At the Car Wash

On our way to Costco today, we stopped off at a car wash to clean off a month's worth of grime from our big rig. The boys were fascinated, enjoying every moment of the soap and water splashing on the windows. I love this look on Grayson's face, a little scared and a little amazed.

It's not the best view of Gordon, but he's at a stage where he won't let me to take his picture much -- I was lucky to get this one.
Hope you're having a great weekend!

Grayson's Tricks

Prepping for Preschool

It's almost here -- Gordon's 1st day of preschool is next Tuesday! Yesterday, the boys and I enjoyed our scheduled classroom visit to reacquaint Gordon with his teacher and new learning environment (he loved both at the Open House last February). Tonight I'll be attending the parent orientation while Gary enjoys an evening with the boys at home. We opted for a cooperative pre-school, where parents are very involved...and the cost is half of what a 'regular' preschool costs. He'll be going every Tuesday and Thursday for two hours in the afternoon, and I'll be a parent helper at least once each month. I'm also required to be on one of the committees; I signed up for the publicity committee, which I think will be fun.

Here are a few snapshots of Gordy, before we left for his school visit yesterday...as well as a handful of pics from our trip to Target afterwards. We love our Target trips, for the popcorn and Sierra Mist treat, and all the fun stuff to see! Gordon's been requesting another trip to the mall too...not for shopping, but to see (and 'drive') the riding lawnmowers at Sears. That will be a field trip for next week....

Mountain Memories

Here are a handful of snapshots from the past week....

Nature Hikes

The boys and I have just returned from a full week in the mountains, and it's nice to see all the progress Gary's done on our house ~ it's really looking great.

Here's a little clip from last week, starring Grayson. Gordon makes a brief appearance running by, as we begin a little mountain hike up the Forest Service Road.




Both boys loved our hikes, enjoying the beautiful mountain scenery, the various bird songs, the lizards we spotted, and of course, playing in some of the sand on the road along the way. The weather has been lovely, and we've seen a lot of hummingbirds, finches, nut-hatches, and jays near our bird feeders. Chipmunks frequent the yard around our cabins, and Gary and Gordon spotted some kind of fuzzy, tree-climbing, mystery creature with big eyes and a bushy tail last night after dark with Gordy's "flaf-light." Gary drove up just for the evening to bring up a load of belongings to store in the shop up there, and returned to Boise for work this morning--spotting an elk on his way toward Idaho City. Nature everywhere!

It's been a delightful week in the mountains, but it's also nice to be home again for a few days. Gordy's pre-school classroom visit is tomorrow with his teacher, the parent orientation meeting is on Thursday evening, and Gordy starts pre-school next Tuesday!

Western Idaho Fair

We had so much fun at the Western Idaho Fair last Friday night while Jen was here visiting! These photos were taken with my cell phone, so aren't the best quality, but they do capture the smiles on our faces....

Here are Gary & Gordon at the Tractor exhibit, Gordy's top destination on our arrival.

Auntie Nennie -- we loved having her visit from Portland, and especially enjoyed having her join us for our annual outing to The Fair!

The Petting Zoo was Grayson's favorite part of the Fair! He has no fear, and loves animals!

Grayson, enjoying a graham cracker -- a feeble attempt to avoid greasy Fair food.

This photo is blurry, but if you look closely, you can see the giant grin on Grayson's face.

Gordon also enjoyed the petting zoo, though he was anxious to check out the rides.

Gordy's favorite part of the Fair was going on four rides: the 'Cars' train, which he mustered up the courage to go on solo (we were rationing tickets), the swings with Daddy, the Fun House with Nennie, and the kiddie helicopter ride, also with Nennie.

The highlight for Grayson was the petting zoo. He just took off, with no fear and all smiles, toward the goats and sheep...even the longhorn cow. The chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese were also quite mesmerizing for our little Grayson. The lights on the ferris wheel and other rides, the full moon that night, and all the noises also kept our baby boy amused, well past his bedtime.

