salt lake city

so, in order to escape the intense chaos of the renovation, and to go visit the fantastic emily, and to see BRIGHT EYES, the girls and i headed to salt lake city for a few days.

it has been a while since i have driven a long distance with both of the girls without glenn. it was quite trying, but very worth it once we reached our destination.

i think the highlight of the trip for the girls was riding the "train" to the show. as you may have guessed, there is no public transportation in dolores.

emily's the best;

we love her.

i admit, it was an entirely different experience having the girls with me at a show. but when i saw that it was a free show, in a park, i figured i should give it a try. luckily, some random man saw us with them, told us to stay right where we were because he would be right back, and returned with a beach ball. i guess they had been giving them away earlier and we missed it. it is a good thing that he did because it kept them thoroughly entertained the whole time. they kept hitting people in the head and they would just laugh and toss the ball back to them. they danced a bit with me, read their books, played, etc. we had so much fun! of course, twice june had to go to the bathroom, during songs that i love. and we were pretty far back, where it was safe to lay out a blanket for us to sit on, not right up front, touching the stage like i usually am. and i really could really only half watch conor up there because i was keeping a constant eye on the girls. but it was great, and i am glad they were with me. i was very glad emily was with us too; she was a big help with them!

i have seen conor several times, but i have never seen him like this. he was ON. it was amazing! he is playing again next month in albuquerque and i think i will have to go (without the girls).

on friday, we went for a great hike, to donut falls. it was about 1.2 miles, and only took us 3 hours!

emily's kids, ella, sammy, and sadie, are so awesome.

and emily is hardcore!

(two on her back, one in the stroller.)

and then, after the hike, i went paragliding.

yep. i flew.

emily's husband, johnny, runs a paragliding business. that's him there in the back and i am in front. words cannot describe what it felt like.

i can't wait to try it again!

they live right down the road from point of the mountain, a world famous paragliding spot. people come from all of the world to train there. so cool.

THANK YOU so much, emily, for everything! we had such a great time with you!

unfortunately, we had a tragedy on this trip as well. we brought daisy with us, because we bring her everywhere with us. but we had never taken her on such long trip before. we didn't really think about it. but she didn't make it. she was in the way back of the element, where she always travels. the air conditioning was on, but i am afraid maybe it was still really hot back there. when we arrived, she seemed very disoriented. we put her in the shade, where it was quiet, away from the kids. but when we went back to check on her she was dead.

i think i was as devastated as hazel. but the interesting thing to me was it was the first time that she was truly inconsolable, about something real, and i don't mean that in a judgmental way, i just mean she wasn't crying because she didn't get her way, or because she wanted a toy that june had. she was truly heartbroken. and i felt that, and it was intense. it is cliche', but i felt her pain. and it made me realize that there is a lot more of that to come. and it scared me. i called vicky, the woman we got daisy from right away to see if she had any more babies. it just so happened that she had a litter that was ready to leave their mama today, so we stopped on our way home and picked out a new bunny. her father was the same as daisy's.

i am a bit smitten with little cleo. yes, it was my idea to call her that. short for cleopatra because she has these perfect rings around her eyes, like eyeliner. i loved daisy so much, and her death made me realize how fast things can change. but rather than spend too much time mourning the loss of her, i intend to put my energy into making sure this sweet little girl feels as happy and loved as daisy did.

i will be out in the shop all day tomorrow and i can't wait!