The jeep ride

We met our guide, Kevin, early in the morning.  We loaded up in the jeep.  I sat in the back with mom and dad rode in front with Kevin.  Our first stop was Newspaper Rock.  It had all kinds of cool writing and pictures on the wall from the Anasazi people.  Some of the paintings of feet had 6 toes!  From there we drove into Canyonlands National Park.  We started up Elephant Hill.  It was very bumpy and I hung on like Grandpa said.  Kevin put on special gloves and rolled his window down so he could look out to help him drive.  It was so bumpy that mom and I kept swaying side to side and when the jeep tilted it felt like we would flip over.  We also drove backwards on Elephant Hill, I thought that was kind of scary.  We drove over several more hills and stopped at Devil's Kitchen for lunch.  Kevin said we could explore while he set up lunch.  I climbed over big boulders.  Even though it was very hot it was cool in the shade of the rocks.  After lunch we drove some more and came across a big field where there were tons and tons of grasshoppers.  Since we had our windows down, grasshoppers hopped in.  You should have seen the windshield.  It was covered with grasshoppers.  Once we were done in the field there were still a few inside the jeep on the roof.  They eventually hopped to freedom.  Our next stop was the hike to Chesler Park.  On our first water break we saw some cool swirly rocks, then we saw a cool rock shaped like Santa Claus.  Then Kevin asked if I wanted to lead the hike.  He said we would soon be in a really cool place.  He was right.  The cool place was the "birthplace of cairns".  It was kind of like a cave with tons of cairns.  I built one.  It was also a cool temperature. Then I continued to lead the hike through very, very narrow places.  It was like a tunnel, but then we climbed some rocks to a view of Chesler Park.  We climbed a little more for an even cooler view.  There Kevin asked if I wanted to try to climb down.  He showed me how to "boot and scoot."  At the bottom we found "trail booty"...it was a hat.  After climbing back up the rock Kevin had me lead everyone out.  He told me to look for footprints along the trail or cairns people built along the path so I wouldn't get lost.  It was a cool jeep ride.  I will tell you about Fiery Furnace and river rafting tomorrow.

A letter to Grandma and Grandpa... and Aunt Amy

Today was our first day in Moab. We went to Arches National Park.First I started of the day taking a walk with dad.We saw cool lizards,chipmunks and even a few golf balls.  Then we got in the car and drove to Arches National Park.  The rocks were amazing.  They were red and the sky was blue.  But it wasn't just any blue; against the red rocks it was really blue.  In the visitor center we talked to the ranger and on Wednesday we are going to hike Fiery Furnace with a guide.  The ranger said we will get to climb on rocks and go off the trail. We drove to the Window Section of the park and took a short hike to get closer to the phenomenal rocks.  We saw the North and South Window and we took the Primitive Trail which I thought was cool because you got to climb on some rocks and there were not many people.  The only sign of animal life was a few lizards and a few chipmunks.  Maybe they thought it was too hot. Then there was a short hike to Double Arch.  We went back to the house to cool off in the pool before heading out again later this afternoon when it is not as hot.  I'll share more tomorrow!

Love, Emily

Emily Grace Takes Over

A New Day. Now that Emily can type like a fish. We have decided to have her write a few entries while she's on vacation. Enjoy.
Dad

Vacations

I'm not sure how we started on this new tradition but it's a nice one. When we go on vacation Emily and I get up before everyone else and have our own little mini-adventures early in the morning. It wasn't hard to convince her once she found out that donuts were involved.

A Lost Entry, from Oh, So Long Ago...

It's just another sign that she's not a little girl anymore. She used to have "cute" names for her grandparents-Nanna and PopPop. Those were hers; not prompted or taught to her by adults. The adults also referred to them that way to acknowledge her "speak". They were unique to my parents and we always knew who she was talking about. Well, just this past week things changed. I told her Nanna was coming in the morning to get her and she looked back at me and said, "Grandma coming?" I was too sad to even answer her. She still goes back and forth, but each day it's becoming more "Grandma/Grandpa" and less "Nanna/PopPop". Being a parent is crazy. You are so glad she is becoming more self sufficient and independent while at the same sadden that she's no longer a baby...she's a big girl!

Love, Mom

A Strange Cat...a Very Strange Cat

Emily Grace called me to look out the window to see the strange cat that was sitting in the driveway. Strange was hardly the word for it. "It" was actually a pile of lint that the technician had removed from the dryer vent that he was cleaning. Guess two years is a little too long to wait between cleanings. I wondered why I had to keep hitting the fluff cycle three times after the clothes were already "dry."

