Aquarius Guard Station and Loa

This weekend we traveled south to the Dixie National Forest and stayed at Aquarius Guard Station. It's been fourteen (count 'em - 14) years since Brandon and I first got to know each other while surveying the Aquarius Plateau (Boulder Mountain) for Aquarius Paintbrush plants. During that week the two of us traveled all over the plateau together with Aquarius GS as our home base.

We stayed at Aquarius again a couple of years ago in celebration of our 10th wedding anniversary. I was pregnant with Gavin then. This time, Gavin was on the outside and I'm pretty sure he loves it there as much as we do. We arrived Friday afternoon. Brandon went fishing while Gavin and I explored the area near the cabin. We enjoyed a tasty family dinner (thanks to the propane stove/oven and running water that have been installed since our first visit) and Gavin slept like a rock while Brandon and I hung out around the fire pit. On Saturday Pat & Michelle Brown came up from Loa and Pete Smith & his girlfriend Gloria came up from Apple Valley.  We played cribbage, visited, snacked, had a couple of beers, and then went for a hike to Pine Creek Lake.  Afterward we came back to the GS and made tinfoil dinners in the fire pit.  Pat & Michelle headed home and Pete & Gloria camped in the aspens across the creek.  On Sunday we packed everything up and the Chards made a quick trip up to the plateau.  Gavin napped, which was part of the plan, while Brandon and I gazed out the windows and reminisced.  We spent Sunday night in Loa at Pat & Michelle's (Pete & Gloria were there too), and headed back north early this morning. Click here to see more pictures.

Aquarius Movie Time

For you hard-core Gavin fans...

Panorama


Gate Rider


Table Dance #1 (watch for the Elvis move @ 0:06)


Table Dance #2


Log Walk

Fresh Sweet Corn

Gavin LOVES corn on the cob. We ventured out to a little farmer's market in Paradise this evening and rustled up some freshly picked corn to have with our dinner tonight. Gavin ate his first cob in two minutes flat, devoured his second cob just as fast, and then asked for 'moy' (that's 'more' in Gavin-speak). He had to settle for turkey ('ogey-ogey' in Gavin-speak) and noodles ('nodoz' in Gavin-speak). That big knot on his forehead is the result of his first (inevitable) fall from the trampoline. Daddy likes fresh sweet corn on the cob as much as Gavin does. Those are roasted beets and carrots and onions on his plate. Fresh garden veggie season is in full swing!
Gavin got this sweet hand-me-down robe from his buddy Ethan. I half expected a few Playboy bunnies to come hopping out from behind the furniture when he first put it on!
In the picture on the right he's signing 'help' because he can't reach his new Thomas the Tank Engine bath toy that's floating away from him in the tub.

A smidgen of recognition

This was the first year that our local paper allowed electronic submission of entries for their photo contest. On a whim I sent in this picture I took of Brandon and Joie fishing on Boulder Mountain back when I was pregnant with Gavin. It didn't win, but out of 147 entries it was one of a dozen or so that got published in the paper.
And on another positive note, Brandon found out yesterday that his company is keeping him on until October 31st (as opposed to the original August 31st layoff date). That gives him/us a little more time to find another job and/or get our ducks in a row to start our consulting business back up again. Meanwhile I will be increasing my work hours at USU from 20/week to 30/week starting September 1st.

Island Park

We went to Island Park (in Idaho, near West Yellowstone) over the weekend with Brandon's sister Brooke's family and Brandon's mom (Grandma Debby). Brandon and his mom and sister used to spend time in Island park in the summers when Brandon was a kid, so it has a special place in their hearts. We stayed in a sweet cabin at Pond's Lodge and toured the surrounding trails in a couple of Rhinos. The weather was supposed to be the pits - cold and rainy. We got the cold but not the rainy; a refreshing change from last weekend in Chicago. The dogs ran their little hearts out and Gavin got to spend some quality time with some more extended family. His cousins McKenzy and Maxwell were so sweet to him! On Saturday night Debby babysat the kids so us mommies & daddies could go to the bar and check out a band called Dikki Du & the Zydeco Krewe (all the way from Louisiana). Somehow I ended up on stage playing the washboard for one song. It was hilarious. I must say, I rocked. Click here for more pictures.

