Cheers for Touchdowns and Mountaintops

What a busy weekend! Owen had a football game on a perfect Saturday morning. He pulled some flags and ran a lot (he plays running back and/or safety). This time one of his runs successfully went for a touchdown, and we caught it on video!! His team is red. He has really enjoyed learning the game, but says he likes defense better.

At the same time, Hadley was at cheer camp (a fundraiser put on by high school cheerleaders where our friend is vice-principal). She had a great time! After football, we went to see her performance. She's in the red shirt and black skirt near the middle.

Then we spent the evening with friends and left our kids at a sleepover, so that us grown-ups could hike Table Mountain the next day. It required a very early start, but we got to see the sunrise over the mountains!

We ended up being gone about 11 hours, 8 of which were hiking up and down 4000+ vertical feet in 14-ish miles! (To put it in perspective, that translates to more than 400 flights of stairs!!) Here's our group at the start of the unmarked trailhead. Note the sign says "not recommended"; that's because we decided to go up the steep face route!

The fall colors were starting, so that was a nice backdrop to the work! It was an overcast day and we were hiking in intermittent, chilly rain. Here's a few trail pictures to show you the steepness and rockiness of the trail.

At least the Teton Range's mountain scenery on either side was beautiful. I can only imagine what it must look like on a clear day!

Looking back on the valley we had driven in from...

Finally above the trees, we could see Table Mountain (our destination)! Also, once out of the trees, the wind really picked up. It was frigid and unyielding! Luckily, friends supplied me with gloves, hat, and scarf, which really helped immensely. Note to self: always pack layers!! Duh!

But some parts of the trail were just silly, like this rock fall. Watch out, ankles! You had to keep an eye out for the cairns distinguishing the "trail" from the rest of the rocks.

And here's the last part of the trail to the top, scrambling over rocks. This is probably challenging enough without battling high winds and a smidge of vertigo.

Ah, finally made it to the top! The wind must have been 40-50 mph with temps in the low 40s. I think Mother Nature was trying to tell us that today was not the day to get up there to 11,100+ feet, but we did it anyway! The world was spinning a bit for me, so I did not leave my spot, as you can tell. Haha!

And for all that, this was our view from the top. A wall of clouds and just a glimpse of the bottom of the Tetons. Bummer!

This is what we should have seen - the back of the Grand Teton! (A friend shared this from her last trip up.) Maybe I would do this hike again on a clear day, maybe.

No place for lunch in the cold wind up top, so we decided to start the scenic way down.

Lots of switchbacks made for a pretty quick descent. They are not that far ahead! But the trail back was much longer, as we had to walk down through a canyon around the mountain. Because of that, it was much warmer (blocked from the wind) and so picturesque. We do live in a beautiful area!

Shhh...Don't Tell Owen

But Hadley and I do stuff while he's at school slaving away. Haha! He always asks what we did while he was gone and wants the full report. Sometimes, it really is fun stuff, like when Hadley got to pet a hedgehog at the zoo.

But most of the time, we are running errands or hanging out at the house. I like running errands with her. She's pretty helpful, interested, and entertaining. This wall of mirrors could have kept her busy for half an hour, if I let her!

Hadley misses him like crazy, but I do what I can. Occasionally she puts on shows for me, like this one with her animals.

Other times she actually plays on her own. I hear lots of talking to herself when that happens! And I'm on a need-to-know basis on what she's actually saying. Yes, that is her lovey, Kitty, stuffed inside her shirt "to keep her warm."

But, her quirkiness always shines through. Like when she wanted to try on her winter boots with her gymnastics leotard...

Mostly, I just try to enjoy this rare one-on-one time with my girl before she's in all-day school, too!

Harriman State Park

On a rainy and cool Labor Day, we headed an hour north to Harriman State Park. We may have been a little surprised at just how chilly it was when we had our picnic lunch in the trees! Luckily, we did think ahead to bring our raincoats too, so we all doubled up.

Henry's Fork of the Snake River goes through the park, offering serene river views along the east side of it. I think there's supposed to be a Teton view here, too, but it was way too overcast for us to glimpse on this trip.

It seemed some forest members were thinking it felt like fall already, too!

I'm so glad we all packed our raincoats, because shortly along the trail, we were walking in a light rain! With temperatures hovering in the low 50s, we decided to keep trucking on, since the sun was supposed to make an appearance in the afternoon sometime! 

