Why Didn't I Think of That

Renee called and asked if I would like to bring Gwen and join her and Kendall on a little road trip to the new American Girl store in Tysons Corner, I was actually pretty excited about it. I have never been in a store, and wasn't quite sure what all the hoopla was all about. Gwen has an American Girl doll, but she's not really a doll kind of girl. She has a million stuffed animals and loves to play with them, cuddle with them, and sleep with them. But, she did have her doll's ears pierced in the New York City AG store and was looking forward to having her doll's hair done this time.

As you can see, the girls were so excited and very willing to wait in front of the "hair salon" until it was their dolls turn in the salon chair.

Yes, you did read that correctly. Salon chair. Complete with the cape to keep the dolls clothing from being saturated with water. The girls selected their hair styles and their dolls were carefully placed into the salon chair. Gwen's stylist, Tandy, was great, keeping up a running dialogue with Gwen. Gwen was able to pick the color of the rubber bands and the ribbon to hold the braids.



The outcome was a very happy little girl and a beautiful new hair-do for Belle....or Bella....Gwen hasn't quite decided. I'm sure it was worth the $20. Seriously? Why didn't I think of this money pit?

Okay, this was one of the coolest things. Yes, this is the inside of the bathroom stall, but honestly, these people thought of everything. Hooks on which to place the doll not only in the stalls, but also beside the sinks so the dolls were well taken care of in the restroom. Wow. Again, why didn't I think of this?

Then it was on to lunch. Again, quite an experience as we were seated and the dolls were given their own seats which hooked to the tables, just like those infant seats you often see. When the girls were given their drinks, the dolls were given a saucer and tea cup too. Hey, dolls get thirsty too....don't they?

Gwen, Kendall, and Abby pose with their dolls. These are 3 happy kids, and who wouldn't be happy? A $20 hair do, a $36 new outfit, a $22 doll carrier, and a $50 lunch. Whoever said there's a recession couldn't prove it by this experience. This store was absolutely packed, there was a line 20 dolls deep for hair styling, and long lines at the checkout counters.

Honestly? I had a marvelous time and it gave me such pleasure to do this with and for Gwen. I loved seeing her so excited and giggly with Kendall. And the best part was that Gwen was so appreciative of the whole day. She knew this was a costly outing, and when she hugged me and looked me in the eyes and said, "Thank you so much Grandma," my heart just melted.

Boot Camp - Hooah

My friend Deb DeWolf and I did a boot camp "drop in" tonight. I'm hoping I'll be able to move tomorrow morning. Tonight was all about determining if the program could be modified well enough to accommodate my new knees.

The instructor, Roxanne, did a good job of coming up with alternatives for the higher impact moves and a few other things too. My challenge will be figuring out what is just too much. For example, step ups on either the picnic table bench or the slightly lower retaining wall were simply too high. Yes, I managed to get up there, but coming down was a bit more thump than I was totally comfortable with. I will need to find the balance between common sense yet wanting to do it anyway.

I wisely iced my knees tonight and will pop some ibuprofin tonight before I hit the sack. Again, doing things that I know I need to do but would prefer to skip.

So, next week I will be signing up for the Fall session that runs through September and October, 4 times a week. Thanks, Deb, for being willing to make this huge 2 month commitment with me, being my exercise buddy, and giving me the push I need to do this. Many thanks to Kera for coming tonight, critiquing the program, and making suggestions on how I can be most successful. Thanks also to Brent for coming tonight and knowing that his best option was to simply be quiet.

Courthouse Towers

These pictures were taken from the Courthouse Towers Viewpoint. The three interesting stone figures to the left are called the Three Gossips and the large stone formation on the right is known as the Organ because it looks like the pipes in a pipe organ.

I like cacti, so I took numerous pics of them when I found them. The other formations were interesting, so I snapped the pic.

