Jan 31, 2013

Portraits

Cash :: Charmer

Cash :: Telling a very important story

Fruit Kebabs we made for Tyler's school :: 
Funny how grapes, melon and strawberries are yucky, UNTIL they are on a stick;  then they are a divine treat.

Jan 29, 2013

Salt Lake and George Strait

This weekend, BFF Meg and I took a road trip to Utah to see George Strait in concert.  We met up with some friends there to see the show, then spent a day walking and shopping in the city.
Wind River Canyon on our way down
All dolled up to see George
It's his farewell tour, so he sang lots of great songs
and reminisced quite a bit.  

SLC had an Outdoor Gear expo, and lots of trendy people
were in town wearing fancy outdoor clothes.
We were envious.

Fog and Smog hung around most of the time we were there.
I'm used to dry, sunny skies so it was kind of different.

We only made it to two breweries,
and were surprised how many there were to choose from

Walking around the Mormon Temple

Mormon Tabernacle

It was noticeably Mormon-y around this part of the city.
Giant Jesus didn't take a good photo; he was too glowy.





Meg and I checked out our heritage in one of the buildings.
We wanted to make sure  there weren't any secret Mormons in our lineages.


The mountains around Salt Lake showed off as we headed home :(
It was too fun of a weekend and the fog and smog lifted on our way out of the city.

One Mormon tour guide said our coats were cheery and warm.  This of course became the joke of the weekend.  I look at the pictures now and we DO look pretty cheery.

Jan 24, 2013

I wrote this after our last outdoor adventure
If we all are ever well again, I will keep writing and submitting to the Wyoming Office of Tourism blog; they have a lack of family friendly activities on there!  It's usually all about Jackson Hole, and I was fed up with no new ideas for non-wealthy people with little kids, so I did something about it and wrote a note to the woman who manages the social media for the state.  Yay me! 
Two bouts of the stomach flu for me, and now Shawn finally has it. Ready for spring weather where we can get outside and away from all the germs.

Jan 22, 2013

Portraits::Kids in the Kitchen

Taken this sunny Tuesday afternoon.  
I am enjoying the busy-ness of every day, but having a whole afternoon free seems particularly blissful today.





Jan 21, 2013

Goosey Goosey Gander

While I was home trying to recover from some wretched stomach bug, Shawn and Tyler went goose hunting.  They were successful!  

As long as there are snacks and cocoa, Tyler is content
Decoys politely sitting in the field.

Loaded up and headed home

Jan 13, 2013

Birdlandia

Lately our backyard has been wild with birds
Goldfinches, Redpolls, and others go through a feederfull of seed each day

Zillions of ducks circle each night and land in the fields and feedlot below us

Ack!  Shawn shot this goose.  What a beauty (?)

Blackbirds lined the trees this afternoon and had loud, raucous conversations

These two turkeys were inside the house, making messes and  keeping us busy!
Cash feels better with all his clothes off.

Jan 10, 2013

Good Morning, and Portrait #1

The wonderful thing about sunrises is they change every minute, and keep getting better as you watch.


Portrait of Cash :: Not sitting still

Jan 6, 2013

 
I started this blog post a millon different ways, and can't find one that I like.  It was a day filled with ups and downs, like a lot of them.  Our drive to Pahaska Tepee ski area between Cody and Yellowstone was a couple of hours, and Cash screamed for most of that time.  It was hard for me to tell Shawn how excited I was, mainly because I was trying to ignore Cash and talk louder than his unnecessary shreiking.
 


 
 
Anyway, we rented brand new skis for Tyler in Cody and he was able to go for his very first time.  I really enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful scenery. 


We didn't make it very far, only about a half hour into the trail system, but that's ok, patience is necessary when trying to get a little guy hooked on a sport.

For lunch, we brought a grill and hot dogs and after getting them sufficiently charred, sat on the big porch and munched.  There were definitely happier people picnicking around the world I'd imagine.  But we made the effort, and now when we look back at pictures I will tell Cash that he made every trip twice as difficult, but that it made us try and enjoy it harder.  He will owe me some nice mother's day gifts in the future.

Behind us in this photo is the closed road on the way into Yellowstone.  It is groomed a few miles for skiing/snowmobiling but we didn't make it that far.


 President Teddy Roosevelt called the stretch of highway between Cody, WY and the East Gate of Yellowstone National Park "the fifty most beautiful miles in America".
I found this on several websites talking about the area: 
The fifty miles referred to by President Roosevelt, located between Yellowstone and Cody, is known as East Yellowstone. East Yellowstone, also known as Wapiti Valley, begins at Yellowstone National Park's East gate and stretches through Shoshone National Forest and Buffalo Bill State Park to Cody, Wyoming. The valley was shaped by the Shoshone River as it flowed out of Yellowstone National Park and is cradled by the strikingly beautiful volcanic rocks of the Absaroka Mountains.

Despite the cranky baby and occasionally frustrated four-year-old, I am glad we went.  The woods and wildlife we saw were beautiful, and it's another "adventure with kids" to remember.

Jan 1, 2013

Another Diamond

A friend told us about another Diamond in the Rough here in Lovell::
a long time ago a rancher established an ice skating rink on his property.  We needed to get out and have some fresh air fun, so we drove a few back roads to find it. 

there were a few skates to try on

totally great activity


A courteous guy, he even put up facilities.  Now which is the girls'?

They make it look so easy in Rockefeller Center

It's tough on our ankles, so Tyler opted for the easier path back to the gate.