Fall Fun - Heber Valley Railroad

While we still had a few more days left in the summer, before Ben had to go back to school, we took a trek up and around the mountains a bit and went to ride the Heber Valley Railroad. We knew the kids would both love it and, honestly, Ben and I loved it too!

The countryside was still green and gorgeous. Several weeks would pass before the trees started to change. So, we got a great recharge to the portion of our souls that crave Summer in The Country.

This was the first train ride for the kids, except for the tiny ones you find at zoos and places like that.

If you're going to ride a train, you simply must know all about it. (Even if looking at the pictures is the only option you have since your reading skills aren't quite up to brochure level.)

It was very stuffy in the train car until we opened up the windows next to our seats.

Amazingly, after only three months, Henry looks significantly younger in these pictures than he does now.

This charming little cabin/homestead was right on our path.

Makes me want to live out in the middle of nowhere in a little farming community with only a scenic train passing by...

The View from my Window

I'm not overly fond of dandelions. We had them in Albuquerque, but they grew somewhat separately. Here, they seem to grow in crazy clumps that turn into weird brown tangled messes when they lose all their seeds.

My sister uses a dandelion motif in a lot of her artistic endeavors. It's also a part of her signature and the name she goes by online. Because of this, I find dandelions to whimsically remind me of her. In turn, this makes me smile a little when I see them. You can check her out here. 

I digress...

I have recently discovered a new reason to enjoy dandelions a tiny bit more. 

The view from my window is mostly rocks, ivy, weeds, roses in the summer and a sliver of sky. Since I live in a basement room, I count myself lucky that I have a window at all.

I occasionally have feline visitors in my little window well, but lately, I've had the pleasure of two little finches visiting me. It's all because of the dandelions.

The first group of pictures is of the little female. She always stays in the well longer than her mate.

I wasn't sure what she was doing at first, but soon realized that she was plucking the dandelion seeds, eating them and dropping the fluff.

Here, she looks like a little old lady smoking a cigarette on the end of a holder. Check out the bags around her eyes. That's the look of a true mother. 

I love the neck extension here. It almost looks unreal.

She kept looking up at the window. I think she knew I was watching her.

I wish I could hang off a branch or tree this way. She makes it look so easy!

The little man showed up a few days later and watched over her from a higher perch.

He finally dropped down a bit to get some seeds himself.

The next five pictures I call: A Study in Puff Progress

I think he was trying to impress me.

I didn't edit any of the pictures but two. I couldn't resist this picture of him.

And here is a photo of the carnage they left behind. All those de-seeded dandelion fluffs...  

I can't say I'm too broken up about it.

Remembering Last Summer

Last summer, I had several opportunities to get out and see some of Utah's beautiful landscape. Walks at Nun's Park up to Bridal Veil Falls was a common trip and rather close by. Sundance isn't much farther up the road and we made it up there several times last year. The full moon chairlift ride was my personal favorite and I looked forward to it every month, but it was nice to go there when the sun was shining too.

When my mother-in-law and her husband came up to visit, we made a Sundance trip priority. As I have said in a previous blog, Sundance is beautiful, charming and peaceful. Going up in the summer impressed upon me the vibrancy of the mountains here.

"This place in the mountains, amid nature's casualness toward death and birth, is the perfect host for the inspiration of ideas: harsh at times, life-threatening in its winters of destruction, but tender in attention to the details of every petal of every wildflower resurrected in the spring. Nature and creativity obey the same laws, to the same end: life."

Robert Redford

The kids did really well considering that we spent about an hour in the gift shop!

Their reward was late birthday gift shopping courtesy of Nanny and Grandfather!

I'm looking forward to more time at Sundance this summer. (I've even written down all the full moon chairlift dates.) If you ever want to come up with me, let me know! ;)

Where has Spring been?

I seem to be under some sort of delusion that when Spring comes it's actually supposed to spring... You know, spring showers, pale green slowly unfolding from dark branches under a warm sun and gentle breeze. I don't know where this concept came from. I have certainly never lived in a place that has what I would consider a normal spring.

I don't remember Indiana, but I know I've seen pictures of the 10 foot snowman that was built in the front yard. You can't have THAT much snow and still have the classically described Spring.

Southern California didn't really have Spring since it didn't really have Winter. It was simply summer all year round with slight changes in foliage and temperature. I seem to remember it hailing once when I was at school and, since my teacher had us all leave the classroom to look at it, I assumed the apocalypse had come.

New Mexico doesn't have a proper Spring either. Ben and I always say that, in Albuquerque at least, you have Summer, Fall, Winter and Wind. It's true. Just as it is starting to get warm, the wind kicks up and doesn't let up until it's dry and hot. I find the idea of Spring refreshing and replenishing. There is nothing refreshing or replenishing about wind that either tries to blow you away or, failing that, blows dirt in your eyes, ears and up your nose.

Utah is a different animal altogether. Just when it starts to warm up and you break out your shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops, Winter yells "Psych!" and dumps eight inches of snow on you. Even the trees get fooled. They happily start pushing out leaves and blossoms only to have them frozen off overnight.

On the third day of April, Winter had a late April Fool's joke on us. I was not amused.

Here is my "not amused" face.

Here is my answer to Ben's request for a smile.

This is what happens to people when they are stuck indoors for five months.

And here is the joke in all it's glory.

I think I'll move to Hawaii. That sounds good.

U of U Dinosaur Museum

Audrey likes to watch Dinosaur Train on PBS

The little dinosaurs in the center are the stars: Tiny, Shiny, Don and Buddy.

After each episode of dinosaur antics, Dr. Scott usually has some words of wisdom to impart about the dinosaurs learned about that day, thereby making sure the program remains in the educational category.

I happened to find out that Dr. Scott was coming to the U of U Dinosaur Museum through a series of fluky web searches. I also found out that he is Utah's State Paleontologist. He was coming to unveil the newest dinosaur discovery. I couldn't resist and we galavanted up to Salt Lake on the appointed day.

This is the skull of the new dinosaur species. You can't tell in the picture, but this skull is HUGE! I think I had a hard time imagining the sheer size of a dinosaur until I saw this in person.

Audrey working on a dinosaur puzzle.

I don't know why my kids always look worried. I think they were both overwhelmed with all the people there.

Dr. Scott talking about the newest dinosaur species: Utahceratops gettyi

Its somewhat like a triceratops but with a LOT more horns.

This was a "live" version of the new dinosaur. Audrey was terrified of it. She didn't want to go anywhere near it.

Henry, on the other hand, was fascinated.

I think this was just about the only time he really looked like he was having a good time while we were up there.

Audrey getting Dr. Scott's autograph.

Dr. Scott & Audrey

She wasn't super excited about meeting him at the time. However, she talked about it for WEEKS after words as well as every time Dinosaur Train came on.

She was afraid of the furry puppet, but not of the angry, plastic, nasty toothed raptor dinosaur.

I'm sure, in the kids' opinions, the best part of the day was running around the park after we left the museum.

My kids have the best dad in the world...

Just as we have the best kids in the world... of course!