Love Dad

Early to Bed? Early to Rise!

Emily Grace is definitely an early riser, she is up hours before Mom and I get up and in the early hours things can happen. This morning I went into Emily's bathroom and there on the counter is a flashlight, a Scotch tape dispenser and a timer. What would anyone need these three things for in a bathroom at 6am? Well, today is Mother's Day and Emily was out, in the dark, picking flowers so she could make a bunch of small vases each with its own little flower. Which was beautiful but still doesn't explain the timer.

Love,
Dad

It was only a matter of time

Emily Grace has the advantage or dis-advantage of going to school where both of her parents work. So we get to see her around school from time to time as our classes transition from place to place. As Emily's first grade class was leaving PE to go back to the classroom mom happened along. As mom bent over to give her little girl a kiss she was snubbed. No kissing at school! Pat on the head, OK. But no kissing. Turns out that mom kissing Emily at school is OK as long as there are no witnesses; say, under the age of 10, maybe 12. Emily Grace's teacher was there to witness mom's humiliation. Her response? Awwwwwwww......

Love,
Dad

p.s. I don't even try.

I'll ride with mom

I suggested a bicycle ride for Emily Grace and myself to visit Emily's big sister Katie at her new job. I said we could ride there and mom could pick us up after and we could all drive home. Emily told me "I have a better idea. I'll ride in the car with mom and we'll both pick you up."  We all ended up riding.... in the car.

Love,
Dad

Another one???????

Well.... Here we go. I was getting ready to read to Emily Grace and I can't even remember the question that started it all but... I ended up trying to explain to Emily Grace that what would make her mother happy if she got home and found that the house was quiet, Emily was asleep and the kitchen was clean. Emily's response... (the dots are running amok tonight) I had better go and find another kid. I was not happy with this response and soon Emily was not happy with my response. we finally worked it out, after she apoligized to me. Kids. What are they thinking? And, why.

Love,
Dad

Sad Days....

Well, it's a time that had to come. Mom had noticed and pointed it out to me that Emily Grace no longer travels with her babies or stuffed animals. She took them on vacation over the summer, Pink Baby loved Canada; but once school started the babies and animals have stayed home. They still get up in the morning to watch TV before school with Emily but on the couch they remain as Emily heads out the door. Sorry babies.

Love,
Dad

Will there be cake?

Mom had to attend a graduation party for one of her former students. When she asked Emily Grace if she would like to come; the one and only question? Will there be cake? Yes? Let's go. If every decision was that easy.

Love,
Dad

Pink Baby Returns

Emily Grace has had a doll since she was a year old.  Its name? Pink Baby, of course.  Named by Emily because of the doll's outfit. Well, after more than 4 years of constant loving and extensive travels across the United States with Emily, Pink Baby was looking a little worse for wear. More specifically, she was about to lose a leg; so we had to find a doll hospital to fix her. We found TLC Doll Hospital in Edgewater, CO...which we highly recommend. Pink Baby was mailed away in a box that Emily decorated inside with stickers so Pink Baby would have something to look at while she traveled. When we mailed Pink Baby, Emily was already figuring out when Pink Baby would arrive in Colorado, how long it should take to repair her, and when Pink Baby should be back home. It was very endearing to listen to Emily try and figure out where Pink Baby might be, what might be happening to her and most importantly, when would she get home. It's the last one that was the killer. We didn't just hear about it everyday, we heard about it multiple times a day. The only thing that saved us was that Emily wasn't worried about herself, she was concerned about Pink Baby and how was she handling being away from Emily. The whole thing took about two weeks and you have never seen a happier little girl than when the mailman handed her the box from Colorado.

Love,
Dad

It's just a fish...

Emily Grace has a goldfish, Goldie is her name; just like Emily Grace has a baby doll with a pink outfit with the name Pink Baby, not too original but eerily accurate. Goldie eats everything that we put in her bowl, food, plants, occasionally fingers. So we went to Petsmart today to once again buy new plants for Goldie. Emily Grace wanted to know if they sold poisonous plants to put in the bowl. No, not to hurt Goldie, but Emily knows that animals don't eat things that are poisonous to them so she thought maybe Goldie would leave the poisonous plant alone. I didn't explain that last part to the sales clerk at Petsmart and you should have seen the look on his face when he found out that a five year old wanted a poisonous plant for her fish. Sometimes it is what you don't say that makes all of the difference....

Love,
Dad

p.s. We went with plastic plants. What could be more poisonous than that?

just a matter of time.....

