Who's Kid is that Anyway?!?!

Ummm....that would be Burrito, drinking out of a stranger's drink!!!!

Except he's not really a stranger.  Sort of.  That's big Al.  And just a few minutes prior to that he was doing this:

Slicing up apples and sticking them on people's thumbs then proceeding to cover them in sticky, deliciousness.  And once you've shared something like that....what's a little apple cider between friends. 

The Apple Hill Gang.  Or at least the one's who got their faces painted.  Minus Burrito.  He was off drinking other people's drinks.

p.s.  We did visit other places at Apple Hill besides this one, but Denver Dan's is still our favorite!!  Its not anyplace that you can share some home grown cider with Big Al.

I Took a Little Run in the Woods

I have officially competed in my first post high school 5k race.  I didn't die.  I made it in under 30 minutes.  And those were really the only goals I had.  Oh, and one I added mid-race....to finish in front of the guy with the beer belly and the crazy tattoos.   Which I did.  By, all of 5 seconds or so.

Finish Line

I brought two of my favorite boys to cheer for me.  Can you tell how excited Burrito is to be up at the crack of dawn NOT watching cartoons in our comfy, old living room.

Apparently, I was such a blur at the finish line that they forgot to record my time.  I missed out on getting to stand up on the awards block and accept my cut little 3rd place age division trophy;  but I do currently have it in my possession.  Minus the $3 in my pocket I had to pay for shipping.  My official (caught on camera by the hired photogs) yet unofficial time (not recorded by the organization) was 28:22



 I'd like to get a few more 5ks under my running shoes and then it will be off to bigger and better longer races.  I poked around on the 10k time records and I would have finished 113th or so with my pace.  Little fish in a big pond I suppose.

Note: Fashion takes backseat to warmth on cold, running mornings...

And then there was beer and Lake Tahoe.  Of which I participated in drinking the first and not swimming in the second.  Because after all, I'm crazy - but not that crazy.....at 9am in the morning when it's 38 degrees outside.



Any given Saturday (aka the knitting projects)



The Yodas

My first ever crochet projects were these Yodas.  They definitely have some mistakes but I am proud of them!  Pattern is from here.

And the Christmas stocking project is finally complete.  They took me soooo long - its a good thing I started them in March.  Its the same pattern but one I knitted on straight needles and the other I did on circulars.  I still haven't figured out how to do heels properly (or the name embroidery).  I don't think sock knitting will be in my future.  I also tried to do the bobbin thing on the Boy's so I didn't have to carry the green all the way around, but his tree turned out rough looking.  Maybe I will add some ornaments to cover it up.  BUT, it is a lot bigger than the current stocking which was the goal.  Now I can load it up with all kinds of goodies.  And mine is finally big enough to fit a small puppy or a kitten inside.

The Joys of Potty Training

Little bits of comic relief such as pants on backward almost make up for all the extra loads of laundry.

Almost....

A Week in the Environment

Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.

~ Winnie the Pooh

This year, the Fall family vacation was camping in California.  We woke up to this lovely sight every morning.  It was a nice break from work and chores and time lines.

The Boy and the monsters were SO SO SO excited to get the camping fun started that they left without me.  This is what two children who have been camping alone with their papa for three whole days look like.

Burrito will truthfully admit that he's only into fishing for the sunflower seeds.  Oh, and the buzz lightyear fishing pole of course.  He needed his big sister to put the worm on his hook, take the fish off his hook, and liberate the ones who were too small for eating.

He did however eat an entire bag of jalapeno salsa sunflower seeds (shells and all)....

A big thank you to Annabell who willingly let Burrito use her tail as a tow rope when he was too tired to continue on our hiking adventure.

Grandma volunteered to tow thing 1 and thing 2 in the bike trailer the 10 miles we road up the Bizz Johnson Trail.  I'm pretty sure we'd still be out there if the task was assigned to me...

My favorite part of the bike ride is going through the train tunnels!

A completely unscripted act of sibling love

No one was eaten by bears, we had delicious campfire dinners every night, and the children are more or less cleaned up now.

Off to do some laundry now.

Adventures of one kind or another

Did you hear?

I'm up for best sister ever award!!

The only one who could beat me is my sister, IF she actually takes my children all summer like I've been hinting for her to volunteer for.  I have had far too little wacko-jacko time in my life lately so I volunteered to help her move these two beauties 1,000 miles to their new home.  (And I freely admit here that I use HELP very liberally....in that I mostly just fed Jacko Starbursts, diet pepsi, and made sure she didn't fall asleep whilst driving)

Princeton and Tux

It took us two days of what could possibly be the flattest, most, redundant scenery of driving in the whole U. S. of A.  And I was thoroughly disappointed that we saw not one creature that really could be called wildlife on the drive.  A bazillion cows.  I need some mountains in my life, and antelope or deer or elk or something.

The place we stopped to rest on the first day was under tornado warning.  That was all new territory for us westerners.  Lightning, rain, wind, blaringly loud storm radios.  The owner of the stable was so worried for us she met us at the gate and helped put the horses away so we could take shelter quickly.  We spent the night in the neatest little cottage.  It was bigger than the duplex that was my first "home". 


The Cowboy Suite

There were two rooms in the cottage, but being the sistermates that we are we snuggled up together in one bed.  I giggled to myself on the way out the door in the morning.  They knew two girls were here last night, but only one bed is slept in.....what will the neighbors think??

Before we left, we took a self guided tour through the barn.  Jacko is green with barn envy.

Barn Envy

In the end we survived and made it to the new casa.  (And for the record I drove for approximately 30 minutes of the two-day road trip and had to use the horse whip one time).  Apparently in Illinois they do not label rural roads nor post speed limit signs....so good luck trying to go visit Jacko.

The barn where Princeton and Tux will be staying has the cutest guard dog miniature pony named Dav-E'. He has free reign of the property, followed us around like a puppy, and gave Tux a dominance run for his hooves.  I hope someday I can get my kiddos out there to ride him.

 

the end

p.s.  Sorry I said your head was too small for your body Tux.  But I kind of, sort of still mean it.  Please don't hold that against me next time I try to ride you.