Owen's 5th Birthday

Owen turned five this weekend and had a fun Star Wars party. The boys had play time the first hour to build Lego space ships, make space art, or free Han Solo from carbonite (ice in the sand and water table). But the highlight was Jedi training with Dad and a guest appearance from Darth Vader. We had pool noodle swords flashing everywhere until Darth was finally defeated. Then we let loose on the Death Star pinata. Good times. Love you, Owen. Happy birthday!

Antelope Island at Great Salt Lake

After a rainy weekend, it was a beautiful spring-like day on Sunday. I came home from church and Merritt had packed us all a picnic lunch and said we were going to the lake. It was a great surprise. We enjoyed the day so much. We live very close to Antelope Island State Park. We like to go there when skies are clear in the spring (before the brine flies arrive). In the spring the lake and the island are just beautiful.

Free-range bison roam. Boulders abound for the kids to climb on. And the rocks are interesting and fun. Ancient rocks are embedded in new sandstone compressed by Lake Bonneville during the last Ice Age. The conglomerate rocks are so colorful, green, purple, red, white, brown. I think Tessa just wanted to pick up every rock she saw. She was squealing and running and then would stop to pick up a rock and study it. Then do it all over again. The boys found caves and climbed as high as they could on the various boulders.

The highlight for me was adding two new birds to my life list. I saw a Horned Lark and a Western Meadowlark for the first time, several of them actually, as we were driving out of the park. It was about an hour before sunset and their songs echoed through the grassy plain. It was so peaceful. And I loved the smell of the sage. It felt so good to get out in the sun, do a little hiking, and give the kids an adventure after the long winter.

In this last scenic shot you can see the causeway that was built to get people to the island and across the lake. Originally a railroad track, it still divides the lake into a north and south arm (the north arm being much saltier than the south arm). We stopped at the visitor center so the kids could see the tank of brine shrimp. Brine shrimp are the only organism (besides algae and other microbes) that can survive in the Great Salt Lake. Millions of migrating birds that cross the Pacific flyway depend on this tiny little shrimp for a food source. I wanted my kids to see what it was that the birds are eating here.

Next time we come we want to bring some art supplies so we can paint the beautiful views from Buffalo Point. The reflection of the Wasatch mountains in the lake water calls out to be painted. We also want to bring bikes and fire wood. There are fire pits on the beach and it would have been fun to roast hot dogs and marshmallows as we watched the sun set. I feel lucky to live by this beautiful and scientifically fascinating place.