Faith, Hope and Love

{ Death Valley }

2012-01-14T20:52:00.000-08:00

Death Valley in January, highs in the 60's, a great time to visit. I don't believe you'll find me there in July with highs in the 130's! We started off at the Furnace Creek visitor center. The real one is closed for renovations, so we had to go to the temporary one which has no interpretive exhibits. So, we went across to the Borax Museum. There were all kinds of old contraptions used during the brief time this valley was mined for borax. We learned you can use borax to kill ants. I must try that some time.

We saw there was a ranger talk at Badwater just south of Furnace Creek, so we went down and were thouroughly entertained by Ranger Jay and his lovely lizard impersonation. He acted out a lizard sitting there in the valley, when suddenly the surrounding mountains raised up by about 20 feet in 3 seconds.

The salt formations here are very beautiful.

The basin is saturated with water. Ranger Jay pointed out where people had dug down to find water, only a few inches below the surface. By the way, they don't want you to do this! We just found this one here the way it was.

Next, we stopped at the Devil's Golf Course. Imagine losing your golf ball in here. We don't play golf, but still we could relate.

We hiked out into the devil's golf course looking for a water hole that is evaporating and forming the crazy mineral formations found here. We didn't find it, though.

The next day, we decided to drive down Titus canyon by going towards Beatty and then coming down from there (Beatty was a great place to get gas cheaper than in the park.) We stopped at the ghost town there, Rhyolite. It was interesting to see these buildings just falling down where they were left, it's an American version of the parthenon.

The next stop was at another ghost town, Leadfield. This too, was interesting in different ways. These were the buildings left behind by miners. They were all covered with metal siding.

We found petroglyphs, the kids stopped and investigated, trying to decide what the meanings were.

At the end of the canyon, the road winds between these realy close walls. What a fun drive.

We came out onto the road to Scotty's Castle, so off we went. We learned that Scotty was actually a local personality. We took the tour which was very much worth it. I absolutely loved the "castle" from the kitchen to the music room. What a wonderful place.

Our next stop was Ubehebe crater. We hiked up to the smaller crater beyond the big one. It was windy with a chill, but it was worth the effort of climbing up to the top.

On our way back that afternoon, we stopped at the sand dunes. The moon in the background here was just rising in the east and was almost a full moon.

We immediately found some bird tracks in the sand. They were probably those of a raven, they were everywhere.

More tracks. We thought they were a lizard, but perhaps they were those of a kangaroo rat.

The next day we visited the borax works where the borax was refined and then loaded onto a twenty mule team to take to the train about 60 miles away.

That afternoon the dust kicked up something awful. We were so worried that it was going to be really bad in Mosaic Canyon where we planned to hike.

It turned out to be just fine in the canyon and we enjoyed our hike. The Canyon was made up of an interesting mosaic of stones, both round river and rectangular sandstone. There was also a beautiful marble layer at the bottom.

The wind eventually kicked up in the canyon and drove us back to the car where we decided to go for a drive higher up toward Telescope Peak, the highest peak in the park over 11,000 ft high. We stopped at the charcoal kilns. They were huge and incredible to look at and go inside.

That night, the wind wasn't too bad, so we went on another ranger talk, this time a moonlit stroll in the dunes. We brought our flashlights, and the ranger told us what tracks we could expect to find. Mainly beetle and kangaroo rat, but there can be sidewinder, coyote, and kit fox as well.

The next morning we had to check out and go home. We stopped on the way out to hike to Darwin Falls, a mile one way. It was cold again, and the path was lined with wild burro scat, although we saw no burros on the entire trip. The falls were pretty and it was a good hike to get us going that morning.

Happy New Year 2012!

2011-12-31T22:23:00.000-08:00

May this year be safe, happy and healthy! Here's to 2012!

{ Oatman at Last }

2011-12-29T11:19:00.000-08:00

Our friends visited Oatman a couple of years ago, and it's always been on my to do list. Well, we finally did it, and we are going through there whenever we go down I40 from now on. It added maybe 30 minutes of drive time to our trip, but was so much fun that it was worth it.

We stopped on our way home from the Grand Canyon. As soon as we set foot into town, a nice local woman was handing out carrots to the kids to feed the wild burros. Note to self, always bring carrots, don't feed the babies, though. It was fun until DD was cornered and got nervous. We also managed to get DS a cap gun, finally, as the south rim does not carry such items. He was in seventh heaven and the inevitable shoot-out ensued. My former self would have been revolted at this, but now I'm resigned to the fact that kids love to play wild west. This was a great stop and I recommend it to anyone who loves a quirky little side trip when on a road trip!

This also reminded me of stories my mother, aunt and uncles told me about growing up in Superior. There were wild burros then, and they would try to jump on and ride them. I don't believe they ever succeeded, but I'm not quite sure about that. And if they did, would they admit it?

{ The Grand Canyon Tour of 2011 }

2011-12-29T10:45:00.000-08:00

We went on a little jaunt over to the Grand Canyon before Christmas this year. The first stop was Seligman.

After Seligman, we only had a couple of more hours driving to our first glimpse of the Grand Canyon.

We looked in the Kolb studio, and later had a tour of the house beneath the gift shop. { Sorry, but the new uploader and google reader formats are making it impossible for me to put these photos in the correct order :-( } This is one of the photos taken by the Kolb brothers back at the turn of the 20th century.

The second day, we drove out to Hermits rest, enjoying the many view points on the way. Here's a picture of El Tovar hotel on the south rim.

Ok, I guess we are jumping back to the village, here's the inside of Hopi House, which was designed by Mary Colter who designed many of the buildings on the south rim including Bright Angel Lodge.

Next up, El Tovar, not designed by Mary Colter, but impressive nonetheless.

Back to Hopi House. This was a cute display of Native-American nativites for sale.

I always think this little guy is very cute.

Now, back to the Hermit's rest loop. So confusing, I know! This is Powell Point.

In the Hermit's rest gift shop, also designed by Mary Colter, there is a beautiful fireplace niche where cold travellers can sit and warm up, and where we enjoyed hot cocoa and coffee. This Christmas tree was decorated in a raven theme. You can barely make out the raven on the top of the tree.

On the patio at Hermit's rest.

As we drove back to the village from Hermit's rest, we watched it storming and snowing on the north rim.

At no time were my children in peril during the taking of these photographs. The were well in from the rim. Thank you for your concern.

We stopped at the main visitor center and watched a wonderful 20 minute film, Grand Canyon a Journey of Wonder, and then over to the big gift shop searching for a cap gun for DS since he lost the one he got at the north rim over the summer. I got very excited when DS and I were looking out the windows and saw that it was snowing! It was short lived, and the next day was very clear and cold. I was really hoping for the snow as the low temperatures wouldn't have been so low!

El Tovar in the late afternoon.

The third morning, we were heading out and saw these mule deer in the mule pen. No, you are not mules! Boy, but they're smart. New this year we saw signs all over the place reminding us that it's illegal to feed or approach the wildlife. Lol!

We headed next to the Desert Watchtower, also designed by Mary Colter. I love this place, but it was very cold. We warmed up by the fire before going up into the tower.