Various Arches

In the Windows Section you find 3 arches. Pictured here are North and South Arches. The sun is best for these in the afternoon so Brent and I made a trip back the second day. It was stinking hot - duh, this is the dessert, but it was so worth the hike.

Skyline Arch - I took this picture right from the view area without hiking to it. Pretty cool huh?

Sand Dune Arch - this was one of my favorites. I know the arch isn't nearly as spectacular as some of the others, but I loved the hike. You go in between several fins and it opens up into this huge sand box area with very cool formations and this arch. It was also very shady in here and it was a welcome break from all the heat.

Partition Arch - Brent snapped these pictures because I did not make this hike. To get here, you continue up up and up from the Landscape arch. The walk was up along the slick rock and got very steep. I wasn't sure if I could make the hike, but I didn't want Brent to miss out on anything. I found a little scrap of shade, settled in with my water bottle and waited for Brent and his pics to make their way back.

Lancscape Arch -What an incredible sight. It was a pretty easy hike and wow, it almost leaves you speachless. This arch is probably the second most photographed.

Delicate Arch - Is the most photographed arch, and unfortunately, we did not make the full hike so this is the best picture that I have. From the parking area, you can do three different hikes. One is about 100 yards, and the one we took was pretty cool. It took about 30 minutes for this hike with about a 500 ft. rise in elevation. I was huffing and puffing for sure. The best hike would have been a 3 mile round trip hike up the slickrock to the arch itself. Next time!

Balanced Rock

Brent and I headed down toward Moab and the Arches National Park. Our friends, the Millers, have been there many times and between their gorgeous photos and our trip several years ago to Bryce Canyon, I was really anxious to visit another of the canyon lands national parks.

Much like Bryce, you can drive through Arches, making stops at various vistas and you have the option to take short or long hikes as you desire. Balanced Rock is fantastic just from the parking lot, but the hike was a short and easy one so off we went. Check out Balanced Rock and my cheesy shot at the end of our hike.

Hey, sorry, just had to do it! LOL!

The Uintas - Provo River Falls

I had never heard of the Uintas before this year when Bill Hacket suggested we take a day trip out there to check it out. Bill is an avid fisherman, so you know that was really a reconaissance trip!

Check out this river falls on the Provo River. We walked down along the river, to view the whole series of falls. Just spectacular!

This whole area is just filled with hikes to beautiful mountain lakes and I understand there's some great fishibng to be had. I have no doubt Bill and Debby will be spending lots of time there in the future.

The Uintas - Hike to Wall Lake

The Uintas as on the eastern side of the Wasatch Mountain range. We didn't have time to see much, but we did the Provo River water falls, Wall Lake, and Mirror Lake. We set out on this 2 mile round trip to Wall Lake.

The scenery was absolutely spectacular, but I was being eaten alive by the bugs. A quick stop to apply some bug spray and we were on our way again. We passed these two "ponds" on our way to Wall Lake. It really looked like moose territory, but we ween't lucky enough to see any wildlife on this hike.

We started off with beautiful blue skies, but by the time we reached Wall Lake, the skies were beginning to look like rain.

I enjoyed walking along a gurgling brook for part of the hike.

And then suddenly everything opened up to this huge, incredible lake. Check out the snow. At almost 11,000 feet, there was still snow on the ground.

A Hike in Harriman

Jim Kemp suggested an earlyt afternoon hike along a high ridge in Harriman State Park. Originally, this was a working ranch owned by the wealthy Harriman family. Today it's still somewhat of a working ranch with cattle. The grounds are beautiful, with lots of fishing, hiking, and wildlife.

Everything is about two weeks late this year, so we were lucky to see lots of wildflowers. Unfortunately, I only remember the name of the purple ones, but Debby Hackett and Jim Kimp knew the names, and Jim even knew the Latin names too.

Huckleberries are huge in this area. You find huckleberry ice cream, pancakes, muffins, etc. Here are some very green huckleberries which will ripen up by the end of summer.