Cabin 08

We went to the cabin last week and enjoyed spending time with family. We participated in many different activities but I wish we had a little fishing pond on Grandpa H's mountain estate. I have images of all who attended except Stephanie. Kim and Stephanie went up a day early with Rachel and left the following day. The plant life was very green but the road and pathways were dry and dusty. We have not seen rain in our area for many weeks.
One of the first things we did after unpacking was play rummy with all shown above. Grandma and Grandpa were ruthless but fair. I usually don't play cards but I enjoyed the friendly competition. Guess who was ahead when we finished?......... Yes Mrs. Gamer (Lynne).

This week is Dan and Jessica's vacation. I hope they had a relaxing time.
Grandpa and I are watching over dinner to make sure the bear or cougar does not come steal our grub.
The first night we had steak and chicken but the second evening we roasted good old fashion polish dogs. Of course Heather was thinking safety first and wore a helmet just in case a meteor shower occurred.
Grandma and Grandpa "G" stayed for one night and took Richie down to attend a ward adventure activity. Aren't they quite the couple?
We played a competitive game of horse shoes. Dan and Rachel were victorious and should feel good about beating some out of shape, fat, middle aged grandparents....Ha! Good job guys.
Here my lovely partner releases the shoe with smooth but concise accuracy.
I had fun throwing with you Lynne.
I was partners with Heather for a game and it was...... a very interesting experience. Never a dull moment with my little Heather. A little over enthusiastic when it comes to throwing shoes. Among all the participants she had the most creative releases. Of course Jessica did not participate.... oops sorry Jess.
Jessica's excuse was she had Jacob to take care of. Next year you have to play. No excuses... unless your pregnant. Ha!
Wow take a look at the form. She is one of my horse shoe padawons. Rachel was my partner when we plummeted Dan and Richie.
Look closely and you can see Grandpa taunting Rachel. We quickly learned this was not a good idea. Good job by the way gramps I remember many a backyard basketball games were you would taunt us relentlessly.
Oops I guess Rachel is fighting back Grandpa...... run for your life, a Badger ( Snow College) is on your trail. Quick gramps do the shuffle....
After Rachel calmed down Grandpa stepped up and let it fly. He imparted a stylish spin on the shoe.
It was grandmas turn and everyone thought it was unfair because she was using her bionic eye. Her one-eyed aim had sizzling results. I think we should call her lazier-eyed Grandma.
The eye at work !!
Yea !! Nice RINGER ! Mr. G
The young couple having fun waiting their turn to throw the shoes.
Jacob looks on wishing he was old enough to join in. Heather is doing a little trash talking even though Jacob is not old enough to play. Come on Heather pick on someone your own size.
Hey I think mine is closer than yours. No way bone head. Hey don't get personal. This is just a friendly family game.
Richie and Dan created some devices to trap the chipmunks and ground squirrels. There was a competition to see who could trap the most little vermin. It turns out that Richie pulverized Dan at this activity.
It turns out that every time we trapped one, the little buggers slipped out from underneath the container. It was fun to watch them create all these cool "man vs. wild" systems.
For breakfast we cooked up the usual bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns and pancakes. Everything that is necessary to clog your arteries. Yes I know it is not healthy food but it's cabin food. Grandma is not trying to plug her ears she is just a little cold.
Later that day we went over to the point and shot some clay pigeons. Dan of course was the sharp shooter of the day.
Richie took his turn and did as good as I did. Of course that is not saying much but he did quite well.
We also shot Dan's hand gun. I am in position to give him advise (to high, to low, nice try etc.)
In between all the activities Dan and Jessica had time to take a little ride on the 4 wheelers. As they were riding up to the gate they saw a nice heard of elk on the west hill (bear hill).
Later that night Dan, Richie, Rachel and I went looking for wildlife. Last year we saw a bear down by the spring but this year we were not as lucky. The second night we spotted what we think was a cougar. We were about 35-40 meters from the cabin. As we finished up our night time field trip we heard a big growl / roar down below the big fir trees.
It was one of those WOW ! moments. This little buck came to the salt lick next to the fire pit (west side of cabin).
The next morning we finished breakfast packed up and took off for home.
Thanks Harold for the use of the cabin we had a wonderful time.

Virgin River Exploration

Life Along the Virgin River
When Heather did not have v-ball games Lynne, Richie and I explored the riparian habitat along the Virgin River. This brings to mind a joke that Lynne told me when we were driving through St. George when first married. Ok..... here is the joke. Why do they call the river the Virgin River....... because no one has seen the bottom of her.... Ha!! I thought it was very funny. Anyway we went up and down the river near St. George. We also visited an area about half way through through the gorge just south of the city (18 miles). While collecting and observing the different life forms in and along the river it was over 110 degrees and near the river in the vegetation the humidity was almost unbearable. Lynne was a trooper participating in all our little nature trips along the river.

One of our favorite insects are cicadas (cicadidae). These little creatures are the insects that produce that high pitched shrill during summer months. Deserts can have large populations of cicadas. Here Richie and I have spotted one and we will proceed to capture it.
Before we caught it with the insect net we took an image of it to share with my students. I enjoy wild life photography and have a special interest in capturing insect images. By nature, insects are not cooperative subjects so getting good images takes patience and a lot of luck.
Richie is a very good insect collector. Here we are still looking for cicadas and other insects. We were hoping for some tarantula hawk moths but did not see any. In the brush along the river the humidity was terrible we brought water to drink but we really could not keep our body temperature regulated very effectively. We could only stand the temperature for about an hour and we packed up and headed for the air conditioned gym to watch Heather play v-ball.

