Oh Babylon!

Yesterday after school, we took the boys to explore an area we've never been to before. A friend told us about it. It's called Babylon and we never knew it existed.

The weather was great. Great enough, the boys decided, to jump into the river fully clothed at the first stop.

I think the boys would have been happy to spend the whole time right there, but after playing for a while, we decided to check out some other areas.

And we're off....I got the feeling they thought it was pretty cool to be traveling in nothing more than underwear.

Luckily, we had a few spare shirts in the car.

Hiking along at the next spot, we spotted some yucca, so Jason decided to demonstrate some primitive skills. In less than 30 minutes he had a made a fire using nothing but what he found in the area. He chipped away at rocks to make a knife, then used the yucca stalk for a fire board and spindle.

He makes it look so easy! Next, he made a Paiute dead fall trap, using rocks, sticks, and some rope he made from the yucca.

So, if the need ever arises, and we must flee into the wilderness with nothing but the clothes on our back, we're prepared. We'll have a fire on which to cook any small rodents that we trap and as long as there's rocks and dirt, there's entertainment. Anyone care to join?

Meanwhile, the boys all had a great time sliding down some "cliffs". Ben loved it. He's just one of the boys now. He's completely at home in the dirt. He loves to throw rocks (usually in the direction of someones head), dig in the dirt and whatever else he sees the bigger boys doing.

We thought Babylon was a pretty cool find. We look forward to going back and doing some more exploring.

Sometimes, white underwear and red sand just aren't a good mix.