Snow Canyon with friends

We camped this weekend in Snow Canyon. It was beautiful, though a bit less rain would have been nice.

We hiked and explored in Snow Canyon, in red sand and petrified dunes and twisting trees.

We played card games huddled under the awnings of the trailers during the rain storms.

The kids biked and scooted and dug in the sand and played soccer and found secret hiding spots.

We ventured into nearby Zion National Park for a day and went to weeping rock and then far out to where less people and trails are, to the Many Pools area. There had been so much rain recently and the snow is still melting so the pools were bigger, more and there were streams between most of them this time. We didn’t spot any frogs or tadpoles but it was overcast so much harder to see the bottom of the pools.

It was early for wildflowers still but we saw a few paintbrush and other flowers like this desert sage blooming already. The kids were smelling the leaves of various plants and deciding if they liked the scents or not.

We also spotted ravens, cottontail rabbits, songbirds and a few lizards.

The kids saw lots of sandstone and volcanic rock and were quite interested in how it’s formed and how different the volcanic rock is, smooth, rough, bubbly, pockmarked.

We all went out to dinner one night and Gavin lost his first baby molar! He was quite surprised.

On our last afternoon a few of us stayed later and found the lava tubes and climbed down into the caverns and then back out. It was really neat! We took flashlights, lowered ourselves into the opening and then descended into the dark tunnels and caverns below. It was dark down inside the caverns. We came out of a different hole nearby when we were done exploring.

Here’s the entrance we went into:

Someone on the trip asked Gavin what his favorite part of camping was and he answered, “Going new places that I’ve never been before and exploring.” His least favorite part was, “Being away from my computer.”

I asked Lilah the same thing. Her favorite part was, “Being with our family is most of it. Also exploring and climbing on rocks.” Her least favorite part was, “Getting in freezing cold water.” She kept walking in the wet sand after the rain and checking the temperature of puddles.

art, books, unschooling

a trip to Joshua Tree & San Diego

We left Utah for a week and visited Joshua Tree National Park, a barely visited place for Chris and I; a new place to the kids.

There was climbing

exploring

photographing.

Lilah took this one:

Gavin took this one:

There was lizard spotting, oasis hiking. The palm trees in the far right of the picture are at the 49 Palms Oasis, at the end of our hike.

The frogs were singing when we arrived at the oasis and there were birds settling in the for the night. We hiked back in the twilight and at the end, the moonlight.

We stopped at a free air art gallery of Noah Purifoy’s work near Joshua Tree, preserved since the artist’s death, to look at a huge variety of art made with things used and thrown away. Toilets, metal trays and tires were some of the most used objects in his creations.

Between Joshua Tree Park and San Diego we stopped through the Anza Borrego desert preserve to see wildflowers in bloom. We were a bit early for the full effect but it was still amazing.

In San Diego we visited tide pools nearby

and the beach.

We made forts out of driftwood

and watched sandpipers and cormorants

and played in the water

and collected shells.

While tidepooling we spotted lots of snails of various kinds

and hermit crabs and bigger crabs, and fish, tiny and medium, one itty bitty sea star, lots of sea grass and kelp, tops, a few cowrys, a shrimp, mussels and barnacles, a huge keyhole limpet,

anemones,

lots of sea hares

and several nudibranchs of the Spanish Shawl variety plus one other I think was a Red Sponge nudibranch.

We saw a few seals swimming about offshore and then in La Jolla we visited their pupping beach and there were so many mom and baby pairs, swimming and sunning and enjoying life.

It was a lovely trip. We finished listening to Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan while driving.

When we got home were greeted by spring weather! The tree over our deck has burst into blooms and smells lovely and is bringing bees and butterflies to visit. There are so many visible buds and we’ve been eating outside every evening.

unschooling

at the moment

At the moment there’s a Dominion game happening with a set of cards Gavin selected from three different sets. Pirate Ships are involved, of course.

There’s also a playdate happening with the girls creating a Pokemon battleground. It’s complete with decorations, color coordinated props and much discussion of abilities and preferences of Pokemon from the game, tv show and also some Pokemon newly invented in our house.

unschooling

hearts and brains

This week we’ve been making a lot of Valentines Day preparations.

