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Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Thanksgiving Point Gardens
We loved the Tulip Festival and the Farm. It was actually really great that they were requiring tickets and only a small amount of people per time slot. So nice! It was absolutely beautiful. I love the Gardens and it feels therapeutic to be there! We loved the farm too. All my kids were dying over the baby goats. I was dying over the poor pregnant mama goat who looked like she had at least quads. Her belly was soooo huge.
Thursday, April 30, 2020
Zero G
Yesterday we went to a slot canyon called Zero G or Zero Gravity with Carla and Riley. It was so much fun to get outside and explore a little. We haven't really gone more than 20 minutes from our home (and that only a couple times) in the last couple of months with the quarantine.
But Utah is opening up a little. So now that they opened state parks, and the weather is nice, we decided to go on a day trip.
It was so fun to be outside and explore somewhere new. Carla is awesome and does all the research on all these canyons and this was was fun. There were some places we had to swim across. And a few places to climb that were a little tricky! But that's what makes it fun. We didn't need to rappel until the end.
The first thing I loved about this trip was hearing my kids banter and laugh together. They are pretty darn funny. Miles and Monet couldn't be more different but it was good to hear them laughing together and I can tell they are all going to be such good friends. Riley and Miles are the same age and have been buddies for awhile now and it was fun to see her again too! She does this kind of thing all the time with her family so she's like pro now and was so helpful to us newbies.
Miles was a little nervous about the narrow slot! I wasn't expecting that because he is my kid that has never really been afraid of anything. He is kinda crazy. But he wasn't liking how narrow it was.
It was beautiful and fun because a lot of water and places where you swim through. There is even a place to jump off the cliffs.
And then at the end there was a place where I got stuck. Like for real wedged between two canyon walls. I knew it was going to be tight but it is really hard to gauge if I will fit in a certain place. I feel like I always had a good sense for that when I was younger. But my size is fluid these days. Lol. Rapidly changing it seems. And this little spot has had many search and rescue calls over the years. I knew when Monet looked nervous about squeezing through that it was a little iffy for me.
Anyway, I got wedged in and I spent about a minute trying to get out before feeling a little bit of panic start. Monet, Simone and Riley were already through and Carla was helping me and giving me instructions from below. Miles was behind me. I look back at him and he was looking pretty nervous too he was in a tight spot and if I was stuck he would also have a hard time getting out. My torso was the stuck part and I tried rotating my legs, and couldn't really move up. And was afraid to move down and get more trapped. At this point Miles was asking if he could help me and I told him to say a prayer. I could reach the rope but I couldn't pull myself up on it. I started thinking that I might be spending the night in this little predicament. I was the weirdest feeling! I tend to stay calm in situations like these, but I was definitely getting nervous!
My belay device was digging into my tummy and it was hurting, so eventually I was able to move it and then I slid down even more. Which surprisingly was what helped me get loose enough to wiggle through. Phew!
I can't tell you how relieved I felt! So now Miles had to come through and he was a little nervous after watching me, but he fit just fine.
Before heading home we stopped by Goblin Valley. I've always wanted to see the hoo doos and it was pretty cool!
It was a great experience and so much fun! I'm glad we had that adventure even if there was a tiny bit of panic. I think I actually would have been fine if I'd slid down a little more from the beginning, I was just afraid of getting more stuck so I was trying to stay higher and it was probably just a little too high. There was a big group of college age boys behind us and they got through just fine. They probably could have helped too if really necessary.
The water aspect of it was really fun! I didn't wear a wetsuit and was just fine and not cold at all. But Miles didn't and was pretty cold. I'm glad we had them!
But Utah is opening up a little. So now that they opened state parks, and the weather is nice, we decided to go on a day trip.
It was so fun to be outside and explore somewhere new. Carla is awesome and does all the research on all these canyons and this was was fun. There were some places we had to swim across. And a few places to climb that were a little tricky! But that's what makes it fun. We didn't need to rappel until the end.
