First Night Out Camping in 2015

 With the amazingly warm winter we've been having (sorry East Coast and Midwest!), we decided that we'd start our 2015 Desert Survivor Get-Out-And-Camp Challenge early. Our goal for this year is 12 nights out. Last year the kids got 11, and they are pretty determined to meet the challenge this year. The high was 70 degrees that day (average high for this time of year is about 40) and the low was supposed to be 35. We decided to give our old camping trailer a try, and the kids spent a few hours cleaning it and my husband spent a few hours doing important stuff like making sure the lights were connected and we had a spare tire. Meanwhile, I spent a few hours packing. Camping preparation always takes longest for the first trip of the year!

Finally we were ready and we headed to Ibex Cliffs, about 50 miles west of Delta, Utah. It's a renowned climbing area and the site of a dry lake bed. We arrived in the dark and just parked on the dry lake bed. We could see a couple other campfires along the old shoreline.


I couldn't resist going for a walk and admiring the night sky.

The trailer is small and cozy, and we had fun getting used to it.

During the night the wind started blowing hard and everything started rattling. Fortunately my husband had brought three screw jacks, so the trailer didn't feel like it was going to tip over. But none of us slept that great. Nevertheless it was still a joy to wake up in a different place in the morning. Henry and I went for a morning walk to photograph first light. Here are our shadow selfies, with the cliffs in the background:

We're giants!

The early morning light really illuminated some of the tracks across the playa.

Nevertheless, I could find some undisturbed cracked mud. I love the patterns.

When we arrived back to the trailer, the kids had woken up and were cuddling with dad (below the water stains--we have to treat the trailer gingerly as it's had some stress).

Then we continued on our day's adventures…to be continued.

Why We Ate Our Rooster

 So last year we decided we would try to have chickens. We got baby chicks twice, but lost them all due to disease, dogs, and skunks. Fortunately, we were able to buy a grand champion rooster at the county fair, and the nice lady offered a couple hens.

The hens took awhile to lay, but finally we were getting two eggs a day. The rooster was doing a nice job protecting them. But then the rooster started chasing me. I looked up on the Internet what to do and started chasing it back. Then it started chasing the kids occasionally, and even my husband. Even when we hit it with the pool noodle, it would still come after us. (I really wish I could have gotten some video footage of that, because although I was fearing many bruises, I was laughing at the comical situation of a flailing pool noodle trying to make this rooster start behaving.)

It got to the point that the kids wouldn't go out in the yard alone, and I even had to alter what I was doing at times. Finally I told my husband that we either needed to fence in the rooster or kill it. We decided to kill it. (I had read on the Internet that in suburbia, people will take problem chickens to the animal shelter. I can't imagine that happening out here!)

We didn't want to waste a good chicken. After all, we hadn't gotten anything out of the previous nine, so it was time to get something out of chicken number ten. We researched how to kill and butcher a chicken, and it didn't take too long. After letting it tenderize in the refrigerator for a couple days, it went into the crockpot.

The kids were a little unsure about eating the rooster (which we fortunately never named), but we thought it was an important lesson for them, as before long they will be raising and selling animals for 4-H.

The rooster tasted great, and we got several meals out of it.

How are the hens doing? They seem fine. One didn't lay an egg one day, but now they're back to regular production. And so far they've managed to stay alive. We can even walk by them and not fear for our shins.

The Obstacle Course in the Meadow

 The weather has been so great that we've been able to get outside more. Desert Boy has decided that he doesn't like "adventure walks" but prefers "obstacle courses," so we went in search of one. The first obstacle was to get across the creek. We had to walk along it until we found a spot narrow enough to cross.

After Desert Boy jumped across, Desert Girl worked up her nerve and did a fine leap and avoided getting wet.

Before long, Desert Boy was up in a tree.

Then it was time for Desert Girl to cross the dam. Desert Boy is already working on capturing some great photos for the fair this summer.

We still had one more obstacle--find another way back across the creek. I like making the kids find a way to accomplish the task, I generally stay back and watch.

Hurray for outside time!

Desert Girl Turns 5

 Desert Girl turned five recently. We were out of town, so we had to postpone her party.

Fortunately the weather cooperated, and when we took treats to her preschool, we were also able to do a piñata outdoors. The kids were so excited.

They had a lot of fun swinging at Tinkerbell.

After two rounds, the piñata still hadn't broken, so I just scattered the contents on the ground. I didn't want the kids to get too sugared up, so they grabbed for organic fruit snacks, mini bubbles, stampers, and some random toys around the house. (Sorry, other parents, I just couldn't take stray army men and animals any more. Hopefully they have found a happy place in your house!)

