Geeking Out At Comic-Con

     She hates math, she hates science, she hates computers, she hates gadgets. BUT she is kind of a nerd. For some reason unknown, Hailey has become a fan of geeky stuff like Dr Who, Star Trek, Anime and Sherlock.  And since we are a family of "non-dweebs" I can only blame this development on that enchanting, if not addicting, website Pinterest.  All the nerds in the world can harmonize in their dorky humor. They can share costume photos or drool over movie characters. And best of all they can go to conventions like Comic-Con, Fantasy-Con and Anime-Con. So for the past several months Hailey has been working on a costume to wear to these gatherings.

Introducing a protector of the innocent: a warrior, a "good guy" from the Anime series "ATTACK ON TITAN"

Waiting in line with the other "geeks" at Comic-Con

browsing through "dorky" merchandise

Still, I am so proud of my independent, creative and confident daughter. As I watched her make her own "sword" using cardboard, glue and paint, I felt that there is nothing she can't do if she puts her mind to it. I also realized that she doesn't have to be good in math to be a smart, fun and adventurous friend.

Wetsuits In The Desert

     The southern desert shimmers in it's own summer heat. The full sunshine roasts and drains all living things of their energy. So why do I keep returning to the desert? Because it's incomparably beautiful and strangely special. Aside from the rusty red landscapes and the distinctive rock formations, southern Utah has slot canyons. The slot canyon phenomena is so unbelievably unique it cannot be described. Just try to picture what water does to sandstone as it plows it's way across the barren landscape during a flash flood. The best way to explore the bizarre nature of a slot canyon is to become a part of it. So as the sun scorches everything on the surface, it cannot reach the deep crevices into which we descend. It seems nutty to repel into a "trap" caused by nature. The towering cliff walls above have no handholds, the closing in of these striated walls come together within feet of each other. The deep potholes of water in the slot seem to have no bottom. And the water is cold. Depending on the depth of the crevice it can be really cold. So why do we do it? Because canyoneering is unequal to any experience in the world and is emblematic of the way Utahn's live. We love to take advantage of our natural resources.

 

Keyhole Slot Canyon, Zion's National Park

Creatures Of Habit In California

The annual Hosenfeld California migration has taken place once again. Twenty-one of us made the annual visit to the garden of Eden to visit grandpa. Just like clockwork all 21 of us arrived at the Salt Lake City airport within five minutes of each other. Like a row of ducklings we boarded the plane and sat in roughly the same seats as last year. And as usual our five rental cars ended up parked at a fantastic, wide-windowed beach house right on Capistrano Beach.
It didn't take us long to resort to our usual California habits; staking out fridge space, scoring a beach chair and finding an outlet for our hundred electronic devices. And even though there are countless restaurants in the area we always, without fail, go to Pedro's for a bean/cheese/potato burrito or push all the tables together at Harbor House for the best hot crab sandwiches in the world. We see the same waiter every year at El Torito, and he recognizes us as well. And the grief we put the "crepe place" through when we arrange all their sidewalk tables into a long row to fit all of us! Serving 21 chatting, squirming, screaming Hosenfelds at the same time is epic!
A trip to California also entails everyone wearing their new Rip Curl T-shirts purchased the day before as well as going to Trader Joe's repeatedly. To cap off the trip Dad always wants to catch the sunset at Dana Point Harbor (although it usually takes a couple of tries since the sun sets faster than our planning allows). As the tsunami of Hosenfelds plow their way through restaurants and outlet stores we are all the more grateful for a large family because when we visit grandpa (in gentle waves) we are reminded of how important and precious family is despite the chaos.

