Impressions

His first grade teacher reprimanded him a bit at conference this week for have a little too much fun in class.  Hard to believe that on the first day of kindergarten he had to bury his head in my side to keep from bursting into tears when the teacher only spoke to him.  At least he's broke out of his bashful shell.....

Joining Mamabyrd and From the Land of Cotton in their weekly impressions posts.

Impressions

 
It has plenty of storage, a tiny kitchen, a lofty bed, even an outdoor shower... all the comforts of home.  So why did my hands shake so badly when I handed over the cash?  Sure it was going to be the best birthday present ever, but I was also giving him his own second mountain home where he could escape the demands and chaos of family life.  Happy Birthday to an Amazing Man... but please remember how much warmer, softer, and pleasantly more fragrant your sleep is when I climb in bed next to you.... together.... as in not alone.... even with a small child between us.... and a dog.... and possibly another child.... unrestricted sleeping is totally overrated anyhow.

Joining Mamabyrd and From the Land of Cotton in their weekly impression posts. 

Garden Journal: R.I.P.

Death Toll
1- Squash (finally)....... cause of death..... Freeze
2- Zuchinni (once again, finally)...... cause of death..... Freeze
3- Sunflowers....... cause of death..... Freeze/ End of Season
4- Beans....... cause of death....... Freeze
5- Corn......... cause of death....... Greedy Racoons, at least I still have the stalks
6- Ghost Squash...... cause of death..... Freeze, but left behind a decent crop amount 
7- Pumpkins...... cause of death  still alive, but for how much longer?
8- Carrots....... alive!  We all know it takes more than a freeze to kill a carrot, in fact they only get better with the cold.
9- Tomatoes...... surprise, also still alive!  Crazy right-- I'll give some credit to my recycled concrete planter I built this spring, but mostly I'm sure covering them each night is the biggest reason for their success.  (Sarah- I'm in a desperate need of your freezer salsa recipe- I'm waiting for a post) 

A Death Toll seems fitting with Halloween being just a few weeks away, I'm actually pretty impressed that my garden decided to embellish in it's own form of zombie attire.  And look HOOOO else enjoys hanging around the garden (he & his brother are nearly impossible to sneak a picture of, so forgive the quality).

 

 

 

 

~Rest In Peace Garden of 2014~

Beginning......

 

 

Middle.....

 

End......

 

1 Cup of Cream and an Extended Layover

I knew what I was suppose to be doing, I needed 1 cup of cream for dinner and I was out.  But somehow on our friendly neighborhood search for cream we ended up out at the lake.

It was fall... we'd had an uneventful day.... we hadn't visited the beach in weeks... whatever our reason, our quick 5 minute beach layover was approaching an hour, and still,  the 4 1/2 (Trigger only counts as a 1/2, I'm still harboring some resentment over his latest betrayal) of us were in no hurry to leave.

 

But after skipping rocks, drawing lines in the sand, and a game of 'What could it be?', we reluctantly headed for home.
'What could it be?'.....

An Egg....

A Pickaxe.... or two....

 A Tooth....

A Gun....

A Bomb....

A Peacock....

And a Mummified Bent Leg....

So what was in my bike basket for the ride home instead of the 1 cup of cream..... a bag of collected litter, an old license plate, a few pieces of old glass for the mosaic I'm determined to complete before the winter, a rib bone, and a couple of sticks that we didn't really need for our excessively large, never ending stick collection.

Dinner was great, despite being short one ingredient..... I guess we didn't really need the creme either.

Impressions

1 hour and 52 minutes of melodic encouragement from Jason, Dave, Ben, Chris, and ...... Dolly (?), 5.5 of the 13.2 miles running in a torrential downpour, 2 painfully burning feet even with 2 very wet soggy shoes, 2 days of recovery nursing 2 achy legs and 10 tender toes, and 3 members of my kin leaving me at the finish line (1 cutthroat partner, 1 hitchhiking boy, and 1 ungrateful black and white pup)......  but really, it's not all about the numbers. 

Joining Mamabyrd and From the Land of Cotton in their weekly impression posts.

Impressions

'Mommy, smell it...... it smells just like a beautiful flower....'
                                                                                  
                                                    'Mommy, touch it...... it won't bite..... it's dead......'
                                                         
                                                                                         'Mommy, hold it....... it's cold and floppy.....'

Just for the record I don't smell, touch, or hold dead floppy snakes.

Joining Mamabyrd and From the Land of Cotton in their weekly impressions posts.

Boulder, UT

About 10 years ago camping went from a cheap and easy getaway to a stressful and somewhat costly outing.  Adding children seems to do that to a lot of things...... But their addition also brings much more than that....  like a chance to make some pretty great memories.

With this weekend being one of our last acceptable family camping weekends we set off for a stressful and somewhat costly outing..... our destination.... Boulder UT.  This is one of Monte's most favorite places, he seems to know all it's secrets, and we've been trying to make this trip for years..... it was worth the wait.
 

Stressful...... Absolutely..... hiking with a 4, 6, and 9 year old only a few feet away from 100 foot cliffs..... tent sleeping with lots and lots of rain in the forecast..... potential drownings in deep, deep swimming holes with one end dropping to a 100 foot water fall.... yes I was blissfully stressed.

Somewhat Costly..... Yep..... gas $3.89 a gallon..... Capri Suns, fruit snacks, granola bars..... emergency purchase of a sewing kit, to hopefully repair two torn suits..... multiple treat/bathroom stops..... the little things do comically add up.

Chance to make Some Pretty Great Memories..... Definitely.....  (Sorry so many pictures, it was so hard to choose.)

Stunning views.

Stream playing while setting up camp.

Hikes on sandstone and through silky smooth sand.

Cairn building.

An awesome desert oasis all to ourselves.

Explorations of upper and lower pools and falls.

Jumping into a true swimming hole.

Sliding down natures water slides (leading to a couple of torn suits, and a leech hitchhiker, but without that hole and exposed backside that leech would have stayed hidden much longer than he did)

Solidarity that allowed for complete acceptance of exposed bottoms.

Dancing under a waterfall.

 

 

 

 

 

These were put in by request

 

 

Tent camping in the rain.

Thankfulness for a 4-year old's ability to over pack-- who would have thought all those coloring books and markers would be so entertaining while waiting out the rain.

Reading aloud several chapters in our book 'Summer of the Monkeys'.

Fun creations made by a brotherly crew (The Project Manager, The Engineer, The Manual Laborer)

  

 

 

Visits to the Anasazi State Park Museum where you can earn your Junior Ranger Badge.

Breaks in the rain that allow for one last hike up a huge white sandstone boulder.

Both beautiful and gross discoveries. 

 

 

 

And who could forget the sad faced boy, when he realized scampering up a cliff is the easy, going back down is the hard......

And then.... Self Discoveries..... bottom scooting is a totally acceptable way to maneuver back down a slippery steep slope.......

 

 ..... he took his stumbling blocks and made them stepping (even if the stepping is on your backside) stones.....  up the cliff easy, down the cliff hard..... my beautiful family teaches me everyday..... really the best things come with some of the hardest work..... like packing a ridiculous amount of fruits snacks and tent sleeping in the rain.