Dinosaur Dig

Donovan loved the new outdoor toys 

especially when we told him we were digging for dinosaur bones. 

Just like Jac, 

who started her first “mucking” day wearing *white socks* because she didn’t want to get her shoes or feet dirty 😂,

Donovan insisted on wearing shoes in the beginning,

but Jac eventually won him over 

to the joys of mud squishing between his toes and fingers.

Taking the long way ‘round

She also showed him how the hose worked,

the joys of trampolining,

and how to create his very own mud-pit swamp zone. 

So much good, dirty fun.

Muck Upgrade

It’s so good to be home again.

Before we left for Mammoth, 

Marie and I had collaborated to upgrade Jac’s “mucking” tools

but today was the first time she’s had a chance to use them.

Such a happy gardener mucker. 

The big girls were slightly interested - 

Leanne dug around for awhile,

and Leia enjoyed the shade with me -

but even the trampoline couldn’t divert Jac’s attention for long. 

She played out here for *hours*. 

We’re getting ready to redo the backyard

after the drought years pretty much killed everything off,

so whatever mess improvements the grands make is fine with us.

Even Jac using her new knowledge of hose dynamics  - 

she learned how to turn it on and off today -

to form her own personal lake just made me laugh. 

Can’t wait for Wednesday when Donovan discovers the new play area. He’s going to make such a mess be so happy!

Snow!

Took a look outside at 3 am and we had snow!

My sister in Pennsylvania wasn’t impressed - she says it “looks more like a horse had dandruff.” 😂😂

Snow at 8 am

We had flurries, 

Mountain? What mountain?? From top left: 12:30 pm, 1:15, 2:20 and 2:45

off and on, 

most of the day, 

clearing about 4 pm to bright blue skies and a few random flakes. 

 “Quality control testing” Leanne’s new quilt

Forecast says we’ll have more snow tomorrow afternoon,

 My crafting station

then temps will rise into the 50’s on Sunday.

 Kit #1 done 

Crossing fingers the roads will be clear 

 Kit #2 underway

and we won’t have to install chains to get out of town. 

Day Tripping

Skies were still blue today - 

there’s a big snow storm predicted for tomorrow and Saturday -

so we continued down our must-see list with a trip to Convict Lake. 

(How the lake got its name is here.)

Hubby remembers, when he was about 10, camping here with his dad, so this made a nice trip down memory lane for him. 

Our next stop was supposed to be Hot Creek, but we missed the turn-off, so instead we headed into Bishop, 40+ miles down the mountain, so I could get a sewing project to work on during the Big Storm (if it ever gets here). 

I should know better than to bring just *one* project on a vacay. The good news though is Leanne’s fairy quilt is finally bound and finished!

Then it was back up the mountain to Hot Creek Geological Site, 

a collection of geothermal pools 

located a mile or so behind the local airport. 

This was easily my favorite site of our trip, moving the earthquake fault/fissure down to #2.

The pools are supposed to be off-limits - multiple people have died from burns over the years - 

but there were a couple dozen people swimming in the bubbling, steaming creek. 

With a *high* temp of about 36 and strong, cold winds, I bet that water felt really good, right up until you had to get out . . .

 The pretty red is ferrous oxide aka iron ore