Dino tracks and taranulas!

We headed to southern Utah last weekend.  Fall is in the air we wanted to get a camp trip in before it gets too cold.  We spent one night in Torrey and 2 nights camping in Kodachrome Basin campground and we had a blast.  The kids were great, the weather was perfect, the hikes were just right and we wished we had more time to stay and play.  It's great to feel like we are finally able to do things like that without an overwhelming amount of hassle.  We are past nursing babies that wake every few hours.  Both kids can walk and explore.  They are even happy playing together every so often.  I feel like it just keeps getting better!

We explored a place called Twenty Mile Wash Trackway.  Several hundred dinosaur tracks are visible on the rocks.  It's a super cool place to check out if you happen to be down Hole in the Rock Road near Escalante.  Miles is comparing his print to one left by a therapod millions of years ago.  It still blows my mind that creatures like that really existed.  To see the tracks and know they hung out in the very spot we were standing is pretty awesome. 

They were looking at ants on dinosaur tracks.  Jeff called them his little paleontologists.  My sister said it looks like they are in hiking time out!

I love this shot Jeff took of Iris

My mischievous one

Having a good time

I love this picture of Iris

How are they already this grown up?

Yep, Miles was pretty excited.

Iris playing in Willis Creek

Miles in the Willis Creek narrows

Soccer

Miles is playing on a soccer team.  Our friend Eddy is coaching a team of 3 and 4 year olds up at the University of Utah.  It's complete madness!  Most of the kids have no idea what is happening.  Some kick the ball, some pick it up and run, some just wander off the field when the spirit moves them.  It's pretty funny to watch.  We are just hoping he has a good time with some little friends and learns the basics of playing soccer.

In uniform in the front yard.

It's really hard to get action shots.  I was super stoked to grab him a #5 jersey.  I played soccer for so many years and I was almost always #5.

Eddy with the group.  They named themselves the Black Birds!

Post game rockin' undies and his shin guards :)

Bikes

Now that weather isn't quite so hot it's time to get out on the bikes.  They have mostly been neglected, sitting with flat tires and covered with black widow webs in the shed.  We got them out this morning and went for a neighborhood cruise.  Iris was loving her new seat on Jeff's bike.  Miles was on his pedal-less Strider bike.  I was grumpy when Jeff bought it for him because I thought it would never get used.  The kids have to scoot along, pushing with their feet then lifting them up to coast.  What kid wants a bike with no pedals?  Apparently mine.  He is really digging it and asks to go for rides.  He can cruise most of the length of Brookhill Drive without his feet touching the ground. Cruise on, little man!

How cute is this?!

 Look, Ma, no feet!

We love peaches!

Tis the season for enjoying the greatest fruit ever...Utah peaches!  That's my opinion anyway.  I so look forward to buying boxes of them at the farmers market every Saturday and eating so many that my stomach gets a little messed up.  They are huge and juicy and messy and usually require a shirt change post eating, but yum!  I think it's great that Miles and Iris seem to enjoy them just as much as I do. 

First day of pre-school

Last Tuesday Miles moved up to the pre-school class.  He will spend a year there observing and having a little more structure and learning in his days, then next year he will officially be a kindergartener. He has been so excited about the move to Miss Penny's classroom.  He was waiting at the front door ready to go with his backpack (complete with uber stocked pencil box) on before I'd even finished my breakfast.  Here's to hoping he stays this excited about school for years to come! 

Miles' new buddy

Miles has a new buddy named Freddy.  He is the neighbor's new fluffy kitten.  Their energy levels are a perfect match and it's really funny to watch them play tag!

First time fishin'

Miles had an exciting week.  He and Iris stayed with Don and Martha for a few days and he went fishing for the first time!  He and Grandpa went to Cold Springs Trout Farm up in North Ogden.  The ponds are well stocked so kids are pretty much guaranteed a catch and no fishing license is required which is a bonus.  They came home with 2 tiger trout and 3 rainbows trout fillets.  We plan to have them for dinner when we can all get together.  Miles is already a true fisherman, telling everyone he caught a 21 foot fish from the sea!  We were at Whole Foods yesterday and he had to tell the guy behind the fish counter all about his big adventure.  Pretty cute!

See what I mean about guaranteed a catch?!

His 21 footer!