We then headed back to the village, making one stop at the Tusiyan museum, to eat lunch at El Tovar. It was very enjoyable, and the dining room was beautiful. I tried the lamb soup, yum, and Navajo taco which was pretty good, too.

The El Tovar Christmas tree is real and huge.

From the lookout patio near the Kolb studio.

This is the tour of the Kolb studio. I frankly could have done with less criticism of the Kolb brothers, they were entrepreneurs and trying to make a living. They were early pioneers of the Grand Canyon south rim,they have their place in history. This table is apparently the only original from the Kolb brothers' house. Or not. The ranger wasn't really sure.

Here's the view from the window in the work room. A great spot for taking photos of people going down the Bright Angel Trail, and also fun to watch this guy in his pajamas sliding down the icy path.

After the NPS inherited the Kolb studio, they strapped the back of the house to the rock behind it to keep it from sliding down the cliffside.

The kids got their Junior Ranger badges in Vercamp's visitor center.

Ok, imagine this shot in the early morning with the tree full of frost and sparkling white in the sun while the rest was in full shade. It was an amazing sight, I'm sorry I didn't get to photograph it.

The third evening, we went out to watch the sunset. Unfortunately, there was not a cloud in the sky which did not make for the most dramatic sunset, but we did get a family photo.

We drove all the way out to Hermit's rest again and were rewarded by a small herd of elk grazing by the trailhead at dusk.

This photo belongs at the beginning in Seligman. I give up!

{ Total Lunar Eclipse }

2011-12-10T08:18:00.000-08:00

We got up very early this morning to view the total lunar eclipse. It was supposed to start at 4:45 am, but you can bet I was not up! We got up at 5:00, got dressed, made hot cocoa (mexican of course,) and drove to the library for a good view of the setting moon as it was eclipsed by the earth. As the earth's shadow passed over it, the shadowed part was still visible, but was a dark red color. The sky had hazy clouds this morning, and I forgot my better lense, so these were the best images I got. It peaked at 6:05 and then as the sun was rising, it got lighter and lighter until we couldn't see the moon at all before it had set behind the hills. The next total lunar eclipse will occur in April of 2014.

Pat & Oscars Pasta Bake

2011-12-04T16:45:00.000-08:00

1 16 ounce package penne, cooked
2 chicken breasts or other poultry, cooked
6 slices bacon, cooked but not crisp
1 16 ounce bag frozen brocolli
10 ounces parmesan cheese, grated
5 ounces mozzerella cheese, grated
2 cups cream
2 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste

Melt parmesan into the cream, milk and add salt and pepper to taste to make alfredo sauce. Put penne into a casserole dish and add bacon, chicken and brocolli. Pour alfredo sauce over all. Sprinkle with mozzerella. You might add some garlic, too, I didn't and it was delicious. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

This is a great way to use up leftover turkey, yum!

{ Christmas Light Parade }

2011-12-02T21:20:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T20:53:00.000-08:00

Psalm 100

1 A psalm of thanksgiving.
    Shout joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
2 serve the LORD with gladness;
    come before him with joyful song.
3 Know that the LORD is God,
    he made us, we belong to him,
    we are his people, the flock he shepherds.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
    his courts with praise.
    Give thanks to him, bless his name;
5 good indeed is the LORD,
    His mercy endures forever,
    his faithfulness lasts through every generation.

{ I hate politics, therefore, I vote }

2011-11-16T08:57:00.000-08:00

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/matthew-archbold/is-the-obama-administration-anti-catholic/

This is an article about Obama and the Catholic church. It asserts that most Catholics voted for Obama. It's a very sad commentary on the state of politics in this country. In my opinion, I think many didn't bother to educate themselves about the candidates, they just got their info from the media and went with that. It's a pity.

{ Tag Soup }

2011-11-11T20:28:00.000-08:00

Hunting for deer from an 8 year old's perspective. I'm really sad they didn't get one. The tag was for antlerless, but they only saw bucks this season. We only got a little bit of venison from a friend who managed to get one. Maybe next year.

P.S. This really freaked my out sending my son out for a couple of hours with the hunter. He seemed to enjoy it, though, like father like son.

{ Love This! }

2011-09-08T15:32:00.000-07:00

{ Second First Day - Do-over }

2011-08-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, here we go again! I got a call late Friday afternoon that my DS's school had an opening for my DD. Well, I didn't want to let the opportunity slip away, so I said sure. I was so excited to have her at the other school where she could have fun and be a kid, but I knew this opportunity would not come again. We thought long and hard over the weekend, but the kicker was that it is just so much easier to have two kids at the same school! We got to meet her teacher before school, and she was nice and organized, a huge plus. We talked again after school so my DD and I knew the expectations. Wow, what an emotional ride that was - starting a new school only to do it all over again after three days at the first school. But it will hopefully prove to be worth it in the long run.

On the way to pick up the kids today, this is what I saw. My stomach turned to knots and I was silently urging the minivan in front of me to keep moving and go the speed limit (she was going 40-45mph in a 55 mph zone.) I was in a bit of a hurry, for anxiety's sake.

It turned out to be down the road a ways from the school. What a terrible shock!

Waiting in the heat (it was over 100 degrees) and the smoke (fire) to conference with the teacher. Of course everything was fine and it looks like it will work out great. A relief to be sure, but not as fun as the first new school!

{ First Day DD }

2011-08-22T17:01:00.000-07:00

Today was my DDs first day at her new school. We were so nervous making the move, but I think it's going to turn out alright! After a week and two days of taking her brother to school and picking him up, she was just chomping at the bit to start school.

She's shy and nervous, so it's harder for her than my son to make a change. And, I'm realizing that she will go with the strongest personality instead of figuring out who are the really nice girls. I'm praying that she'll be able to distinguish between pushyness and true friendship.

She had attended a pool party the week before, so she had a scab on her nose where she scraped it on the bottom of the pool. I wonder what impression she made, I was hoping the girls at the new school wouldn't think she was tough/tomboy. Time will tell, but in the mean time, I'm happy that we made the switch!

{ DS First Day of School }

2011-08-15T20:07:00.000-07:00

It was a hazy beginning to the day. We loaded up, the entire family, to bid my son a good first day at his new school. It's a tradition for families to accompany their children on the first day. It's a twenty minute drive to the new school, one I wasn't sure I wanted to do every day, twice a day. And, when I realized that the two schedules of the kids at different schools were too different, even though the schools occupy the same campus, a carpool is not practical. I'd have to drive two ways each week regardless of carpooling. It's amazing what the view did to my spirit.

We got there and took the obligatory photo in front of the school, and then escorted my son through the gates where the headmaster was greeting every family as they entered. "Good morning," we said and made our way to the classroom. My son said, "He's a jolly man." He said it with conviction, he meant it, he was thrilled to be here. Then we met his teacher for the first time. The morning was hectic for her and at 7:30 the bell rang and we had to leave.

