Keyhole Canyon

Goodness. I often lose the motivation to blog but know if I don't keep up on it nothing will make it into my yearly books! So I will once again try to catch up.

Recently we visited Keyhole Canyon which is located between Boulder City and Searchlight, about an hour or so away. It is not much of a hike (only about 500 feet) but rather a small canyon that is cut into hard granite rock. You can drive right up to it, but only after suffering through (I thought I might throw-up) a 15-20 minute ride on very bumpy dirt roads. But we made it!

Although not much of a hike, there were plenty of rocks to climb.



Jumping:



If you enlarge these pics you may be able to see the kids (and Eric) climbing way up high:




I was having them climb up high in hopes that they would avoid most of the MAJOR confrontation that was happening in the canyon soon after we arrived. Two men, one of whom seemed mentally unstable, were having an argument (which is really too kind of a word for it) about each others dogs. Screaming, yelling, extreme swearing (like the really bad words). We tried our best to avoid them, but when you are in a narrow 500 foot canyon there are not many places to go! Luckily after about  half an hour the family that was causing most of the problems left. Thank goodness! I hate confrontation and this one just about did me in.

Anyway, after they left we continued our exploration. Examining a hurt butterfly:



Tucker enjoying his first foray into a mountain setting:



Most people visit Keyhole Canyon to check out the numerous petroglyphs and a few pictographs. They are everywhere:



At the end of the canyon you are met with a 50 foot waterfall (or faux waterfall if it hasn't rained recently):






On our way back a rock caught Sade's eye and she exclaimed, "Yeah baby! You are coming home with me."



Before leaving we entertained ourselves with picture taking:



It was kind of my favorite part.

My other favorite part was seeing Sadie in this headlamp:



After a couple of hours we headed back home. Jackson and Sadie made the best of the dirt road by pretending they were on a roller coaster:



Good plan.

Expecto Patronum

Jackson is, shall we say, exceedingly obsessed with all things Harry Potter. I am estimating that  90% of the conversations initiated by Jackson are about the subject. So I wasn't necessarily surprised, just delighted, when I went in to check on him before bed to find him clutching his wand in his sleep.  After all, you never know when you may have to conjure up a patronus to fight off a Dementor, or defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named! 

Fyi: Jackson and I are both currently reading book 5. That Draco really gets under my skin.

Mammoth Post About Sade

I have scads of pictures of Sade that I have never blogged about. So in an effort to catch up, I am going to attempt one looonnnggg post about my very favorite 4 year old.

1. These pictures are a few months old. You may remember that our lawn was hit by hard times this summer, but was able to make a full recovery after Eric finally graciously fixed the sprinkler system. Apparently it was fixed a little too well, as this is what we came home to after our week long vacation last summer:



2. Sade planking:



3. After putting on these glasses Sade remarked, "I feel like a boss when I wear these":



4. Dress-up still ranks pretty high on the list of enjoyable activities:




5. If you ever need a helper, Sade is the one to ask as she is always willing. Here she is helping Eric fix the sink after he finally graciously (said with love) took on the task:



Here jobs were to mop up water, and keep Tucker out of the way. She performed stellarly.

6. Speaking of Tucker, here are a few pics of them:



They are good friends:



7. Although Sade is not playing soccer, it doesn't keep her from dressing up like the star player I know she will be one day. I am sure the hat will help her game:




8. She has a tendency to bring multiple toys into the living room each day to play with. Big toys!



Here she is giving a doll a "massage":



I thought this was a happy sight:



9. And finally......I think these may be my very favorite pictures I have ever taken of Sade:




She is full of spunk and personality.