Utah Trip 2019 - Day 4

Tuesday (May 28th) was our last day at Bryce Canyon so we had to pack up camp first thing.  It was still cold (probably about 40F) but it wasn't raining or snowing at least.  Our rain fly was soaked but most of the rest of our gear was dry.

We decided to hike down Queen's Garden Trail.  We had really wanted to do add on the Navajo Loop Trail but it was still closed due to rockslides and unsafe conditions.  We put Gray in the backpack and headed out.  It was still muddy but better than the day before.

Queen Victoria Hoodoo:

Our plan had been to hike to the first "Hike the Hoodoos" sign at Queen Victoria (which was at 0.9 miles) and then head back.  However, since most people were turning around at this point as well, we decided to continue on to where the Navajo Loop Trail meets the Queen's Garden Trail to enjoy some hiking with less people (it was super crowded up until this point).  This added another 0.8 miles one way to the hike.

Thor's Hammer in the distance:

Once we got to the junction with the Navajo Loop Trail, we stopped for a snack and decided we didn't want to go back the way we'd come.  We wanted to see more and deal with less people.  Since we had enough food and water with us, we decided to hike up Peekaboo Loop Trail to Bryce Point.  From there we could take a shuttle back to our car.  Our total mileage for the hike would be about 4.5 miles (but the hike out would be straight up).

So, on we went!

This time with Gray out of the backpack.  At least for awhile!

We even got another "Hike the Hoodoos" sign for a total of 5 on the trip.

As we were heading out of the canyon, there was a small rockslide from the area in the picture below where the rock is worn away in the wall (near the top left corner).  It was crazy loud and the rocks went across an area of the trail we had passed about 10 minutes earlier.

It was definitely worth continuing on because we saw a bunch of different formations and landscapes.  We were tired when done but in a good way.  We took the shuttle from Bryce Point back to our car at Sunrise Point.  We made sandwiches for lunch at the car and then stopped by the Visitor Center for our "Hike the Hoodoos" sticker before leaving the park.

We decided to stop at the Red Canyon Visitor Center which is just outside of the Nation Park.  We ended up hiking the Arches Trail which is a 0.7 mile loop.  It was a fun, rocky trail with some small arches.

After finishing our hike, we drove on to Zion National Park which was about a two hour drive.  We entered from the east side of the park and were in awe of the landscape.  I likes this area much better than the canyon.  We even drove through a tunnel that was a mile long (the boys especially liked this).

Our first stop was the Visitor Center to get our permit for hiking the Subway.  Brian and I had both applied for permits that would cover all five of us (it's a lottery system).  Brian ended up receiving a permit for Wednesday, and I got one for Friday.  I feel like we were crazy lucky to each get one as only 80 people a day are allowed in the canyon, which includes both directions of the trail (bottom up and top down).

Since the rain chances were low for Wednesday (you can't hike the trail when there is rain in the area because of the high risk of flash floods), we decided to go ahead and do the hike the next day.

This was an unusual year in Zion.  Water levels were extremely high.  There was still a lot of snow melting (obviously, as we got snowed on in Bryce).  We were warned that the hike may be really difficult with the kids, but we knew that and planned to only go as far as we were comfortable with.  Another hike we had hoped to do, the Narrows, was still closed because of high water levels (and it's never closed this late in the year).  And another two hikes I had wanted to do were closed due to rockslides (Observation Point and Hidden Canyon).  So we were willing to get in whatever we could.

While we were at the Visitor Center we also picked up the Junior Ranger Books for Zion and then we headed to our campsite.

We had reserved a site in the park at the Watchman Campground (which is next to the Visitor Center).  Unfortunately by the time I made the reservations in January, the campground was almost completely full.  We spent 4 nights at the campground and ended up at 3 different sites.  We were at site F5 the first two nights and it was our favorite site of the three.  It was a walk-in site but the car was only 10-15 yards away.  And though they were somewhat close, we couldn't really see the other sites.

That night we made dinner (kielbasa with potatoes and macaroni & cheese for the kids), played some cards, and then went to sleep.  It was much warmer here - about 50 F at night.  We really enjoyed not freezing at night!

