Lake Powell 2014

We spent the first week of June on the B'Jammin, our houseboat at Bullfrog with the Hawkins family and Tiff and David. The weather was perfect and we had a lovely bit of beach, and then a different lovely beach. We had to unanchor the houseboat mid-week and relocate because the water was rising about a foot a day, which makes quick work of a shallow beach. In three days we probably lost 40+ feet of horizontal beach and, let's face it a boat with 4 little kids and no beach is kind of torturous! The anchors were so buried under the waves that the guys almost gave up digging them out and cut the ropes but they persevered!

We actually felt pretty lucky to even make it out on the water for this trip. The generator on the houseboat broke just 2 days before we were supposed to leave. While we felt fine without AC and some of the amenities, we were concerned about lights, cooking and keeping the food cold. Although I'm sure we could have made it work - roughing it! - we were so grateful that the houseboat management scrambled and was able to get the generators up and running before we arrived. And now we have a couple of portable generators...perfect for the zombie apocalypse!

Sloane and her boyfriend, Henry.

And her other boyfriend, Daddy.

Tagg and Greyson doing some landscaping with shovels.
Nothing can possibly go wrong here, right?
Not to worry...we escaped with no stitches.

The three blondies. Perhaps the only time they all sat still at the same time.

Sloane giving fish-kisses.

Tagg at the beach, day one. Two days later all this sand was under water.

After a long day of fun in the sun, it's time for some inside fun.

You gotta love the sleepy snuggles. They get fewer and farther between the older these kids get.

Water balloons, fishing, feeding the ducks and the carp. All the best boating fun!

Paddleboard Yoga. Amy is a master! I am really good at childs
pose on those things but I'm working on it!

Celebrating David's first Powell trip!

Gorgeous sunsets every night!

How cute are these kids in their jammies?!

So happy to spend another year with this amazing guy in our "spot."

A little electronics break for the kids, with Sloane stalking from above.
She's got the best view.

The fun island was probably not intended to be used as a trampoline.
As a matter of fact, I think it said so right on the warnings.
But the guys had a blast for about an hour...until the poor raft gave up and deflated.

There were so many mice around this trip! Under the paddleboards,
on the houseboat. One night we managed to catch this little guy.
We thought he was so cute until I woke up to whiskers in my face one night
and mouse poop on the counter the next morning. Not so cute after all.

Nap time for mom and dad.

Blue eyes.

Blue eyes.

Blue eyes.

Blue eyes.

I just love Hen-Dawg.

Amy...my partner in maternal crime. Soul sisters.

The nightly fireworks displays were awesome but next year we are going even bigger!

The infamous "crack." This huge 100-yard-long chunk of sandstone
separated from the rock wall. The brave can climb up and hike or swim through
it to the other side, depending on the water levels.

Can you see me, Tiff and David way up there?

Turns out we were not brave enough to traverse the crack. This time.

Tagg Man

I couldn't love this kid more if I tried. He is so incredibly funny and just wicked smart. He's intense, he loves to win, and yet he can be so very sweet. His laugh is joy personified. He'll pepper you with questions until you can't stand it anymore but you can't help but love his quest for knowledge. He makes you challenge your self, what you know, what you thought you knew. He has such an old soul and those eyes...they just pierce your heart.

He still loves to read. He's moved on to chapter books and we read more adult books like Harry Potter together. He loves to figure things out - science projects, paper airplanes and how they fly, cooking -  and to build things - especially Legos and woodworking projects with papa. He is fascinated by baseball and soccer and golf, and is getting really good at riding his bike.

And then sometimes he's just super weird and cool! Like the night he came out on the patio in his jammies and mimicked one of Sloane's dance moves. It was hilarious. And then we went and bought him bigger pajamas because crop tops are only cool once. But this picture is going to make for some great blackmail material in a few years!

Tiny the Bird

So one Sunday, Tagg comes running in the house and says he and daddy are watching a parrot bird outside. I walk out on the patio, look over at the tree and sure enough there's a little bright colored parakeet looking thing perched in the tree. I told Scott it must be someone's lost pet and called out to it. Shockingly, the little guy flew right over and landed on my shoulder! I felt like the bird whisperer.

Sloane promptly named our new friend Tiny. Everything we own these days is named Tiny or Elsa so I guess we had a 50/50. Tiny loved me the most. Whether it was because of my natural affinity for animals, my big dangly sparkle earrings which he ended up pecking apart, or the fact that my hair kind of looks like a nest we may never know.

Tagg was not a fan. He had a bad experience with birds at the zoo. We went to a bird show and the first act was an enormous vulture that flew right over our heads making a huge racket. Tagg freaked out and we had to leave the show. He's never much liked birds since then. And the fact that Tiny would randomly let out some epic SCREEEECH noises which would leave your ears ringing did not help alleviate Tagg's fear at all.

Scott was also not a big fan of the bird but Tiny did his best to make friends. It must be the curly hair.

Sloane and I decided to get Tiny some food and water and he kindly invited himself into the kitchen for his meal. We figured seeds might make good bird food while we tried to find Tiny's home. After some internet research, turns out we should have given him some fruit and veggies.

 Let me tell you, it's not that easy to find a missing bird's home. We placed ads (PS only crazy bird people respond to ads for missing birds), called the local shelters which were all closed, put up some flyers, and finally found an exotic bird fan group on Facebook who pointed us to a local bird shop which kindly agreed to take Tiny in until they found his home.

We put Tiny in a decorative bird house supplied by my mother (only my mom would have a decorative bird house!) and drove Tiny to the shop. We're hoping they found his parents or found him a good home. Sloane still thinks we should have kept Tiny but I don't think we're exactly bird people.

Tiny & Mom

Tiny & Aunt Kris

Tree Huggers

One of the things we loved about this house when we moved in was the landscaping. Especially this enormous maple tree in the backyard. I'm not sure we fully realized how absolutely gorgeous it was until we lived a full season with it. We can see it from our shower every morning and whether the leaves are golden or green, whether its calm or whipping in the wind, it is nothing short of spectacular.

And now we also realize how much the kids will love it as they grow up. Our first tree-climbing adventure was a blast. I'm a little nervous, and excited, to think how high they will climb.

Crash

So one thing I've learned as a parent is...you just can't keep an eye on them 24/7. We were home one lovely Saturday afternoon and Tagg was jumping on the trampoline. I ran inside to change some laundry and literally 2 minutes later, he's running upstairs crying and telling me he's hurt and he's sorry. I frantically examine him from head to toe trying to figure out what's wrong. Between his sobs, I figure out that he broke something, he fell, and maybe glass is involved. So I'm checking his hands for cuts and blood. Nothing. Finally, I asked him to show me what happened. Down the stairs we go, to the patio we practically never see and there...the old glass patio table is SHATTERED. Literally, there are a million pieces of glass. My hearts starts pounding even faster and I give little man another physical inspection, head to toe. Surely, with this much glass he must be cut and bleeding severely and I missed it. But no. He has a couple of small scratches on his feet and legs, is very freaked out, but otherwise...completely fine.

 

So, after much sleuthing and interrogation I think Tagg put his t-ball stand in the umbrella hole on the patio table, put a ball on it, stood on the table and took a big swing. Why,  I will never know but somehow, that shattered the table and he fell through the top. How stitches were not involved, I will never know. Lucky, lucky, lucky. And thank God for tempered glass!

PS...Scott got more injuries cleaning up the mess than Tagg did making it. That's another parenting truism, I think.