VAAACATION!

Just a warning blogger is not liking me right now-so all pictures are in some weird order pre-determined by blogger who has a definite opinion of the order in which things happened on our vacation (the wrong order that is).

Anyway, we made it to the Te-tons/the motherland for our annual trip with the Mair's. It was fun, dirty, cool (temp. that is), relaxing, and rejuvenating. We camped at Colter Bay as always in our Taj Mahal of a tent (8 man tent fits 4 people who bring everything). The weather was perfect and the company was great. Here are a few pics to document the trip. (out of order-thanks blogger)

Ian watching some whistle pig holes in hopes of seeing one stick his little nose out. (Day 3)

The Mair's hiking out to Swan Lake. What a bunch of great hikers we have. Next year 3 miles of switch backs up to Amphitheater Lake! (Day 3)

Miles at Phelps Lake overlook. What are the chances of getting a similar picture every year with an older kid and a higher elevation! (Day 2)

Ian throwing rocks in Jackson Lake. Due to the great snowfall this winter the "pebble" beach was history. The spot were Ian is standing was the largest beach we could find!

Miles in the backpack-he's up for any kind of hike. (Does this kid take a bad picture?)

Ian and Ben in awe of those magnificent mountains. (On our way to Swan Lake-Day 3)

Miles, being Mr. Funny Man during our snack break at Swan Lake. (Day 3)

On Day 4 we breakfasted at the Grill on some delicious pancakes served to us by Dave Michelson on his very last day of work. We then headed north to Yellowstone. The last time we went to Yellowstone Ian threw a screaming fit at Old Faithful and we ended up leaving early catching glimpses of the water spray from the parking lot.

Ian in 2005 at Old Faithful-so happy to see this natural wonder.

We decided to try again. I even suited Miles up in the same outfit Ian had wore to Old Faithful just to get some funny photo's. Well, maybe it's the dino outfit, but you can see what Miles thought of Old Faithful...

Okay, so we have been talking up Old Faithful for 3 years, telling Ian how neat it is and how he missed it because he was having a vacation meltdown. When we got to Old Faithful this time we had about 45 minutes to wait so we wanted to walk around-Ian would have none of this! He wanted us to sit in the scorching high altitude sun with all the other people and wait for 45 whole minutes-no walking around, no relaxing in the shade-we had to sit on a bench and wait. He was not happy with us so vacation meltdown at Old Faithful #2 occurred.

So sad little boy! Well, we sat in the hot sun and Old Faithful went off as scheduled (a little on the late side of course) and Ian was sufficiently impressed. It gets real quite right before the geyser goes off and as soon as the first big spray went up Ian started yelling, "WOW, look mom, it's amazing" there might have even been a cowabunga-everyone around us appreciated his enthusiasm.

After a stinky day in Yellowstone we drove to Carole and Jeff's cabin in Montana on the edge of Hebgen Lake. I immediately started my real vacation (no cooking, no more hauling food around so the bears don't eat it, no more watching the kids thanks to great aunts and uncles, and no more pictures-whoops)

We had a fun time at the cabin-boating, fishing, singing, eating, resting, visiting, crafting, etc... Oh, and we did get attacked by some bats in the wee hours of the morning-apparently they live in the rafters of the cabin.

Here is a pic of Ian in 2005 when we went to the cabin.
Here is Miles washing of all that String Lake dirt.

We were glad to come home to showers and laundry facilities, but we can't wait for next year--maybe just mom, dad and the Death Canyon Trail.

We Love Grandma's House

We went at stayed at my parents house last week. As always we had such a fun time. Here are a few pics to document our trip.

Grandma and Miles blowing bubbles. (Isn't that Miles the cutest little guy ever!)

And so talented-he was able to get a great stream of bubble going.

We did laundry one day and I just enjoyed the sight of the kids clothes drying on the line. I would love it when my mom line dried our sheets and they would smell like grass and sun.

Here is my parents garden that I always brag about. As always it is going crazy and I came home depressed that the desert sun seems to have stunted and fried everything in my little plot. Mom did send me home with 2 ice cream buckets full of strawberries! Can't wait to make more jam.

It's hay season! As we pulled up to Grandma's house I told Ian he might get to watch the tractors bale the hay. It rained that night and I just figured the hay wouldn't be dry before we left. Just as we were loading the car to come home a tractor pulled into the field and Ian ran out to watch. As the baler would go by he would dance to the rhythm it was making and wave his little hands as hard as he could for the farmer to see.

AHHHHH!!!!

Thought I might be successful at growing flowers this year.

Here is our front flower bed under. Lots of pansies, columbine, and green ground cover.


Pretty yellow flowers in hanging baskets!

