Mother's Day Adventure, 2013, at Wapsipinicon, Part II

Okay, here are the remaining photos I'd promised to share. (You can click on any of the photos to get a somewhat larger view of each photo.) And if you missed yesterday's post, you can see Part I by clicking here.

 After looking at moss and running around in an open field, we got into the car and drove a little further. When we saw that the creek had "grown" into a substantial river, we stopped again to look around. Livie's asking if we can actually see the bottom? No.

 

 She is so hyped up about being at a state park, she is yelling, "I need a plan, and a gorilla!!" (I don't know where she got THAT idea!)

 

 At this point, we saw some birds of prey flying around. It was cool! Livie had actually found some sort of hawk feather on the ground, which she was very curious about. One bird overhead looked like a bald eagle! (And some crows/ravens circling around, too.) I tried getting a photo of the eagle, but it had landed in the trees across the river, and my little camera wasn't zooming in clearly. You can see its blurry image in the center of the photo.

 

 I'd gotten a blurry image of the eagle as it flew away. Bird watchers, is that a bald eagle?!! So cool! (Sorry it's so blurry. Again, it was across the river and high up, so I couldn't get a good shot with my little, bitty camera.)

 

 And then we saw another bird swooping down to, presumably, fish in the river. Again, it was on the other side, so I didn't get a non-blurry shot. I'm assuming it's some sort of heron? (I'm hoping TexWisGirl or Nancy will stop by and be able to make an educated guess.)

 On the other side of the "access" road/driveway (whatever you want to call the road), we saw these stairs. We decided to go up to explore. It was a good cardio workout, I can tell you that! It didn't faze Livie, though. She just charged right up.

 

 I, on the other hand, stopped to take photos. Oh, and see that "peak" behind the trees? Livie wanted to get up there. Okay. Let's go!

 

 Oh, here's the view from about 3/4 of the way up.

 We finally got to the top (we had to do a kind of curly-cue up at the top to get to that "overlook.") Livie proclaimed the view to be "extraordinary!!" And, "Why haven't we come here before?!" Good question. I assured her it wouldn't be the last time.

And here's our view as we left the park.

Mother's Day 2013 Adventure: Wapsipinicon State Park, Part I

On Sunday, Andrew, Livie, and I went on a special Mother's Day adventure. We went to Wapsipinicon State Park. Livie is a Girl Scout and is going to her first overnight "camping" trip this summer, so she's now excited about finding other camping opportunities. When I'd ordered sleeping bags for the two of us (it's a girl/adult overnight thing), she really, REALLY wanted to do more camping than just the one overnight trip we have planned.

So I found that there's camping at the Wapsipinicon location (either RV or tent). Before buying a tent and deciding, "Yes, we'll do some additional camping this summer," I wanted to see what this state park was like.

My plan, which I'd not told either of them, was to drive out to the State Park after church and brunch on Mother's Day. I was just going to plug the address into the Garmin and have Andrew follow the directions. The park is just about 20 miles away from us (maybe a bit less), so it wouldn't take too long to get there. It would be a nice Sunday drive, and we'd be able to get out and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air while we were there.

Throughout the whole drive to the park, Livie was trying to guess where we were going. She kept asking, "Daddy, am I right?" but of course he didn't know. I kept giving her hints, and that kept her entertained. I think that once we were close, though, and finally arrived at the exit off U.S. 151, Andrew saw the "State Park" sign and arrow, and figured out where we were going.

Anyway, I'll let the photos do the "talking," so here they are. (Upon looking at some of them, a few look slightly blurry, so my apologies.) There are a LOT of them, so sit back and get comfy!

Here's the view from the car as we're driving into the park.

Livie's posing in front of one of many rock formations. She LOVED seeing cool geology in person!

 We pulled over to explore a bit, and walk around, because we'd seen a couple signs pointing to "Ice Cave" and "Horse Thief Cave." This photo is in front of the entrance to the "Ice Cave." As you can imagine, it's probably very cool in there. 

We didn't have flashlights, so we only went in a short distance, because it was dark. It was cool, what little we did see, though. We vowed that next time, we'd bring flashlights.

It's dark! See? You can just see to the curve in the rock and it's pitch black from there. That's about as far as we went. 

We've turned around and are looking at the cave entrance. 

Livie wanted to take one more peek in there with Daddy. They'd only gone a couple steps into the entrance when Livie decided she wanted to turn around and come back out.