When my daughter and I came back later to pick up my son, we waited for the last class to arrive at the pick up loop, his class. He was walking next to the teacher, his favorite spot when he likes the teacher. He told us as we walked to the car that he thought she was just like Ms. Frizzle (Magic School Bus) and that she loves science and history. That is probably the highest compliment he could give her. Later, he mentioned that the headmaster had visited his classroom and that he still thought he was jolly.

Tonight, I'm feeling much relieved and at peace. It was so hard to make the choice to move my son from an excellent public school to a charter school that is well known for the academic intensive course of study and expectations of virtuous behaviour at all times. Time will tell, but I'm happy and contented with my choice right now. It was a good day.

{ The Dirty Dozen and Other Foods }

2011-08-02T17:36:00.001-07:00

http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/list/

{ Interesting History Lesson }

2011-07-26T18:50:00.000-07:00

http://www.slideboom.com/presentations/146960/Don%27t-Cry-For-Me-Amerintina

{ Good Rules for kids on FB }

2011-03-22T14:13:00.000-07:00

Here is a great article at Faith & Family about kids on FB. I'm still not even close to letting my oldest get an account. It's too bad that some parents don't watch their kids more closely and teach them that although we live in the world, we shouldn't become of the world. But, it's enough to keep our distance for a few more years. What you post on the internet reflects on who you are. It can also affect college and job applications. That's something to think about.

{ Our New Piano }

2011-03-21T07:42:00.000-07:00

We actually bought this 43 year old piano in January, using our Christmas money from my very generous uncle. I love the sound of piano music (from a REAL piano, not the keyboard.) Here are some videos of the kiddos playing their recent songs. I'm so grateful to have a piano!

{ In Honor of St. Patrick's Day }

2011-03-17T18:57:00.000-07:00

... and the great sale on corned beef. I just cooked this like a roast, added carrots, a parsnip and some red potatoes. I added the cabbage for about the last thirty minutes. Yummy. Next year I must get the spices off the meat before I begin to cook. It sort of stuck. Other than that, good stuff!

{ The Best Article I've Read in a Long Time }

2011-03-08T21:57:00.000-08:00

http://www.faithandfamilylive.com/blog/The_Bold_The_Lame/

This article beautifully sums up the huge responsibility of parents to their children. Truth and honesty are essential to raising healthy and safe children. I will internalize this and live this.

{ Champions! }

2011-03-05T15:35:00.000-08:00

These girls played hard and won the championship. They were awesome team players and deserved the win. They all had great attitudes and had so much fun playing!

{ Balloons }

2011-03-03T18:47:00.000-08:00

{ Snow Play }

2011-02-20T23:00:00.000-08:00

{ Snow on the Mountains }

2011-02-20T20:49:00.000-08:00

Here's what the mountains looked like this morning. Looks like a snow play day is in our near future.

{ To eat like a Viking }

2011-02-18T17:45:00.000-08:00

There was no school today, due to severe cutbacks in the district. I took the kids to the library to kill some time in between planting a garden. My son really loves vikings, and we recently started to read more about them. So, today at the library, he found a book of Viking recipes. He was so excited to try some viking fare. We decided to make oatcakes with fruit topping for snack. Here's how we made them:

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup oats (next time try 1/2 cup)
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp canola oil (no vikings didn't have canola, lol, next time use butter)
1/2 cup water
1 TBS honey

Mix ingredients an knead for a minute or so. Set aside for about half an hour to rest. It won't rise, no baking soda/yeast. In the meantime,

Peel and core an apple and cut it up into very small pieces. Add about 1/2 cup of frozen mixed berries. Place into a small saucepan and add about 1 TBS honey. Now heat until bubbly while mashing. Let cool.

When the oatcake dough is ready, divide into 8 portions. Roll into balls and press flat with your hands. Now, oil your cast iron skillet and heat to med-high heat. Cook the cakes for about 2 minutes on each side. Remove and top with fruit topping. I thought they were pretty good. I could just imagine cooking these over an open fire. For more Viking food see here.

{ City Hall Inaugural }

2011-02-12T08:35:00.000-08:00

We went to the grand opening of the city hall in December. I is a beautiful building that evokes Santa Barbara design. We were really impressed, and had fun visiting the counsel chambers, media room, traffic control room and various offices, including the mayor's office.

{ Baketball DD }

2011-02-11T20:57:00.000-08:00

My daughter started a week after my son in basketball, but her level goes to the playoffs in March! They are a great little team, especially since the majority have never played before and are not extremely tall. One team they played had a bunch of really tall girls. Hmm. Anyway, she loves playing the game, and she' improving all the time.

{ Basketball DS }

2011-02-11T20:50:00.000-08:00

The kids started basketball in November. These are my son't first two games of the season back in December. He is learning a lot about the game. I'm so proud of what a great team player he is.

I took this picture after the first game, out the window of the car as we drove home. It was stormy then and the clouds were alway making such beautiful patterns in the sky. I need to get out and take more next time.

The Grand Canyon

2011-01-23T20:51:00.000-08:00

We decided to leave Albuquerque a day sooner than planned, the things we wanted to see there just didn't work out. So we called the Grand Canyon, and they actually had an available room! We went by way of the Hubbell Trading Post on the Navajo (Dine) Nation. The ranger there worked with the kids showing them how to weave on a traditional loom.

We entered the Grand Canyon National Park from the east, so we stopped at the Desert View Watchtower there. I don't remember ever going inside it before, but now, I won't miss it whenever we go. It was beautiful. It was designed by the architect Mary Colter, who designed several of the structures at the Grand Canyon.

Our stay was short and sweet. A storm hit the north rim, but we were lucky at the south rim.

I loved the way they decked out El Tovar hotel on the rim. Mary Colter designed this one as well, built in 1905.

The kids even worked on their Jr. Ranger badges while we were there.

I love the Hopi House, too. This is another of Mary Colter's buildings, built in 1905. All kinds of fine Native-American artwork.

At the Kolb Studio, they have various art shows. This one was about botony at the Grand Canyon. I loved everything about it.

Frost on leaves, I just loved this!

Santa Fe and Albuquerque

2011-01-23T20:05:00.000-08:00

After Taos Peublo, we drove one more hour to get to Santa Fe. We went to our regular hotel there, but no one was at the desk. So, we went to the historic El Rey Inn, just to see. We really didn't think the price would be right. But they had many vacancies and offered us a great deal. I loved staying there. Such a beautiful hotel, full of Santa Fe charm. I was so happy that they even put up luminarias for Christmas!

I loved these star lights. I want one!

Mission San Miguel in Santa Fe is one of the oldest Catholic Spanish missions.

The Loretto Chapel with its miraculous staircase is very touristy, but not to be missed. I love the story of the staircase and St. Joseph.

We had never come across the Basilica, the current Catholic parish in the square in Santa Fe. It was so full of rich history and beautiful. I want to go to mass there sometime.

Blessed Kateri stands outside the Basilica.

This is the outside of the Loretto chapel.

The Basilica at night. Very pretty.

Since we did our tour at the California State Capital, we have developed an interest in capitol buildings. Here's New Mexico's Capitol Building in Santa Fe.

This cool bison art was made entirely from recycled parts. There were paint brushes, news paper and even camera film.

Visiting with relatives in Albuquerque is always a blessing.

