in the car the other evening I was driving with the boys and their friend who recently stopped going to a private school. he told Damek that the reason he stopped going to the school was because other kids were being mean to him and kept trying to beat him up. Damek's reply was this: "I wish I went to that school, because if I did then I would protect you".
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our friends Jon, Melissia, Ari & Mina invited us to go to the arts festival with them yesterday (thanks guys!).
Damek's 1st face painting
Kyan choose to get Sonic painted on his arm, you could either get face paint or a tattoo, but he didn't want either of those and chose to get arm paint, which they were able to oblige him with:)
after the face painting we headed over to the food booths. for lunch we collectively bought and ate fries with fry sauce, a slice of cheese pizza, pad thai, vegetable curry with rice and 2 spring rolls! needless to say we were stuffed afterwards.
looking at art
buying art
Damek purchased this print from an artist named Dennis Brady 
Damek loved this guys work, and spent about 10 minutes thumbing through all of his prints loving a good portion of them and then settling on the above. He creates "fractal art" digitally on a computer by manipulating mathemathical formulas to control color, form, texture, and multiple layers to create a 3D effect.
trying to cool off with a nice cold smoothie
Kyan made this face and said (in a grumpy voice) "I'm grumpy". I think the heat was getting to him:)
after the festival we went over to my mom's house for a barbecue so we could spend a little time with my brother Joe and his wife Elizabeth who had come in town for a couple days.
on saturday the boys were invited to their cousin Hayden's 7th birthday party. he had a friends party that included cousins, and after a family party that included extended family like aunts, uncles & grandma's and grandpa's.
the birthday boy
my sister always makes the coolest cakes for her children's birthday parties. this time was no exception, although I didn't get a picture of the cake, which was a race track with cars on it, here are the car cupcakes she made also that were for the friends party
thinking about a wish before blowing out his #7 candle
Damek enjoying some punch
my niece Amaya enjoying her cupcake:)
the kids played some fun games, ate ice cream and cupcakes and then played until family started to arrive.
we stayed through the friends party and most of the way through the family party until we left for a going away party for our friends Tara & Billy and their children Chelsea & Sage who are moving into a school bus that they have renovated and fixed up rather stylishly to live on the road in. Check out their blog at www.followthatbus.net.
wednesday we attended a Summer Solstice gathering organized by my friend Aubrey and aided by many others who helped & contributed as well. we ended up camping over night, something that was optional, but that worked out well with 2 small children and late into the night festivities (I carried Kyan to the tent a couple hours before Damek & I were ready to retire). Lee unfortunately was not able to come as he worked late that night and had to work early the next morning. we missed him and wished he could have been there.
We arrived back late sunday evening from our time spent in Bryce Canyon. we sure were glad we brought warm clothes, because even though we were in southern utah, Bryce Canyon is at 8,000 feet elevation, so it definitely cools down quick at night. it was in the 30's at night and 50's, 60's & 70's during the day, perfect hiking weather. we were hoping to get a camping spot in the park, as there is a first come/first serve campground, but even that one had been all reserved for people from the Salt Lake Astronomical Society who had come up to volunteer for the festival. We ended up getting a spot at Ruby's Inn Campground, which was a little pricier, but had the ammenities of running water, indoor and outdoor pools and showers. We took advantage of the pools & the running water in the bathrooms, but not the showers.
thursday
an early morning game of chess
after Lee & I got our coffee and we made breakfast and played a few games of chess and Shut The Box, we headed out to go on a hike.
Fairyland Loop Trail
this was actually one of the most strenuous trails in the park, and is 8 miles in length but we only went about a mile or so in and then came back out. Kyan had come down with a small cold the night we arrived, and had absolutely no energy for hiking or running or exploring on this day:(
Damek resting on the trail
a passerby offered to take our picture after I took theirs
bird house?
from 8:30 to 9:30 this evening we attended an astronomy program titled 'Star Stories' given by a park ranger named Amy Sayle who works at a planetarium in Pennsylvania. It consisted of her telling different legends about some different stars and constellations with help from the kids in the audience. Damek got picked to volunteer and he played the part of the sun. He wanted to volunteer for all of them, but she chose different people for each story so all the kids would have a chance to do it. After it was over we headed back to camp to cook dinner (I know a little late), and Kyan fell asleep in front of the campfire.
friday
since friday was forecasted to be the warmest day of our trip we decided to hike to a waterfall on the trail to Mossy Cave. We hiked here 2 years ago, and although it was a lot warmer then, the boys still had fun playing in the water. It was running a lot faster and harder than the last time we were here, so we had to take a bit of a detour to get to the falls this time.
rock formation
waterfall
Damek having a snack
after spending time at the waterfall we hiked to the mossy cave for a quick look, as you can only observe it from the opening since they don't want it getting all trampled
after we got back from hiking, we headed over to one of the ranger stations for rocket building and launching. in the brochure it said for ages 7+, but Kyan was also able to participate. Thank god! When we told him in the car that it was only for ages 7 and up he lost it, but then Lee told him that we would talk to the people and see if he could do it with our help. When we walked in to purchase the rocket kits they didn't even seem to care what age he was.