 We're taking a bit of a stroll near the creek. Livie is telling us she loves nature and she wishes we could've brought a canoe. 

There's a little hole/cave type of area up towards the top of the rock formation in the distance. Andrew was sure he saw an animal (he thinks it was an owl, maybe?) peaking out momentarily before turning around and going back to sleep (or whatever it was doing). He and Livie are trying to see if they can spot it again. (No such luck.)

After investigating the moss on this rock here, Livie told me very seriously, "Moose eat moss."

And this is where I've decided to stop for the day. There are a TON of photos - too many to share in one post.  While I've chosen only about 20 photos to share (in two posts) out of the scores of photos I took, I think this is enough for now. So I think I'll go ahead and split this Mother's Day Adventure post into two, and share the rest in a second post tomorrow.

Barn Charm - Mother's Day Adventure

Hi everyone. I know my posts have been few and far between lately. I always come back, though.I'll get back into a more regular writing "groove" this fall, when I'm not taking a semester off.

Like today, as I've got a "Barn Charm" post to share.

Yesterday (Mother's Day), Andrew, Livie and I went out on a special Mother's Day adventure. After going to church and to Mother's Day brunch, we headed to the Wapsipinicon State Park, near Anamosa, IA; it was about a 20-25 minute drive from our house. (Be on the lookout within the next couple days for a post about this adventure.)

Today's "Barn Charm" entry is (yet another) drive-by shot, (again) using the Instagram app on my iPhone, taken around 2 PM on our way to Wapsipinicon State Park.

(You can click on the photo to see a somewhat enlarged version.)

As you can see, I didn't quite time it just right (at 50-55 MPH) to get the whole barn in the shot. Ah, well. There'll be other barns to shoot on other days, so I'll get another chance to get a whole barn in the shot one of these days.

(I was in the front passenger seat (Andrew was driving), by the way, so we were completely safe.)


"Barn Charm" is hosted by Bluff Area Daily. Please click on the "Barn Charm" button below to see the rest of this week's fantastic barn shots:

Special Artwork

On Friday, Livie came home from school with some special artwork. She'd made me a Mother's Day card, with some special things she'd written about me.

Here's the front and back of the card. (If you click on the middle of the photo to enlarge it, you can see where it would be folded in half, with the right side being the front, and the left side being the back):

Mother's Day card, 2012, front and back.

The "front" of the card depicts Livie (in the middle), me on the right (she even included my glasses!!) and Andrew on the left (in his standard "military" haircut).

The back has "I Love Mom" and a rainbow. 

And here's the inside (again, if you click on the photo, you'll get a better view of it):

Mother's Day card, 2012, inside.

Here's the "translation" . . .

My Mom

By Olivia

My mom is spectacular!

She likes to speak Spanish

She makes yummy Christmas cookies

She always loves me

The best thing about my mom is she goes on adventures with me

I had to have her read the card to me so I could make sure I was reading her writing correctly! (She's in Kindergarten, so her handwriting skills can only get better!)

I got a kick out of the fact that she put that I like to speak Spanish! Even though I majored in Spanish while getting my undergraduate degree (actually I double-majored in Spanish and Philosophy), I rarely speak Spanish at home. So that's why I thought it was funny that she says I like to speak Spanish! I'm thinking that she heard me speaking Spanish with my grandmother the last time we visited her at my parents' house. (My grandmother is bilingual.)

Coffee Coffee Coffee!!

Here's the way to start an important day - Mother's Day:

Coffee in the Area 51 mug! (Daddy, not Livie, made it!)

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

(If you're interested, click here for my 2011 Mother's Day tribute. And click here for the 2010 tribute.)

Memory Lane Friday - Mother's Day

For Memory Lane Friday this week, we had a choice of what to write about: Mother's Day or 4th Grade. I've decided to go with the Mother's Day theme. And yes, this is going to be a pictorial journey honoring mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers.

 This first photo is of a girl and her grandmother, obviously. Oma and I are walking somewhere. Judging by the outfit Oma is carrying for me, we're going to get my portrait taken. I know this because the date on the photo is July 1973 (I was about 2.5 at the time) and because I have professional portraits of myself in that outfit from - you guessed it - July 1973. Sir Rafa took this photo of Oma and me.

My Oma and I are headed out, El Paso, July 1973.

Now here I am with my mom.  My dad took this photo. This was immediately after my Air Force OTS (Officer Training School) graduation at Maxwell Air Force Base, in Montgomery, AL. I was facing the sun, hence the sun squint.