Taos Pueblo

2011-01-23T19:47:00.000-08:00

Durango

2011-01-21T10:59:00.000-08:00

Getting ready for the Polar Express.

The next day we went to Purgatory for the kids and my husband to learn how to ski. They did great for their first time. We hired a tutor for two hours rather than paying the same price for all day ski school. I would say, that's the way to go. We got to go down the slope six times with the tutor in two hours where it took the kids' ski school all day to get down three times.It snowed all day, but we didn't care. We also lucked out and got to borrow goggles from the lost and found rather than buy new ones.

Christmas in Durango - Getting There

2011-01-18T19:36:00.000-08:00

Here we are all in four different states at Four Corners.

Monument Valley was windy and beautiful. A storm was moving in.

Art imitating nature.

Dinosaur tracks in the Navajo Nation off of Highway 264 near Highway 89.

Yummy diner in Kingman, AZ. Not quite as good as Watson's Drugs, but they serve sweet potato fries.

{ Piano for the Elderly }

2010-12-18T21:07:00.000-08:00

My daughter played The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy at the local senior home today. This was the Christmas song that she chose to learn this year. She was a little nervous, so it may not be perfect, but I was so very proud of her! It was nice to see the ladies sitting and listening were smiling and enjoying the performance.

{ Pictures of our babies }

2010-12-16T21:27:00.000-08:00

{ Yosemite }

2010-11-23T21:25:00.000-08:00

Beautiful. All decked out in snow. What a setting!

The classic, Yosemite Falls, was flowing over ice and snow. The frazzle ice meandered down the stream not keeping up with the strong current of water.

Fall wasn't finished when the area was hit with this snow storm. So pretty to see the fall color leaves beside the snow.

Duck!

Large granite boulders are everywhere around here.

Building a snow man with dad was the highlight for the kids.

These three deer, a doe and two yearlings, were not about to leave the good grazing here, ten feet outside of the visitor center. Many people stopped to watch and take pictures.

Oops, you never know when a tree will give up lose its load of snow!

Is this El Capitan? I can't remember.

{ I LOVE Sequoia National Park when it snows }

2010-11-21T21:20:00.000-08:00

We made it to Sequoia National Park yesterday despite the rain and snow. We stopped in at the south ranger station and learned that the north entrance to the park is closed. That meant going the long way to Yosemite the next day.

I love the fall colors topped with snow from an early snow fall. So beautiful, I just wanted to stay and look all day. But we had somewhere to be.

As we climbed higher and higher into the pine trees, the scenery began to take on a winter wonderland effect.

We stopped at the museum there and learned about the height of the giant sequoia trees relative to other things such as the Statue of Liberty. The trees can be taller.

The sun was out in the afternoon, so we headed to the Wolverton snow play area and did some sledding.

The clouds started to roll back in for the next round of snow that night.

We had a snowball fight before we left. It seemed like the right thing to do.

And then we were off to check into our room at the lodge. It was a full moon that night as we walked to the dining room for dinner.

The next day we loaded up the truck early, ready to get on the road to make it to Yosemite before dark.

The kids thought it was great fun to dig the truck out of the snow. Now I know why my husband wanted to bring along the broom! A marine biologist from Orange stopped to talk to us as we loaded up the truck. He told us the roads were closed. He didn't think the roads were passable at all and told us horror stories of people trying to get down the mountain. When we went into the lodge and asked there, they said that the roads had been reopened. We headed on out, hoping to make it down before the roads got bad. At one point, my husband had to help someone push his car up a slope, the guy was blocking the road and had no chains. Coming around a bend, we saw the marine biologist had slid off the road in his jeep.

The going was sketchy. The first ranger we came to, who was helping the poor marine biologist, said the roads were closed because the snow plow was broken. The next ranger said it was open again, the plow had been repaired. So, down the mountain we went. I really loved that snow plow!

But road conditions weren't good going down this windy twisty steep downhill road. Even though we had snow tires and 4-wheel drive, we were told to put chains on, too. The heavy construction vehicles were even slipping and sliding all over the place.

After a very long and slightly nerve-wracking drive, we made it to the bottom of that mountain. It was too bad we couldn't spend more of the morning exploring, but we were lucky to have gotten out of there at all today.

{ The Aspens Flush with Fall Color }

2010-10-20T17:03:00.000-07:00

We went to the San Bernardino mountains last weekend. This is what we came for:

Aspens glowing with fall color.

A stand of trees ablaze with yellow hues making the hillside appear on fire.

Plenty of logs to climb on.

A beautiful hike through the aspen groves.

We spent all afternoon there. Hiking and staring up at the beautiful trees. In a blink these leaves will be gone and the trees will stand naked for the winter. We had our moment and loved every minute.

For more on why leaves change colors in the fall click HERE.

A California Adventure Pass is required to park at the trail head, and a free wilderness permit must be obtained from the Mill Creek ranger station to hike on the trail.

{ The Berlin Wall - a Piece of History }

2010-10-09T20:57:00.000-07:00

The Friends of the Ronald Reagan Sports Park arranged for a travelling section of the Berlin wall to be displayed at our sports park this weekend. It's a 12x8x4 foot section of the Berlin wall, which stood for 28 years, and came down on November 9, 1989 when the east Germans were finally allowed to cross over into west Germany, some smashing it with hammers and taking pieces of the wall with them as they crossed. This was the beginning of the fall of communism in Europe. The friends of the park referenced Reagan's "tear down that wall" speech as the impetus for taking it down. Let's not forget Pope John Paul II and his influence on the matter of the Berlin wall and communism. This piece of the Berlin wall will be installed in the Ronald Reagan Park in San Bernadino at the end of the month.

{ Apple Picking in Oak Glen, or Not }

2010-10-05T18:09:00.000-07:00

We went to Oak Glen this weekend to pick apples. We started by eating barbeque from the Los Rios orchard shop. Delicious. Then we talked to the docent at the Wildlands Conservancy. So, we decided to go on a walk along the one mile trail there. We stopped at the pond, picked and ate blackberries and met a dog who was enjoying lying in the stream. It was a bit hot. By the time we got back to the Oak Knoll park, we were worn out and decided to just buy some winesaps - only available in the store right now - and some cider and go home. We had apple pancakes and cider for dinner followed by the second half of our apple pie - not as good as Julian Pie Company, but not bad. All in all, a pretty good day.

{ I Heart Hatch Chiles }

2010-09-13T18:56:00.001-07:00

{ Canyon de Chelly }

2010-09-06T21:36:00.000-07:00

We started off our day at the historic Hubble Trading Post in Ganado. We did the tour, which we've never done before. It was fascinating to go through the beautiful old house. The Dine tour guide told us the Hubble girls were bad to hang the baskets from the ceiling. Mr. Hubble was not happy when he came home that day. No basket should ever be used for decoration or placed upside down, ie, spilling out. The baskets are reserved for ceremonial use.

These bricks were used to make the outdoor oven.

The hogan is used now for visiting artists. When they stay, they donate an art piece to the Hubble. Almost every Navajo, or Dine as they prefer to be called, on the reservation has a hogan. It's a place used for ceremonies, but in the meantime is often occupied by the family or the parents.