Lee and I helped the boys build their rockets (we even had a gentleman from NASA there to help us). When he was helping us and mentioned he worked for NASA, Damek's eyes sort of glazed over and he just stared at him in awe for a moment:) He was even kind enough to take our picture
heading over to the launch site
connecting the wires
the NASA volunteer showing the boys which buttons to push for launch
boys waiting for countdown
blast off!
Damek retrieving his parachutes & rocket from a nearby field
Kyan's rocket & parachutes landed in the parking lot, so Lee retrieved them and Kyan retrieved them from Lee:)
we had planned to go to a presentation that started at 8:30, but we didn't time things right and it ended up being too late. Kyan was tired anyway and fell asleep in my arms once again in front of the fire. then Lee and Damek made smores which the three of us ate, then we retired for the night.
saturday
on saturday we drove up to Bryce Point after seeing lots of beautiful pictures of the area and decided to do the hike down to the Navajo Loop. Lots of beautiful scenery on this hike with lots of the 'Hoodoos' (the tall rock formations) that Bryce is known for
this trail had lots of switchbacks, and Kyan thought it was funny that he was "taller" than me when I was on the switchback right below him:)
then he promptly ran down the switchback and told Lee to stay there
Rock Columbine (yes, they were actually growing right out of the side of the rocky mountain)
if you look in the lower left of this picture you can see a window, that is part of the trail and you go through it along the trail
window
Damek spotted me about to take his picture, so of course he naturally had to be silly:) My trick is usually to shoot them before they notice me, although I do like the occasional silly picture.
yellow & pink rocks
on the loop part of the trail we ran into people riding horses. Kyan wanted to pet the horses sooo bad that the gentleman conducting the tour told us to meet them at the corral (which was just down the trail) and when they got off the horses then he could pet them. There was 1 horse and the rest were actually mules. Damek & Kyan had fun petting one in particular.
mule deer tracks. we also spotted what appeared to be either bobcat or coyote scat on this trail as well.
after hiking the boys and Lee headed to the indoor pool for a swim (it had started raining), and I started getting dinner ready. when they got back, we all ate dinner and played some games, then we headed out for a presentation titled 'The Strange Universe' that started at 9:30 at the North Campground Ampitheater in the park. We all bundled up in our winter coats, hats & gloves, as the temp. had dropped to a cool 44 degrees when we headed out. We parked at the visitor center and rode the shuttle bus to the ampitheater. Kyan conked out during the presentation, but Damek was all ears on the edge of his seat for the entire presentation. There was lots of talk about relativity, the speed of light, black holes & spaghettification (a real word describing death by black hole).
After the presentation we rode the shuttle back to the visitor's center where Lee hung out in the car with Kyan while Damek & I walked over to look through the huge telescopes at the dark sky.
From the Bryce Canyon website:
"Bryce Canyon National Park has a 7.4 limiting magnitude night sky! In most rural areas of the United States, 2500 stars can be seen on a clear night. At Bryce Canyon, 7500 stars can be seen twinkling in the void! There are few better places on planet Earth for astronomy! The night sky at Bryce is so dark we can see 7500 stars on a moonless night! Here, Venus will cause you to cast a shadow!"
It was an amazing site, all those bright stars, the milky way and constellations so easily seen with the naked eye. We got to look at 4 different galaxies that were approx. 50 million light years away as well as some planetary nebulas. We saw in particular M51 and the swan nebula. One night from our campsite we witnessed a comet. It was so big and so clear and we saw it shoot down from almost half the length of the sky! Amazing!
sunday
some shots around the campground before heading out on sunday afternoon
evening primrose
missouri iris
blue flax
as we headed out we stopped by our new friends, Bryce & Steve's bus to say goodbye. they have been living there for a couple months doing atv tours and are heading up to washington next. Damek & Kyan both really like their little boy Winston, as they had met in Salt Lake a couple months ago at our other friends Tara & Billy's house. They got to play for a bit before we headed home. We weren't able to hang out during the trip as they were working and had family in town for a reunion. They boys were satisfied after playing for a couple hours and ready to head for home. We pulled in the driveway at about 8:00 pm and we were all exhausted. Damek has already been talking about next years astronomy festival as he obviously had a great time, as we all did.