The first thing I loved about this trip was hearing my kids banter and laugh together. They are pretty darn funny. Miles and Monet couldn't be more different but it was good to hear them laughing together and I can tell they are all going to be such good friends. Riley and Miles are the same age and have been buddies for awhile now and it was fun to see her again too! She does this kind of thing all the time with her family so she's like pro now and was so helpful to us newbies.
Miles was a little nervous about the narrow slot! I wasn't expecting that because he is my kid that has never really been afraid of anything. He is kinda crazy. But he wasn't liking how narrow it was.
It was beautiful and fun because a lot of water and places where you swim through. There is even a place to jump off the cliffs.
And then at the end there was a place where I got stuck. Like for real wedged between two canyon walls. I knew it was going to be tight but it is really hard to gauge if I will fit in a certain place. I feel like I always had a good sense for that when I was younger. But my size is fluid these days. Lol. Rapidly changing it seems. And this little spot has had many search and rescue calls over the years. I knew when Monet looked nervous about squeezing through that it was a little iffy for me.
Anyway, I got wedged in and I spent about a minute trying to get out before feeling a little bit of panic start. Monet, Simone and Riley were already through and Carla was helping me and giving me instructions from below. Miles was behind me. I look back at him and he was looking pretty nervous too he was in a tight spot and if I was stuck he would also have a hard time getting out. My torso was the stuck part and I tried rotating my legs, and couldn't really move up. And was afraid to move down and get more trapped. At this point Miles was asking if he could help me and I told him to say a prayer. I could reach the rope but I couldn't pull myself up on it. I started thinking that I might be spending the night in this little predicament. I was the weirdest feeling! I tend to stay calm in situations like these, but I was definitely getting nervous!
My belay device was digging into my tummy and it was hurting, so eventually I was able to move it and then I slid down even more. Which surprisingly was what helped me get loose enough to wiggle through. Phew!
I can't tell you how relieved I felt! So now Miles had to come through and he was a little nervous after watching me, but he fit just fine.
Before heading home we stopped by Goblin Valley. I've always wanted to see the hoo doos and it was pretty cool!
It was a great experience and so much fun! I'm glad we had that adventure even if there was a tiny bit of panic. I think I actually would have been fine if I'd slid down a little more from the beginning, I was just afraid of getting more stuck so I was trying to stay higher and it was probably just a little too high. There was a big group of college age boys behind us and they got through just fine. They probably could have helped too if really necessary.
The water aspect of it was really fun! I didn't wear a wetsuit and was just fine and not cold at all. But Miles didn't and was pretty cold. I'm glad we had them!
Sunday, April 19, 2020
Choices
I have to admit, there are somedays when I really like this whole quarantine thing. I got so much done this week! Not having to go anywhere really helps with that. Other days I'm pretty sad about it. Once this week Deb and I had a car date in the parking lot at a restaurant. It was so fun to get to actually talk to a friend not being in the same car was no big deal.
But also, I'm pretty devastated to hear what it is doing to some friends. Simone told me today that Momentum might have to close. They can't stay in business without income from their memberships. Wow. That really hurts because we love that climbing community. So many people without a job. Its really tough.
I read a friend post yesterday about how she has an autoimmune condition so she is happy everyone is quarantined together because it would stink if she was the only one.
The truth is that even if a vaccine comes and saves the day, that is like almost a year away. So you want everyone to stay in quarantine until then?
If the people you love are losing their businesses and jobs and you are quarantined anyway, you would eventually want them to go back to work if they could.
Wasn't the goal to flatten the curve? So we don't have a huge spike in hospitalizations? Obviously the situation in Utah is very different than in New York. We are spread out, we have a young population, fewer smokers. People are doing pretty well here for the most part. The death rate in Utah is less than 1% of the people who test positive, and we know there are a ton of asymptomatic people as well. Not as bad as was feared.
Let the ones who can save the sinking ship and it helps us all! If I'm healthy and my family is all healthy and we have looser restrictions and we get coronavirus. Then we develop immunity and can visit our parents without worrying about infecting them. We can also go to the grocery store and help with errands and shopping for friends with immune deficiencies.
