Painters

At our house, on Saturdays we have to clean our playroom and the rest of the house before we can do anything fun.  The other Saturday I was too eager to wait for M to finish her chores before we got to paint our nails, so I grabbed the nail polish and C&I went outside to do our own nails!

C concentrated so hard her toes, but they looked so pretty when they were done.

Bus ride

M had to work early one morning, so we hurried to the Y so that I could catch the bus to school.  I was so excited because I got to go with my best friend P.  M was a  little nervous watching her little kindergartener get on that big school bus.  But I made it to school and back again.  I've ridden the bus two more times since then when M had to get an earlier than 8 am start at work.

Sometimes those long school days are just so tiring that it doesn't matter where you fall asleep!!

Day at the Farm

A few Saturdays ago, M&D took us to the farm for the day.  It is a working farm in northern Fort Collins and gives us "city kids" a taste of what farm life is like.  We got to see lots of cute animals, like the little baby pigs.

 

The barn and silo was connected by a walkway. 

The animals were very used to being fed.  This goat was just waiting for us to give him some oats.  The first time around we didn't have any food though and had to disappoint him.

I found a tractor that I could drive.

C was my copilot!

While D looked at all the old farm machinery, C&I ran off some energy around the garden path.

After looking at the animals, M went and bought us each a bag of oats for feed the animals.  It tickled when their tongues reached out to lick up all the food.

C wasn't quite sure about the animals.  Most of the time when they reached out to her hand, she would drop the food.  We finally got her to feed the goats.

The sheep were very soft to pet.

What a great day at the farm with the whole family.

After the day at the farm, we went to DQ to have an ice cream treat.  The park we were at had statues commemorating the bravery of heroes of the Spring Creek flood, so of course C&I had to play.  It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

Weekend Guest

Just this past weekend, we had an overnight guest for 2 nights.  Uncle B went to D's cousin's wedding, but since it was a long car trip and short stay, J got to come stay with us.  This was his first time away from his Mommy.  But he did very good.  I'm not sure he knew what to do with 2 active little girls!

The highlight of the weekend was watching the recycling and garbage trucks come down our street!

We did lots of fun things.  C drove J around on the ATV.  We played outside in the bouncy house and in the swimming pool.  We all went to sleep with no fighting and slept soundly (I guess all that playing wore us out!).  We went to church Sunday morning and ate the yummy potluck.

BUT more than anything, we spent every spare minute we could playing with trains!  Thanks J for coming to stay with us for the weekend.

Midweek adventures

Last week as we were leaving home and heading up to the Y, M saw a cloud of smoke and exclaimed that it looked to be very close to the highway.  As we got closer we learned just how close it was.  It was on the top of the ridge in the narrows of the canyon.

 

As we came around the fourth curve, you could see the flames on the ridgeline at the top of the cliff that dropped to the road.  So it was seriously only about 300 feet above the road!  Luckily it was a very small fire.  Only about 2.7 acres and quickly put out as it was burning in the undergrowth on very rocky soil.

But since it had just been reported only an hour before we started our drive (the news actually didn't have any information until we had already passed the first emergency crews!) the manpower on it was quite large, as you can see from the line of firefighter vehicles lined up alongside the road. 

Honestly the only reason M even had her camera that day was because Clifford was coming to school!!  After school and we had picked up C we went to the school to meet Clifford and find a new book from the fair.  I got an animal book and a dancing kitty book; C got a Dora and a Clifford book. 

We have to enjoy the last few weeks of summer and nice weather we have, so twice last week M let us jump outside in the bouncy house.

Carrie's Preschool Days

Before the start of preschool, you have to make sure you get a really good's night sleep.  It doesn't really matter where you sleep, as M found out when she went to wake C up and found her not in her own comfortable bed, but underneath the guest bed!  M didn't even hear her fall out of bed.

Outside in the parking lot ready to start the day.

C was so excited to find her cubbie with her name on a fish.  I guess she really is in school!

Evening Shift Adventures

While D was on 2nd shift the month of August, M and us girls had to find some things to keep us occupied, both in the evenings in the empty house and on Saturday mornings while D was trying to sleep.  We stopped by the Ark in Estes twice.  The first time we got there just after it closed; the second time with only 5 minutes to explore.  Just enough time for a picture and some bear stickers!

One of the Saturday mornings found us doing a nature hike that topped the ridge west of town.  M figured we made it about 2 1/2 miles or so.

It was a good hike and I walked the whole way myself.  C almost made it but had to ride on M shoulder's for part of the way back.  At first M thought it was because we went a little too far, but quickly realized an hour later while doing the rest of our errands it was because C had a 100+ fever and was just completely spent out (this was the start of the sickness that resulted in 3+ days of tag-team by M&D doing the workweek).

We had to try out M's birthday present.  It was good, but it was a lot of hardwork for a very small payoff!  First we had to mix the cream and mixture....

then we had to hand crank it for 10 minutes before we got to enjoy our small cup of ice cream while watching the Bronco game with D and P.

I even attempted riding my bike without training wheels.  Due to a flat tire I didn't get too far!

 

We attended a Princess Ball with our pretty dresses....

and danced all night long!

C taught us how to sing the alphabet...

and I learned to drive while M spent the morning cleaning out the car!

Labor Day camping

Labor Day found us camping again, this time in a brand new spot in southern WY.  The area we ended up camping in was called Cinamar Park.  It was somewhat surreal to come across such a big meadow (mile long and half mile wide) with campers pulled in along the treeline every five feet or so.  Almost felt like some sort of tent city or something.

We were on the east side of the meadow, behind a line of trees.  Can you see our pop-up?  It was a good spot, as it felt more secluded than most of the campsites we drove by.

It was a momentous occasion for us over the weekend as one of our bikes turned 1000 miles!  It helped that on Sunday we loaded everyone up and drove almost 60 miles over the course of the next 5 hours.  It was a ride with just about everything you could ask for.  Miles of well-maintained road that allowed those fast people to open their bikes up as fast as they wanted.  (M kept it under 40 mph!)

We had a scenic spot alongside one of the many creeks that we went exploring around, as the drivers stretched their legs.

 

 We took a group picture by an old run down cabin.

We found trails that had creeks to run through, numerous mud puddles to splash in, a hill to climb...

a culvert to ride under...

and a playground for the bikes to play on!

We spent our evenings by the campfire, as the fire ban was lifted Friday morning for the weekend campers.  Since no one had come prepared for a fire, we had to gather some wood.  I was helping Uncle L carry wood that was around our campsite.  Since there had been NO fires all summer we had plenty of winter downed trees to choose from just around our campsite!  P helped get the wet wood jump started with a dead tree branch!

All those adventures make for some tired little girls at the end of the day!