ancient art

Anybody who's played on the beach has done the whole wet-sand-castle-of-drops thing. Well, that is exactly what must of happened when the Fisher Tower's were created. Recently one of these petrified mud towers has exploded in popularity due to a certain Citibank credit card commercial featuring Ancient Art and it's corkcscrew summit (although those overhangs she's climbing are not on this route). 

Thanks Leslie for watching Liesel so we could get out together! Us at the base of the climb right after gearing up and pounding some string cheese. 

The climbing on this tower was surprisingly easy (said by the person who top-roped everything). The chimney (can you spy B in green?) was almost like a ladder. Which made the fun factor very high. 

Here we are at the last little pitch. Walking across the "sidewalk" is somewhat hairy (you can see that on the commercial), then you belly flop on top of the diving board (that bird beak thing I'm pointing to). Then you climb right up and (ideally) stand up on top. The anticipation was worse than the execution however (said by the girl who only knelt on top). 

B

Me

And for anyone who saw the superbowl halftime show with the slackliner-- he was right across the way from us doing THIS and it was pretty crazy to watch (it's teaser footage, so it's a little confusing. . . but he's walking on webbing like a tightrope and then jumping off with a parachute on his back called basejumping).

Earth Day

So I've seen people share their favorite earth photos from the previous year for Earth Day. I think it's a great idea and want to start up the tradition! Doing it made me realize how blessed I am to live on such an amazingly diverse earth-- and how many beautiful things I got to see in 2011. Planet Earth is an incredible place and I want to do a better job at taking care of her. 

Needles, January

Apricot Orchard, September

Yellowstone Prismatic spring, May

Sea of Cortez, February

Spring snowfall in the Tetons, June

Teton visitor, July

San Juan Mountains Colorado, January

Balsmroot in the Tetons (by Lindsey), August

Desert Storm; Me, L, Mary and B-rad at False Kiva Island in the Sky, March

White Pine and moss, June

Claret Cup cactus, April (by Lindsey)

Mom and Baby moose, Cascade Canyon, June

Avalanche Divide Grand Teton, September

Landscape Arch, October

Capitol Reef apple orchard, September

Indian Creek color, October

Bison, August 

And does it get any more earthy than this? Breastfed blowout, March

In defense of the family blog

Little Van Gogh . Very creative using her skin as a canvas. 

Is our blog turning into one of those pictures-of-our-kids-only blogs that I used to avoid? I have to admit that at one point I thought that those were somewhat boring (unless I was related or basically related) and couldn't figure out why they never posted pictures of themselves or what they were doing anymore. Well, I have since realized a few things: 1) photos of my kid are fascinating to me and only taking 400 a month is a restraint. 2) It's cool to watch this little one change before my eyes. 3) I don't enjoy narcissistic photos of myself nearly as much as I used to. Don't get me wrong-- I definitely still enjoy them, but just not as much. 4) Liesel is more in demand. Just ask the grandma's and aunts out there. 5) she's the biggest part of our life right now and will be for sometime. Makes sense that she's the star of the blog now too!

And for the Liesel record: She will repeat almost anything back and she can usually get the number of syllables right, but her consonants are somewhere in the back of her throat like she's speaking German. We have these bowls at home that have a stamp of a moose at the bottom and as she approaches the end of her oatmeal in the morning she starts trying to dig for the "ma!" (being interpreted is "moose"). Milk is also ma and so is banana. And so am I.  One of my favorite little antics is how she says, "mmmmmm!" after everything she eats. Very complimentary of my cooking. Generally speaking, if she's not tired she's a real sweetie.  

Brian has still been down at the Needles during the week (this past week was a tri-district tour of Canyonlands via alpaca-raft-- a raft that can pack up and fit in your backpack. More than a little jealous here). I'm pretty sure if Brian actually took photos and blogged, the scale of baby/family vs adventure would be a little more even. Alas, he doesn't-- maybe he should resurrect "the Rope Log"?

Mom and I wear really dorky hats. But sun-protection is the new cool, or so she says.  

climbing these days

Liesel meets Lizard

usually involves a lot of entertaining, herding, lifting and distraction ("Look! What's this?!). This lizard incident had Brian and I laughing so hard. She was fascinated, but completely unable to be gentle. She kept trying to squish his head and despite our attempts at protection, managed to grab him by the tail. Luckily all was well in the end.

 It also involves more babysitting and less climbing. We're talking one climb in about two hours. But still, it's worth it. As long as you can keep the kiddos from running into traffic. . .

Brian teaching L the ropes. Love those chubby little legs in a harness. . . 

Easter Sunday

The Needles

A how-to guide to life without cell phones, internet or grocery stores: 

1) Make sure if you don't have any of these things, you are in a completely awesomely beautiful place like the one pictured above. 

2) Hike 20+ miles to get exercise and take in the breathtaking views. 

3) Make your child pose often in front of picturesque locations. 

4) Do that again. And then put you in the picture. 

5) Find an obsession-- like wildflowers. 

6) Hang out with an 18-month-old. This is a must. You will be laughing at every stop, tip-toe hiking while they're asleep and inventing new pack-carrying methods when your hips are bruised from the weight of your pack. If that wasn't convincing (and re-reading it, it's really not) just hear this one say "stick" and eat all your pickles . . . you'll be hooked. 

7) Eat tortilla pb&honey (you know, for variety since bread was getting old). Another hiking must? Chips (or if your Liesel, "pip-bst") and pickles. 

8) Let your baby hike. Realize they'll never make it to the car and are somehow drawn to cacti. 

9)Get a job as a full-time spotter for your child who has taken up bouldering. . .  on everything (did I mention that Liesel is a desert sandstone maestro? She climbs all over EVERYTHING. . .and some of it is like baby 5.10)!!

10) Chill. Often. 

11) Find ways to reassure yourself that you're #1. 

12) Hang out with your man when he comes home. . .play some tunes and fall asleep at 8:30pm like it was midnight. 

13) Have an Easter Egg hunt. Limited candy? That's cool. Try rocks, flowers, string cheese and Rice Krispies. Although the one piece of chocolate is hands down the winner (her first taste and L was in heaven). 

14) Drive back to town only after your resources (and your body) are exhausted. Have a bonfire with friends and call it a week.

*Brian has been working down at the Needles (a district of Canyonlands Nat'l park) that's about 1.5 hrs from Moab. Liesel and I went down with him this last week.