Summer solstices long past

I love this photo. I don't know who took it but I found it here. It is aptly titled "Summer Secret". I hate to get all sentimental on you but it brings back memories of a time before parenthood, mortgage payments, 401ks, and life insurance. A time when I could walk the streets of any city, at any hour, seeing and doing anything that met my fancy. Eating dinner at any restaurant at 9PM carrying only a purse and staying to finish a bottle of wine. Back then it was all about me. And I loved it.

Lately, I walk only on sidewalks full of fear and trepidation my eyes firmly locked on to the back of Lucy's pig-tailed head checking the time to make sure a nap is not being missed. If we eat dinner at a restaurant it cannot be later than 7PM and a kid's menu is always desired. We do most of our drinking at home and we carry a diaper bag full of "just in case" items every where we go. Today it is all about the babe. And I love it.

The biggest difference between our upcoming road trip and any of our past road trips is this one is actually planned to some detail. We used to just get in our car and go. There was always a destination but everything in the middle was always just a bit hazy. When Bell and I did the Eurail thing we found ourselves more often then not hanging out in the train station and looking to see where the other trains were going. We'd open our Let's Go Europe and pick a spot. This time we reserved a hotel in Vegas MORE than a month before our trip. Campsites were reserved. A list was made--A LIST!--of things to bring, to do, to eat, to buy, and to have done before we go. Instead of Lonely Planet guides we have California with Kids, Bryce and Zion with Kids, and Having fun in Las Vegas with Kids.

Yes, life has changed but seeing Lucy experience the world is something to behold and if given the choice I will always pick that over my former carefree life. As it is, things are changing everyday, Lucy is bypassing those coveted naps, bedtime is becoming later, and we no longer have to bring a diaper bag with us (but I do sometimes keep it in the wagon -- just in case). And soon this summer solstice will just be a a memory too.

Sahara in the Sangre de Christos

What do Alexander, the Space Coaster, and the Sand Dunes have in common? They're all Great! Not too many National Parks can boast that they are 'great' or 'grand', but the Dunes have certainly earned this moniker with their other-worldly existence beneath the Sangre de Christos. We had an excellent camping trip with a crew of 12 adults, 2 kids, and 6 dogs. We spent our nights and evenings at San Luis Lakes state park only a few miles away. Shade is limited in the San Luis valley, with only pinon pines and scrub brush in abundance, but the lake itself was a great spot for an evening paddle with great views of the Dunes and surrounding peaks. Everyone arrived by Friday night, and got up fairly early Saturday morning as the sun warmed the tents quickly. We found a spot slightly removed from the crowds on Medano creek in the park, with one crew climbing the sand and attempting to sled down, while the other tended to dogs, kids, and sand castles in the creek. Lucy was content to play in the mud and flowing water, following Dude around and flying a kite when the wind picked up enough. After deriding my kite-flying skills and the heat of the day bearing down on us, we all mobilized to Zapata Falls in the mountains south of the park. A short hike through the scrub led to a wooded creek which was nice and cool. To get a view of the 30 foot falls, we had to walk up the creek through a canyon, taking frequent breaks up on rocks to allow our feet to thaw. We beat the heat the rest of the day under the shelter and a tarp at the campground with beer, beef jerky, and cards. The day ended as all should, with chili dogs and marshmallows cooked over an open flame.

Purple Mountains Majesty

Dude's Shadow

Beginning the Trek

Mountains and Sand

High Stepping (Courtesy of the Potters)

Zapata Falls


Canoeing

Mateo, future hot dog eating champion


Check out the entire photo album here:

Great Sand Dunes

Forget the pony. I want a Vespa!

Lucy has been dressing herself for quite some time now. Today she selected this outfit because she wanted to be Italian. Earlier we were looking at a picture book about Venice. She really liked the gondoliers. But she especially liked the girls wearing capri pants standing next to their Vespas. That's my girl! Thanks to the Pizas, who went to Pisa, for the awesome shirt--not so much for the whistle.

Lucy takes great pride in her outfits and will readily scold you if you even suggest she wear something that does not remotely match. By matching she means every shade of blue on blue, every shade of pink on pink, stripes on stripes--it doesn't matter what color or which direction--as long as they are stripes, etc., etc. During potty-training, we would reward her with 2 jellybeans whenever she used the toilet. She would insist that those 2 jellybeans match whatever she was wearing at that moment. If she was wearing a brown shirt and blue jeans she had to have a blue one and a brown one. If that brown one was root beer she would usually gag and spit it out but would not ask for another. She was perfectly content with the fact that her jellybeans had matched, even if they tasted like ass.
Here are a few samples of the budding fashionista's selections.


