E-I-E-I-O

Like many kids her age, Supergirl has been busy mastering various animal sounds, and we all enjoy quizzing her regularly. Often, we'll throw in a challenge question, and when we do, she has proven herself admirably. Witness the following recent example:

Quizmaster: What does a dog say?

Supergirl: Oof! Oof!

Quizmaster: What does a duck say?

Supergirl: Kack! Kack! Kack!

Quizmaster: What does a cat say?

Supergirl: Mwooooow! Mwooooow! (Our Boris does in fact say just this).

Quizmaster: What does a...Supergirl say? (this is the challenge question, in case you hadn't guessed!)

Supergirl: (furrows brow and thinks for a mere split-second) Mama!

Raking

Supersuit

This is how I happened upon the Girl the other day. If you don't recognize them, these are the overpants for the Boy's supersuit. I'm not sure exactly how she was navigating; perhaps she was using her x-ray vision.

On the Road: Parts IV and V

What trip to Flagstaff would be complete without a short detour to Grand Canyon National Park? The scale of the place is simply overwhelming, whether you're talking about the canyon itself or the Grand Canyon Village of the South Rim, which includes a visitor center, grocery store, car repair garage, bank and ATM, post office, railroad station, kennels, campgrounds, lodges, mule stables, library, clinic, day care facility, laundry, gift shop, bookstore, and more I'm sure. Sheesh! Needless to say, there were quite a few people around. Even so, it's a beautiful place. Perhaps the North Rim is a little less lively?

(My) anxiety about someone tumbling off of the edge prevented me from taking many photos here, but we did take a few. We managed to head down below the rim on a short hike before my nerves got the better of me, and I had everyone head back up!

A. and Superboy off in the distance, dangerously close to the edge (in my opinion!).

The Boy at a somewhat more comfortable distance from the rim. Still, I made him promise not to move a muscle while I was taking this photograph.


This one was taken at Walnut Canyon National Monument, where I also took few pictures due to a preoccupation with the sheer drops inches from our feet. A good portion of the path here was closed due to a giant boulder that crashed down last December; they're still working on stabilizing and repairing the trail. Worrying about more boulders crashing down on my little ones did not help me either, but this was a gorgeous place. Virtually everywhere you looked along the inside walls of the canyon, you could see tidy little dwellings tucked under the overhangs. Here is Superboy peeking out from inside one of them.


Lastly, we thought we might check out Meteor Crater near Winslow, but just couldn't bring ourselves to pay the $17.00 per adult admission price. It seems you can't even explore the crater itself except on limited guided 1/3 mile-walks just inside the rim. I can't help but wonder if this would have cost extra! I don't remember what the kids would have cost, and I notice the website doesn't make the admission prices obvious--if they are posted there at all! I couldn't find them, can you? Ah, well.

On the Road: Parts II and III

While A. was meeting with a faculty member at Northern Arizona University, the Superkids and I checked out the Museum of Northern Arizona. If you're ever in the Flagstaff area looking for something to do, this is a pretty cool little museum. We particularly liked the geological exhibits and the exhibit about the Mystery of the Sickle-clawed Dinosaur.

The next day, we set off for a picnic at Sunset Crater National Monument.


You know, despite events some of us remember, such as the eruption of Mount St. Helens, I believe we so easily think of volcanic eruptions (and typhoons, and earthquakes, and floods, and landslides, and wildfires...) as things that happen off in lands far, far away, not here. Even when the media compel us to face the fact that such things can and do happen here, once the sensationalism of the event has died down, such realities fade from our view, and we're back to sticking our heads in the sand (Think Katrina? Many don't realize that this storm killed more than 1,800 people; I believe many others are still classified as "missing"). Perhaps this is an all-too-human tendency. At any rate, the crater we saw was formed in an eruption that took place less than 900 years ago, and although many of us may not truly grasp the fact, there were likely plenty 'o' folk around at the time to witness it. Which is what I found myself thinking about at our next stop, the Wupatki National Monument. There is more information about this beautiful and thought-provoking place here. Check it out!

At Wupatki's Citadel Pueblo. Isn't it gorgeous?

Supergirl set free!


In front of Citadel Pueblo. This spot has been excavated, picked over, reconstructed, and I assume most artifacts of interest have already been removed, either legitimately or illegitimately. Still, the site was covered with pottery sherds--some of them patterned, stone tools, flakes and other fragments. The architecture itself and the sheer number of remaining artifacts give you an idea of what a lively place this once must have been, and of how sophisticated its residents were. We're not talking an small isolated band of cavemen-like nomads here, people!


The kids got a big kick out of the blowhole at Wupatki Pueblo. You can see from their hair that air was really blowing out that day from deep beneath the ground. This blowhole can also suck air in, depending on conditions. Find out much more here.

On the Road: Part I

A. had to meet with a faculty member at Northern Arizona University last month, so we made a family road trip of it. Our first stop was the Painted Desert in the Petrified Forest National Park, a truly fascinating place. I could have spent days exploring.