Neighborhood Walk

The boys and I went on a walk in the neighborhood the other day between rain showers.  We've had so much rain lately that the drainage into one of the ponds in the neighborhood now looks like this ...

Rylan even found a large crayfish underneath one of the rock ledges.  It's beautiful but we are looking forward to some drier days over the next week so we can get outside more!

Outer Banks - Day 3

On the third day of our trip to the Outer Banks before Thanksgiving, we started the day off at Jockey's Ridge State Park.  We stopped at the Visitors Center and then headed to the dunes.  It was pretty windy so we flew the kite we brought for a few minutes but interest in that was over very quick.

We moved on to attempting to sled the dunes.  We had a tough time finding some that worked well with the sleds we brought from home.

We eventually found this monster.  It was steep but ended abruptly at the bottom (no gentle slope at the end to slow you down).

It was quite the hike back up to the top so the boys only rode this hill a few times.

I can't get the videos to post that I took but they are pretty good at showing how big this hill is.  Luckily no one recorded me because I had my feet too far over the edge of the sled and stopped very abruptly at the bottom, created a spectacular sand explosion, and hurt my back.

After all the "fun", we took a hike around the park along the Tracks in the Sand Trail and also helped the boys complete their junior ranger books (North Carolina's state parks have a program similar to the national parks - I so wish Tennessee also had something!).

You can see the rain starting to come in as we hiked around the dunes.  Luckily we finished our hike with only a few sprinkles.

After the hike we stopped by the visitor center to turn in the Junior Ranger books.  Each of the boys received a cool patch for completing their books.

Our next stop was lunch.  We headed back to Manteo and went to Poor Richard's Sandwich Shop.  It was crowded but we got a table and had a super yummy lunch.  And Rylan tried my Rockfish Wrap so he was super proud that he tried another type of fish.

Because of the rain we decided a visit to the NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island would be our best afternoon activity before heading back to Raleigh.

My favorite part of the aquarium was the sea turtle rehab area where we got to see several turtles with different injuries and talk to a caregiver to learn more about them.

After the aquarium, we grabbed a quick geocache and started the drive to Raleigh.  Unfortunately there was a long set of barges that caused the bridge off the island to be open for about 20 minutes.  On the bright side, we got to enjoy this gorgeous sunset.

Indoor Soccer

During our last week before major isolation, the boys played the final games of their indoor soccer tournaments.  The kids had been out of school since the previous Friday (3/6) due to the first confirmed case of Covid-19 in the county.

Rylan played on Tuesday nights in the U10 league.  His team went 5-1 and finished 2nd during the regular season.  They had lost their last regular season game against the team that placed first in the league.

When we drafted, we were able to protect our assistant coach's son (Cooper) and one other kid from our outdoor team (Fletcher).  We ended up drafting quite well and got lucky with the two boys that were randomly added to our team (there are always several kids that don't make it to the draft).  We ended up with nine kids on the team and this age group plays six on the field plus a goalie.  There are only two practices before games, and we were super impressed how this group of kids that didn't know one another trusted each other enough to pass instead of trying to score alone.

There were 8 teams in the U10 league.  Rylan's team won their first game of the tournament against the 7th place team a week earlier.  On the final tournament night they played the 3rd place team.  The other team scored first but Rylan's team eventually tied the game.  Then with a few minutes left, the other team committed their 5th foul which led to Rylan's team getting to take a penalty shot.  Luckily, they scored!  The went on to score one more goal before the game ended to make the final score 5-3. 

After a three minute break, Rylan's team had to take on the 1st place team.  The games are two halves of 18 minutes with a 2 minute halftime so it was a lot to ask the team to play another game immediately.  There wasn't even time to refill waters or use the restroom.

The second game was another tough one.  The 1st place team went up 3-1.  Rylan's team caught up and then led 4-3 (Rylan scored the 4th goal).  The game then was tied, the 1st place team went up 5-4, and then rockstar Rylan scored two more goals to finish the game with a win!  It was pretty awesome!

For the winning the tournament, the boys got these medals:

We got a group picture of the boys after the game:

Back Row (L to R): Connor, Fletcher, Graham, Sacha , Rylan S.

