Sunday Hike in the Gully

 When I was a kid, I remember occasionally going on Sunday drives to go explore. We didn't know where we were going, we just went to go enjoy the views and spend time together as a family.

I still love that sense of just going for a wander, and being with my family makes it even more memorable. Last Sunday we went out for a family hike in a place we've wandered before, but that holds enough twists and turns to make it different every time: a gully made in Pleistocene times.

The rock and soil is highly eroded, creating wonderful formations.

 Desert Girl climbed up near one.

While I was photographing her, Desert Boy disappeared and then reappeared with a shout.

 He had found a way (up the backside) of this tall wall. We joined him and then meandered up and down side gullies, climbing, sliding, observing how water had carved out the landscape.

 Later we went back into the main gully and just goofed around.

 The kids love showing off their balancing skills, which are continually improving.

 Desert Boy made a "restaurant" and we enjoyed the "food" he created.

 Then we started hiking out, taking a different side gully, where we found some very long roots.

 It was time to practice leaping skills, too.

Desert boy of course had to give it a try (but where the walls were a little closer together!). The afternoon was so refreshing, as we all felt like kids out exploring and stretching our brains.

Here's to a little Sunday exploration!

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.

Signs of Spring

It may only be the beginning of March, but we're seeing some definite signs of spring around here. This morning I was shocked to see a flower blooming! True, we've had a warmer winter than usual (sorry, all my friends in the Midwest and East!), but it still seems early. Here are a few photos showing harbingers of spring.

Spring storm clouds

Migrating Snow Geese

Trees budding (uh, oh, this could be trouble!)

A spring flower (hat) at the Winter Carnival

My mini greenhouse

New sprouts in my garden

It's only a week until the time changes, and then it will feel even more like spring.

How to Make Birding Fun When There Just Aren't a Lot of Birds Around

It's time for a check-in on Desert Survivor's Backyard Bird Challenge. How are you doing? We've had a very slow couple of weeks, with only a rough-legged hawk added to our species list. But we've seen some birds outside our yard lately, like Canada geese, mallards, mountain bluebirds, western meadowlarks, and sandhill cranes, that we are hoping we can add soon.

Even though we are in a bit of a slump, we still hit 15 birds for the month of February, which is pretty awesome. Even better is when I checked our list, hanging on the refrigerator, and noticed a new entry (this was before the rough-legged hawk):

 Sure, red-tailed hawks are our most common hawks, so a sighting of one didn't have me jumping up and down. What did is that Desert Boy had taken the initiative to write it down. He spotted it with his dad, and was so excited about finding his very own bird.

That made me think he might be ready for another little tool to make birding a little more interesting for him:

So we bought Bird Log Kids: A Kid's Journal to Record Their Birding Experiences. Desert Boy was excited to have his very own specialized journal. Here's his first entry:

The journal is great because he includes birds anywhere we go, not just in the backyard. We saw about 5,000 snow geese near Delta, Utah, when we went to the annual Snow Goose Festival (to be reported soon on this blog!). That made an impression. When I pointed out to Desert Boy that we had 15 backyard bird sightings, and that would fill up half his journal, he got pretty excited. We are taking it slow, though, with only a couple entries a week so he doesn't burn out.

I have to say that participating in the backyard bird challenge has made me a lot more aware of the birds that live in the yard. We see about 15 European starlings, a couple Eurasian collared doves, a handful of dark-eyed juncos, a northern flicker, a magpie, and some pinyon jays almost every day. I scan the yard every time I go outside, looking for something out of the ordinary. A great horned owl hoots me to sleep a few evenings a week.

If you haven't started the Backyard Bird Challenge, it's not too late! The rules are easy: keep track of what bird species you see in your backyard! Now that we're starting March, it will be interesting to see what different birds appear from those we saw in February.

In the meantime, if you see an interesting bird, don't be afraid to "whoa" and enjoy the moment!

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