Coming out of Winter

Been too long since I last posted!....

Wren is doing great!  He was chosen for the math team (1 of 12 students from his school.)  And he got lots of ribbons at the district Math Contest!

He also had a piano recital for which I will post some video soon.  
 

Last week he got one of his balls stuck way up in a tree.  Here he is claiming it back from Mother Nature. 

Dakota has really been enjoying the warmer weather.  We have noticed that he really wants to get the same amount of attention that his brother is getting which seems perfectly normal.  Here he is giving an amazing piano performance to the family right after Wren did his practice round for the upcoming recital. 

On one of the first "warm" days,  Dakota helped me wash the car and the proceeded to create something wondrous in the draining water.  I was not sure if it was soup or a dam.  It was so" hot" that he had to take his shirt off...so then the sweet girl (Maddy) across the street also had to take here shirt off... I think they moved rocks and leaves and wood chips into the draining water for 20 minutes.
I would not have called the day "hot."  I think I still had a fuzzy and a warm hat on so clearly our thermostats are set differently...hmmm...I remember this from a child...having a different thermostat from my parents....

Our tree swing has been great fun for Dakota.  He is really able to hang on now and even let go with one hand sometimes. 

Dakota really likes to take our neighbor's dog for a walk.  So at least once a week we go knock on the door and see if Abeel can go on a walk.  She is at least 15 years old and fairly slow.  So we walk around the block through the park and bring her home.  Dakota just loves his "Abeel time."

It is smoothie season again and Dakota just loves to make smoothies when he gets home from school.  YUM!  This one has bananas, yogurt, soy milk, blueberries and raspberries.

Look for another post soon.  We are about to close on a piece of property and will post some pictures of it soon!

Family Skiing at Bluewood w/video

On Sunday, we all rode the big lift right up to the top of the mountain.  Heading down a green circle called Country Road, we were so excited to see that Dakota was ready to ski from top to bottom all by himself!  Dakota has worked so hard for this day.  You can see his pure pleasure as he dances down the mountain. I have to apologize for the shaky camera work.  I will get better.  But I did capture his dance! Before lunch, we all just skied together, up the lift, down County Road.  Stuart and I were giddy with joy, we had done it.  

Both Stuart and I put in a combined 9 days of working on the bunny slope with Dakota but it all paid off!  Now we can all go family skiing!  For the rest of the day, we switched out, Dakota and Mom or Dad going down Country Road while Wren went with the other parent to do some harder runs.  Super Fun Day!

Here is a link to the youtube video of our skiing adventures.  Or just click on the play button in the middle of the video image below.  I am not sure which one will work so try both.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6poJDGk1ntE

AZ to Walla Walla

Heading home after a wonderful visit in Arizona needed to be a wonderful adventure of it's own.  So planning ahead, Stuart and I had some essentials:  1. Dinosaur Footprints 2. Petroglyphs 3. Arches National Park 4. Native American Ruins

We were able to get to all 4 and still make it home in our 3 day allotment.

We started in Canyon De Chelley where the ruins add a layer of mystical quality to an amazing array of sandstone formations.  This canyon is full of over 20 ruin sites.  We arrived at lunch time and then began to explore for the afternoon.  We spent about 4 hours exploring the canyon mostly from the rim.  Only at the White House ruin are you allowed to walk down to the canyon floor and get close to the history that pulls both Stuart and I into the canyons again and again. For me this was a destination on my list because of an Ansel Adams photo of this ruin.  I was happy to have made it.  And as a proud mom, I was so please that Dakota hiked completely independently down and back up for a total of 3 miles round trip plus 1000 feet of elevation gain.

 Here it seemed as I watched the ravens that they were just playing with their shadows, riding the rising air.

 I remember this was the image that Ansel caught too.  I remember the cottonwood tree standing there in the quite light.

 As we hiked out of the canyon, the sun was setting across the sandstone creating shadows and light.

 GOOFY!

