My First Dozen

Today I finally accumulated my first dozen eggs. My white egg laying hen was hot and didn't give me eggs for 3 days because she was protesting the heat... but today she gave in. I have been waiting for that final white egg to get my 1st dozen, Arn't they cute?

Toy Sale

Last Friday the kids held a Toy Sale in front of our clubhouse. They collected all of the things they didn't want and put it out on the curb for passerbys to buy. Surprisingly enough, the nextdoor neighbor Julie made $30. Emily made $2.50 and Ashley made $1. I will now be taking all of their unsold inventory and giving it to the Salvation Army to accumulate my $5000 tax write-off for 2009!

Yosemite (Bearfest 2009)

On August 13-18 we went camping in Yosemite in the valley floor. These coveted campsites are very hard to come by and the only way were were able to camp here was with Reed's Scout Troop.We were technically "park volunteers" and were allowed to stay in one of the volunteer campgrounds. In exchange for our volunteer status we had to help with an Eagle Project and put up some signs in some of the campground. (This "volunteering" took about 3 hours for 2 days.) One of the drawbacks to the campground was the lack of showers and the modern convenience of a port-a-potty. The campground was the farthest west campground in the park, and we were the farthest west campsite in the campground. Every night bears came through the campground and on the 3rd night Reed, Ashley and 3 others saw a bear. That night, we accidentially left out the trash and it was dragged into the woods by bears. The next night we had a great dinner of BBQ pork sandwiches, baked beans and corn. We had alot left over and one of the dads suggested pouring it in the port-a-potty to get rid of it. About 2 hours later, Reed decided to go to the bathroom. He got 5 yards from the bathroom and heard scratching on the port-a-potty. He shined his flashlight at the port-a-potty and a bear stuck her head out from the back of it. He ran to get us (probably shouldn't have run from the bear). We chased off the Mama bear and 2 cubs. The dad who suggested putting the food in the toilet, now suggested stiring it up so the bears couldnt smell it. (Dan said he should have gotten a merit badge for that act of bravery!) We then settled in at the campfire and I turned to see the bear on top of the picnic table behind me (no more than 8 feet away). We chased her off again. Then we went to bed and around midnight heard the bear locker clanking. The bear had opened the bear locker (or we hadn't closed it) Dan and Bjoern (German) got up to chase the bear. The funniest memory I will have is of Bjoern, dressed only in his underwear and a t-shirt with a sweater wrapped around his neck (to keep warm at night), running through the woods chasing a bear away!

We had no showers so everyone took baths in the river. And quite frankly, I think they all enjoyed basking in natures bathroom. We did a few small hikes and had a great time.

The Best Hike EVER!

While in Yosemite... a group of us were going to Glacier Point to soak in the scenery. At the top of Glacier Point is a trail head to the 4.5 mile trail. Despite hitting my shin on the bicycle trailer hitch the night before and having a bump easily the size of a tennis ball.....I decided to take it down and it would spit me out at our campsite. I went all alone and it was wonderful. The views were spectacular and it was sooooo nice no to have to worry about or talk to anyone. The trail was pretty primitive and slippery in parts. The only drawback was that the trail crammed your toes into your shoes... so by the end of the hike my toes were sore and blistered.. but a small price to pay for the experience. I even beat dan and the kids back to camp first. It took about 1 1/2 hours, but I have a habit of running downhill. (FYI... there are no views the first 3 miles if you hike up... so the best hike to do is start at Glacier Point... hike 1.5 miles... then turn around and come back. The rest of the hike is swichbacks... hellacious switchbacks!)

Lisa Klein... Egg Psychic

On the drive back from Vegas, I had strong mental image of three eggs and a feeling that one of my chicken's had laid an egg. I even said to Dan "I have a feeling one the chickens laid an egg while we were gone." I disregarded that there would be three because I thought I would be lucky if there was one. Sure enough when I got home.... there were 3 little eggs in the egg box! Omlettes anyone? Today, my white egg layer laid her first egg! Finally a reward for my farming efforts. Did you know that young chickens lay double yolk eggs? Now you do!

Vegas is Not for Children

On our way back from St. George we stopped in Vegas for a day/night. We stayed in the Excaliber and had fabulous rooms. The only draw back to our room is we had to walk past a "pole dancer" to get there. By check-out I think the kids were used to seeing her... but Bjoern walked into a wall because he was distracted one time. The other problem was the little nude cards left on the street for everyone to see. Reed complained that his neck hurt because I told him to look up... but upon further discovery... even he has to look where he is walking once in a while. I won $150 on a slot machine! Dan lost $20 on a slot machine.

St George & Zions National Park

St. George is always a fun trip for us because there is not a whole lot to do. It is the one place we go to simply relax. So with that in mind... we thought we could do all that we wanted to do in a day and a half. For once... we felt rushed in St. George. We traveled with our German students Bjoern and Melanie. And when we arrived in St.George we went to our absolute favorite pizza restauraunt "The Pizza Factory". We met up with family and friends and Dan related it to how it would be if he died. He was greated by so many friends & family, but not necessarily those he would associate being together in the same place. We hung out at John's (Bro) house in the evenings and the Germans had a really good time hanging out with "so many american people". A highlight was spinning the kids around on a barstool to make them dizzy and then making them run around a tree in the back yard. My favorite performance was by Melanie who "bit-it" after being spun so many times.

We went to Zion's National Park and hiked a little. On the way back, we stopped so Reed could hold a Ferrett. His absolute obsession for at least a year.