DEAD YELLOW FLOWERS IN HANGING BASKET!!! NOT JUST STRUGGLING OR WILTED, BUT COMPLETELY CRISP AND VOID OF LIFE!

Pretty daisies. NOT!

The cucumber plant that could-but we'll have to see. Yes, the cucumber is surrounded by water weeds (if you water your plants these weeds will show up-if you pull these weeds they spread and you get more of them)

AHHHH!!!!!

OCD Pass It On

So, the other day I thought it would be fun for the boys to finger paint. Ian loves to paint and I was excited for Miles to give it a try-what little boy does not love being given the go ahead to make a big mess! Well, apparently Miles does. I put the paint on the paper and he just looked at me like I was crazy. I stuck his hand in the paint and he looked at me like I was even more nuts. Soon he was holding up his messy hands and crying. He wanted nothing to do with this messy activity! Later on that day I gave him some chocolate chips. As I was making dinner I heard him crying. I found him down on the landing holding out his chocolate covered hands and crying. Now for a minute I thought he was just mad that the chocolate was no longer easy to eat, but then I noticed he would not move and inch. He was afraid of his messy hands! Poor kid no mud pies, finger painting, food fights, messy craft projects, etc...it appears he has inherited the Lee clean gene! (Hopefully as he gets older Ian can show him how to play in the dirt).

Just a few pictures

Our primary bike parade was a few weeks ago. It is always a big hit with the kids and I must say it was the easiest activity to plan. The kids showed up at the church, we tied balloons to their bikes, and then we rode/walked through the neighborhood behind a police car with flashing lights and blaring siren. We even had a few spectators to cheer us on. We wrapped things up back at the church with popsicles and before 11:00 AM everyone was home!

Here is Miles with a balloon. Nothing makes him happier!

Here is Ian on his souped up trike riding like a crazy man around the parking lot. He does look like he is looking ahead to make sure he doesn't hit anything.

For the 4th of July we went to the Murray parade. Ian made it home with more candy then he had on Halloween.
We did miss going to Jackson on the 4th. It has been about 2-3 years since we last made it up for the big 4th of July party. The have a great concert called "Music in the Hole" which we follow up with hamburgers and potato salad at the Thorkildson's, and then over to the neighbor's house to watch one of the best firework shows I've seen. The Murray parade was a lot of fun, but every year we miss listening to the 1812 Overture ring out over the Tetons--maybe next year.
We have been doing a lot of backyard swimming lately. Here is Ian sporting his swim goggles. They come in very handy considering he won't even sit down in the pool.

Miles being "Mr. Cool."

So, the new favorite snack at our house is shown in the above photo. Dave, Ian, and Miles can not stay away from the cereal! Ian has devised a sneak a snack plan every time I jump in the shower. He pulls out the sack and he and Miles sit in the middle of the kitchen floor picking out the marshmallows (those hard crunchy colorful things) and eating them so all that is left for daddy is the nutritious anchor shaped cereal.
On Saturday we met Dave's parents at Liberty Park for a picnic. I love Liberty Park lots of big trees, lots of interesting people to watch, a very big and fun playground for the kids--it just has that big city park feel that makes it a fun place to visit.

After we had dinner we went for a little walk around the park. Howard took this picture of us, and about 1 minute later Miles upchucked his dinner right were we are sitting! We made it back to the car, but he threw up two more times in the car on the way home. Poor kid! He is doing much better now although mommy will not be feeding him any hot dogs for awhile.

Pass the Torch

Digital Scrapbook Memories (my favorite digital scrapbooking site) is celebrating the Olympics with a fun contest and torch relay. The torch relay has begun and participants will have a chance to win one of their great digital scrapbooking cds. The rest of the contest kicks off August 8th and there will be all sorts of prizes including Adobe Photoshop CS3 (valued at $649)! If you have or haven't tried digital scrapbooking checkout their site here and pass the torch along.

So Proud!!

We ventured out to the pool this past Saturday with kids in tow. I told Ian he would have to wear his life jacket if he wanted to go in the water-he is getting too big to carry around. In the past he has screamed and thrown a fit about the life jacket, but this time he had the life jacket on and buckled before I even got out of the car! Dave took Ian, I took Miles and off we went to cool down. After a few panic attacks and some tipping over Ian figured out he could float! He then figured out if he doggie paddled he could go anywhere in the pool he wanted to. He spent the whole afternoon doggie paddling from one end of the pool to the other. He was so proud that he was in the "deep" water and that he wasn't scared-I was proud too. He even practiced getting in and out of the pool all by himself. I now think I might be able to go to the pool on a week day without Dave. I'm sure his fear of water-without the life jacket-is still there, but he sure was excited and proud to be floating around all independent without mommy or daddy holding on to him. He even said, "I'm so proud of myself!"