moab

we had to get our trailer from colorado to california so a trip to moab in utah was the plan. my inlaws towed the trailer to red cliffs lodge and we made the 13 hour trip to meet them. i highly recommend if you live in california that you skip the vegas trip and go through southern utah to some of the amazing national parks they have to offer. being spring, which has unpredictable weather in the high desert meant we couldn't risk seeing zion or bryce in a tent trailer (our first choice since we have never been). red cliffs lodge is next to arches national park (which we have visited before but never camped at) it was the best choice under the circumstances. i had thought canyonlands might be cool (we just watched 127 hours which was filmed there) but it has numerous entrances with very few campsites, too risky for us. so arches it was and boy did it deliver!

arches is organized in a way that is really spectacular, you see the high red rock mountains when you enter and drive a steep road up to the top where the plateau opens up to these amazing formations and colorful soil, plants and rocks. all that with snow capped mountains far off in the distance. it is truly breathtaking and the park roads take you on a winding picturesque route to see everything from different angles.








the weather was in constant motion, hot then cold then sunny then rain with the kind of clouds you can truly spend hours watching. our last afternoon there, emily and i took a two mile hike around the campgrounds and just giggled at how neat it was to be out in the middle of nowhere. it got cloudy and drizzly but we kept on going and were so proud to just muscle through even though we were exhausted. back at camp the fire was started and immediately it started to rain. sue and i decided to try and keep it going and it became quite a scene as the rain started and stopped and then began to hail with thunder and lightning flashing. the kids screamed for us to come in but we just couldnt let that fire go out. it was FREEZING and standing near that blazing fire felt fantastic.






(lizzie is crying because the thunder scares her)

we used a tarp (got totally smoked out) and then an umbrella (probably not the smartest thing to use in a lightning storm) but we laughed and laughed and just had a BLAST!! that fire roared and we watched the storm blow by with a very unexpected surprise:






just like that, the brightest rainbow ever



some dirty happy kids for sure! here is a few pics from the road, check out the change in scenery and weather. this is all in one day:












and here is a shot from the red cliffs lodge museum, lots of movies have been filmed on the ranch (like thelma and louise) the museum does a great job displaying posters and artifacts from the shoots. i will try and post a few more pics once i get a chance to download, more of the red cliffs lodge, love that place! hope i have inspired you to check out utah, we are hoping to see zion and/or bryce this summer!

oh my!

what a month! i decided to go crazy with work this month, breaking all records for no days off. really proud of myself for still being able to get the home and kid stuff done more or less. so lucky to have family that helps out in so many ways. really lucky. so what else is going on? the girls were asked to be in a photo shoot for our favorite punk rock kid band's first ever album cover. we were told to get gaudy prom/pageant show dresses and showed up at the shoot. it was so fun, the girls really enjoyed themselves and all the attention. everyone was amazed at the transformation these young "girls" went through and many of us commented on it being somewhat uncomfortable. it was a good exercise for me who goes out of my way to keep my kids naive and innocent, no small task!! here's some photos:

of special note: our dresses came from the thrift shop (which i have been avoiding for years now, too much stuff!!) and we had so much fun looking through the dresses and shoes. i found a dynasty era silver jumpsuit, something i would have DIED for in the 80's with poofy sleeves and a zipper front, so easy to just put it on and be completely dressed and ready to go. of course i passed but it sure was cool. the dress liz is wearing felt so well made, it looked like something modeled after princess diana's dress with droopy poofy sleeves. i didn't notice until we were at the shoot that it was a jessica mcclintock dress!! oh my!! what a score for 6 bucks!! not sure if we can ever use it again, but it sure is a gorgeous piece of clothing. i am sure the girls will be talking about this fun day for a long long time. can't wait for spring break, one week away! we are off to utah to pick up our trailer, can't wait!!

uh oh!

we are having some serious fighting around here, things got a little outa hand today.... teachers and principals calling and lots of hysterics.