Somewhere around 225 million years ago, this place was a tropical river basin blanketed with heavy vegetation, including multitudinous towering coniferous trees. Now, it is an otherworldly landscape liberally strewn with the mineralized skeletons of those trees. Here's Superboy posing on a magnificent example. So amazing to walk among the remains of these ancient creatures. Some of them even retain the texture and quality of decaying wood, flaking easily at the slightest suggestion of a probing fingernail--if you didn't know better, you'd never guess the true age of these.

It was so blustery the day we were there. Check out the blowing tassel on Superboy's hat! I do so love this pointy little hat. I knitted it for the Boy when he was but a baby, but it's still going strong. When he was smaller, he wore it cuffed up; now he wears the cuff down, and it still fits great! The pattern is from a little book called Little Badger Knitwear. The patterns in this book are not perfect, but they are so different from much of what's out there. I like them for this reason. These guys are atop a massive stone log.

You can still clearly see the growth rings in the trees. Different impurities in the quartz that crystallized in the tree trunks produced the different colors.

Not one to follow the fashion flock, this plant was decked out in fruit despite being surrounded by plainly-dressed peers. I'm not up on my desert plants yet, but perhaps this is some kind of cholla? Maybe someone out there can tell me. The "wood" jutting out of the ground at its base and the tree "stump" in the background are made of stone.

The bird on top of the hill in this picture was HUGE. It wasn't a bird of prey, but perhaps one of these. Too bad there's no person in this photo to provide some scale. Funny how much we rely on that! The petrified logs on the hill one over might give something of an idea.

She's making the best of it, but the Girl really wanted down.

Potty Girl

Freak Accidents and Good Fortune

We had winds last Wednesday. They were clocked by the National Weather Service at speeds of 37 m.p.h. with gusts to 44 m.p.h., which granted are not exactly hurricane-force winds, but still, were pretty dern gusty in my humble opinion. As I was standing in the kitchen, I saw something from the back yard fly by the window, so I went out front to retrieve it, with the Girl close behind, as usual. And as she stood, watching me, in the open front doorway, it just so happened that Superboy opened up the back door, which created a suction that slammed the heavy metal front door shut on poor Supergirl with alarming force, catapulting her 3 feet onto the pavement at my feet and crushing both of her sweet little feet between the door and frame along the way.

Well, we went to the E.R.

Miraculously, she was banged up a bit but not seriously injured, although we found out Thursday she'd fractured the first metatarsal in her left foot. Now she has a little boot-splint on her foot, and the orthopedists are thinking we won't have to have it cast--we'll find out on Friday. She's been amazing through it all, and to be honest, after getting over the initial pain and ensuing hoopla, it hasn't slowed her down one bit. Superboy was a prince of a big brother, and did as he was asked with no complaint, tagging along to see doctors and radiologists from 8 to 8 on Thursday like a real little trooper. I tried to get some good shots of the Girl in the little boot, but most of them turned out like this:

Or this:

Throwing a fit because I wouldn't hand over the camera:

Still tearful and rumpled, but recovered from the fit, happy, and angling for the camera once more:

Pumpkins

Halloween Party!

When we drop Superboy off at preschool, Supergirl is usually quite upset that she cannot stay to play. She was included in the Halloween party at the school, and she made the most of it.

I spy a little black bat, a funny hat, two orange balloons, and a Super Raccoon!

Little Flower Pixie. So fitting, I think.

Let's Bowl! What? Raccoons do so bowl! They're very good at it, didn't you know?

Let's Eat! Luckily, the Super Raccoon was clever enough not to try to wash the cupcakes first.

Trick or Treat?

Superboy a.k.a "Super-Raccoon" lookin' fine, all set to go!

Supergirl, on the other hand, couldn't be bothered with such superficial things as dressing up. No, no, she had her mind on things of substance. Such as the basket of treats we set out for trick-or-treaters. Nevermind that she doesn't even know what candy is!

Imagine, if you will, the shark attack theme music from "Jaws." Only in this case, it's skirt attack music.

Duh-DUH! Duh-DUH! DUH-duh DUH-duh DUH-duh DUH-duh...

Success!

Finally, all dressed up and ready to go!

Ding-Dong!

Still Undecided?

What about this candidate? Hee hee...

Weird Gardening

We needed bean sprouts for a recipe one week, and the ones in our market looked so nasty, Superboy and I decided to grow our own for the first time, ever. Here's how they turned out: all of these from a couple of tablespoons of mung beans I happened to have in my pantry (doesn't everyone?) Pretty amazing, huh?

We followed the instructions in my trusty old Laurel's Kitchen, which recently broke at the binding into three pieces, alas. For now, you can find them here.

Many months ago, I bought some sunchokes at the market for the very first time. As I had no real plan for them, they languished for months in my refrigerator until I was sure it wasn't a good idea to go ahead and eat them. So, I placed them on the counter to remind me to suggest to Superboy that we plant them in the yard, just to see what happens. And there they languished for a couple more weeks, and, finally, began to sprout. By that spurred to action, I asked Superboy to take them outside so we could plant them later that very afternoon! And there they languished on the patio table for several more days, where they were alternately irradiated by the southwestern desert sun and drowned by the southwestern autumn rains. Although they were looking more than a bit unlikely to grow after that, we finally planted them. We'll let you know if anything happens!

Here is Superboy's own original landscaping. I think I like it!