We also had a little family party. Desert Girl loved the attention. The guys loved playing an airplane game. Ha, ha.

Desert Girl is in a big doll phase right now, so she was very excited to open a doll with accessories. She ran and got a little tiara to make the doll even more a princess.

When it came time to cupcakes (which she wanted to help make because now that she's five she has the privilege of cracking eggs), she was still clutching the doll.

Fortunately she's not too girly. She was offered a ride by her uncle in one of the ranch's small planes, and although hesitant at first, she eventually worked up her nerve and got in. She peered out the window the whole time and took in a different view.

I'm sure she will have lots of fun times as a 5 year old!

Try-A-New-Recipe-Every-Week Challenge: January

Hi there,

One of my new goals for 2015 is to try a new recipe every week. If I can keep up with that, I'll have 52 new recipes under my belt in the year. What fun!

Now that the kids are getting older, they are more interested in helping in the kitchen, and that makes me like cooking so much more. If I'm not alone, I'm more willing to take the time to experiment and savor the process of cooking. Otherwise it can feel kind of like a chore.

Another inspiration are two new cookbooks I received in November and December last year (affiliate links):

I've been following the 100 Days of Real Food blog for over a year and love it! The recipes are simple and family friendly (usually meaning quick cleanup).

Smitten Kitchen is new to me, and it feel so classy and fancy to be learning some more artsy cooking skills (let's just say that my presentation skills are limited to using toothpicks to connect fruits together in kid-enticing ways).

So how have January's recipes turned out?

1. Southwest chicken breasts, recipe from Parade magazine (basically pan fry chicken breasts and add a jar of salsa, a can of black beans, frozen corn, and some spices and mix up).
VERDICT: **** (4 asterisks out of a possible 5). We'll be making these again: simple, quick and delicious!

2. Basic guacamole in the blender
VERDICT: **** Easy to make (a little harder to clean), nice taste.

3. Molasses cookies (a local variation to what is on the back of the molasses jar)
VERDICT: **** We were out of butter but wanted cookies, so I found a recipe in an area cookbook that didn't need any. We all loved these cookies, even the kids to my surprise (who I thought would demand chocolate!).

4. Oops, I got sick and didn't manage a fourth recipe in January. Hopefully I'll catch up in February.

p.s. I have a friend who's also embarking on a New Recipe Every week challenge, and she's blogging about it at Something New (to Cook). I can't wait to steal try some of her recipes!

I'd love to hear about recipes you love. Please share your favorites in the comments or the Desert Survivor Facebook page.

St. George Bird Festival 2015

 In 2013 we went to the St. George Bird Festival and enjoyed it so much that we went back this year. I had signed up for a photography birding trip on Friday, but when I woke up it was raining and I wasn't feeling well and decided I better not go or I would be sick even longer. Fortunately, the next day I was feeling better so the kids and I went on a short birding trip to Springs Park. We were greeted by birds running towards us, hoping to get fed.

We had a big group of all abilities, and we took our time walking around the pond.

The kids were enthralled with the swans. I have to admit I was too, even though they are Mute Swans and not native. They still are really beautiful.

We also saw pied-billed grebes, mallards, spotted towhees, Abert's towhee, white-crowned sparrows, a snow goose, a road runner, and much more. For me the highlight was this Crissal Thrasher, a new species for my life list.

It was nice going with a trip leader who knew not only about the birds of the area, but also the efforts to conserve them.

The kids weren't too excited about the talking, so they ran ahead and found this nice swing with a great view of the pond and birds.

We watched an American coot come up close and really got to observe its interesting feet.

A little later we went back to the Tonaquint Nature Center for the junior birding program. I think Desert Boy was surprised how much he already knew about birds.


Right outside the nature center the sun came out and lit up this mallard.

We also saw hooded mergansers, bufflehead, a belted kingerfisher, two mute swans, and this ring-necked duck on the pond.

The kids really enjoyed seeing a peacock on the grounds. Then we went over to a pavilion where Home Depot was sponsoring a project to make bird feeders. The kids were delighted to use hammers.

The finished project! We look forward to using them.

Later we went to a program about owls and got to see an owl close up. It was really neat (even though I didn't get a good photo!)

I think one of the reasons I enjoy the St. George Bird Festival so much is that it's in the middle of winter, but St. George is quite warm, so it doesn't seem like winter. I also like seeing birds that I don't usually get to see. We plan to return!