 Just as the sun set we loaded up in the vehicles and drove as far as we could to set us up for success the next day because we still had 3 goals on our list.

Bright and early we rose with snow on the ground and the cold gripping the air.  Just an hour up the road we arrived at our first destination, Indian Creek.  Here we visited some sites that Stuart and I had visited 11 years ago with some friends.  And we found again the dinosaur prints and the petroglyphs. 

Here Wren's hand sits next to the print he found.

 This is Stuart's Comparision. 

 Dakota was pleased to find his very own dinosaur print.

 And of course me too!  I just love looking for dinosaur stuff.  Maybe in my next life I will be a paleontologist.

 So the dinosaur prints were found in the bottom of the wash on some bedrock exposed by the creek.  But just up the hill, literally 50 feet up hill, is this rock wall covered with petroglyphs. 

 This one is a find it mystery photo.  1. Wren 2. Heidi 3. Two big triangle shaped petroglyphs 4. group of many other petroglyphs

Then on to Arches.  We left not nearly enough time to really explore this place.  But what we know is that we must go back!

Family with Double Arch in the background.

 Family in the further back arch of Double Arch.

 After a wonderful hike into the arches, we hit the road and drove until late.  But we made it past Salt Lake City so we knew we would make it home the next day.


Arriving home, we faced generosity from all!  We unloaded the car full of travel gear.  And then went straight to the presents.  Wow! 

The Verde Canyon Train

The day after Christmas we all relaxed by going on the train.  What a perfect way to spend the day. 
 So you arrive at the station, board the train, and then relax.  They have snacks and drinks and an amazing 3 hours of wonderful views.  Hanging with the family was just wonderful and there was always something to look at for the boys because we were on the train!

When we needed a little break, we just headed inside for some reading time.

 When the scenery was amazing, we headed out to the open air car and just soaked in the view.

 The whole family got to ride.  This made for some wonderful family time.

 Here is my sweet sister with her wonderful new husband who we were all lucky to get to hang out with over Christmas (since they will be living in Wales.)

 Smiles seemed to be the theme of the day!

 The sun was warm and felt good shining down on our faces.

 When we got tired, we could just head back inside for some rest.

 When we were passing through the canyon the red rock stood out against the blue sky giving me that sense of solitude that I feel when ever I visit the desert.

 As we turned the bends we could see the train cars up ahead.  Wild West!

A Walk out the Door: AZ

Wren, Stuart and I got a quiet walk out the door of Dad and Jeanne's House.  Up the ridge through the rocks and down into the creek bed.  (Still catching up on our AZ trip...so many good adventures.)

 Agave: they beg to be photographed.

Here is their house from the top of the ridge.

 Lichen: How does it get to be this color?

An old juniper tree.

 Stuart balancing on a cool rock pile.

 And then he invited us all up for the view.

 The ice formations were truly remarkable in and along the creek.

Sweet Family Xmas

Our Christmas time together was wonderful.  It was great for us to be with family, explore Arizona, and relax.  We went on so many great adventures while we were there.  It is hard to sum it up in one post and include enough pictures to get a good grasp.  So I will break it up into a few posts for ease of reading.

Tonto National Forest: Travertine Bridge
Full family adventure.  Wonderful hikes and just plain fun for all!

Christmas Day:

 We opened stockings first and then had a yummy breakfast of eggs, grapefruit, bacon, tea ring and special cheesy British toast with a dash of anticipation (from the boys who were excited about all of the presents). 

On to the presents....Yeah! scream the boys.   Our boys loved opening presents but the also loved being the elves and delivering all the presents to everyone. 

Here is Dakota explaining his ocean painting to Aunt Em.

The boys enjoyed goofing and giggling around with some of their presents.  Here Dakota found it quite silly how his new Lego headlamp kept pushing his hair up.

Wren had a terrible accident with a rusty nail....just kidding...part of his practical joke set. 

An afternoon walk was enjoyed by all in the warm Arizona sun.