Saturday, October 30, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Recipes
About a week ago I was thumbing through all of my go-to recipes deciding what to cook for the week and most of them were just telling me to go-away. I have cooked them so many times that they don't sound good anymore. So I decided that once a week I will try a new recipe and hopefully I will find some really good ones to replace my tired ones.
I have tried a few and so far I have found 1 winner and one that has the potential to be a winner with a few changes. When I do find the good ones I will post them on my neglected recipe blog.
For tonight I am trying a new beef stew recipe. So far it looks and smells delicious!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Are we there yet?
That very quickly became the tagline for our recent trip to the Grand Canyon and to Zion National Park. That was uttered every 5 minutes from boy #3. Answering it was extremely difficult due to the fact that he has no concept of time. So we could answer 5 minutes or 5 hours and all he knew was that he wasn't happy with where we were at.
Despite this repeated sentence and a case of diarrhea our UEA weekend turned out great. The weather was gorgeous and the crowds skimpy. We were lucky to book a cabin at the north rim a few weeks ago so we started our trip there.
Did I not mention the diarrhea? Here it is. Every time I pack for a trip I usually come home with loads of diapers left. So this time I decided to pack less of them. Of course Chase decided that this trip would be the one where he had diarrhea and by the second day we were blowing through them. We were about ready to break down and buy a 10 pack at the gas station for $18.99. Luckily it passed and we came home with 3 to spare. Back to north rim.

This was probably my favorite hike - Point Imperial Trail. Fabulous views at the end. Owen liked this hike the best because we got to eat chips at the end.

The downside was that we over estimated how far Owen would be willing to walk by about a mile. We wised up after this one. Taylor, Bennett and Chase were troopers and hiked happily along.

Our next hike, Widforss Trail, was turning about to be just as gorgeous but we decided to turn around early. The area has had some fires lately so there was a lot of dead logs laying around that the boys loved digging at. Scott and I both agreed this was a trail we would like to finish one of these days without the little ones.

The best part of Widforss Trail was the actual trail. We were literally walking on a bed of pine needles the entire time and the smell was heavenly. If I could have bottled up that scent, I would have.

After our hike up to the upper emerald pool in Zion, the boys attempted to make their own sedimentary rock, following Bennett's instructions. He must have had a lesson about rocks lately in school because he understood that the sand needed pressure and time. When we told him it would need about a million years, he was a little disappointed that it wasn't going to change while he was watching.

If you look closely at the water coming off of the rock right in the middle of the pix you can see there is a rainbow. Taylor spotted that.

"Thanks Dad for hauling me around for 3 days!"
Despite this repeated sentence and a case of diarrhea our UEA weekend turned out great. The weather was gorgeous and the crowds skimpy. We were lucky to book a cabin at the north rim a few weeks ago so we started our trip there.
Did I not mention the diarrhea? Here it is. Every time I pack for a trip I usually come home with loads of diapers left. So this time I decided to pack less of them. Of course Chase decided that this trip would be the one where he had diarrhea and by the second day we were blowing through them. We were about ready to break down and buy a 10 pack at the gas station for $18.99. Luckily it passed and we came home with 3 to spare. Back to north rim.
This was probably my favorite hike - Point Imperial Trail. Fabulous views at the end. Owen liked this hike the best because we got to eat chips at the end.
The downside was that we over estimated how far Owen would be willing to walk by about a mile. We wised up after this one. Taylor, Bennett and Chase were troopers and hiked happily along.
Our next hike, Widforss Trail, was turning about to be just as gorgeous but we decided to turn around early. The area has had some fires lately so there was a lot of dead logs laying around that the boys loved digging at. Scott and I both agreed this was a trail we would like to finish one of these days without the little ones.
The best part of Widforss Trail was the actual trail. We were literally walking on a bed of pine needles the entire time and the smell was heavenly. If I could have bottled up that scent, I would have.
After our hike up to the upper emerald pool in Zion, the boys attempted to make their own sedimentary rock, following Bennett's instructions. He must have had a lesson about rocks lately in school because he understood that the sand needed pressure and time. When we told him it would need about a million years, he was a little disappointed that it wasn't going to change while he was watching.
If you look closely at the water coming off of the rock right in the middle of the pix you can see there is a rainbow. Taylor spotted that.
"Thanks Dad for hauling me around for 3 days!"
Monday, October 11, 2010
Hold On Taylor!
This past weekend I took Taylor and Bennett down to Lake Powell while Scott stayed at home with the non-swimming, less obedient ones. The weather was beautiful and the houseboat a whole heck of a lot better than camping. We had a great time!
Here is Taylor attempting to get up on a wake board. Look at that determination.


So close!
Let's hope the pictures of me trying to get up never surface. Let's just say that I sufficiently plowed the lake, cleared my sinuses and came home with every muscle from the knees up screaming for mercy.
The boys loved tubing and jet skiing with Tyler and Emily

Bennett spent hours entertaining himself in the mud!

What else did we do in 3 days?
ate junk food
caught carp
ate junk food
read
ate junk food
threw pancakes at ducks
ate junk food
learned that ducks won't eat oreos
ate junk food
learned that carp will eat anything, including your spit
ate junk food
read
ate junk food
learned that a worn rope will definitely break and leave your towed boat behind
ate junk food
Here is Taylor attempting to get up on a wake board. Look at that determination.
So close!
Let's hope the pictures of me trying to get up never surface. Let's just say that I sufficiently plowed the lake, cleared my sinuses and came home with every muscle from the knees up screaming for mercy.
The boys loved tubing and jet skiing with Tyler and Emily
Bennett spent hours entertaining himself in the mud!
What else did we do in 3 days?
ate junk food
caught carp
ate junk food
read
ate junk food
threw pancakes at ducks
ate junk food
learned that ducks won't eat oreos
ate junk food
learned that carp will eat anything, including your spit
ate junk food
read
ate junk food
learned that a worn rope will definitely break and leave your towed boat behind
ate junk food
Friday, October 1, 2010
The Necessities
For several weeks now, Owen has been building an elaborate fort in our basement. A few days ago it was destroyed by one or more of his brothers and this is what I found when we were cleaning it up. Really, what more do you need in your fort than a few rubbery carrots, stale bread, silverware and some applesauce?
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