Lynne provided words of encouragement and carried our water. If we stayed any longer she was going into the water to cool down.
It is very hard to get this close to a robber fly (asilidae). This little guy is in the middle of eating its prey. You can see a small insect stuck on the end of his nail-like proboscis. Robber flies are one of my favorite dipterans.
Here Richie is trying to catch one of the illusive robber flies. This boy collects with lots of enthusiasm. You should see when we get all the Sink kids (Uncle Jim and Aunt Lisa) together and put nets in their hands. It is not only an interesting observation in human behavior but you had better protect your self and if your an insect or you don't stand a chance. I love collecting with them, it is great fun.
Lynne turned over some rocks near the rivers edge and found these cool little toads. In her words, " they are sooo cute". I have to agree they are very cool little critters. There were too different species we found along the river that day. We also found tadpoles and intermediates between larvae and adult. When I was a kid we lived above a canyon in San Diego. My friends and I would go down to the creek near the local golf course and collect frogs and tadpoles. Great stuff...... this keeps me young and from going in sane.
We found an interesting little jumper along the rivers edge. Take a close look at it. Do you see something different? Your right it is missing one of its hind legs. This mutation will not serve it well. There is a little nub where the hind leg should be. Amphibians are at risk for more chromosomal mutations because their eggs are shellless and exposed to environmental conditions (excess radiation, chemicals etc.). Many amphibians are declining at alarming rates.
One of my favorite aquatic insects is the dragon fly. Most people are fascinated with its acrobatic flight. These are not easy insects to collect and provide a unique challenge to photograph.
On the way back to the car I looked at one of the cacti and noticed an interesting beetle. Before collecting it I had to get some images. I have never seen this species before so I was glad to add it to our collection. The beetle group (coleoptera) is the largest of all insect groups (orders). Insects are such a fascinating group of living things. I remember many moons ago when my nephew Jake and I collected along the banks of the Colorado river. We collected some of the biggest Cerambycidae beetles ( similar to the above insect) I have ever seen. Fun stuff !!!
After watching some more v-ball we went to the river and set up a light trap. Richie and I found a large toad. As we picked up the toad it proceeded to eliminate copious amounts of urine in hopes we would leave it alone. Not a chance.... we picked it up a few times until it could not pee anymore then gave it to Lynne.
Lynne played with the toad for a while and found it hard to handle. She did enjoy the encounter. She would have kissed it and hoped for a prince but she already has one..... Ha!
Richie on the other hand was convinced he could use the frog to get his beautiful Claire or if she was busy Paris to appear before his eyes. So he puckered up and gave the frog a big kiss. Unfortunately nether appeared and Richie developed a fungal growth on is bottom lip. Ha! That will teach you to believe in fairy tails. We had a good time along the river and no one saw her bottom. Ha!

Team Building in St. George

TEAM BUILDING

We took Heather's Volleyball Team to the "Lemon Squeeze" for a team building activity. This formation is more commonly known as the CRACK. You can probably think of all kinds of inappropriate jokes / comments so stop while you are ahead.

The CRACK is just north of the city.
Coach, Rich, Richie and I went to scout the CRACK before we took the girls later that evening. We went through the CRACK to make sure it was safe and challenging enough to have the girls pull together to accomplish the task.
Rich tried to pass through the CRACK but his big belly got in the way. He became stuck about a quarter of the way through. As he tried to come out he scraped up his shirt and felt bad that he could not pass through the CRACK. This experience has given him some motivation so next year he can make it.
Rich went on top of the CRACK and looked down at Richie making his way through. It is really a nice place, just a hop skip and a jump (grandpa-ism) from down town St. George.
Once you get to the top of the CRACK there are many little formations to explore. Here Richie is at one of the high points over looking the city. I can't believe he is growing so fast. I enjoyed having him with us.
Meditation is good for the mind and soul. Richie is hoping it is good prep for his next soccer tournament.

Here we are at the opening of the Lemon Squeeze. The girls just finished their afternoon games and we took them for their team building activity. Rich placed an ice chest with goodies (drinks, ice cream etc.) at the top as a reward for making through the squeeze.

Much to my surprise Heather led the way. This was a total surprise. Richie was the only boy so he was truly in his element practicing all his pick up lines. Ha!

Here she is helping her team mates out of the CRACK and to the top of the bluff.There were a few situations where the girls had to work together to get through the CRACK. As they helped each other and consoled their fears they all were triumphant passing through the "Lemon Squeeze". Heather was very responsible by having her med kit with her (blood testing eq., insulin, treats etc.)

Richie is taking a short cut........ he knows there are goodies about 50 meters from the CRACK. an other team mate and I are cheering !!

As soon as they found the goodies they tore into it and replenish their fluids and sugar. It was good to see them work on solving a problem and enjoy the sun set together. In this shot they are throwing ice at Richie. I wonder who started it??

Look out Utah Valley because this volleyball team is going to block ya.... stuff ya.... dig ya... and score on ya.....

2008 MVHS volleyball summer tournament team.