Gary, Jen, and I would probably agree that the best part for us was enjoying the giant smiles and giggles from Gordy & Grayson. The Basque croquetas, the Cajun shrimp, and strawberry funnel cake, followed as a close 2nd favorite. Who can resist greasy 'Fair Food' on such occasion? It's a once-a-year splurge to enjoy. We split everything between the five of us, so the calories hardly count, right?

My side-splitting belly laugh with Jen, when we were suckered into paying $1.00 to see "The Tiniest Horse Around," was a favorite moment of mine too. Seriously, I had tears in my eyes...laughing so hard. What made it even better was on our exit of the exhibit, a young couple who was obviously also tantalized by the allure of a magical tiny horse, asked us, "How big is it, really? Is it worth it...?" I guess I just love the way we're all susceptible to buying into that temptation of freakish sideshows. Incidentally, that couple opted out of the "Tiniest Horse" exhibit, and chose the adjacent "Largest Pig" booth. I'll admit, I've been wondering just how big that pig was ever since.... But since the horse wasn't magically small, I'm not losing any sleep over that giant pig. (Just in case you're wondering, the "tiny horse" was no smaller than the one we saw later in the petting zoo).

The Wilderness Family

Here are some photos from the past week, spent mostly up at the cabins....

The highlight of recent days, has been a visit from Auntie Nennie, flying over from Portland this past weekend. We enjoyed having her along for our annual outing to the Western Idaho Fair last Friday night; I'll post photos from that soon.

Like his big brother, Grayson has become a real bookworm in recent months. He loves books!

The boys and I have been essentially living up at the cabins the past week, and will be for at least another week to come, while Gary works on some large home projects in Boise. We're in the beginning stages of preparing our charming little cottage for sale, in hopes of selling and moving into a larger home for our growing boys. It's bittersweet, but we have reached the point where we simply need more elbow room...and a lot more closet space. Until our current home projects are complete, posts will be few and far between while I'm in the mountains with the kiddos, but I'll catch up when I can. Have a wonderful week!

Five Years!

Five years ago today, on top of Brundage Mountain -- just outside of McCall, Idaho, Gary and I promised to spend the rest of our lives together. What a beautiful day...and what a wonderful five years it's been. Happy Anniversary, Gary -- I love you so much and thank God for the happy life we have together!

Weekend Photos

These photos only show a fraction of the fun we had at the cabins, as I didn't choose to take my camera out as much as usual. We enjoyed hiking, splashing in the creek, grilling steaks, and a quiet campfire after the kiddos were in bed. We sure enjoyed sharing the mountain tranquility and fun times with our friends, the Rostis!

VBS

We are enjoying Vacation Bible School this week, Monday through Friday from 9:00 to noon. Grayson plays in the nursery while Gordon and I go to "class" down the hall.



Gordon's small group is really fun. His new friends are the teen helpers, Alexis and Rylee, and the other pre-schoolers are Olivia, Tucker, and Ellie.

Each day the children sing songs, learn a new phrase ("God gives me the power to....be thankful, help others, be brave...."), hear a bible story, see a little video clip that goes with the theme, enjoy a craft, play outside in the courtyard, have a snack, then wrap up with large group songs with all the big kids.

We're having a fun week!

Little Update

We enjoyed a lovely weekend at the cabins, with our dear friends -- the Rostis, joining us there Saturday to Sunday. (I'll make a slideshow, as there are too many photos to post). Gary hosted the Museum in town on Saturday from noon to 4:00, as he and I joined the Placerville Historical Society in July. The Boise Basin is full of incredible history, and it is such a kick to learn more about our beautiful state, specifically the area where we "get away from it all," at our family cabins.

Grayson had his 15-month well-child visit to the pediatrician yesterday, and weighed in at 25# 7 oz. and is 32 inches long. Our doctor was impressed with his climbing skills, concentration when studying her medical tools, new vocabulary words (car, no-no, kitty, doggy, ball....), and his ability to showcase what a snake "says" -- by sticking his tongue in and out of his mouth.

This week we are enjoying Vacation Bible School each morning from 9 to noon, so will post photos and stories of that adventure soon.... Just thought I'd better update a little bit here, as I haven't been on for a few days. :) Thanks for popping by!