T-ball

Jacob had our first T-ball game on Saturday. It was a tad cold and windy, but I think everyone had fun. I was impressed by the players. The kids were far more structured, organized, and engaged in the sport than I expected for 5-6-7 year olds. I think I was used to soccer, where it seems like a chaotic mass of kids running around the field. This should keep us busy for the next 7 weeks.

"The Wave" / Coyote Buttes North

Today Brian and I took a hike to Coyote Buttes North ("The Wave"). I sent away for permits in December, and we were given March 30th as our time. The kids were in pre-school, so we headed off by ourselves. It wasn't a kid-friendly hike anyway, and it was nice to keep a faster pace. The destination of the hike: the rocks that look like a wave. I thought it looked like swirled taffy or candy. A very nice day.

Trip to Phoenix

We had a great, quick trip to see Aunt Annie! We went to the zoo and spent a long time looking at the animals and wandering around the setting. Jacob was excited and wanted to run as fast as he could to see a certain animal. Then he'd see that animal, focus on seeing a different one, and want to get there as fast as he could. We tried to curb his enthusiasm enough to see everything else along the way. It was, probably, their first exposure to a zoo that they'll remember. I did forget my camera in the car, and the crowds prohibited an easy run to the parking lot to get it. The next day we went to the climbing gym with Aunt Annie. Jacob loved it and Annie just liked to swing on the harness and rope. She's a bit young, still. We also rode the new light rail and hiked to the "hole in the rock". The kids are standing next to the skeleton of a saguaro cactus. I didn't know that cactus had a wooden frame. The drive home was fine, but the kids were very sad to leave Aunt Annie.

Start of the Season, Maybe

It's Springbreak here and we are enjoying ourselves. We've had BBQs in the nice evening weather, and even made it out to the beach. It was warm enough to wear bathing suits, but the water was still quite cold. Though that didn't stop the kids from playing in it. The beach was quiet, and we were just about the only beach goers there. The rest was filled with the resort trucks gearing up for the season. The water is way down, which is natural for this time of year, and we sat in between large concrete pillars. These pillars must be anchors for boating ramps, or floating houseboat parking lots. Anyway, Jacob liked climbing all of them. We're off to see Aunt Annie in Pheonix today. That should be fun and it'll bring more pictures at the end of the weekend.

Congratulations Brian!

Congratulations to Brian -- he has received a promotion! He now has a fancy title and a whole bunch of extra work to go along with it. Chief of Planning, Compliance & External Affairs for Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, National Park Service. We'll have to do something to celebrate, as we've just been busy with day-to-day stuff for a few weeks. The weather has also taken a turn to the exceptional (nearly 80 & sunny), which is even more reason to be happy.

Alstrom Point

We spent this morning at Alstrom point, just hiking around and enjoying the scenery and solitude. The kids rock hunted and filled their pockets with stones. We also had a picnic lunch, of sorts. The pictures are of Jacob and Brian only, as Annie was in the backpack carrier and I had the camera. You'll notice Brian has a new shaved haircut. It is actually quite longer than the nearly completely bald version that appeared on New Year's Eve. Now, we're off to watch the Superbowl.

Lee's Ferry

This Sunday took us on an outing to Lee's Ferry. It's a natural crossing of the Colorado River, down stream from Glen Canyon and up stream from the Grand Canyon. Brian fished the running waters, and the three of us had "an adventure". Jacob fell into mud, slid through the dirt and scratched up his stomach. I told him that no adventure is a true adventure unless you get dirty and endure a boo-boo or two. The kids and I played by the river and tried to 'catch' some fish with the kid's fishing rods. Jake is now keen to the fact that the rubber fish on the end of his line is not the real thing. Annie, however, is perfectly fine catching the same purple rubber butterfly that is permanently tied to the end of hers. Next we left the water and the vegetation that surrounded it for the dusty boulders and hills. The kids had the most fun here, as they climbed the washes and the rocks. They proclaimed them all castles and found hide-outs. Not really sure who they were hiding from, though. Then, we headed to see the Lonely Dell Ranch, which was settled in the 1870's and still maintains some old, rustic buildings. There is an orchard there, with plum, peach, apple and pear trees! We'll be returning to harvest some fruit, as you are allowed to do this. Of course, the trees were all barren at this time of year. The winds then picked up, so we ate and left for home. One highlight as we were nearing the exit of the park -- we saw four California condors in the sky. We pulled over and watched three of them fly right over us. They had the largest black and white wings I've ever seen on a bird. I looked them up on line and found that their wing span can be up to 9.5 feet.