After the river, we crossed back through the woods to Silver Lake, which was very pretty and probably even more so with clear skies.

Even the swans were out enjoying the lake despite the drizzle.

The area is all part of a large caldera; the rim of which was apparent to the northwest.

Between fits of rain, we enjoyed what we could. For Owen that meant finding the best gun-like stick and pretending to shoot imaginary foes throughout the hike.

When the clouds did part, it was evident that the scenery was quite beautiful!

It was a working cattle ranch at the turn of the century, and there are some ranch buildings remaining, including the owners' cabins with spectacular views of Henry's Fork right off the back porch. 

Of course, on the short hike back to the car, the sun came out! But we were all tired and damp and ready to call it a day by that point. We'll have to come back again!

Science, Friends, and Sunshine

INL hosted a family day (the first one in five years). This time there seemed to be more kid-friendly activities, or maybe it's just because we were looking for those things. One group was set up with power distribution demonstrations, which harkened back to Owen's interests a year ago. He got to play lineman for a bit with tools and gear, which was fun.

They even had a tank that the kids could climb around in! Another popular demo was a remote-controlled camera for nuclear device detection.

Then we headed inside for some more "sciency" exhibits, like virtual reality, electrical safety, 3-D interactive modeling, and cotton candy.

Finally, the piece de resistance was Dad's desk! Woohoo!  But don't tell them that I took a picture here. It's top secret. ;)

We did the Walk for Eli again, but we just signed up for the mile walk this year. Neon orange for our team this time.

We had to wait for all of the 10k and 5k runners/walkers to finish before we could start the mile walk, so there was a lot of time for the kids to run around, play together, and cheer on the finishers. One of our teacher friends organized a Duck Duck Goose game to quell the insanity of a dozen bored kids.

Hadley with her medal after the mile walk. Dad had to take Owen to his first football game, so they didn't get to do the walk. (I wish I had it on film, but Owen broke away on the first offensive drive and was on his way for an easy touchdown... until he spiked the ball at the one-yard line! Oh man. Believe me, we talked about that a lot!!) 

And Owen got some more time with his buddy Carson, while they were in town. They still look related and always pick up right where they left off.

Hadley's been accompanying me on Owen's pick-ups from school the first week. She misses him a lot when he's at school! Evidence? 1)The first day he was gone, she asked if we were going to go bring him home for lunch. She was very disappointed to learn that he'd be eating lunch at school without us from now on. 2)One day she cried real tears because he crossed the street to school without saying good-bye to her. 3)She declared that she missed him the second he hopped out of the car for football practice and asked if we could go home so that she could make him an 'I miss you' card. Keep in mind that football practice is only one hour long! It's so sweet!

Of course, lots of time on our bikes and at parks. Sometimes both!

One more tiger-pose for the kids at the zoo...

And although our own yard has plenty of raspberries making their appearance now, we couldn't resist a last-of-summer trip with some friends.

Back to School

This week both kids started back at school. Hadley is in pre-kindergarten three mornings a week. She was very excited to go back to school, even though it's a new place and she didn't know any classmates. It's across town and starts earlier than Owen's school, so Dad will be dropping her off in the mornings.

According to her, her favorite food is bananas (?); favorite colors are pink, purple, yellow, and green; and she wants to be an artist when she grows up.

Owen is in first grade, which means he has to stay at school all day (6 hours) this year and take his lunch! He was not as excited to leave summer and go back to school, and the report so far is 'first grade is boring.' (I think that may be because they are just reviewing kindergarten stuff so far.)

I walked him to school this week, one day on our bikes. The weather felt like fall already with mornings in the 40s, though Owen was in denial about needing a jacket. On the first day, about 5 minutes into our walk he asked to hold my hand. I said, "of course you can!", imagining that he won't ask me to do that for much longer. But once we were holding hands, he snuck them into my hoodie pocket to keep warm! I'm going to savor it as a sweet moment, rather than a manipulation for warmth. Ha ha! Next week I'm sending him in with some neighborhood kids for another step of independence.

Waiting in line at the big school! Not too many familiar faces in his class this year, but I'm sure he'll make new friends easily and catch up with the old at recess. In his own words: his favorite foods are California roll and dumplings; favorite colors are dark blue, red, and dark green; and he wants to do "something easy" when he grows up, like lawn mowing or street sweeping. Atta boy!