"High Heels"

Valentine's Day

Birthday Week

Last month we ended January with Emily's 3rd birthday. We didn't do anything big for Emily's birthday this year, but we did have my dad and his wife over. She loved being sung to and loved her new dress, Belle Polly Pocket, her wooden dress up dolls and her new barbie. I can't believe how grown up she has gotten this last year! She definitely has a mind of her own, which can be both great and aggravating. I often wonder where my chubby little toddler went. We love you, Goosey Girl!

Five days later we celebrated Max turning 5. He wanted cupcakes instead of a cake, so we made a number five with the cupcakes. We decided to have his two buddies, Drew and Gage, over for lunch last minute for a healthy meal of hot dogs, chips, and birthday punch followed by cupcakes and ice cream. Max got an aircraft carrier for his Hot Wheel airplanes (He's been asking for it for about 6 months) and a wooden race car that he got to paint and decorate himself. He also got a game, Richard Scarry's Busytown, from Grandpa Marc and Grandma Sharon. It's been a big hit with the whole family.

After lunch we met Jeff's family at the Hill Aerospace Museum and spent the afternoon looking at planes. Max loved the airplanes (as did all of the "boys"). It was fun to finally go after talking about it for the last four years. It was a perfect fun, but low-key birthday. I just can't believe that Max is five years old. When did all of my babies get so big!?! I've decided this is a great age. Lot of questions and curiosity about the world. Max has become such a great helper to me and is a hard worker and great big brother.

*For my birthday this year I got a Silhouette machine, which I used to make birthday banners. Thanks Jeff!! (You don't have to wait until your actual birthday to open and use your presents when your the mom, right?)*

6 Months Old

Jane turned six months old last week. What a sweetie she is with such nice big cheeks! We just love our Baby Jane!! Her new trick is rolling onto her belly ALL THE TIME. She can't remember how to roll off her belly, and is quite a spitty baby, so her belly is not my favorite place for her to be, but if I roll her back over she immediately rolls back onto her belly. Silly girl. She loves to stick out her tongue, especially when we are feeding her baby food or rice cereal, and she loves watching her big brother and sister. Max is always performing for her and she just watches him all the time to see what crazy things he is going to do. She loves her Daddy and is always smiling when she sees Jeff and loves to grab his beard. To be fair she loves to grab everyone's faces. She is getting pretty close to sitting (if only she would understand that she needs to BEND at her waist to sit) and is starting to babble words like "dada". She also loves holding toys and, of course, putting them in her mouth. She is still not consistently sleeping through the night and seems to have an anti-snuggling gene, but she is just so sweet tempered that it makes up for those little things.

6 month stats:
length - 27.5 inches (96%)
weight - 16.4 lbs. (58 %)
head - 17.1 inches (78%)

On a side note: I took Max and Emily for their yearly check-ups at the same time. Max was a little leery of Dr. Kathy. He went second for both his exam and his shots. Emily, on the other hand, was not shy at all. She spent the whole appointment jabbering on to the doctor about everything. I am constantly amazed at how different they are in personality and temperament. When I decided to take all three of them together I planned on it being a little chaotic, but my kids were so well behaved I wondered whose children they were! I actually left feeling like a good mom. ;) I'm sure they'll make up for it some other time.

Darn It Barbie

Emily asked me today if her barbie was Darn It Barbie. I couldn't figure out where she would have gotten that from until Max pointed out that is what Ken says on Toy Story 3. So now Emily has Snow Wipe Barbie and Darn It Barbie. Both who love to parade around our house naked. You gotta love how a two year old's mind works.

Christmas

We had a great Christmas and we were lucky enough to have half of my family over to spend the evening and day with us. I had Max and Emily pick out a small gift for each other because I wanted them to start thinking about giving at Christmas, not just about what Santa was going to bring them. It took a little convincing to talk Max out of giving Emily a truck, but we finally got him to think of something SHE would like. They opened their gifts from each other on Christmas Eve, which was nice because they're gifts got a lot of attention instead of getting lost in the pile of presents the next morning.

Max picked out a Polly Pocket mermaid for Emily. She spent the rest of the evening "swimming" and singing for her little mermaid. Emily picked out a monster truck for Max. It's one of those cars that you can pull back and it will then propel itself forward. It was fun to see how excited they were to give their presents to each other.

And here's the reason I stopped blogging again last month:

I was spending all of me free time building this play kitchen for the kids for Christmas. It's hard to work on stuff like this with three kids, one of them a nursing baby. It turned out so cute, and I'm trying really hard to not nitpick about all the little imperfections. I got the plans from this website. She has free plans to build practically everything. I made the kids beds this spring from her site, that I never blogged about because I was lazy. Next on our plans is the play house with attached swing set. Oh, and a bed for our room. And some shelves to hold my fabric.