We built a heart shaped box for Lilah and decorated it and decorated a MineCraft creeper box for Gavin. Lots of hot glue was used to make the heart box and we all helped paint different shades of green squares onto Gavin’s creeper box.

Gavin made Valentines to hand out to friends

and so did Lilah. She made fortune tellers, decorating each corner, and making up several fortunes to include: you will laugh and will not stop, you will fall in love with a cat and a cat will fall in love with you, you will become a king/queen, you will turn into an icicle, you will transform into a cat, you will eat a lot of candy and not get sick, you will fly on a balloon, you will get eaten by a tiger.

We’ve been talking a lot about the government and elections and how things work, who some of the people in our local government are and some in our federal government and how they got to those roles. We all participated in a Utah March for Refugees to demonstrate our support of refugees and our local city’s stance on people coming here from other countries.

We went ice skating.

Lilah was so fascinated by sign making for protests/marches that she made her own sign a few weeks back. It reads, “Cat’s are better then dooog’s.”

We’ve been hanging out at home, playing, too.

We had a pirate themed play day at our house with friends including dressing up, a scavenger hunt, treasure finding and lots of other play. **Photo of all the kids dressed up by my friend, Teri.**

Gavin made his own hunt for the little ones after finishing up the one I prepared for the group and they were so happy.

We’ve been reading The Wolfling by Sterling North. The kids are really enjoying it.

We spotted cedar waxwings in our yard and watched them eating berries from the mountain ash and apple remains and juniper berries along with the robins and starlings.

The kids are rereading the Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi on their own and together.

We went on a Valentine delivery run about town and the kids put Valentines for friends we don’t see often into their mailboxes.

We spotted bulb shoots coming up outside our kitchen windows and were very excited to see them and keep watching to find out what kinds they are and watch them grow!

We went to an aquarium with lots of opportunities to feed animals and the kids enjoyed it but I was not happy to see their really small enclosures and think of all the stress that being handled all day must cause the animals. We all decided after talking afterward not to go back. Feeding the parakeets was really fun though.

We’ve been watching the big hawk that sits on a post near our yard.

We went to a Valentines Day party with lots of unschooling friends and the kids loved roaming about in groups, especially enjoying the bouncy balls that Gavin’s Valentines had on them.

I’ve been painting sometimes in the evenings. I am so thrilled to be making and motivated by the challenge of trying a new medium: acrylic paint.

We roller skated and the kids played arcade games, trading in their tickets for a best friends forever necklace that splits into two necklaces. They put them on immediately. They really are best friends and I’m so grateful for their enjoyment of each other.

We went up to the Veteran’s Medical Center to give out Valentines to veterans. The kids were not comfortable giving them to people so I handed them out and then when we were done the kids covered the chairs in the waiting room with Valentines and candy.

We went to the park with friends and climbed trees and explored and hung on bars and talked.

The kids have been spending quite a bit of time playing Roblox and MineCraft on the computer together and separately but next to each other. Even when they playing different games they are chatting about things together.

We went to play at a friends’ house. The kids played all afternoon and the moms worked on craft projects. I’m trying needle felting for the first time ever. It’s pretty fun and I think the kids and I will try making some little critters together.

books, unschooling

welcoming a new year

Today the kids watched Kulipari and Yo-Kai Watch,

played MineCraft while I patched some holes in walls at the other house in preparation for more painting over there.

We enjoyed lots of recently gifted wonderful things. Gavin built a robotics set,

we worked on a puzzle,

Lilah worked on her latch hook rug set, and her painted bowl kit,

I made deodorant with a bit of help from Lilah,

both kids started on new books: The Haunting of Falcon House by Eugene Yelchin and When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin.

Lilah made cards for all three cats wishing them a happy New Year,

we played Imhotep,

we played Ugly Sweaters,

we stepped outside and saw an owl on the post right outside the house! We took some pictures but it was dark and so they are not the best but it was so exciting! Maybe we’ll get another chance. Gavin remarked upon seeing the owl, “I love our house.” Me too.