 great views from the Capistrano Beach House

always a pleasure to visit this great man

Red=Hot

    Southern Utah is notorious for it's soaring red cliffs, red sand dunes, red rocks, red roads. I am convinced that there is a reason for all the red. Everything is red because southern Utah is an oven in the summer and the rocks and cliffs are hot coals. Hailey and I traveled south a couple of weeks ago in order to poke around Zion's for a bit. We didn't know that the temperature was going to drain every bit of life we had to give. It was 108 degrees in the sun. In the shade it dropped to 101. We tried our best to enjoy the majesty and wonder of the 2000 foot cliff walls and the beauty of the Virgin River banked by lush trees and grasses.            Crowds were drawn to the River Walk (the mouth of the "Narrows"). We all haggardly trudged through the river, just grateful for the relief of cool water washing through our legs. Nobody expected to reach the area where the sheer cliffs narrow and nearly fall together. Even walking three miles was arduous in this heat despite the scenery.
    By three o'clock we were done for. Collapsing into the seats of the park shuttle, we sipped from our 100 degrees water bottles and wound our way down the red road under the towering red cliffs. Upon reaching the car I realized that my steering wheel was on fire. Soon we were heading back to St. George in an air conditioned paradise on wheels. Once back at the house Hailey and I sullenly ate popsicles and then
passed out from heat exhaustion. We didn't even get up to eat dinner.



*a fanny pack, aviator sunglasses, sleeveless Pink Floyd shirt??
I don't dress her!

The Teen Room

There comes a time when a teen doesn't want to climb a ladder to get into bed anymore. There is also a time when she packs up all the beloved stuffed animals and American Girl Doll accessories and art supplies that were so important to her in the past. And that lime green paint on the walls? It has to go too. The problem is where all those treasures end up. Hailey's vast collections of bottle caps, bullet casings, marbles, seashells, rocks etc. etc. etc. end up cluttering my once clutter-free basement. And nothing can be thrown away EVER! she says.
So after weeks of clearing Hailey's "little girl" room of it's little girl memories, we painted the walls a light blue, put in a double bed and bought a plethora of throw pillows. Now it's a teen room. In this new space you will find "big girl" stuff like a laptop, an iphone, a stereo, jewelry and lotions. But you will also find a precious and irreplaceable item from childhood: "doggy blanket", a constant companion since age three. This ragged blanket will always be in Hailey's bedroom no matter where her bedroom happens to be.


 Old Room, Old Treasures

"under-the-bed" desk used to be so cool

The coolest room in the house

He Thinks He's Still Little

Sometimes I mess with Tanner by testing him. Most of the time I don't know what's going on in his little head. It is hard to truly know what he has learned and what he thinks about himself. Recently, I found an old "baby pool" in the back garage and remembered a three year old Tanner standing next to it so that he could splash with his little hands. It was a water toy designed for "hands only" type of play and not for sitting inside. I brought the well made plaything out of the shadows, sprayed off the decade old cobwebs and insect carcasses and filled it with water. Then I let Tanner out into the yard to see what he would do with the "new thing". I'll be darned if he didn't climb into the shallow water as if he were a toddler. He still thinks he's little. So even if the toy is a STEP 2 (for 24 month old) it still withstood a 120 pound 196 month old. Now that's durable.

Don't Mess With Tradition

Every June forever and ever us girls will go on our little bike ride in Logan. The weekend will start by fastening our road bikes to various SUV's and driving to one of our favorite places. We will stay in the same hotel as always and eat at the same Indian food place/gas station where we can buy tikka masala, garlic naan, fuel, aspirin and gummy bears from our waiter. Next we will make a convoy down to the local ice cream shop and talk until it gets too cold. We will talk about tomorrow's ride and how none of us have ridden a bike since last year's ride (except mom, who can out ride us all). Then we'll drive back to the hotel and attempt to sleep, but really it is just like a sleepover party and we giggle and watch TV late into the night.When the alarm goes off the next morning four sisters groan and try to make excuses about how to make the upcoming ride shorter by cheating. But when we finally get to the starting line we realize how lucky we are to ride side by side with a friend, a sister, or a mother.And even though we all return home with tender butts, sore shoulders and sunburned arms, the pain is worth the time we spent together. Bring on LRRH 2015!

LRRH 2014