Many, many steps!

Just a week ago, Ian was taking first steps. A few here and there. Now, he prefers to walk! He walks across the room on a regular basis! It's slower than crawling, but he's walking so well. He can change direction in the middle of the room, too.

We went to book club tonight, and after initial jitters, he was getting along great. Lots of gals loved to see him again, and he enjoyed different surroundings and lots of attention. Daddy came by to bring him home.

Here's my favorite pic from the camping trip. Getting set up for the family shot. My boys.

Good Enough

For last week's camping excursion near Pocatello, we finally decided upon:
Goodenough Creek Campground

Is a beautiful place to be this time of year. The weather is bordering on too hot. The stream is way too cold. Together, it's perfect. Note to the wise: Do Not attempt to nap in a tent that is in the sun. Not in this place. You end up all sweaty and won't sleep well. Hot!! Not even at 8am.

Ian loved tasting all of the new (to him) rocks and dirt clods and twigs and grass.

He found some peace with a good book.

We went on a hike, as well.

The perfect little get-away for a few days. All of the campsites are streamside, quite private, and have shade.

Some have more of these things than others, and the way primo campsites were taken when we got there. That's three of 13, though, and we snagged a really cool campsite. The stream winds back away from the road and "main area" where the fire pit and picnic table are located. Back there, we found two great clearings, one perfect for our tent (and a place it could go for daytime naps in the shade). The stream was very cold, and that was perfect for chilling beer. However, one has to make sure that the beer is in a location of relatively slow water flow. The two minutes it took to retrieve beer #2 from the downed branch area were excruciatingly cold.

There is a charming day-use area that has horseshoe pits (and horseshoes even!), picnic tables, grills, etc. Trails abound in every direction. We definitely would like to go back when we have more time to spend, during the week, snag one of the very shady campsites, and explore more and lounge much more.

Switching things up

Just when you think you've got things figured out (or screwed everything up), Ian goes switching it up. Last night we thought that the camping trip had completely hosed any "sleep training" we had managed. During our trip, he was nursed at every peep and slept with us. The last few nights he hasn't slept more than a few hours at a stretch. But last night, we gave him some ibuprofen in the event that pain was keeping him up. He then slept for 5 hours straight. Poor fella. Teething again? He was so rested that today he only took one 2 hour nap. No other naps. We'll see what tonight holds in store.

Snow is melting. It's warm in town. The park was fun the other day. Hopefully more visits to the park in the very near future!

Casto Canyon Hike

On our way home from our camping trip, we went for a walk in Casto Canyon. The National Forest Service trailhead is here. Scroll in to see it. It's a ~5 mile drive in from Highway 89, first road south of Panguitch.

What a beautiful canyon. It appears as if its major use is atv's, unfortunately, but there were none on that Sunday afternoon. It was a beautiful warm sunny day with bright blue sky and beautiful orange rock spires all around. The trail follows the stream, and there are many stream crossings. The stream is not nearly as large as it appears to be on the satellite image - I got through the stream crossings with dry feet. John did not, as he was smart and not willing to jump across with Ian on his back. So he got wet feet. But that's no big deal. We usually wear shoes and socks that dry quickly.

It said "no camping" at the trailhead, but I'm not sure if it meant no camping in the canyon or at the trailhead. I can't imagine what kind of damage a bunch of teenage 3.2 drinking atv marauders would do to this place, though, and I can see that as a big reason that they might not want campers.

Check out the terrain feature on google maps - you can see that those spires are over 400 feet tall!! This trail description talks of another nearby canyon (Losee Canyon) that may not be used by atv's - that may be a good option for busy weekends or for just avoiding the atv's and their effects. One of the effects of the atv's in this canyon is that the trail often goes through the stream for long stretches. However, it's not too hard to just find your own trail. It's easy to follow the stream (especially on the way back to the car, as that is downstream), and it shouldn't be too hard on the landscape to traipse off trail in this location. You can see that the water will rise and wash over your footprints and nourish the plantlife there at some point. (Many places in the southern Utah desert have cryptobiotic crust that you want to avoid, but this stream bottom did not appear to be one of those places.)

(Tango is very alert when Ian has a snack. And Ian is wisely wary. Then tosses him a cracker.)

We brought snacks and Ian got to check out the interesting fine sand on the dry streambed. It was a beautiful hike, and we all loved it. It was well worth waking up from his car-nap for this!

ETA: Neat!

Warmth!

What a fun weekend. We went to where it was warm, and it was nice. Ian did so well. He slept in the tent in the aerobed with us, napped in the car on the way to and fro - hikes and checking things out. He liked veg time at the campground - he got to explore.

Ian's review:
Sand: tasty.
Rocks: Tasty!
Picnic Table: "Can I have a doggy bag?"
Having boogers wiped: No fun.

SO Outta Here!

We've reserved a place for this weekend at Quail Creek State Park. The forecast: Sunny and 77. Ian gets to go on his first camping trip (unless you count last year, Memorial Day weekend. He was not yet "on the outside" but he was definitely there with us).  Much work has to be accomplished first! But yay! John is plowing this morning. We haven't received all of the promised snow... yet.

And for your giggling pleasure.