The kids played with their kitchen for a while and enjoyed their stockings while Jeff got breakfast in the oven and we waited for Seth and Jessica to arrive. The kids also got hooded bath towels that my wonderful friend engraved their names on, matching dresses for Emily and Jane, and Max got a piggy bank and his own soccer ball. He was trying to drag his dad and uncles outside all day to play soccer with him.

It was such a nice relaxing day, especially since I was finally done with my Christmas crafts. I've got to scale back next year because the holidays are not very fun when I have too much on my plate. Now I'm just trying to summon enough energy to take down the Christmas decorations.

Day 10 - Thunder River

Day 10 – Thunder River

I really thought that after we finished day eight that it would be mostly quiet, but then the next day I kept hearing about bedrock and Dubendorf. I vaguely remembered reading about Dubendorf, but I did not have any recollection of Bedrock.

Bedrock was the second of the main rapids that we went through on day 10. On most rapids there is usually some kind of comparison, but of the rapids I have rowed I think that Bedrock is unique. At the start the river it is going strait. As you enter the main rapid the river makes an abrupt right hand turn. In the middle of the river is a giant rock. Most of the water is flowing around the left of the rock. That is where the current is trying to take you, but it is not where you want to go. At the top of the left run there is a strong recirculating eddy with a narrow chute to try and make it through at the bottom. The right is an easier run, but there are a lot of boulders close to shore. For a good run you wait until you are past the rocks and then pull hard to the right.

Scouting Bedrock

The run went how I hoped, but it sure did not feel like it was going to. I waited until I was past the last boulder on the right and then started rowing for all I was worth. It felt like nothing was happening, and that I was destined to make a left hand run. Then almost as if by magic I was free of the main current and heading down the right run with a lot of room to spare. We did have a little drama on the river. One of the boats went too far right and got caught on the rocks. It was a little scary because they were pinned for a few minutes in an area that would have been difficult to help with.

Through Bedrock

The next rapid was Dubendorf. To be honest I am not sure exactly what happened there. It was kind of a crazy rapid. There were waves all over the place. I’m not sure that I went where I was supposed to go, but wherever I went it was a fun ride. We made it to Racetrack Camp shortly after, which was good because we had a long hike after lunch.

The Thunder River hike is quite amazing, but it really took it out of me. It was actually one of Adrienne’s favorite hikes when she went down in 2001. It was a hot day and one of the hardest parts of the hike was at the first. We hiked along the side of the canyon from our camp to Tapeats Creek. From there we started the trail. The first part of the trail is a series of switchbacks that go ever upward on a south facing wall. With the sun beating down it was a difficult climb. It is on climbs like that, when I start to feel jealous of mountain goats. Once to the top of the canyon we walked along the side of a cliff until it met up again with Tapeats Creek.

Looking Down on the First Section of Trail

View From the Top

Hiking Along the Cliff

We hiked along the side of the creek, and across it several times, for what seemed like miles and miles. By that time the heat had given me a throbbing headache. At last we came to a spot where we could see Thunder River. Thunder River looks like it is flowing right out of a cliff. It is an amazing scene. Our vantage point was also beautiful with the creek on one side and some beautiful cottonwoods on the other.

Thunder River From a Distance

A Closer View

The next thing I know the people who have been on the hike before start talking about the final push. At that point I was done. I had a terrific headache, and despite my best efforts at hydration, I felt like I had a belly full of warm water and a dehydrated body. I decided I would press on though. How bad could it be?

It seemed like the farther we walked the farther away our goal was. The trail went up the side of a mountain and every time I looked up the people ahead of me were higher up the switch backs. Not seeing the end I actually called it good and laid down to rest about 15 yard before the end of the trail. Luckily the group sent someone to get me. I had no idea how close I was to an oasis. The trip was hard, but the payoff was big. It was nice to have a refreshing spot before making the trip down. We filtered some water, rested a while and then made our way back.

Resting at the Waterfall

Looking Up at the Waterfall

On that trail even the walk back down seemed tough. When I made it to within a half mile of camp I met up with Mark, who had been my passenger for the last three days. He had hiked back from camp because he had heard I was struggling. He brought a flash light and some water. It was twilight as we made the final push down. He even offered to take my place on clean up crew that night.

When we got back to camp I got some food and water in me. I also took a bath in the cold river, and then sat in my chair with my feet in the water. It was amazing. I have never in my life had a headache disappear so quickly. I guess the grueling parts of the hike lasted a few hours, but the good parts of the memories will last a lifetime.