We're looking forward to making the astronomy festival an annual family trip.
Until next year....
we are headed here for the 9th annual Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival!
We look forward to being immersed in planet walks, constellation tours, star stories, rocket building and launching, stargazing with the HUGE telescopes of the Salt Lake Astronomical Society, & talks about black holes, astronomy through the ages, bats, time machines, star people, and much more:)
see ya in 5 days.
I wasn't raised in any particular religion, I went to a church school on a few occasions with a friend who was seventh day adventist and also with some neighbor friends who were LDS. it never sat well with me, and I always felt like a complete outsider when I went. i knew from the time I was a teenager I would never subscribe to a certain religion, and I feel the same way today as I did back then.
i'm not anti-religion, just know that it's not for me. i believe if religion makes you a better person then it's served it's purpose. I consider myself agnostic, in the sense that whether there is a god or not, it wouldn't change how I live my life.
today I ran across an article that put into words why I myself could never subscribe to a particular religion due to the whole paradigm and how it just doesn't fit in with my own person beliefs about how I want to live my life and how I want to raise my children.
the article was in this local paper and it laid out the difference between priest or priestess & shamans:
organized religion model
"Priest/ess cultures are usually hierarchical. Someone is always above someone else. Those at the top of the pyramid have the authority to tell those below what to do and how to do it. Organized religions, corporations, schools & the nuclear family are all models of this type of tradition.
Most priest/ess systems have a traditional framework of rules and taboos that tend to get passed on as is, handed down through the ages without question."
shaman model
"Shamans serve as spiritual leaders, leading through the power of their own experience with spirit, and not because someone above on the power ladder has granted them the authority to do so. As a shaman, I can teach through example, but not through dictum. I can encourage, inspire & support, but I can not - dare not - pass judgements or laws. I can pat my students on the back, kick them in the butt or let them cry on my shoulder when they need help. I can tell them what I did, how I learned this lesson, but I cannot tell them what they should do. How do I know what their soul needs? I can, of course, aid them in finding their own wisdom, to learn from their own inner best self." - author Donna Henes, Urban Shaman
from the article as well, but put into my own words:
The shamanic assumption is that every person has their own mission in this life. Their own dreams, their own way, their own sensibility, their own visions and designs, their own hard won lessons. We each have our own singular life to live, and we each must figure out for ourselves the fullest, richest, most effective, ethical and satisfying way in which to do it. We all own the power and the responsibility to make it so.
i never knew the difference before, but I have to say that the shamanic model sounds extremely similar to the way I'm striving to raise my children.
here is a link to the article in it's entirety if your interested.
yesterday we spent the whole day with friends. first to the park, then to the children's museum, then back to our friends house. lots of fun was had by all.
before and after our time spent with friends Damek watched a NOVA show titled 'The Elegant Universe', that we had checked out from the library and loved it!
if your interested you can watch the entire series on You Tube. In the video all the episodes are condensed into one.
This morning right when he got up he said "I want to watch the 'Elegant Universe' , and that's what he's doing as I type this. It talks a lot about 'String Theory' and 'Parallel Universes'.
the last few nights before bed Damek has been wanting to read the book 'Exploring The Solar System' by Mary Kay Carson. It is an in depth history of humans exploring the solar system starting out with Prehistory-1900. Damek wants to try some of the 22 activities that are listed in the book as well.
in addition to the science experiments we've been doing on this site, we have also been having fun with some rocket balloons that we purchased last week as well as playing around with an Astro Blaster (also called a Gamma Ray Rocket) that we picked up at the planetarium on monday. The Astro Blaster demonstrates Newton's Laws Of Motion and also mimics a supernova.
it's been interesting to watch Damek's love of learning about the universe expand. this intense interest started when he was 4 years old and although it waned for a little bit when he was 5, it is back in full force as I struggle to keep the resources coming while he sucks them up and wants more:)
today the boys and I had plans to go to the zoo with Oma, but the forecast was intermittent rain all day, so we rescheduled for next monday.
since we were ready to go somewhere, we decided to go see 'Saturn, Jewel Of The Heavens',
a dome theater show at our local planetarium.
we all really enjoyed it.
right now Lee is working on our drip system for the garden, I just finished weeding our strawberry patch, and the boys are now playing with a neighbor friend until dinner time.
Talk to you soon.
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