"I plan to color-coordinate with the landscape for the rest of my life."


Accessories must always match.


The Elton John phase, but still matching!


She did have a few misses.


"Oy! What was I thinking?"


"Thank goodness for polka dots!" Lots and lots of polka dots.

Bah-ram-ewe!

Bell had a great father's day. He celebrated the day by doing something that I wanted to do, go to the Wool Festival in Estes Park. What a guy! I think he still had a good time. We saw many animals that provide wool for yarn, --sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, paco-vicunas, angora rabbits and even some yaks. Bell is considering buying a goat. You can get one for 50 bucks. A bargain for something that provides milk, clothing, mows your lawn and eats your trash.

Lucy eyeing the goat's gruff.



Some cool spotted sheep.



Lucy with the recently sheared paco-vicunas, a relative of the alpaca and llama.



We also watched sheep dog demonstrations. Lucy kept asking when the pig was coming out.

After the Wool Festival we went to Rocky Mountain National Park for a picnic and Bell got to do what he wanted to do, some fishing with his little girl.

Say, what's cooking?

I had signed up for blogger a month after Lucy was born with the intention to keep family and friends updated on how the babe was doing. But after a month of sleeping, peeing, and pooping and not much else; well, who really cares about that? Our upcoming roadtrip and extended stay in Cali rejuvenated the idea of keeping a blog as well as saving face with family members who do not get regular updates on how Lucy is doing.
Initially, Bell eschewed joining the trendy blogging craze, but he has since had 4 posts to my 1. I guess once he realized that he could make this a vehicle for his esoteric atmospheric ramblings, he was on board. Since this is my first official post, I thought I would welcome you with the best children's show intro ever. You never knew Morgan Freeman was so groovy.

Cool down

We've actually had a nice cool spring so far, but now that June has rolled around things are starting to heat up here in Colorado. We went to get a kiddie pool but they were all sold out of the cheap ones, so Lucy resorted to classic cool-down techniques like taking a bath in the dog bowl and wearing a plastic bucket on her head. We also helped her learn the joys of sprinkler jumping in her birthday suit. After a few tandem jumps she then went solo, screaming gleefully as she leaped and circumnavigated the sprinkler over and over again. This action shot made it past the censors...

I Like Big Buttes and I Cannot Lie

Rather than head up into the hills like we normally would for a camping trip, we decided to give Crow Valley a try out in the Pawnee National Grassland for Memorial Day. Dude, Cassie, and the Wolffs joined us for some chili dogs, horseshoes, and hiking. Four dogs rounded out the crew, including Java on her last camping trip. The grasslands are remote but the vast expanse of them is well worth the trip, as are the Buttes which are somewhat near the campground (although farther than you would expect). It is the 'other' Colorado with large Western farms and roaming livestock, or as Dude put it 'Welcome to the middle of nowhere'. There was plenty of shade in and around the camping area, a few trails that led out onto the prairie, and the Farm Implement Museum. Renowned for its bird-watching, there were several people there with large telephoto lens and binoculars. I saw a brown bird. It was good start to the camping season.

Lucy and the Buttes

BFF (courtesy of the Wolffs)

Pack Mules

Farm Implement

Java Bean 1995 - 2007

We recently lost our beloved friend and companion Java to lung cancer. She was a 12 year old Australian cattle dog whom we loved very much. She had a good life and will be dearly missed. She was abandoned as a puppy on Black Rock mountain in Georgia where we found her while biking through the woods. We had hoped that she and the other dog that we found with her (Mocha) had only been left there temporarily, but it became clear as the sun went down that no one was coming back to get them. We brought her with us back to Florida where we gave both dogs away, but were fortunate to have Java returned to us a day later and she has been with us ever since. There are too many memories to share here, and Java's travels were extensive: She saw both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. She loved the beach.
She climbed Mount Bierstadt (14,060 ft) and Byers Peak (12,804 ft) along with many other smaller mountains on numerous camping trips.
She drove with us from Florida to Colorado, and went with us on our Canadian road trip, traveling as far north as Jasper National Park. These two trips alone spanned over 7000 miles.

Java was very intelligent, loving, and was the best dog one could ask for. We'll miss you girl!

Bell-Tan Clan on the Web

Welcome to the new Bell-Tan Clan blog! Join us as we pollute cyberspace with photos and stories of our family's adventures. Whether they be mundane tales, extraordinary travels, or shamelessly cute photos of Lucy, we hope you enjoy them. Stay tuned for a recap of our recent camping excursion to the Pawnee Grasslands, and in-the-field updates from our upcoming trip to California...