We had a curry buffet for dinner and tried some new Indian and Nepali dishes followed by Chris reading Harry Potter and Eragon books at bedtime, cuddles of kids and parents and cats and I sang some songs to finish the night.

unschooling

lately

science project day at the park, exploding capsules, dry ice bubbles, chromatography and lots more

more pumpkin patch fun with friends (slide photos taken by my friend Teri)

celebrating Diwali at the Hindu temple with music, dancing, rangoli (chalk painting) and good food followed by fireworks

creating Halloween costumes: Minecraft black and orange cats

carving pumpkins with family

at the park

collecting leaves and punching leaf confetti with fancy hole punchers

holding snakes and other reptiles with friends at a Halloween party

picking apples in our yard with a long armed picker

sorting jelly beans (thanks Gma and Gpa!)

night swinging

game playing (new favorite this time: Above And Below)

hike for me (with bonus elderberry picking & subsequent cordial and syrup making)

bookshelf assembly with Dad and decorating for Lilah

silly dinnertime fun watching reflections in the window

supermoon through our skylight lit up the hallway

phone for the kids to share means lots of cat & owl photos and videos, and lots of texting

the texts are wonderful and fun, especially so if I am not in the room with them and get to decipher who is writing to me at any given time. So far, I’ve been right about which kid I’m texting with.

park time (I read some poems to the kids and then Gavin picked up the book for more)

civilization (Gavin is playing as China and Lilah as …)

an epic story being acted out, and then they realize they are being documented and give me a pose

together

unschooling

autumn

sunflowers in the yard

corn maze and pumpkin park with friends

building Gavin’s new loft bed with Grandma and Grandpa’s help

cat loving

trying to discover what plants and trees we have in the new yard

a birthday scooter!

taking huge loads of things we no longer need to the thrift store

a wonderful hike to Bloods Lake

unschooling

ghost towns

Today we headed out on a ghost town adventure.

I did some research and picked a few closer ghost towns, packed water, snacks, lunch and we were off. We drove out first to Mercur, Utah. It was a mining town as many Utah towns were. When we got there though, it was gated off and there was no entry. Boo! We noticed some fencing up a hill a little way our side of the gated area so we walked up to check that out. We found lots of remnants of people spending time there, a nest in the fence, lots of exciting rocks and lots of deer bones. A little further up we saw a fresh deer leg, thigh chewed off the bone. I think the big cats must have taken the rest off to eat privately. Lilah was thrilled to find some purple glass and pottery shards scattered about.

After that we headed down and found the Mercur cemetery.

There were quite a few fenced gravesites and several that were just roughly indicated by rock borders. Most of the headstones were gone or in terrible shape.

Next we headed out to find West Dip, nearby. We had much better luck there but it has been used for dumping and graffiti and lots of shooting practice unfortunately. It was still fascinating and the kids were definitely interested in the trash as well as the old town remains but I was put off by hundreds of shell casings and food and drink refuse everywhere. My favorite part there was the sage brush growing on the roof of the building remnants. We saw a few lizards and some swarming crows but we saw no one else today aside on our explorations. The kids decided it would be hot and hard to live in a place like Mercur or West Dip.

As we drove out we saw something off the road and stopped to check it out. It turned out to be a mine shaft, going down further than light would go in the afternoon. The kids were fascinated and we crawled out on the (very solid) grate to get a good look.

Then we headed toward Utah Lake to find Mosida, another ghost town. When we got there it was gone. Nothing left at all. They are farming and building condos there. It was disappointing but did teach us that ghost towns are few, precious and fleeting and that we need to find more updated resources before driving hours to find nothing left. I did manage to find a great site and I think I’ll be cross checking any other info with that from now on.

I can’t wait to head out again, but the kids want to go rockhounding and ghost town adventuring in one go, so that will be our next challenge. I’ve heard Topaz Mountain/and Topaz Internment Camp (where Japanese were taken during World War II) are still a great place to explore…

unschooling

our new house!

We’ve closed on a new house, only a block and a few steps away from where we’ve been living since before either kid was around.

house-listing-pic

We are so excited! I’m especially looking forward to the deck and beautiful private yard and all the wildlife we spot out there. So far we’ve seen a woodpecker, some deer and a squirrel.