We arrived next at Canyon de Chelly. The first lookout we stopped at was Spider Rock. These are the rocks that are in so many Native American's stories. How interesting to see the actual place.

The kids loved climbing on all of the rocks and boulders.

Our favorite part of the trip to Canyon de Chelly was the 2.5 mile round trip hike to the White House on the canyon floor, nestled up against a cliff face. It's the only trail hikers are allowed to hike on without a guide. It was a beautiful hike, and going down the switch backs didn't hurt my knees at all!

Our modern day pictographs.

Read the sign. It was a beautiful view, but my stomach dropped every time one of the kids leaned over the wall.

More ruins at the bottom of the canyon.

The End.

{ Chaco Canyon }

2010-09-04T21:58:00.000-07:00

We headed out to New Mexico for the three day weekend in search of good food, excercise, beauty and a learning experience. We stuck to the Navajo Nation as our area of exploration. After stopping in Gallup and getting 30 pounds of hot Hatch chiles, we went to Chaco Canyon to look at the ruins and later, listen to the astronomy presentation by the resident ranger. First, pueblo bonito, a very large ruin that housed hundreds of people long ago.

On a cliff above we saw ancient petroglyphs. These are the pictures that were carved into the rock by the ancient people who lived here.

My son found an interesting sign. Of course, this was made very recently, as it was only scratched in the dirt.

We also found a lot of fossils embedded in the cliffs surrounding the pueblos. I wonder if the ancients noticed that there were seashells in the walls of the canyon?

My daughter found a pottery shard. We took a picture and then placed it back where we found it.

Finally, the sun went down, and we headed to the observatory by the visitor center to hear an enthralling talk about astronomy in the ancient times. The pueblo people who lived here before had special sun and moon watchers. These people used the stars, sun and moon to predict the seasons and tell the people when to plant crops and get begin to prepare for winter. It was an important job, a matter of life and death. After the talk we got to look through the three telescopes set up outside and the observatory telescope. We saw Venus, a distant galaxy, and a solar system with a dying star that night.

{ Football Season Begins }

2010-08-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

Football season has begun. My son's team played their first game today. The team started with their warmup drills. My son was a defensive end. He's figuring out how to get away from his blocker to go after the ball. I am so proud of him. I was also proud of the way the coaches conducted themselves. The opposing team's coaches were a little too competitive which translated into screaming at their players and the referees and crazy threats. I would say that good sportsmanship is the way to go! My son's team won 41-34, hurray!!!

{ Girls Weekend Away - a Reunion }

2010-08-17T17:17:00.000-07:00

Wow, I got to see three of my high school friends this weekend after way too many years. I felt the entire array of emotions as we sat and talked about our families and major events in our lives. It was so wonderful to be able to see all of these wonderful people again. We may have grown up, but we still have much in common. What a great weekend it was.

{ First Day of School }

2010-08-11T14:36:00.001-07:00

The kids finally started school today. The summer was either too short or too long, I'm still trying to decide. On the one hand, it really was the shortest yet, only two months. On the other hand, we didn't go anywhere or vacation at all. There were many days when the kids were just saying, please, let's go somewhere. But, we've finally arrived at the new school year, and so I walked the kids to school and dropped them off for fourth and second grades. My daughter is in the 4th/5th grade combo class. I'm super excited about that, I think it will be a great year for her. My son is in a regular 2nd grade class. I don't know the teacher, yet, but looking around this morning and recognizing many of the kids there, I'm realizing that it will be a very good class, too. I'm hoping the best for him!

I spent a part of the summer researching other schools and homeschooling. I'm really enjoying "The Well Trained Mind" by Susan Wise Bauer. I've started with her world history curriculum with the kids and they're really enjoying learning about ancient Greece. I'm hoping to continue with that this year and also have my husband work with them every week in spanish. I'd really love to throw in some latin, too. We shall see! I'm all for a classical education, especially the more I read about it.

But for now, here's to a great year for both of the kids.

{ Balloon Glow at the Lake }

2010-07-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

This year, the city moved the balloon glow from a local park to Lake Skinner. This was my first time going there, and I have to say, I was impressed. It's a beautiful lake especially when we got there a little before sunset. There was a concert going on there, and since I was still revovering from sinus surgery and had a little headache, we walked down to the shore of the lake. It was fun watching the sunset and the birds in the water. We saw a western grebe diving and swimming in the lake. A duck was eyeing us for snacks, but we had none! The kids had fun enjoying nature and of course, sticks with fishing line tied on. We took the line off and threw it in the trash so it wouldn't hurt any of the wildlife. We saw the balloon start to inflate, so we headed back just in time for it to be up in the air. There was only one balloon this year, a bit of a disappointment, but it's always fun to watch, even one balloon. It was a short trip out there, maybe an hour total, but it was nice to get out of the house for a bit. And it was simply a gorgeous evening.

{ Welcome to my Happy Dance }

2010-07-08T15:51:00.000-07:00

I feel like a new person today. My nose is literally burning with every breath, deeper than ever before and the smells, I can smell so much. At Walmart, I noticed, that's not a good thing! The light is at the end of the tunnel. I'm so excited to get up and go! I'm now finished with getting sick all of the time and not living my life the way I want to. Yay!!!! Next chapter is coming right up...

{ Nose Update }

2010-07-07T21:44:00.001-07:00

I had my nose splints removed today. My appointment was at 4:30 but the doctor was running behind. I'm so glad that he was about 1/2 hour behind, at abou 4:50 there was a M5.4 earthquake that shook the building quite a bit. If I was in getting the splints removed right then, that would have hurt! Anyway, it did hurt nonetheless, but after he finished and sucked out the mucous from my sinuses, I felt so much better! I can breathe. Better than I ever remember breathing. I can smell better, too! And my hearing in my left ear seems improved. Oh, I hope so much that this lasts and is the new norm. The doctor says everything looks great and that he expects me to be fully recovered by the time he sees me back in 10 days. For now, I must wash out with saline, which makes me naseaus. Is that a normal response to saline? I get it every time saline enters my body. Hmm. I'm finally feeling that this was worth the pain and effort and money to get done.

{ Happy Fourth of July }

2010-07-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

My son was in the parade with his football league! He was so very excited to be riding on an antique fire truck and in the parade! All pictures were taken by his sister, and she did a wonderful job. Happy independance day.

{ Surgery Complete ]

2010-07-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

I went to the hospital on Weds. afternoon where they prepped me and hurried me into pre-op. The dr. was ready for me. Except, an hour and 10 minutes later, he came in and told me that his previous patient was going to take another two hours to finish up. I had to reschedule. So, IV removed, got dressed and went to Macaroni grill to eat something - the first thing all day - and wait for traffic to die down.

I had my surgery yesterday morning. It took a bit longer than expected but went well with no problems. My nose is not crooked anymore, but it's so swollen and bleeding, that I'm still quite miserable. It feels like I have a bad sinus infection. I'll get there. I'm so sad that I'm missing all of the fourth of July festivities this weekend, but that's the way it goes. I can't wait to get healed up and get the splints removed from my nose!