Well it has been quite a summer already. Mountains, tide pools, hiking, climbing, roller skating it wasn't until Emily went to gym class that she got hurt, a broken arm; the gym is a giant padded room for God's sake. Oh, well. I told her that I was going to write about it in her blog and she told me that breaking her arm wasn't very interesting. Emily wasn't following directions at the gym and jumping off of some large cube and ended up jumping on top of her cousin. The cousin started screaming so loud that the staff thought that she was the one who was injured until they saw Emily's arm. No tears, no complaining just one brave little girl. She was "fine" of course, until Mom and I walked in and then the waterworks started. Off we went to the doctor's office where they confirmed it was broken and then to see the Orthopedist. We had two hours to kill between doctors so we went to lunch, Emily's favorite, Red Robin. I will have to say that the staff at the restaurant were fantastic. They came to see how she was doing, a "get well" message on her balloon, the manager even stopped by and comped Emily's lunch. By the end of the meal, tasty as always, Emily was in much better spirits. The Orthopedist's office was a mess, we had a forty-five minute wait, even with an appointment and they had some horrible movie showing on the TV that we couldn't escape. Torture. The doctor was great. He spoke directly to Emily Grace and asked her what happened, quickly establishing a bond with her and she was willing to go along with all of his directions. One bright pink cast later, Emily is home and asleep for the night, we hope. Emily Grace is a very active little girl and mom and I often joked that it would only be a matter of time until Emily...

Love,
Dad

Emily Loves Mommy and Daddy

Emily Grace loves to write. If we have one note that says "Emily Loves Mommy And Daddy" we must have a hundred. We also have a bunch that say "Emily Love Mommy and Daddy" four year old's just aren't writing like they used to in my day. That would be my dad talking.............

Love,
Dad

George time

Emily Grace is learning how to tell time using Curious George. Emily doesn't get to watch much TV but one show she enjoys is Curious George on PBS. Emily has figured out that each story/episode (2 per show) is approximately 15 minutes in length. So, now when she wants to know how long something is going to be she'll ask and if the response is "not too long" she'll ask "Is that like one George or two?" And on it goes, a long time might be five or six Georges; this system is actually helping us keep track of our monkey business....

Love,
Dad 

They're just a bunch of sticks

We decided to plant a rose garden in the front yard and Emily Grace was a big part of the process. She helped mark the area for the new bed. She watched as I sprayed Round-Up to eliminate the grass. She helped dig up the old lawn. And, she helped to order the roses from Jackson Perkins Nursery. Of course, Emily wanted to do all of these things on the same day. Once the roses finally arrived Emily was disappointed that it was a box filled with a bunch of sticks (bare root roses).
     A quick side note on Jackson Perkins. They're slipping. You used to get a little metal tag on each rose identifying the variety, only three out of seven plants had tags. And the bigger issue is that the most expensive rose arrived the size of a miniature rose. It's so out of place it's funny, except for the fact that I paid the most for it.
       I explained about shipping live plants and that they were "sleeping"/dormant. She was away when it came time to actually plant so I did it by myself. when she got home her first question was to ask why I had planted a stick garden. So much for the lesson on dormant roses. It's good to be four.

Love,
Dad

Community Service

Emily Grace will be 5 in July and by that time she will have already done two years of community service... I hope it's bankable. It would be hard to overstate the impact she has had in the classroom the last two years. She has made friends with the friendless. Given voice to the speechless. She has really helped bring these little kids to life. I have no idea what we are going to do next year when she's in kindergarten. But I know what she'll be doing....

Love,
Dad

P.S. In case anybody wonders why I suddenly have all of this time to get caught up on my writing. I crashed my bicycle last Saturday 5/19/12 and fractured my pelvis.

How long has it been???!?!?!!!

I started this post on 3/28/10 it went to a draft and never got finished, until now....

I guess I've missed a few holidays along the way, a birthday or two, perhaps a milestone here and there. But what catches me the most is the things that don't happen any more.

shower doors: it's been so long ago I can't remember what she used to do to the shower doors

red trucks: every time she would see a red pick-up truck Emily Grace was always sure it belonged to her sister Katie. You'd be surprised how many red pick-up trucks there are on the road when you are really looking.

tickle monster: the tickle monster has come and gone several times throughout the years. Now at age four and a half Emily Grace is very strong and the tickle monster has his work cut out for him even trying to roll her over to tickle. The tickle monster is starting to think it would just be easier to tickle the mommy tickle monster...and a lot more fun.

Love,
Dad