Sierra Camping Trip

We just got back from our camping trip to the Eastern Sierra Mountains!

Tailgate picnic at Fossil Falls

Tristan in the Fossil Falls

Fossil Falls

Piper was hot!

Cinder cone

This was our campsite at Onion Valley, elevation 9200 ft.

Burgers for dinner

Breakfast on a rock!

Overlooking our tent

Our hike...

Snowball fight!

Playing in a creek

Fishing

Mud!

Piper's fish was this big!

Very dirty baby

Helping Dad break down camp...

We kept the bears in the bear box.

Feeding the fish...

at the...

Whitney Fish Hatchery.

Rest stop at a Park in Lone Pine

Happy baby

What the Rain Brings

Rain can bring changes and surprises. At our house, (a 1950's beach bungalow) it brings an exterior door that swells and needs to be slammed shut, so much for teaching the kids NOT to slam doors, a garage that leaks through all three of its doors, and a muddy chicken coop. The rain also brings a day or two of a perfect excuse to stay indoors and just "be", conversation at the dinner table about where thunder and lightning come from, and for a few months a green front lawn (we don't ever water the front yard).

The rain also brings us some visitors. Tristan found this very large worm under a board. Normally any worm we find is skinny and under three inches long. This one was a whopper! Since it was so large, we could get a really good look at how it's muscles moved it around, and then we debated on where we should release it. We thought about the garden, thought for a moment about giving it to the girls to eat, but in the end we put it in the compost bin. I wonder if it will get any bigger?

Had fun at the Zoo today. The kids got to make friends with some goats, saw some beautiful birds, went to the reptile house, and the insect house to see some unbelievably large creepy crawlies. I think I might check my sheets before I crawl into bed tonight!

The First Day of Winter

I was out in the backyard this morning around 6:30 to let the girls out, and remembered that it was Winter Solstice. I took a moment to stand still, and thought about winter as I used to remember it. Winter meant lots of indoor days, Mom trying to think up fifty more things for us kids to do before the end of the day because we were bored, burning my tongue on my hot chocolate, sledding on the hill behind the hospital, bare trees, and that wonderful sound of silence when you woke up in the morning after a night of snowfall, then rushing downstairs and listening to the radio to find out if there was going to be a snow day. I also remember the Winter sky, before a storm. It was cold, steely grey, the sun seemed to be struggling to put out light through the clouds. Today, I saw that Winter sky again. Here. It was a grey day, but I loved it. I can imagine waking up tomorrow morning to that silent sound again, and opening my curtain to peek out and see it. That white landscape. That blanket hugging the earth, keeping it asleep for a few more months. I long to see the earth sleep again, and then watch as it slowly wakes up to Spring. For now, I will hold on to my memories, and relish the few snatches of what I remember when I can.

Piper and Camilla

Anatomy 101

Tristan loves dinosaurs. He also loves to play paleontologist. After roasting, and then cooking down a chicken for soup stock, I gave him some of the bones. He spent about a half hour figuring out what bones were what and trying to piece the chicken back together. We were, of course, missing some important bones, like the skull and the feet. In the end he ended up with a wingless, headless, four legged chicken. He said it was a new kind of chicken that evolved. Just a little bit of fun here at our house.

Getting Ready for the Feast

The Pumpkin Pie is ready.