{ Surgery Tomorrow }

2010-06-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

I am preparing for surgery tomorrow. I will shop and make sure I have all the grocerys I need for the next week, at least. I will clean house and finish laundry. I'm feeling nervous because, really, I don't like to have pain, but this surgery will help me tremendously and it's a long time coming, having fought the HMO for five years, and lost. I was scheduled for this surgery almost six years ago, but had to cancel because we moved out of state. The doctor has assured me that the surgery is so much easier than it was five years ago and I should be up and around in no time at all. The official procedures to be performed are: bilateral endoscopic total ethmoidectomy, bilateral endoscopic frontal sunusotomy, maxillary antrostomy, sphenoidectomy, bilateral turbinate reduction, septoplasty, instatrak. Please keep me in your prayers on June 30th at 4:00 PST. It will be nice to have my head unclogged and draining properly!

{ Immortalized Forever in 3D }

2010-06-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

Alright, folks, I did it. Be prepared for me to begin the 3D photo torture. I converted these images into 3D using this tutorial. In order to acheive this effect, you need your subjects to remain perfectly still while you take one picture looking through the veiwfinder with one eye, then, while keeping everything the same, switch eyes and take a second picture. My son on the left is the most 3D because the branch he is on is oriented perpedicular to the plane of the camera lens. The other two kids' planes were fairly parallel, so the effect is less. I should have had them hold out their arms/legs or something. This was fun! That is all.

{ Prehistory in the City }

2010-06-21T23:50:00.000-07:00

We just love the Page Museum at La Brea tar pits. It's a very small museum just packed full of ice-aged artifacts. All of the specimens there were collected from the tar pits which formed after the dinosaurs were extinct. It's funny to be in this little park surrounded by highrises in the middle of LA. Having a future paleontologist in the family, this is a great place for him to learn and explore. We were excited to show it off.

{ Hooray for Hollywood - Disney Style }

2010-06-21T23:42:00.000-07:00

We went to see Toy Story 3 in 3D at the El Capitan in Hollywood. We absolutely loved it! My son even insisted on digging his Buzz out of the giveaway bag in the garage. That was a close one! I absolutely love the Pixar movies and this was as good as any of them. I just loved the Day & Night short at the beginning, too. Very clever. After the movie, we got to play at the Toy Story Fun Land. It was cute and the kids loved it! Here's another really cool perspective based on this movie, just thought I'd throw it in since I agree.

When we first arrived in Hollywood, we checked out the squares at the chinese theater and had ice cream at the Disney Soda Fountain. For the record, I do believe we will skip the soda fountain from now on. It's pricey and the service is absolutely terrible. I don't remember our first time eating there, so I'm sure it's always mediocre. I'm sorry to our visitors for dragging them there. Oops. One hour from the time we checked in with the concierge/hostess/table busser until we got three sundays and a milk shake. I think not. The hostess was doing all the work. The waiter was absolutely clueless. Someone metioned Newberries (?) down the road. I might check that out in the future. Even though I was unimpressed with the dining, it was a fabulous afternoon in Hollywood and I highly recommend the Toy Story 3 movie, in 3D please!

{ Happy Father's Day! }

2010-06-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

The kids whipped up this blueberry pie with the berries they picked yesterday, especially for father's day. It was delicious. Here's how they made it:

Defrost two pie crusts.

Mix together:
1/2 cups sugar
7 TBS corn starch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
4 cups blueberries

ETA- use 3 TBS flour instead of the corn starch and add 1/4 tsp. nutmeg. Delicious.

Put into a crust and top with butter slices. Since the second crust was cracked, we formed it into a ball, rolled it out, and cut strips to make the lattice top. We didn't really have enough dough to cover the entire top, so it was a loose lattice. We brushed that with melted butter and sprinkled sugar on top to give it some sparkle. Into a 375 degree oven for 50 minutes. Served a la mode, yummy.

{ Pennypickles }

2010-06-19T20:22:00.000-07:00

We went to eat lunch at Rosa's Cantina, so we thought we'd stop by the Imagination Workshop. The kids had fun in the time machine room and the glow in the dark fireplace maze. They loved the bernoulli ball and hot air balloon. We had a nice afternoon in old town today!

{ Blueberry Heaven }

2010-06-19T12:05:00.000-07:00

Earlier today, my daughter hurt her foot, taking about a nickel sized piece of skin off the bottom of it, so she needed a bit of help getting around. We're so happy we decided to go ahead and pick blueberries today! Three pints of blue yummyness. These locally grown organic blueberries are the best I've ever tasted. Tomorrow, we make fruit pizza and blueberry pie in honor of father's day!

{ Wild Animal Park Visit }

2010-06-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

We took our guests to the Wild Animal Park today. It was a warm day, but luckily, it wasn't too crowded. I loved the orange blooms that were all over the park. I found a humming bird enjoying the same flowers. We lucked out and got to see the keepers working with the elephant herd. There was one really tiny baby. There was a new cheetah walk where the keepers took one of the baby cheetahs out on a leash in front of an audience. It was a really neat thing to see that creature up so close. We took in two shows, and took the train ride around the Africa enclosure. It was a great day at the park, many of the animals were out and active.

{ From Legoland to La Jolla }

2010-06-16T21:50:00.000-07:00

We went to Legoland today. Lot's to do there, and didn't quite do it all. We saw the new Sea Life Aquarium there, too. We ate some dinner at King's Fish House and then went on up to the beach in La Jolla where a colony of harbor seals has taken over. Whew, I'm so tired, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

{ San Diego County Fair }

2010-06-12T19:58:00.001-07:00

We decided to go to the County Fair at Del Mar today. It was fun to go to a fair, I hadn't been to one since I was about 15 years old. The kids enjoyed it, too. We started at the flower show. We loved all of the beautiful stems displayed there. After eating some lunch , we walked around a bit looking at all the fair had to offer. I spotted an elephant ride, which I have always wanted to do, and the kiddie zone on the other side of the race track. We went to the big ride section which was the nearest to us, but decided we should go to the kiddie zone. I sat down to study the map, and when I looked up, there were our friends standing there! So we all headed over to the kids' rides and the kids got to enjoy them together. It was a lot of fun. We parted ways, then, and looked around the kiddie zone a bit more, watched a hawk talk, and then headed over to the livestock. The kids liked all of the pygmy goats with their tiny babies. By the way, I got my elephant ride!

{ Last Day of School }

2010-06-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

This year just flew by. I can't even believe it's already over. This was officially the year that my son learned to love school. I am so relieved about that. His teacher handed out awards to each kid in the class. My son's award was for "Being a thorough thinker". And that he is. He loves to read, study things and figure out how they work. His teacher commented that he might be a scientist some day! My daughter's teacher said that she could grow up to be a scientist, a teacher, even her future boss! What a thrill for my daughter to hear that. What great encouragement for her. This was by far the best year for my kids. I'm so delighted to have a second and fourth grader now.

