Bear Colorwash

Does this bear look a little different this morning? 

We're both in Pink

Lovely weekend here (despite the lack of photos). Sunny and in the 60s (for November!). A play, music class, the Aviary, Children's Discovery Museum and the Museum of Natural History with our new neighbors, among other things. A pretty good weekend for AKP we think. 

Trick or Treat!

Here's our little trick or treaters - Lila the ghost fairy, Oliver the car, and Amara the rainbow!

Halloween at School - Parade and Play

A Preview of Halloween at our House

A little blurry but thought I'd post my Halloween creations...what I couldn't capture was how amazing they look under a full moon. Gorgeous!

And this one was drawn for Great Grandma Terry (Gigi). It's coming your way in the mail, but I loved it so much I had to take a picture before it left. And so here it is for others to enjoy as well :-)

Finally, Beth and I went to a grown-up Halloween party this weekend and pulled out our go-to costumes, something to pass as dressed up but requiring little time and no money :-) Beth's is much more creative and I love the mummy!

Playgroup...a moment of calm

To Be or Not to Be...That is the Question

The best part about the Shakespeare Festival for AKP was the accompanying pumpkin festival in Cedar City. Lots of tables with games and prizes for the kiddos. Here she's seeking the perfect pumpkin from the pumpkin patch to paint! (and decorating a mean cookie)

Adults enjoyed Hamlet and Stones in His Pockets, both excellent. 

What're you looking at?

Mama giraffe giving us the stink-eye as we watched the new baby giraffe (12-days old) at the zoo today. A nice diversion during a stay-at-home 'sick' day with an ear infection...on the mend already though!

And just a little further up the road...

Our friend Beth went hiking with some friends on Satuday while AKP and I did the Farm Tour (and did I mention we saw a bear?! Right in the center of town...). Anyway, farther along you can see she ran into some beautiful Colorado aspen colors...gorgeous! Photo Credits: Beth Amiott

Weekend Getaways

Well,  great weekends here. We divvied up into a boys weekend and a girls weekend with JP and his friend Jeff heading to Zion to hike the Narrows after years of discussion. The girls with our friend Beth headed to Paonia, CO for their Harvest Festival (http://www.mountainharvestfestival.org/mhf/index.php). We did the Farm-to-Farm tour on Saturday (http://www.mountainharvestfestival.org/mhf/index.php?page=bike_farm_tour). This was 25 miles with  4 stops along the way at great local farms. Amara was on the tag-a-long and did great! I was on the front and found the beautiful rolling hills to be harder than they looked with 50 pounds behind me...good for me though!! We went to an 'integrated' farm, a couple goat and cheesemaking farms and a farm that focused on baking with an outdoor brick oven. We camped at Delicious Orchards for two nights and picked apples in the orchard on Sunday morning before we left.

Bad news is I have NO pictures of the girls weekend. Sorry!! (Yorry, as AKP used to say)

Zion National Park

Boys weekend in Zion National Park - these pictures are both from The Narrows and the West Rim. 

Recognize Angel's Landing?

Don't Jump

Photo credit: Mary-Anne Karren

Some Park City colors

Isms...

"Arnal fishin'" = ....artificial, of course

"Mommy, we don't like spiders. We hate spiders, because they could die you or turn you into Spiderman."

Rainbow Sweater - THANK YOU!!

Green Concoction Delight

 Ah ha, the perfect project for food that's way past expired in the fridge...let the little one 'cook'! I gathered all the things who's expiration date is too embarrassing to print and voila, the green concoction surprise, and lots of fun to go with it.

What to be when I grow up

A: "Mommy, how can you touch the planets?"
M: "Well, you have to fly a spaceship into space and land on the planets. It's a very long trip into outer space."
A: "Ah, right. You have to be a rocketgirl."

A: "How can I be something when I grow up?"
M: "Well...you can decide what you want to be and then go to school for that. If you want to be a nurse, you can go to nursing school; if you want to be a doctor, you can go to medical school, if you want to fly an airplane, you can go to school to become a pilot...(and on and on I went with lots of different options)"
A: "No, no, no...I don't want to do any of those things...I'm going to be a princess, a mermaid and then a cowgirl, like my Grandma Kathy

A: "...But you'll have to drive me to school for those things..."

A: "Mom, but how can a mermaid go to school if there's no water there?" (hmm, good point)

It was eventually decided she would just be one thing, a cowgirl like Grandma Kathy. :-)

A short hike to Mossy Cave (technically part of Bryce, but off of Rte 12)

Red Canyon

Hoodoos!

Loved all the layers of color

Camping in Escalante

 We spent a night in Torrey and two in Escalante, camping in town. Had a great time although weather prevented us from doing a couple hikes we really wanted to. Nonetheless, it was relaxing and very pretty. We saw a terrific rainbow one night - the whole semi-circle was visible plus much of the 'outer' rainbow - apparently always there, but not always visible.

The little one's favorite part of our camping spot was the chickens that resided in the coop onsite (below).