mud, water and rock.

At the Dugout Ranch. The girls know and love this place. 

I heard about 'the waterfall' right after I moved down to the Needles. I guess it's where everyone in Monticello would come and play during the summer. But with the massive drought we've seen in the area, Indian Creek was never flowing. This spring I wanted to go check it out and let the gals play, but the mountain run off never made it past the base of the hills. A few weeks ago on our drive home from church, it started to dump. Waterfalls were pouring off the rock cliffs and Indian Creek was totally flooded. We came down to the waterfall and sure enough, it was flash flooding like nobody's business. And amazing to watch. But obviously tons of water and debris doesn't lend itself to toddlers and babies. The next morning the flow was down to about 1/10th of the previous day. You can see the waterfalls pouring off the rock in the back the of the photo. 

I don't know if i've mentioned this before, but Liesel LOVES mud. I mean, she loves it. She would play in mud all. day. long. She wipes it all over her hands, legs, face, rocks, clothes. She paints with it. She does 'manicures' with it. She rolls in it. She makes prints in it with leaves and rocks and seeds we find. I also love mud, so when we find it, we're in business. And business was good here at Indian Creek waterfall: 

so long swimsuit. . . I think you used to be red. 

Hannah is no stranger to getting dirty either. She was having a blast playing. 

evidence of a good morning. 

The girls with Grandma at the Dugout Ranch

And bless our ranch getaway. I love that I can take the girls here each week. Or a few times a week. Liesel has renamed all the dogs. She talks about Molly almost every time we drive by and if you ask her what her favorite thing it, she'll inevitably say: pink horses. What does that have to do with the Dugout Ranch? I'm not sure, but they have horses. Maybe that's what I thought the connection was. 

And then there's Mill Creek: 

 One of the best kid hangouts in Moab. I haven't been there when it was hot enough outside to make the water bearable when we lived here before, but this was perfect. We played here with Heidi and Rylee for two hours. And I fell in love with Hannah in wearing my hat. 

 And just because I can't resist a Hannah eating a little Mexican food:

I love this stage where they can pick up anything and eat just about everything you do. Goodbye, blender. Pureeing gets old fast. 

I've been having a great time exploring our big world with my little girls. It's so neat to watch them discover and play and open this whole big, wide world up to them. I want them so badly to have it all, but sometimes having a little less is having it all. . . you know what I mean? I guess I've been worried about putting L in a class, or having her play with friends every day, or teaching her her letters-- but when it comes down to it, a child's play IS their work. They are learning by simply playing and exploring. And in so many ways, I am too.