{ Hike to the Vermal Pool }

2010-06-06T21:39:00.000-07:00

We really needed to get out our wiggles, so we went to the Santa Rosa Plateau to hike for a bit. The pool is almost completely dried out, but it was still fun to look at all of the wildlife there. We stopped at the nature center, also. My son was so happy to share his favorite subject, scat. It was a really hot day, but up on the plateau, it was about ten degrees cooler with the cool ocean breeze blowing. What a beautiful day.

{ A Rite of Passage: First Communion }

2010-06-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

My daughter recieved her first communion today at the 5:00 mass. Most appropriately, it was the vigil celebration of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. I am just bursting with pride at how beautiful, intelligent and poised she is becoming. My little girl is growing up and I am in awe of the person she is becoming. Lucky me. This was such an extraordinary event. I really don't have words.

{ Kite Day }

2010-06-03T21:53:00.000-07:00

{ Park Fun }

2010-06-03T21:44:00.000-07:00

The first graders took a field trip to the park today. They took sack lunches and walked to the park where we all sat under a tree to eat. It was really hot, but the kids enjoyed playing at the playground and the various activities the teachers set up. They played kickball and volley ball with a beach ball. Until one of the moms comandeered the game by taking the ball and making them take turns. My son was clearly irritated. When I saw that he was about to melt down, I suggested we go check out the other stations. He loved clean your habitat. A rope line is laid on the ground and the kids divided into two teams. Each side starts with about 10-20 socks. When the time keeper says go, they have two minutes to clear the socks out and throw them on the other side. It was fun to watch. One boy learned to save up all the socks and then at the last minute throw them all over to the other side. Hysterical.

{ Lizard Wizard }

2010-06-03T11:28:00.000-07:00

The lizard wizard visited first grade today. My son was really interested in all of the creatures he brought.
A baby alligator, for instance.

Turtles.

Tree frogs that kept trying to hop away.

Corn snakes and pythons.

A skink.

{ Field Day }

2010-06-02T19:25:00.000-07:00

Our third grade's fun field day was based on Survivor. It was a new concept this year for field day, and I for one thought it was inspired. The kids all pulled together to work as teams and try to win the torch for each event. It was a great day and the teachers made it that much more memorable.

{ Santa Ana Today }

2010-05-30T20:54:00.000-07:00

We went to the Discovery Science Center today. We really only went to get our membership cards and then we had plans to go to another museum we've never been to. Well, one thing led to another and we ended up spending a few hours at the Science Center. Hockey, baseball, volleyball, dinosaurs, grossology, it was an interesting day. When it was time to leave, we were craving a treat, so on to Watson's Drug Store in old town Orange for the best mikshakes and fries. Yummy.

{ In a re-Decorating Frame of Mind }

2010-05-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

I am really wanting some new sofas/sectional, something! I have been coveting this Pottery Barn sofa for a while now. I'll never get it. Too expensive. Then I thought about getting a Bassett sofa. Still not going there. I don't like the colors available. Now I'm thinking about slipcovers. There are articles about how to do this here and here. I must go to JoAnn's and see if they have anything I might like in the way of sofa fabric. I've also heard you can go to Home Depot and buy a few of the $10 painter's canvases and use as slipcovers. Not sure if I want white, though.

{ Nature Walk }

2010-05-23T18:01:00.001-07:00

I can't wait for you to see what else we were up to today. It's a surprise! Here are some pictures from our nature walk after we finished with the surprise. We actually found a snake skin shed. Very cool.

{ Picking Blueberries }

2010-05-23T15:48:00.001-07:00

Howdy from the farm! we went blueberry picking today! Yes, a bit pricey at $5 per pint, but they are organic. And we got to pick the ones we wanted. Now to decide what to do with our two pints?

{ I love this song today }

2010-05-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

{ Square Number Four }

2010-05-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

Blessing number four is our birthdates.

Hers:

Mine:

We've slowed down with our sewing a bit, but we're finally getting back on track. My daughter chose our birthdates as our next blessings. I think she meant the blessing to be the gift of life and this is how a nine year old girl expresses that. She didn't mention partys or presents, just being born.

It took me a little by surprise, I've had serious moments of contemplation on the subject. My pregnancies were very painful and the doctors didn't know what to do with me. I now know that it was my diseased kidneys that gave me such problems, but during the pregnancies, no one knew for sure. My daughter is my first born, and about a third of the way through the pregnancy, one of the many OB's we saw suggested terminating the pregnancy. There was nothing at all wrong with the baby, she thought that would be easier for me. I can't imagine my life without my darling daughter, and I surely never even considered terminating the pregnancy.

I also remember one day at a family gathering where the topic of conversation turned along the lines of - too bad your step-dad isn't your biological dad. I guess they were thinking it would be better if I had not been born with kidney disease. The only problem with that reasoning is that if my mother had only had children with my step-dad, I would never have been born. It took a special miracle to create my life, me as the individual that I am, and I am so happy and grateful to have my life. Even with the flaws. No one is perfect, everyone has suffering and differences in their own way. I am so blessed to have been born and now I can show my children that life is precious and worth keeping no matter what the circumstance, disease, birth defect, abnormality. I truly believe this. I would not deny the life of my child just because they might inherit my kidney disease. What would the world be like if all difficult/defective/abnormal pregnancies were terminated? I thank God that my mother chose to give birth to me and I thank God for my precious children each and every day. Thank you God for the gift of life.

{ We Have Six }

2010-05-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

We have six chrysalises! The smallest caterpillar did not make it and I had to throw it away today. So, we should have butterflies by the end of the week! It's so much fun to see the second generation through to the end.

{ JPL Open House }

2010-05-17T14:38:00.000-07:00

Here are some more shots of our tour around JPL yesterday. We started off in the Journey Through the Solar System exhibit. We learned about many of the missions to Saturn, Jupiter, the moon, and even comets. There were lots of cool graphics everywhere. This is the Dawn spacecraft which will go to the Vesta and Ceres asteroids in the astroid belt to study and search for signs of water.

JPL is a juge campus with around thirty different buildings and twenty-two exhibits open during the open house. It felt a lot like exploring a university campus.

Check out this cool planet atop a patio cover at the front of the campus.

Inside that building was the Mars Science Laboratory where a full sized model of the latest Mars rover, Curiosity, was on display. The actual rover is still under construction and should launch in the fall of 2011.

The Our Changing Earth exhibit demonstrated all of the various applications that JPL's technologies provide to monitor the earth. Things like hurricanes, soil temperatures, ocean salinity and more.

I loved the look and feel of the buildings and this really cool big sign on the front of this building.

Here's a replica of the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which have both been on Mars for several years. They call this one Bubba.

The kids enjoyed the Mars Exploration for kids where a smaller version of a rover was demonstrated. Here the kids lined up to be the "rocks" for the rover to go over. This was the kids favorite part of the open house. They said it tickled and hurt.

Here's a model of the latest Mars rover, Curiosity, which will launch to Mars next year. It's interesting to see it maneuver over big rocks with it's aluminum wheels. The real one will have titanium wheels.

The line for the Spacecraft Assembly area was really long. Luckily we were able to rest here in the shade of the building while waiting and fanning ourselves with maps.

