We put in very early in the morning right at the base of the Hoover Dam.  We went with a local outfitter who has access to the National Park Service launch sites (not just anyone can paddle the Colorado there–you have to have a NPS permit).

Neither Melissa or I are expert kayakers, but we held our own on that beautiful Nevada fall day.  I’ve been sea kayaking in the dead of night in Ireland and on an intrepid kayaking adventure in a tremendous thunderstorm on Lake Placid.  This day of kayaking lived up to the high standards set by those other trips, especially because of the excursions we took whenever we beached the boats.

For our first stop, we hiked up to Sauna Cave, which is actually a horizontal shaft that was drilled and blasted into the mountain as a tunnel for the Hoover Dam in the early 1900s.  However, work on that particular tunnel suddenly came to a halt due to an unexpected natural phenomenon: geothermal activity (which, I have now learned, is quite pronounced in this area).  At the back of the cave, hot springs gush out from the wall and fill the tunnel with steam.

Yes, I know this photo looks awful — the camera lens was completely covered in condensation.  It was about 100 degrees in there and 95 percent humidity.  Great for our skin and perfect for a cool Nevada autumn day, but I wouldn’t recommend it in the heat of summer.

The whole trip from the dam to Willow Beach somewhere in Arizona is about 12 miles (here’s a nice map), and with all the stops for hiking and hot springs, it took us a full day of paddling.  The Park Service doesn’t make public the dam water release schedule, so from day to day you’ll never know how much you might have to paddle and how much you can just float the distance.  Today was a mostly paddling day, with a slight breeze, perfect temperature and beautiful views of Black Canyon.

We stopped several times for short hikes up to different Hot Springs.  This was on the way up to Arizona Hot Springs.  Some resourceful conservationists strategically placed sandbags to control erosion and provide nice footholds for climbing up the runoff.

This is the way up to the top few pools at Arizona Hot Springs.  I didn’t take my camera up there with me, because we stripped down to our swimming suits and soaked in the 111 degree water.  God sure does make better hot tubs than we do.  If you don’t want to take the river to the base of the hot springs and hike the 1000 feet up, you can reach Arizona Hot Springs from the top and hike down a canyon to get there.  Our family plans to do that at Gold Strike Canyon still this fall.

We did get a rare look at some native Nevada widlife:  Big Horn Sheep.  They were gallivanting on the cliffs along the river and seemed to be as interested in us as we were in them.

This momma kept her two kids fairly well hidden (they are remarkably camouflaged), but she came down to check us out.

Near the end of the trip, we ventured into Emerald Cave, which is supposedly one of the most photographed caves in the world.  When full sunlight hits the cave, it lights up with a majestic green glow.

On a hot summer day, I’m sure the cool shade of Emerald Cave would be a welcome respite for a Colorado River paddler.  For us, it meant we were only two miles from the end of a journey we would have gladly continued all night.

I am so thankful Melissa recommended this kayaking adventure, and I’m looking forward to many more with my fabulous bonus friend.

If you have never been to the Kansas State Fair, you are missing out.  When I was a kid, our trip to the State Fair was a much-anticipated annual event.

I haven’t lived in Kansas for almost 15 years, but since Lillyan’s grandparents are all still there, we happened to be visiting at just the right time this year.  Lillyan got her first taste of the Kansas State Fair.

The Kansas State Fair, understandably, is big on livestock.  When we first arrived, she watched a cow being milked.  This has been a curious subject at our house, as we drink raw milk in Las Vegas and have plenty of cows in our pasture in Colorado, but, until now, she’s never seen one actually being milked except on youtube (we answer a lot of 2-year-old questions with youtube).

As we made our way through the steers, sheep, horses, goats, turkeys, chickens, pigeons, and rabbits, Lillyan kept asking, “Where is the pig section?  I want to see the pigs.  Can we please go to the pig section?”