We’ve been up to our ears in packing, various repairs and the like. We also found time to hang a swing though as it seemed a very important part of the new space.

The kids each chose paint for their bedrooms and we painted them! They made great choices and are very pleased by the results.

We’ll paint the rest of the house later. We need to move in and get some electrical and floor work done in the new house, then clean up and paint and get the old place ready to put on the market. Two mortgage payments are just not very comfortable!

The kids have been helping me take things between houses, set stuff up, make a trip to the store for lamps and bookshelves for their rooms and other things like that.

We had a little birthday party up at the new house to celebrate Lilah turning 9! She had two good friends and their families over and the kids played in the house, picked apples, ate brownies, used the swing and the adults chatted and got tours of the house. It was lovely.

We spotted three deer in the backyard today, munching apples and the resident squirrel seems to be very well-established, helping itself to pears, apples, grapes and today it tried to drag our soccer bag under the shed. I suspect this is the beginning of a long stretch of fascinating squirrel and deer encounters!

unschooling

home base

We’re between trips, trying to catch up with friends and relax between heading off out of state again.

We went to the Utah State Fair with friends. We saw bees and asked a bunch of questions about bees living in a big glass case. We saw butterflies, caterpillars and pupas of the monarch species.

We saw calves, tiny piglets, chicks just hatched and very small goats and were able to pet some of them.

The kids went on rides after rides with friends, thoroughly enjoying themselves until we bowed out, happy and tired.

We hiked up to Cecret Lake again, to spot salamanders and to enjoy the mountainous beauty of Utah.

It’s such a calm place except when the pikas start calling out in their strange squeaky voices. This one ran right out between us to perch above us and watch us.

We went to the park with friends to bike and play and hear from a man who keeps bees in his living room.

We drove up to the high mountain where it’s cool already to see lakes and smell pines. We were incredibly lucky that day… Lilah spotted a porcupine! We watched it clamber through wild raspberries and rocks to a hidden spot underneath several large boulders. She was so, so proud that she spotted the porcupine first! (I often am pointing out wildlife.) The kids started telling me about North American porcupines and African porcupines and how they differ. I think they learned about them on Wild Kratts, a favorite tv show of theirs.

We continued on our hike, passing meadows filled with colored leaves.

We hiked further than the kids have gone before to new lakes and enjoyed discovering new places and coming up with our own names for some of the spots we found as well as referring to the map we had on my phone.

On the way down we passed the hiding spot of the porcupine and it was still there, so we quietly, slowly observed and then continued on.

At the bottom of the descent there’s a lake filled with pond lilies so we went to look for salamanders which were all over at our last visit but we didn’t spot any this time. Lilah was asking why they are in some lakes but not others in the same area so we talked about possible reasons. I suspect elevation and depth of the lakes make a difference. And then, as Lilah is looking at the lilies, I spotted a beaver, diving, eating lily roots, twenty feet away at the edge of the water. We watched for a while and then headed home, happy.

We played some games. Here’s Gavin playing Ghosts with me.

We biked.

We visited the library.

We’ve been looking at new houses and thinking and dreaming about what we might find and how things might be the same or different in a different space. The kids are ready for their own rooms now and are very happily planning what their personal spaces will be like. After much looking and dreaming we fell in love with a house only a block away from where we are now. It has the yard, the deck and the privacy I’ve been dreaming of, the office Chris has been wishing for, the bedrooms the kids have been asking about and many more things to exclaim happily over. We made an offer and negotiated and are under contract for a house with an apple tree with hundreds of yummy apples to harvest. (Gavin has been asking for an apple tree in the yard for years now as it’s his favorite fruit.) We are even allowed to begin picking now!

We played at our nearby park.

We spotted a caterpillar in our garden and the next day it seemed to be getting ready to change form, hanging upside down.

It’s been good!

Yes is a World

Category Archives: unschooling

Snow Canyon with friends

a trip to Joshua Tree & San Diego

at the moment

hearts and brains

welcoming a new year

lately

autumn

ghost towns

our new house!

home base