It was really fun to see the actual Curiosity rover in parts on the floor of the assembly area.

Here the kids are learning about infrared. The monitor shows differences in temperature by color. The kids dipped their hands into freezing ice-water and they showed up dark purple on the screen. The warmer parts were orange. The kids had fun "painting" themselves with the cold icewater and observing the effects in infrared.

This was one of the outdoor testing areas for the rovers. There were dirt and boulders for the rovers to maneuver through. This part was just empty and fenced off for the day.

We had so much fun, we're already planning our trip back next year!

{ We Went to Mars Today }

2010-05-16T20:41:00.001-07:00

Here's a picture of us on Mars, taken by the Mars rover Spirit. Click on the picture to view full sized.

Actually, we went to the open house at JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratories) in Pasadena. It was a great day there and we got to see so much. I'll post more about our day soon. I am on the verge of not being able to walk from kidney and back pain. Combined, it's awfully hard to function normally. Hopefully I'll be back to my new normal soon!

Here's the description of our photo from their website (it's in 3D, so you need the glasses to see it):

This anaglyph image contains a stereoscopic view of Mars as seen by the MER Spirit rover. It is a portion of the "Home Plate South" panorama taken by the Panoramic Camera on Sol 1329 (Sep. 29, 2007). The view is looking south, with the edge of Home Plate in the foreground. Your picture has been scaled so that you are approximately the right size for the scene. You are standing approximately 9 meters (29 feet) from the camera. The pointed rock on the far right is about 0.5 meters (1.6 feet) tall and 20 meters (65 feet) away. The full panorama can be seen at: http://marswatch.astro.cornell.edu/pancam_instrument/home_plate_south.html
To view these images with your stereo glasses, hold the red lens over your left eye and the blue lens over your right eye.

To see more 3D images from JPL go to http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/keywords/anaglyph and use any of the old 3D one blue lens/one red lens 3D glasses to view. I'm loving this!

{ Back at the Storm }

2010-05-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

We went to another Storm game, this time with my son's team. All the teams in the league got to walk the field. Unfortunately, they changed their set up and wouldn't let the team down until all were present. We had to wait in the parking lot, climbing trees, until everyone got there. Then, they didn't walk the entire field as usual, they walked from third base to first base so I didn't get a very good picture of them at all. There was this lady pushing a stroller and walking right in front of the boys, blocking my view for the most part. That was a bummer. It was mustache night, so my son wore a mustache for about 2 minutes. The kids had fun watching the game until my daughter got sick from the hot dog she ate and we had to leave, in the third inning. Major bummer. That's how it goes some times.

{ The Cycle Continues: Chrysalis }

2010-05-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

The first caterpillar began to make it's chrysalis today. This was one of the plant-fed caterpillars, so I'm now thinking that the food that the insect company sends for caterpillars is just ordinary food, and the plant is better.

{ Unexpected Visitor }

2010-05-10T22:03:00.000-07:00

As I was peeking into the butterfly enclosure this morning to check on the two caterpillars in residence there, I spied this:

These are Painted Lady butterfly caterpillars! What happened?

Then I counted caterpillars, they were both still there and still caterpillars!

This guy's cacoon must have come with the daisy plant. It's wings were so pristine that I knew it must have just emerged overnight. The kids decided we should release it.

But it wasn't in a hurry to go. It needed a bit of coaxing to go onto this leaf.

On the way back into the house, we lost the caterpillars. They seemed a bit upset as they curled themselves up, but they quickly straightened out again and the kids put them back onto their plant.

{ Mother's Day Hike }

2010-05-09T20:18:00.000-07:00

We went to the Santa Rosa Plateau to see the Vernal Pools there for our Mother's Day hike today.
It was the first time we went that the adobe house was open and we were able to go inside.

The woodpeckers seemed to have vacated the two hundred year old tree for this smaller little stump. I think the increase in traffic there since the new parking lot was installed may be the reason for their move.

My daugher brought her bubbles.

The trail was crawling with these fuzzies. The ranger thinks they are a type of tiger moth. They were eating all the plants in the area, including the grasses and poppies.

The dragonflies were emerging. This very new dragonfly was drying it's wings.

These tiny frogs are about the size of your fingernail. There weren't as many as last year, but we saw a few.

In the visitor center, my son found a display of his favorite thing to find on hikes, scat.

Afterwards, a nice yummy dinner at Pat and Oscars. Here's the view from our table.

{ A Biologist's Mother's Day Song }

2010-05-09T18:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osWuWjbeO-Y

{ Softball Champions! }

2010-05-08T13:28:00.000-07:00

My daughter's team won the chamionship in their division of girls softball! So proud of the team. I think the greatest thing about that team was that they were always good sports and did their best. It was so much fun to watch!

{ Recital }

2010-05-05T21:45:00.000-07:00

My daughter had her second piano recital tonight. She played "You Can Fly" from Disney's Peter Pan. It's so much fun to hear her progression. She stumbled a few times during her performance, I think from nervousness. She practiced it perfect several times before the recital. I'm so proud of her. She has a gift! We are now on a quest for a real piano for her to practice on.

{ Caterpillars Like Daisies }

2010-05-04T21:27:00.000-07:00

The caterpillars are really liking their shasta daisies. Here's the second plant that I put in the enclosure. I only found two to put in there, and already they are growing so much bigger! The other five are in the food containers left over from my son's classes caterpillars. They are all chrysalis's now.

ETA - I'm noticing a lot of searches for what caterpillars like daisies, so, to be thorough, these are painted lady butterfly caterpillars on shasta daisies.

{ Catching Up with Stitching }

2010-05-04T11:00:00.001-07:00

We both got hit this week from the colds we had. My daughter ended up with bronchitus, me with a bad sinus infection. I spent two days in bed, so now we're really behind! For our second squares, my daughter chose food as our blessing. Here's her square complete with apple, banana, blueberries, a carrot and an onion. She's right, we are very blessed to have food every day and of so many varieties. I chose to stitch an apple tree.

Our third blessing is our country. We are lucky to live in a country where we have so many freedoms. Here is the flag, mine is a map, although it's probably not very obvious! I may need to work on that some more!

More soon!

{ Pala Cupa Days }

2010-05-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

We went to the Pala Cupa Days celebration today in Pala. There were many different groups performing as well as many vendors. It was kind of strange that the most popular toy for kids were pop guns. They were popping all over the place.

We watched two different performances. The first was a group from the Salt River/Maricopa tribe in Phoenix. They invited the kids in the audience to participate. My daughter went right up and joined the circle of dancers.

The girls were dancing and minding their own business, when the coyote came and chased them all around. It was a lot of fun for the kids. My son really wanted to be the coyote.

They did another one and this time my son went ahead and joined the fun.

The second performance we saw was a Cherokee man with his Navajo wife and two sons. They are from Montana, and did several exhibitions for us.

{ Flower Show }

2010-05-02T19:06:00.001-07:00

My son's class planted flowers from seeds to show off in the flower show this weekend. Amazingly, he got third place for his little sprout. The first ones died, so he had just replanted his pot with new seeds. What a great way for the kids to get excited about gardening.