When I was a kid,  we weren’t allowed to go on any rides at the State Fair.  They cost too much money, they were too dangerous, we had too many other things to see, blah blah blah.  Apparently, that rule only applies to children and not to grandchildren.  Right after the livestock tour was complete, Pappy asked Lillyan if she wanted to ride some rides.  They started with the Skyway.

The skyway travels high above the Fair from one end to the other.

From high above the Fair, Lillyan spotted something else she just couldn’t wait to ride.

“The PIN WHEEL!”  No matter how many times we told her it was called a ferris wheel, she kept forgetting and continued to call it a pinwheel.

Now, don’t forget, Lillyan is less than 3 feet tall and only 2 and a half, but she wasn’t in the least bit nervous about this huge ride.

She loved every second of it, including the part when we got stuck at the very tippy top for a long time.

Next, she drove a couple of strangers around in  this purple hotrod.

While it was fun at first, just driving in a circle got boring really quickly.  Lillyan is into rides that go faster and higher.

Pappy just kept handing out the tickets, and Lillyan just kept riding rides …

The State Fair isn’t just for animals and carnival rides.  Like all the 4-H kids in Kansas, I worked all summer to have some project worthy of the State Fair.  Maybe someday Lillyan can be a 4-H kid, too.  For now, she seemed to be into these very nice looking pumpkins.

One pumpkin in particular caught her eye:

According to Lillyan:  “That is a HUGE PUMP-IN!”  We’re talking an 800+ pound pumpkin.

They also have all kinds of livestock equipment, as-seen-on-TV products, log cabins, farm implements, whirlpools, quilts, food, photography … if there’s anyway you might need it in Kansas, they’ve got it.

Lillyan decided we needed this for Liberty Ridge Ranch.

A six-seater would sure be nice — and we can even drive it to town (and in town) in our Colorado county!

One of these would sure be nice at the ranch, too.  Lillyan is sure she could learn to drive it.

By two-and-a-half, Lillyan finally needed a haircut.  It’s not that I was at all sentimental about her first haircut and couldn’t part with her baby locks — it’s just that her hair didn’t grow long enough to warrant cutting until now.

It may be a little crazy, but Lillyan and I both get our hair cut in Kansas.  We can pay for plane tickets to Wichita and our haircuts for the price of stylist visit in Las Vegas.  And we like our stylist in Kansas.  She’s Daddy’s cousin Kaylee. 

Lillyan has seen Kaylee do my hair so many times that just before Kaylee started cutting, Lillyan asked, “But can you please wash my hair in that sink first?”

Apparently, Lillyan enjoys the shampoo as much as I do.

I’m not sure if it was because she’s watched me get my haircut so many times (Kaylee is always happy to let her hang out in the shop and hold the dustpan for cleanup) … 

… or because she has learned to sit still when necessary …

 … or because she just enjoys the pampering, but Lillyan was a professional haircut-ee.

Kaylee even styled her curls with the blow dryer, which is a rare treat for a curly-headed girl (she gets those curls from her Daddy, obviously, not from me).

“Just a little trim” and “no more little baby hairs” — those were the instructions Lillyan gave Kaylee from the start.  Looks like Kaylee followed the instructions beautifully.  Here’s the before and after …

Just ask for Kaylee — but book ahead — her schedule’s pretty full.

This composite photo hangs by my front door. More people comment on it than the huge photograph of the Sangre de Cristo mountains above our couch or the Emmy above the television.  And well they should.

This photo is of the five generations of women in my family.  Our mothers.  Our daughters. The last three of us firstborns.

The other four women in this photo have had a profound and lasting impact on my life that can never be replaced, forgotten, or matched.

These photos were all taken on the same day, just before Lillyan turned one year old. Most of us look the same, now a year and a half later, and Lillyan looks even more like the rest of us.