My mom and I are at my OTS graduation, Montogmery, AL, 19 Nov 1999.

Okay, here's another photo in the "moms and kids" section. Baby Liv and I are home together in the Boston area; she's almost 3 months old here. Yes, this was the period where I hadn't bothered to brush my hair after groggily getting up in the morning.

Here's Livie and Grandmamá (and Grandpapá on the left) at the party we had after Livie's Baptism. Grandmamá is obviously overjoyed; this is one of my favorite photos of the two of them.

Olivia's Baptism party at the O' Club, Hanscom AFB, MA, 22 Apr 2006.

Here's another grandmother/granddaughter photo. I took this photo soon after Livie and I moved from the Boston area to New Mexico. We'd just gotten to the area, and hadn't yet bought/moved into our house in New Mexico. My mom had helped me and Livie travel to the El Paso/Alamogordo area. She had scheduled a few days in El Paso to visit, before heading home. I took this photo in Oma's kitchen. This, by the way, is one of my mom's favorite photos of her and Liv.

Olivia and Abuelita in El Paso, 25 Jun 2006.

 Okay, here's the great-grandmother/great-granddaughter photo! I took this photo of them at my Aunt Lily and Uncle Joe's house in El Paso on Veterans' Day 2006. They had invited us (Oma, Sir Rafa, Andrew, myself, Livie, and Uncle Hector) over for dinner. I can't remember if it was a Veterans' Day dinner (since Sir Rafa, Uncle Joe, Hector, Andrew, and I were veterans), or if it was because my birthday was the next day. Maybe it was a just-because dinner. Regardless, it was a fun time and a tasty homemade meal, thanks to Aunt Lily.

Oma and Olivia in El Paso, Veterans' Day, 2006.

Now I can't forget a photo of Aunt Lily (the Great-Aunt, and a great aunt) and Livie!

Aunt Lily and Livie!

Happy Mother's Day to Oma, Aunt Lily, Abuelita, and Grandmamá!

Memory Lane Friday is hosted by Lisa at Two Bears Farm. Please click on the button below to read her entry for the week, as well as other contributors' entries.

So many books . . .

With the receipt of a Barnes and Noble gift card for Mother's Day, I've been to the bookstore a few times trying to narrow down which books I should get right now.

For now, I've settled for a book called The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees (50% off, with an additional 10% off for Barnes and Noble patrons holding a "Members" card) and a magazine about the midwest.

The remaining amount on the gift card? It's being saved for a new book by one of my very favorite authors, Nelson DeMille. He has a new book coming out in early June, called The Lion. I'm anxiously awaiting getting my hands on it; I'm sure I will have it read soon after purchasing it. I've been waiting for months for this book to come out!

Wouldn't it be exciting being an author, and having people as excited as I, when they find out you've got a new book coming out?!

Anyway, I'm sure I'll still have a little left over on the gift card. But I'll have to browse around to decide what to buy with that remainder. I have a few ideas, but we'll have to wait and see, to find out which book actually makes it home, in addition to The Lion.

In the meantime, I've checked out Louisa May Alcott's classic, Little Women, from the library. First, because I've been thinking about it for a week or so, for some reason. Might as well put my thinking to good use and read the book.

Second, because of my purchase at the bookstore today. What are the chances, by the way, that I'd be thinking about Little Women, and then happening to find a book (though fictional) about Louisa May Alcott?

And my favorite connection: Livie was born in Concord, MA.

I'd love to go back and visit that area (just to visit, not to live). That area is great, and there are so many things to do and see: the Minute Man National Park, Boston, the North End, Mike's Pastry, the New England Aquarium, a trip to Maine . . .

One view of the beautiful Minute Man National Historic Park in the summertime:

The Lilo Dress

When we lived in New Mexico, we had neighbors with a little girl a few years older than baby Olivia. The mom handed down some wonderful clothing for Liv to grow into.

Well, Liv is now big enough to wear a Hawaiian dress that looks a lot like one the character "Lilo" wears in the Disney movie "Lilo & Stitch."

And on a chilly day in May, on Mother's Day to be exact, she insisted on wearing it, even though it was 40 degrees out.

A Mother's Day tribute

Here's a Mother's Day tribute to the woman who taught me how to read, the "cotton-ball haired" woman who greeted that pink bundle at the El Paso airport back in 1970, and myself (thanks to the Bossy Boss in my house).

Happy Mother's Day to my mom (a.k.a. Abuelita) and my Oma.