Front Row (L to R): Rene, Cooper, Siif, Rylan G.

Carter also had a really successful season with a great team.  Carter played in the U12 league on Thursday nights.  They ended up in 1st place with a record of 5-0-1.  We were able to get some of Carter's friends in the draft - Whit, Charlie, & Connor.  We felt we drafted well and also got a travel player added to our team whose little brother we coached last year.  This age group plays 5 plus a goalie and we only ended up with 7 kids on our roster after 2 dropped out before the first practice.  Only having one sub was difficult at times but meant lots of playing time.

Like Rylan's league, there were 8 teams in the league and Carter's team won their first tournament game against the 8th place team.  On the final night of the tournament, their first game was against the 5th place team.  They were a really tough team that the boys had only beaten in the regular season by one when there was a foul committed with 3 seconds left and Carter's team got a penalty shot.  Carter's team pulled out the win with a low scoring 1-0 game.  Rylan ended up playing in the game because one of the kids thought the games were cancelled and didn't show up until right before the second game.  Brian ended up letting Rylan play in the final game as well.

Since they were the higher rank, Carter's team got to rest for a game before taking on the second place team.  The referees were nicer and allowed an almost ten minute break between games allowing the other team a lot more rest than Rylan's team had.  Unfortunately, I don't think the rest was great for Carter's team and they seemed tired.  They ended up losing in the final game 3-0.  However, Carter's team was much younger and smaller than the other teams in the U12 league.  The league consists of kids born in 2007 and 2008.  Charlie and Whit were born in August 2008 and Carter and Connor in November 2008.  I think we may have only had one 2007 player.

Here is the medal the boys got for getting 2nd in the tournament:

And here is the group picture we got after the game:

Back Row (L to R): Will, AJ, Charlie, Cole

Front Row (L to R): Whit, Connor, Rylan, Carter

This was the most successful season both Carter and Rylan have had at the Crockett Indoor Arena.  We are super proud of our boys and so happy all their hard work paid off!

The TN Magazine

The energy companies in the area put out a monthly magazine that we get in the mail.  They have photography contests a couple of times each year.

The most recent contest was for photos taken with smartphones.  The prize for 1st is $150 and it's free to enter so I submitted a few photos that I've taken as well as some the boys have taken.

One of Carter's photos received Honorable Mention!  No money but it was printed in the March magazine!

PACER Test

I was finally in the gym a couple of weeks ago for Rylan's 3rd grade performance and got to the posters with the PACER test results from the fall.  All the kids in 3rd-5th grade participate in this in the fall and spring during PE.

Here's a description of what the PACER test is:

The objective of the PACER is to run as long as possible while keeping a specified pace. Students run back and forth across a 20-meter space at a pace that gets faster each minute. A point is scored for each 20-meter distance covered. The test is easier in the beginning but progressively gets more
difficult.

Here are the posters for 3rd and 5th grades.  Notice who is second in each grade level!

Swish - Basketball Champions

Carter and Rylan were on the same basketball team this season (every other year they are in the same age bracket).  They played with Brentwood Ball Club (they also play baseball through this organization) in the 9-10 year old division.  They picked the name "Swish" as their team name.  Brian was the head coach with Jeff (Carter's baseball coach) assisting.  Brian was able to get our two boys, Jeff's twins, and some kids we know through baseball.  And the two unknowns that he drafted turned out to be great kids too.

The team was 8-0 during the regular season.  There were many close games but the boys somehow won them all.  They finished second overall in the regular season as there was another undefeated team they never played who had a greater point differential.

This week was the in-house tournament for the league.  Swish got a first round bye and then played the #7 team on Thursday.  They won by 5 but it was only in the last couple of minutes they led by that much (final score: 20-15).

This morning they played the #6 team in the semi-finals.  It was another tight game that went back and forth at the end with Swish winning by one (final score: 25-24).  Then Swish played in the final an hour later against the #1 team.  The game went into double overtime with Swish pulling out the win (final score: 24-22).  And Carter scored the winning basket!

