Summer Time

The results of my best-hatched plans:

They ganged up on me and went for the crotch, screaming YOU PEED YOUR PANTS!

Hooligans.

A Mountain Too Far

Sunday Kelly and I found ourselves child free. We decided it'd be fun to go on a real hike, free from the whining of the boys and their threats to call the International Court of Human Rights to report us for torture.

I gamely suggested that we complete the Broad's Fork / Twin Peaks trail that the boys and I had started a few weeks earlier. Foolishly, Kelly was game. With a gain of nearly 2,100 feet (634 meters) to an elevation of around 9,600 feet (2,926 meters), it was a bit more than we had expected.

The good news was that in the nearly 5 hours that we hiked, we came across a whopping 15 people, and as you can see, the scenery was spectacular.

 

 

 

 

Good lord! It's a tree leach!

Fruits of Our Labor

My yia yia always said you shouldn't plant your vegetable garden until after Mother's Day.  And as always, she was right. About six weeks after planting our garden looks healthy and thriving, albeit in need of a good weeding.

And today we reaped the first fruits of our labor. That's the good news. The bad news? They were zucchini!

The Hen House in the Sky

Three years ago, we embarked on the adventure of backyard chickens.

You may remember, after my Greek-identified sons named two of the chicks Yia Yia and Eleni, I insisted that the third receive a proper chicken name, and christened her Mable.  You can easily spot Mable in this photo - she's the white one, who doesn't look anything like her sisters:

You might also noticed Mable's more pronounced comb. Yeah, Mable didn't look like the other girls because she wasn't a girl. Mable was actually a he, crowing for the first time shortly after this photo was taken. He caught a lucky break, however, and rather than be returned to IFA and someone's frying pan, he moved to my friend Richard's farm in Green River.  But his luck ran out about a year later - unwilling to return to the coop one evening, he spent the night outdoors...and ended up as a coyote's dinner.

Yia yia and Eleni matured and laid beautiful blue / green eggs (joined by their new sister, Mabel 2 - the honest-to-goodness chicken Richard traded us for Mabel.)

Yia Yia went next. Although backyard chickens can live 8-10 years (and potentially as long as 20!), they're realistically bred to produce eggs for 3-5 years and then die. Yia Yia followed that predetermined plan, albeit a bit ahead of schedule. And last week, Eleni quietly joined her sister in the hen house in the sky.

For those, who enjoy the blue / green eggs, not to worry! Mabel 2 is still laying, and earlier this Spring Kelly and the boys brought home four more Americauna chickens, who should start laying in the next 2-3 months.

Upon hearing that Eleni, his original chick, had died Gus said, "Well, it's a good thing we gave 8 more!" Let's see, a lifespan of 8-10 years and possibly 20...oh yeah, that's really a good thing...

Get the hell outta the house, Thalia!

Pride Fun

It's been a long time since Kelly and I marched in a Pride Parade. Have to go back probably 15 years ago when we marched  in San Francisco's parade with the Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Democratic Club in support of mayoral candidate Tom Ammiano (now a member of the California Assembly).

This year we participated in our first Pride Parade in Salt Lake when our family hit the pavement with Sheriff Jim Winder and his family. What a fun celebration! As you can see, everybody had a good time.

 Gus slaps hands with on-lookers

Niko and Atticus being way too cool

You can read more about our time at Pride in my upcoming Who's Your Daddy column in the next issue of QSaltLake hitting stands late next week!

A Right of Passage

Over the last couple of weeks, we wound down the Scouting year.

First it was the annual Pinewood Derby.

In what can only be called an actual miracle, the Huntington-Katis boys placed first and second! By the expressions on their faces, you can guess who bested whom.

The Derby was followed a few days later with our last Cub Scout meeting for the year.  Niko was promoted to Wolf.

For Gus, however, this was actually the last Cub meeting ever. He earned his Arrow of Light and was promoted to the Boy Scouts - an accomplishment about which he's particularly proud.

 Being inducted into the troop.

 Pinning the parents' Arrow pin on a terrified dad.

His new group of hoodlums!

A great kid joining a great group of boys.

Take a Hike

Since Kelly had to work on Sunday, the boys and I drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon to hike part of the Twin Peaks Wilderness Trail.

The weather was perfect. The mountain was green. The rivers were raging, and the wild flowers were just starting to bloom.

Here are some of the sights along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And at the end of day, when you're resting your feet in the crystal cool water, there's only one thing to say...

Holy %$&# that water is cold!