If my kid gets sick, and the virus spreads around to the healthier population, then we have lots of people who have developed immunity and are very unlikely to be hospitalized.
So what if we quarantine the ones who are likely to be hospitalized from this and let everyone else practice some common sense, restrict travel, wash hands, slow the spread, but not kill the livelihood of millions of people.
So yeah I feel bad for all these people with immune deficiency but at the same time, I also feel bad for those losing their jobs, businesses, and homes. Its a tough situation all around!
But also, I'm pretty devastated to hear what it is doing to some friends. Simone told me today that Momentum might have to close. They can't stay in business without income from their memberships. Wow. That really hurts because we love that climbing community. So many people without a job. Its really tough.
I read a friend post yesterday about how she has an autoimmune condition so she is happy everyone is quarantined together because it would stink if she was the only one.
The truth is that even if a vaccine comes and saves the day, that is like almost a year away. So you want everyone to stay in quarantine until then?
If the people you love are losing their businesses and jobs and you are quarantined anyway, you would eventually want them to go back to work if they could.
Wasn't the goal to flatten the curve? So we don't have a huge spike in hospitalizations? Obviously the situation in Utah is very different than in New York. We are spread out, we have a young population, fewer smokers. People are doing pretty well here for the most part. The death rate in Utah is less than 1% of the people who test positive, and we know there are a ton of asymptomatic people as well. Not as bad as was feared.
Let the ones who can save the sinking ship and it helps us all! If I'm healthy and my family is all healthy and we have looser restrictions and we get coronavirus. Then we develop immunity and can visit our parents without worrying about infecting them. We can also go to the grocery store and help with errands and shopping for friends with immune deficiencies.
If my kid gets sick, and the virus spreads around to the healthier population, then we have lots of people who have developed immunity and are very unlikely to be hospitalized.
So what if we quarantine the ones who are likely to be hospitalized from this and let everyone else practice some common sense, restrict travel, wash hands, slow the spread, but not kill the livelihood of millions of people.
So yeah I feel bad for all these people with immune deficiency but at the same time, I also feel bad for those losing their jobs, businesses, and homes. Its a tough situation all around!
Winger Farm
Welcome to the Winger Farm!
The animal tally has increased significantly this quarantine. 1 cat, 2 dogs, 3 goats, 12 chickens is where we are at. Miles is currently trying to convince me that since Simone has goats, he should be able to get some kind of exotic animal. I'm at my max though, sorry kid.
The animal ecology is interesting. First off, our cat Greta disappeared this winter. So then rodents started appearing. So I agreed to get another cat because when you have a cat, you have NO rodents. We first got one goat, then realized goats are very social, so we needed a buddy. Then someone asked to a dance with the third goat and needed to find a home for it and of course our kids wanted it. I still don't think we need three. But whatever. They are really funny and weird and cute.
Chickens are a hot commodity right now. So we put an ad on KSL saying if you have chickens to get rid of to call us. We have a free range large run and two coops. Pretty soon we had 12 laying hens. We got them from two separate places. The pecking order is an interesting thing to watch. You bring these two groups together and they duke it out pecking each other and pulling out each others feathers to establish dominance. Its like two rival gangs going at it. The cute nice ones get totally worked over. But my cute husband went out last night to find two nice hens that were being kicked out of the coop. So he put them in after dark when the other hens are very docile so they would be safe in the coop but not getting pecked to death.
Bees are coming soon. Miles is learning all about them and excited to help Jared.
All of these animals are a lot of feed, a lot of poop, and a lot of work. The black goat is named Melvin and it jumps out out of the run, even with the 8 foot fence. Then he usually is afraid of the dogs so he cries until we put him back in the run. He's a fainting goat and afraid of the dogs. My kids are big time animal lovers and it makes them happy and keeps them working. But it is a lot of work.
Simone's animal loving climbing coach came over yesterday and it gave me a glimpse of what Simone is probably going to be like when she is older. Always wanting another animal. Its so funny.
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