Chi-Town

We spent last week in Chicagoland, visiting my family and going to Lollapalooza in Grant Park (downtown Chicago). The first few days of our visit were spent catching up with my folks, my grandma and my brother DJ's family. Then over the next few days, Gavin enjoyed some good bonding time with his Nana & Papa while Brandon & I enjoyed three festivalicious days of live music and semi-extreme weather; cool and rainy the first day and HOT and humid the second and third days. My brother Dave and his wife Missy joined us, so Gavin also got to hang out with his 1-year-old cousin Evelyn. We took the train from Naperville into Chicago and back each day, and joined forces with the The Frantzes for maximum musical enjoyment. Jonathan, Susan and Henry made the trip from Toledo to Chicago in a double-decker 'megabus' and stayed in a hotel not far from Grant Park. So many bands (over 130) and so many people (I'm not sure how many but I heard at one point it was the biggest festival ever and there were over 150,000 people there at any given time). The best performance, hands down, was the last one on the last day: Jane's Addiction. I liked Jane's a lot before, but I have a whole new respect and reverence for them now. Perry and the boys are nothing short of electrifying. Not bad fora bunch of old farts. All-in-all it was an exhausting but funtastic vacation. Let's do it again next year!

Beaver Creek/Bear Lake

* Click here to see the web album *
On Saturday night we camped along the Beaver Creek road. We like it there because it's pretty and Brandon can fish, but it has its drawbacks - most notably its popularity as an ATV area. We managed to find a nice spot, though, and Gavin got to try out his new hiking boots ($1 from a yard sale on the way out of town. Cha-CHING!). Joie and Brody were in heaven and Brandon and I enjoyed each other's company in front of the fire after Gavin finally (finally!) went to sleep. This morning we took our time packing up - Brandon went fishing one more time - and then we continued along the dirt roads, over the mountain to Bear Lake where we joined up with a herd of friends and their kids and dogs. Bear Lake is not only gorgeous, it's a great place for little ones because the water isn't too cold and it gets deep ever so gradually. You can wade out 100 yards and still be only waist-deep in water. It was all great fun but now that we're home and the camping gear is put away and the lion's share of the cleaning of dishes and laundry is behind me... it's time for bed. Click on the link at the top of this post to see more photos.

Hero

My hubby is a hero! We were hanging out on the shores of Porcupine Reservoir yesterday when what seemed like a bus load of 12- and 13-year-olds descended upon us. We had already been there for awhile and were planning to leave soon, but we hung around and watched their adolescent antics for a bit. There were a few adults with them; a man, two pregnant women and and a heavy-set older man the kids called "Bishop" who we later found out recently suffered a heart attack. A few of the kids decided to swim across the reservoir to the cliffs. It's a long way across and strong swimmers can make it on their own but most folks take some mode of flotation with them. These kids didn't have any flotation and when they got a little beyond half way across the kids seemed to be starting to panic. Most everyone else was only half paying attention to them and those that were paying attention seemed unsure whether or not the kids were being serious. Brandon didn't want to wait to find out and immediately jumped in our canoe and sped out to the kids as fast as he could. As soon as Brandon took off, the younger of the male chaperones jumped in and swam like the dickens to get out to the kids. As Brandon was approaching he saw one of the kids' heads slip under the surface of the water. The other two kids managed to bring him back up above the surface but it was a struggle. Brandon threw them our life vests and moments later had the kid who was having trouble in the canoe with him. When they got back to shore I could see that the kid was obviously rattled. The older man and one of the pregnant women came over and thanked us for what Brandon did. We struck up a conversation and found out they were an LDS youth group from American Fork and they were camping up the road at an LDS camping area. They found the camp on the internet and none of them had ever been to Porcupine before. I hope if they ever come back they'll bring a few inner tubes!









For more photos of our afternoon at the reservoir, click here.