We had a couple of fun fall outings last week! I heard that there are a few spots in Utah where you can see Kokanee Salmon running up river to spawn from the middle of September until the beginning of October so I made everyone go to the Provo River just above the Jordanelle Reservoir dam, the closest spot, so we could spot some salmon, and it was so cool! We didn't see tons of salmon, but we probably saw 1-2 dozen, which was a lot more salmon than I've ever seen in nature before (1-2 dozen more, to be precise).
I didn't know what to expect with this outing, and did not have the kids dressed or shod appropriately. Note to self: if we do this again, kids should be in shorts and water shoes, especially Luke, though he didn't care. 36 hours after we got home from this little adventure, Luke's shoes had finally dried out enough for school.
The drive through the canyon to get home took twice as long as it should have. Between people out for a Sunday evening drive to see the fall colors and people coming home from camping over the weekend and the construction on the road, we had a lot of traffic. We entertained ourselves with admiring the fall colors and taking pictures in the car and Jack quizzing us about Book of Mormon heroes and villains.
On Saturday we joined what felt like the rest of Utah County for a scenic lift ride at Sundance. The wait to turn into the resort was about 15 minutes, and the wait to get on the lift took over half an hour. But the ride was beautiful - and included a bunch of turkeys - and the weather was great and it was just nice to be up in the mountains for a few hours, seeing Sundance not covered in snow.
(#1) Joseph and Lindsey surprised us by bringing over their new, tiny puppy named Pippin. We all fell in love.
(#2) Ben had been out of town for a few days so we decided to meet up in Sandy when he was driving south from the airport Sunday afternoon. We spent some time walking around the Utah Healing Field in the green space in front of Sandy City Hall. The display of 1500 flags was set up in commemoration of Patriot Day. It was beautiful.
(#3) A few days later we took the opportunity to pick unwanted peaches from a neighbor's two trees. We picked 28 pounds of peaches in less than half an hour, then Luke wanted to help Ben and me with the peeling, slicing, and freezing.
(#4) On Friday evening Ben took the younger kids to a scaled-down version of the Utah State Fair, mostly so they could see the livestock in the barns. They enjoyed the variety of animals and started thinking about having our chickens compete next year, haha. Each of the kids also rode a few of the rides at the fair.
(#5) On Saturday morning the kids took care of each other so that Ben and I could finally summit Timpanogos. It was an amazing (and also very scary, and tiring, and difficult) experience! We got home in the mid-afternoon and found out that the kids had been watching TV for several hours because they'd gotten their Saturday work finished in record time. Ben and I showered and took care of a couple of things before heading out again. We went to Sandy to support my cousin at his local desserts fest, One Sweet Festival. We got some yummy treats - the freeze-dried Skittles were a hit - and chatted with Carson and his family a bit, then headed home for dinner.
There were several developments for our chickens last week. On Sunday, they were introduced to a new type of animal for the first time when Joe-Z and Lindsey brought over their brand new, itty bitty puppy, Pippin. Bandit chased Pippin for a few seconds and pecked at his tail, but Pippin scared off the other chickens. It was funny to see this little puppy chasing the chickens that were easily three times his size.
I finally got out my good camera to take pictures of Bandit. These aren't great - and I'll be sure to try again another day - but at least you can get an idea of how pretty his irridescent green feathers are, and the amazingness of his bushy old man eyebrows.
Early in the week, the No Crow Collar we'd ordered for Bandit arrived. Following the manufacturer's instructions, we put the collar on Bandit loosely for a day, took it off that night, and then put it on to stay the next day. Bandit did NOT like the collar, and he spent some time trying to peck it off. Ms. Felix even pecked at it, though I don't know if she was trying to help him out or if she just found it odd and wanted to investigate. The collar didn't mute his crow very much, but it definitely affected the sound: there's a significant pigeon-like trill in his crow now.
And a few more just for fun...
I so love these two pictures of Buttercup. I was trying to give my loyal
reader (you know who you are) a visual of Buttercup's mohawk. One of these days
we're going to gel that bad boy into honest to goodness spikes.
Cat took a break during an at-home school day to snuggle Dixie.
We found out that the chickens like peaches.
It seems that the chicken wire, initially intended to keep the chickens in a specific section of the yard, has become a roosting option.
Also, Ben's camp stove.
And here Hei Hei shows off her budding jumping skills:
P.S. Two more quick things: (#1) this week I surrendered the tomatoes to the chickens. I witnessed one of the hens eating a barely orange tomato and decided there was no way for me to win this battle, and decided they could have any tomatoes they want. If I happen to find a ripe one that was too high or deep in the vines for them to find, then I'll take it. (#2) Eliza found that one of the hens laid a soft-shelled egg. It hasn't happened since, and I hope it doesn't happen again.
