Free Goosy! Failed Attempt #2

We first met goosy (the Canadian goose) on Sunday. The dogs noticed her right off because she was the only goose that didn't fly when they ran through a field near the wetlands. Because she didn't fly I ran over to see if she was OK and discovered that she had some sort of fox or beaver trap on her foot. We knew we needed to free goosy! Olivia ended up catching her in the middle of a mud bog but due to dog related "issues" (I had to run tie them to a fence with my shirt...which ended up ripping...) goosy broke free moments before I could get to the trap. The goosy struggle left Olivia covered in mud and both of us with the determination to save goosy; we had come so close.We decided to come back the next evening with better provisions. To the untrained eye the photo above appears to be two misfits out for a paddle, but the kayak gear was also doubling as goosy saving gear:

Life Jackets: in place in case goosy tried to puncture our vital organs
Helmet: In case goosy tried to peck my head (in plan A I was in charge of catching her)
Wetsuit: To say warm incase I needed to tackle goosy in the water
Whistle: I would sound this alarm in case of an emergency
Bandanna: Since the previous days goosy struggle left Olivia's hair full of mud, this time she had protection
Neoprene gloves: Since we only had one paddle and two boats, one person would have to rutter with their hands while being pulled by the other boat
Boats: We last saw goosy swimming crookedly towards an island, these boats were vessels of transport to that island
Shoes: Essential for wandering the shoreline looking for goosy or the tracks of a goose dragging a trap
50 Cent: Although not pictured here, his music got us pumped up for the mission

Although we had proper equipment and a well laid plan, I'm sad to report that we were unable to locate goosy. We did find a dead, eaten, torn apart goose on shore (pictured to the right); but luckily it didn't have a trap on it's foot...well we couldn't find the feet but we didn't see any trap tracks. Hang on goosy, attempt #3 is in the works.

Incharge of Sunrise

Ari always made sure we were up to watch the sunrise. I can't say we were grateful right off, but we did always end up glad he thought to wake us. There is nothing like a desert sunrise...and sunset for that matter. These photos are of the sun rising over the "badlands" in Anza-Borrego.

Loving the backpack...sometimes

We got Ari this swell backpack just before we left on the trip. The backpack made it's maiden voyage in Organ Pipe and was a success...he fell asleep in it. Hiking with it in Anza-Borrego was another story. We did all the trails we would have normally done; but I must admit we didn't get as far down the trails as we would have liked. We figure we will just need to keep practicing. The following are some photos taken hiking in Anza-Borrego.

Ari's First Road Trip

Ari's first road trip was a success! We spent last week traveling through southern AZ and CA collecting a certain type of wasp for Joes research. Turns out Ari was built for life on the road. He had a great time in the car sleeping, listening to Mom and Dad read his books (we memorized a few of them), playing with his toys, eating, singing, and grabbing his feet. When we were out of the car he was just happy to be looking around. As you can see we couldn't resist a good bumbo picture.Camping was also a hit, we were worried that he might get scared in the evening because it was dark, luckily he was obsessed with headlamps. You may notice from the photo the lack of room in the tent, we stopped in Phoenix and bought a bigger one.

K-So the Mighty Hunter

While I was on my walk this Sunday something extraordinary happened! We went to the Bear River wetlands, one of my favorite spots. I like it because Jack (my black lab boyfriend) and I can swim in the summer, mud wallow in the spring, ice skate in the winter and get full of burs in the fall. Oh, and anytime of year is good for rodent catching…well at least I think it is, I never really caught one…UNITL SUNDAY! Yep that’s right, my first rodent catching ever, and it hasn’t been for lack of trying, it’s just that Sunday was my lucky day. I was so excited when I caught the rodent, I couldn’t wait to show someone so I began throwing it about so that the humans would see how mighty I was. Lindsey wasn’t too excited, she said something about a proper burial and I was out of there! I thought I would post a photo so that Jack, Kenny, Jesse, Sage, Nellie and Charlie could see my rodent. I could have caught more but Ari started screaming something about how he pooped his pants, and he was cold, tired and hungry so we had to head for home…he scared away all the rodents anyway. Too bad Jack and Olivia missed our walk this Sunday, they would have been proud. I have also included a photo of Ari and Joe for those who may not appreciate my rodent.

Post-Child Mountain Biking

We embarked on our first post child mountain bike trip over Presidents Day weekend. The following is a list of a few minor adjustments that had to be made.

1. Didn’t Go Alone: Although Claud and Brian are our favorite biking buddies child or no child, it made it easier to do this together, since they also have a toddler. We took turns riding the trail, two would ride and two would hang out on a bouldering pad in the parking lot with the kids.
2. Couldn’t Camp: The nights were still too cold for youngins so instead we biked near St.George where we could all say at Hotel Topham.
3. Lack of Dogs: Pre-Child we would have had three dogs with us…instead we only had one.
4. No Sun Worshiping: Instead of basking in the first sun of the season, we had to hide baby skin from it.
5. Photographs: Normally we would have had a few photos of us on the trail, us sitting around the campfire, Claud and Brian rallying their minivan, 18 pictures of the dogs, etc… instead we managed to get this one photo of Ari in a bumbo on the bouldering pad.Over all it was a success! Were going to try camping and road tripping next week, and in a few months backpacking!

On the Mend

Ari is doing much better. We attribute his recovery to three things, the healing properties of breast milk, blessings, and the fact that we finally found a position Ari could breath/sleep in; this involved us holding him upright 24 hours a day. The first night Ari actually got some sleep Joe had rigged quite the comfort lounge chair (comfortable furniture by nature does not exist in our house) the “chair” involved 4 pillows, 1 boppy, a blanket, a couch, an extra chair, a presto heat dish and a computer station. Hearing Ari breath that night was music to my ears; however despite Joes engineering skills it was a little hard for US to get some much needed sleep. The following day we bought an ugly $20 cushy rocking chair at DI. It had its moments.

The RSV turned into bronchiolitis so Ari still has Asthmatic like coughing fits but it's a huge improvement! Of course when Ari was sick we gave little regard to the fact that he was coughing phlegm and blowing snot in our faces; now if only his parents could get better we would be back in business. Our house feels like a germ factory.

It was really hard to watch Ari be so miserable. I kept thinking of all the illnesses and trials Ari has yet to experience and how hard it’s going to be to witness those. I don’t know if I will ever get use to it, but hopefully we will endure them one day at a time.