Now the boys advance to the county tournament that begins on Monday.  There are ten leagues in the county, and Swish is the #5 seed and gets a first round bye (I have no idea how the seed the leagues).

We are so proud of this team!  Every single person contributed.  Everyone scored during the season.  Everyone rebounded, had steals, etc.  I think this is the first time the boys have been on a team like that.

The coaches came up with superlatives for each player and handed out certificates after the game (along with trophies!).

Back Row (L to R): Coach Brian, Carter (Team Captain), Jack Henry (Mr. Rebound), Woods (Best in the Paint), Collins (MVP), Coach Jeff

Front Row (L to R): Jackson (Mr. Clutch), Christopher (Black & Blue Award), Rylan (In It to Win It), Dash (Rookie of the Year), Luke (Mr. Hustle)

Go Swish!!!

Charlotte

Our sweet Charlotte passed away a couple weeks ago on February 7th.  Unfortunately we were in Florida at the time and she was being kenneled at our vet's office.  While I feel horrible that we weren't there to be with her at the end, at least she was with very compassionate and loving employees at our small vet office and wasn't alone.

I'll try to write a summary of her last few years soon.  Right now we are still getting used to not having her around (including not tripping on her and constantly vacuuming dog hair :) ).

Create-a-Dance

In PE, the 5th graders are coming up with a dance for popular current songs.  Carter's group is himself and the twelve other boys in his class (the kids get to pick the size and people in their groups).

Next week the kids perform their dances for the PE coaches and the best are chosen to perform during one of the morning assemblies.  Last year the fourth graders did this as well (though I think it's only a fifth grade thing this year) and all the groups had matching shirts, according to Carter.  I made shirts for him last year but had a few weeks to make them.

Carter told me Tuesday night that they needed shirts.  So I came up with some designs based on his instructions and then the boys voted on their favorite yesterday.  Last night I made 13 shirts (it took a few hours but I'm getting more confident with HTV so it's getting easier).  They turned out pretty cool (the back has "24" and the kid's first or last name going vertical down the middle).

Outer Banks - Day 2

Tuesday was another beautiful day at the Outer Banks!  After breakfast at the hotel, we headed south to Cape Hatteras National Seashore.  Last time we were in the Outer Banks, the entire area was still closed due to recovery from the summer's hurricanes.  This time everything was open except for Ocracoke Island which was scheduled to open the following week.

Our first stop was the Bodie Island Lighthouse.  We took some pictures, walked around, and picked up the Junior Ranger booklets for the kids to work on during the day.  Unfortunately the lighthouses in the park cannot be climbed during this season but they were still impressive to see.

The water was perfectly still and lovely.

We continued driving south to Hatteras area.  Our goal was to find a beach where the boys could find some nice shells.  My research led us to South Beach which is adjacent to Cape Point in Buxton (near Cape Hatteras Lighthouse).  The area did not disappoint!!!

It was just warm enough to walk with your feet in the water and we had the area pretty much to ourselves (we only saw a few people the entire time we were out there).

We found several horseshoe crabs shells.

We spent a couple of hours finding amazing shells before we worried Gray would refuse to walk back to the car and we'd have to deal with very hungry kiddos.  We found complete whelks and shark eyes and lots of other awesome shells.

Our next stop was lunch.  We headed over to Buxton Munch Co and got some seafood (and burgers for the boys).  Then we continued on to the end of the island and visited The Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum.  The museum is free and had some decent exhibits.  There was also a scavenger hunt in the museum for the kids to complete and they got bracelets once done.

Scary pirates!!!

After the museum, we headed back up to the lighthouse.  On the way we stopped by a geocache as well.  Again, we couldn't go into the lighthouse but the kids turned in the junior ranger booklets and got another badge (that was three so far!).

On the drive back up the coast, we stopped for a few minutes to enjoy the beautiful sunset.

When we got back up to Kill Devil Hills, we went to a tiny little restaurant called Food Dudes Kitchen.  It was great!  Rylan tried fish for the first time and loved it (I had jerk mahi-mahi that was amazing).  When done, we headed back to the hotel and let the boys got swimming again before heading off to bed.