If you’re having trouble with the math, that’s Lillyan with her mother (me), her Grandmother (GeeBee), her Great Grandmother (who we all call Grandma) and her Great Great Grandmother. Yes, you read that right. Lillyan is blessed to have her Great Great Grandma around to laugh and giggle and tickle and love on.

Here they are sharing a smooch at our cousin Jamie’s wedding. Lillyan and her Great Great Grandma make each other very happy.

This lady is one of Lillyan’s favorite people on the earth (mine too, truth be told). She’s not the kind of grandma that takes you shopping for school clothes or pays your way for cooking lessons or sends you a check for your birthday. She’s the kind of Grandma that is there for every single one of your ballgames, plays, forensics meets, and silly programs. Her rule for cooking is this: As soon as you’re big enough to sit up by yourself, you’re big enough to sit on the counter beside the mixing bowl. She’s the kind of Grandma who makes cinnamon rolls and chocolate chip cookies so scrumptious that your grade school friends are still talking about them and your college friends are still begging for her to send them some.  She’s the kind of Grandma who will spend tireless hours entertaining your own daughter (Lillyan) with books and baking and pretending and singing songs about Jesus. She’s the kind of Grandma that no one would ever guess that she has Leukemia and has been on chemotherapy treatment for a year and half.

If you think about it, say a prayer for God’s healing hand on my Grandma today. She now has a blood infection that’s keeping her in the hospital. If you talk to her, though, she’ll tell you she feels great. She probably does.

Daddy’s Father’s Day present, framed for his desk:

GeeBee’s Birthday present (Kymberly’s mom):

Amanda is the maid of honor at her sister Jamie’s wedding (also our cousin, of course).

Our cousin Jamie married this guy:  Kevin.  That makes Kevin our new cousin.  New cousins aren’t always babies, you know.  Sometimes they are big strong farmers from Western Kansas who take our other cousin away to be a farmer’s wife.  We’re not sad though, because we got a new cousin we like.  And they come to visit us in our desert sometimes (like to get engaged and stuff like that).

Lillyan sures likes her new cousin.  She likes him enough to cut in and ask him to dance, all by herself.  She didn’t mind much when the bride came back to share the dance, too.  (Here is where all of you make comments about how cute they look with a little girl between them.  And Lillyan looks very much like Jamie did at that age, so let your imaginations run … but give them a second, they just got married.)

I know Jamie’s Daddy remembers when he could cuddle his little girl like he is cuddling Lillyan.  Luckily, Lillyan’s Daddy wasn’t at this wedding to have to think about those kind of growing-up things.

There were other little girls at this wedding.  They brought their baby dolls and teddy bears, etc.  In true Lillyan fashion, she chose to bring these two fishing lures.  They are big and bright and floppy and slimy and sticky.  And they went everywhere with her at this wedding.  Here, she’s showing them off to the bride’s momma.

GeeBee and I were responsible for decorating the cake and memory tables.

Notice everything going on in this photo:  the pretty cake table, the bride and groom feeding each other cake, Lillyan being amused by these odd traditions, and the ever-present lime green and blue fishing lures.

Perhaps the most odd of all these traditions (imagine if YOU had never been to an American wedding before, you’d be confused too), was when they announced that any ladies who were not married should come out on the dance floor.  Onto the dance floor she trudged, willingly.  Lillyan and her fish almost got trampled in the midst of the crazy single ladies, trying to catch flowers flying through the air.  Let’s hope it’s 30 years before she ever catches those flying flowers.

Sure, she had a bit of a mechanical advantage, what with the metal rack to line up her ball so she could just push it down the lane.

The ball was half her body weight, so give her a break. 

It was still great fun, watching that ball expectantly approach those looming pins.

Such fun, and so thirst-inducing, in fact, that she spent her time in between frames sipping on a mocktail.

The very heavy ball seemed to go straighter down the lane when Daddy steadied the frame while the ball rolled down.

So straight, in fact, that Lillyan managed to beat GeeBee — bowler-extraordinaire that she claims to be.