what are we going to do with these two?




april fools!

obsessions

so lately i have been obsessed with farming and homesteading and gardening (put in tomatoes and peppers this week, maybe a tad bit early but we'll see) so i thought i would put out some of the cool websites i am really loving right now:

nest and the greenhorns have interesting ideas and the greenhorns has a list of farm blogs to last me a year

while tangerine dreams and. farmama.. a little out there for me but still fascinating 

two food blogs: green your plate and dinner: a love story 

from the cookie magazine folks: momfilter and travels with clara

projects i think are great: wwoof the movie and urban roots and the loog guitar.

for you locals: backyard bees and (the vanishing of the bees movie is on my wish list)

hoping for a trip to this farm someday

just finished this book and ready for the show... the marathon starts tomorrow on planet green, set your dvr!!

so all this plus the research i am doing for a future "dream" italy trip and camp fire meeting ideas, i am busy busy busy! hope you enjoy all these websites as much as i have and be inspired as well.

can't wait for the next trip, whatever it might be.

11

emily turned eleven this week and today was our first "coed" birthday party... successful thank goodness!

emily wanted her ears pierced and yesterday was the day. i have to say there was a critical moment of panic attack right before she did it that will be etched forever in my brain. my maternal instinct was on high alert and we both had to push through it together. so thankful we did and she is flying high on the success
when emily declared "it didnt hurt!" her sister wanted to do hers as well... another tricky moment for me. unfortunately lizzie felt some pain and refused the second ear. after 20 minutes of negotiating, a second ear piercing gal earned lissie's trust and convinced her the punk rock look at 7 years old is not "in" at the moment and we got two pierced ears done

even though i work in the medical field and see some horrific things... its hard to watch your kids go through something painful. i am just glad we made it and the girls are so proud of themselves!

happy birthday my first born, love ya!!

hitting the road

growing up my family had a tent trailer and we spent many weekends camping together around southern california, never venturing farther than a couple hours away (i think mammoth was the longest trip we ever took and that was maybe once or twice). i feel nostalgic toward this kind of camping, brings back so many fun memories. my parents pulled the trailer with a little truck my grandparents owned and even with the vw squareback we called "betsy" (so cool!) when i first met chris, we acquired a tent trailer from his parents and took a few trips with it but lost interest for some reason... maybe work and a second kid plus crowded local camp sites? the trailer was swapped for motorcycles and his sister took it with her to nebraska. over the years we have wished we had kept it but it was long gone. when chris mentioned wanting a new trailer recently i immediately began to think of all the trips i'd love to take, short weekend or midweek adventures popped into my head. a quick trip to colorado and new trailer owners we became (thanks to my incredible in-laws!!)

of course chris had to send my this photo with the caption "your new trailer"



our "real" new trailer



vegas here we come! (just kidding!!)

garden prep

i have really let my garden plot go this winter, with my new job and more gym time on the schedule, it's been hard to get over there. i have even thought about letting it go...once again....but just like last year i am hanging on to it for another year. i realized i could get my camp fire kids to help, which was the reason i took the plot in the first place. how had i forgotten my original plan, to teach the kids and get them some hands on experience growing vegetables? so last monday, i invited my older group and a few other camp fire kids to help me get ready for spring planting. i am always looking for new ways to earn beads and looking through my vintage camp fire book, i found 8 beads we could earn together. 

we started out with a ton of weeds and harvested beets and fennel...



carrots found mixed in with weeds, kids LOVE to find them (note to self: throw carrot seeds randomly throughout the year to keep kids excited at weeding)



prepping the beds with manure



more weeding (there was a black widow spider in that shed back there, had to act calm and cool when i was really thinking, holy crap!!)



my beets had really gone to town over the winter and most were too gigantic to eat. we sent the good ones to the food bank



the crew at the end of the morning, lots of smiles and excitement for next months tomato planting... can't wait!!