Just finished...

The Hunger Games books! Wow! If you haven't read these...do it! All three! I was reading yesterday and Jake came up to me and asked me if I had gotten to certain part, something about "bread and circuses". "Have you noticed the Greek/Roman gods names? And that the Capitol is like Rome?" Holy cow, that kid is smart! I had a vague feeling that I recognized some of them, like Plutarch and Pollux, but I hadn't looked into it. And then he sat there and told me about how the gods personalities were like the characters in the book. And that Panem was Rome. And we sat and talked about it for a long time.

Hiking at 49 Palms!

What a walk! I always forget how much work this hike is. It's 3/4 of a mile up, then 3/4 of a mile down, and then you have to come back the same way. Luckily, it was a perfect day for it since it was so cool and a breeze was blowing. This is the kind of hike that would be too hot if it were 65 degrees. Crazy.

So we got there at 1:30pm. Jake read in the Hunger Games about a book that had drawings of plants and what they can be used for. He wanted a book like that and I just happened to have a simple one on our shelf about our desert. Cool. It doesn't have all the plants though. I suggested we make our own, but that was a little much. He was interested in the book we had though, so we brought it along for the hike. Tom walked behind us and read it and kept making us stop so he could tell us about a certain plant. He wondered if it really worked. Some plants are medicinal, for pain and such. No reason why we can't try it, right?!

The view of Twentynine Palms from the top of the trail.

On we walked, talking about rocks and science. What is science anyway? Tom says there is science and then there is belief and you can be doing science and then wander into belief very easily. We talked about that for a long time. Then somehow we got onto why people have last names. Where do last names come from, etc. Another exciting conversation that ended with making up new names based on our personalities and parents and where we came from. And a vow to look up where our last name came from later.

Throwing rocks in the water below.

When we got to the oasis, the park has changed the trail and you can't get down to the water or up higher into the trees anymore. What's up with that?! What's the point of walking over there? You can take a picture of it from the hill. Grr....

But we checked out the palms. Why are they blackened? Why has the black rubbed off lower down? How do palms grow? Evidence of erosion. Plants that grow near water. Why places like this were so important to the Native Americans. What elevation were we at? Jake guessed at 2700 feet and there was a guy there with a GPS. He was right. And all in conversation, observation by the boys, things I pointed out that I had read somewhere.

Tom telling us about this plant.

We headed back to the parking lot. I was the whiner on the way back, I realized half way. The boys were up ahead goofing around, knocking each other around, calling out and listening to the echos (much to the dismay of people trying to see any animals), and I kept getting more and more frustrated that they wouldn't just walk quietly. I was tired. It was a hard climb for old me, not for them. I didn't bring enough water to be comfortable and I really need new hiking boots. Sniff sniff...when did the roles reverse for us?!

We stopped for shakes at Burger King on the way back, as is the custom. And when we go home, Dad took us to Pappy & Harriets for dinner so Nikki could watch some of the open mic night she wants to participate in.

Chair Rock!

It was a good day. Oh! And we started reading "The Yearling" by Rawlings this morning. Oh I love that book and I know the boys are going to love it too. Jake said he could just see the forest in the book. It's prose, but it reads like a poem at times, just sucks you in. Can't wait to read more!

Throwing rocks "for the lonesome gods".

A lot of people lichen this to moss!

Down the trail.

Gotta love strange rock piles!

Hunger Games

Jake and I are reading "Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins together. He reads at night before he goes to sleep and then I catch up to him during the day while he does the morning dishes with his brother. New chore, working well, by the way. Funny that I'm so out of it that I don't even know how popular the book is or that it is going to be a movie. Sheesh! I just saw the title and it looked cool. :)) I'm easily influenced, I guess. But to my credit, there area million books that I've started reading, with and without the boys, that I've thought were icky so I never finished.

The book was pretty dark right off the bat, but that is what Jake likes. So far, I really like it. I love the characters and I keep thinking I should take notes. Jake is loving that I'm reading along with him because we talk in secret about what's happening. Tom wants to read it after us (he's reading The Hobbit right now and doesn't want to stop) and he doesn't want any surprises ruined.