there are several great websites, including the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Anyway, keep recording your birds. Your list should grow substantially over the next few weeks!

And here's Backyard Biodiversity Challenge #3:
What mammals, amphibians, and fish live in or visit your backyard?

It might be hard to see the mammals, but perhaps you can find sign of them. Rabbit pellets? Raccoons knocking over garbage cans? Gopher holes? Mouse droppings in the garage?

Are you hearing any spring peepers? This is a great time of year to listen for frogs.

Unless you have a pond or stream in your backyard, it might be difficult to get anything from this class of organisms. But hey, once in awhile it's nice to have an easy category!

Four Bars and a Church

There's new construction in our little hamlet, and since we don't see much construction, it's pretty exciting. Just last week the hole was dug to make room for a church in town.

My husband grew up in this town, and he remembers there being five bars in town and no church.

For some years, LDS (Mormon) services were held in the old high school. More recently, the community church and Catholic services have been held in the community center. But now, due to a generous donation and dedicated community members, we are going to have a bona fide church.

They had the forms out to pour the foundation.

The church won't be big, but it's going to be highly visible.

Just a week later, noticeable progress has been made. The foundation has been poured, and they're about ready to put up the walls.

It will be neat to follow the progress. The plan is to have the church finished by the first of June.
Although I have to wonder if all this spring snow might slow them down a bit. They've been out working in the not-so-great weather, so perhaps they will make their goal.

So what has happened to those five bars of my husband's younger days?

Well, two are still operating. Three have closed. And two different ones are now operating. So we'll be a town with four bars and a church.

Swimming in Winter

We needed groceries and I had a really strong yearning to go to thrift stores, so we packed up and headed to Cedar City yesterday. The forecast was not good, but we decided to try anyway, and went through several snow squalls on the way, but the roads were in pretty good shape.

We found wonderful treasures at both the Catholic Thrift Store and DI (Desert Industries thrift store). The Catholic Thrift Store had a flyer about a yard sale to benefit the Japan tsunami victims. So we headed to it (held indoors because it was snowing), and found even more things we couldn't live without. There's nothing like going into a thrift store or yard sale not needing anything but coming away with something that you suddenly realize will make your life more complete (or cluttered).

After lunch and grocery shopping, it was time for a trip to the Cedar City Aquatic Center. My friend Chandra had told me about it, and I couldn't wait to go. We got our day passes, changed in the immense locker rooms, and then went out to the pool area.

We were totally amazed. Before us was a huge leisure pool, with basically a playground set in two feet of water. Behind it were three lanes for laps and a lazy river. In one corner was a four-story water slide. Over on the side was a little play area for toddlers in about six inches-one foot of water.

And that wasn't all!

There was also a hot tub for age 14 and up and a competition pool for lap swimming with eight lanes.

In the summer there's an outdoor pool with diving boards.

I didn't take my camera inside, so I don't have any photos (which is sad, but I'm not sure if I could have kept my camera dry!). Here's a photo from the Iron County newspaper that gives you a little taste of the pool, looking from the lazy river over the hot tub to the big play area:

It was a Saturday afternoon so pretty crowded, but it was still so much fun. Desert Boy went down the slides countless times. I did some laps to help get ready for a triathlon in May. I had to try out the big waterslide, too (it was fun but dark). Desert Girl started out standing in ankle-deep water, a bit stunned at all the commotion. By the end, she was eagerly going down the kiddie slide and even getting her head wet. My husband loved the hot tub and found that the pool water was pleasantly warm.

We'll definitely be heading back! It's across from the middle school up on the hill near Walmart, and adult admission is $4.50. They have a website to check out hours and fees.

We don't see much water in the desert, so when we do, we definitely get excited!

Footprints

We are getting a little tired of all the snow, but to look on the bright side of things, Desert Girl is still fascinated with it.

Here she is doing a little happy dance out in the snow.

Then she started realizing that she was making footprints and decided it would be great fun to walk all over some fresh snow and make lots of new footprints.

It's wonderful when the entertainment is cheap!

Oops! Sometimes walking in the snow can be difficult.

Desert Girl is no quitter. She got up and started right back to work making more footprints. She's gotten a lot better on uneven ground, but still has that cute little drunken sailor walk.

More snow coming tonight...