Washington the Beautiful

Click to enlarge, the bottom one has a wonderful cloud formation.

Road Work Ahead

We woke up to snow this morning again. This is different than other years for sure. It reminded me that I had not posted pictures of the road and the kids driving the snowmobile. They did a great job, kept the speed down to were mom was happy to ride along (I have turned into a wimp...and I am OK with that!). Of course they fought a little about who's turn it was but they both really had a great time.

Gentry followed behind.

This shows some of the washout. Gentry had to do some digging to get some areas where they could get across. It snaked it's way through like water will.

I think it might look worse than it will be when all the snow is gone. It looks like a deep cavern but there is a lot of dirty snow that needs to melt before we know what is really there under it all.

But there is definitely work to be done!

Wee little cutie pie

Grant and Victoria as well as two other girls had a big babysitting job together over at T and B's who went out with two other couples. They were in charge of one infant, one crawler/early walker/ 2 toddlers, and two preschoolers. For only having 4 in diapers Victoria set a record with how many soiled diapers she had to change. Yikes! Little wee one above spent some time with me, for naps and when things got too hectic over there for her. She was so perfectly sweet, easy going, and I had so much fun with her. I usually have to share her after meeting so this was my chance to get some special time with her. It was great!

Gothic Goat House

Well the boys were not left out in the rain at all but it took the rain for Fireball to decide that he would go ahead and try out this new Gothic goat house. It has larger sleeping bunks, more head room for our growing scooper outers, and it should hold up better to the elements. Grant cut out and sanded many of the windows. Do you see the goatness of the end window? (Shaped somewhat like a goat hoof.)

Our neighbor Steve asked Gentry if he thought they would like it and Gentry said, "No, they won't like the change. Change is bad." Fireball definitely did not anyway. Cobalt was his usual easy-going self, just enjoying the attention and feed.

The supply side...the kids can easily put the hay through the back window.

And a little something extra is a "Renaissance Goat" painting.

The day we made Fireball cry...

This was a very sad and anxious day for our dear old boy, Fireball. He was not at all happy with the goings on. He cried and cried while they tore his house down. As Grant said, "It was real easy, we could have just blown it down." It was time, sorry feller.

Grant (and Victoria too) had a great time tearing the house down. He has been wanting to do it for days.

Yikes!

Success!

I know I need to take a photography class. I had the setting on something very wrong...it was unintentional I assure you. Strange things happen inside the camera case.

Productive People

Grant has been taking "wood shop" from dad, they are building a special project which I will post in the next day or two. Grant found a long lost toy downstairs. When I asked him what he was doing he said, "I am just sitting around supervising." Sounds about right. Really he has been doing more than you might think.

And I am glad Dad is not letting him run this saw yet! This post shows the improved headroom that our basement remodel provided.
The basement provided several young men around here jobs, including building shelves for improved storage, the big move from the job trailer is on the list next I believe. (I can't wait to get rid of that....if serves a purpose but is double ugly.)

View of the planer, and the new double doors...they are great!


Don't think that I don't dust, cause I do but.....who can keep up with this? So many good things come out of my basement I really can't complain.

A bee u tee ful day for a bicylce ride!

Victoria took this picture of me on our bike ride the other day. I love the sunshine and the little dips and bumps in the road that make the squeaky seat springs bounce, and the way the cats scatter when they see us coming! I wish I would have gotten a bike years ago. The kids and I are really enjoying our rides around the neighborhood. We haven't gone too far yet since we are missing a couple of helments. (Grants pronunciation there.) This summer we plan on going much farther. Gotta love the flat spots, the hills around here make me realize that I am not a kid anymore.

"It doesn't have to be fun to be fun" to quote Uncle Brian

Sometimes "fun" requires us to gather courage,

gather speed,

and then to gather ourselves up out of the snow.

Then we must gather our toys and trudge back up for another go around.

This is steeper than it looks.

Tired yet?

I do believe he is. Fun is often very tiring. Grant only had energy to go this route a couple of times.

aquarium

First stop for these ladies was the gift shop and the frivolous "pinky-sparkly" seahorse was purchased.

The boys couldn't stop touching all the cold slippery, slimy and spiky things in the tide pool.

This little otter was saved from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Did you ever notice that their back flippers look like someone just cut them out of rubber. They were so perfectly shaped it was weird.

The girls out in the lovely sunshine with water and mountains as a backdrop. Beautiful day! Driving across the lake is what a day like this is for.

This is the handsome mustached man (fish) that caught my eye. He was so dashing!

I can snap many really lousy photographs at a very rapid rate trying to get pictures of darting fish.

The scuba diver feeding the wolf eel.

After watching all those fish eat we were hungry too and so we must treat ourselves to the Old Spaghetti Factory. The boys got to color! And Grant was so excited for his kids meal with the trolley on his plate! Hee Hee.

Good times!

What do kids really think about weddings?

This is starting to look long, they are losing interest.......... Micah checks his watch, how much longer can this possibly take?

What are they doing anyway? I have stuff to do!

I think we lost Luke. That pillow was starting to slip from his finge..r..s......