The Fact of the Matter

Bryn: Mom, do you ever get that weird buzzy beepy thing in your ear and then it goes away?

Me: Yes.

Bryn: Do you know what it is?

Me: Not exactly.

Bryn: Let's ask the computer when we get home.

Me: Okay.

Calvin: Yah, but the computer might not be right.

Bryn: True, but at least we'll think we know.

Coming Home

Our wild west adventure came to a close, but we had more adventures in store.

Calvin had a quick play date with a pug at the Little America. It may have been the highlight of his vacation.

Peter and I had a quick play date with Karen and Zack- we bossed around the go-cart course, putted our way to glory, and shot the heck out of a pack of children in laser tag.

Once back in the Bay State, I was finally able to meet my new niece, Piggles (sister of Squiggles). She told me I was her favorite ever since even before she came streaming down to earth.

Our dear friends came for a visit. We played and played: wii parties, blueberry picking, Maine beach-going and lobster dining, watching the BYU dance alliance, playgrounds, splashparks, midnight political and economic discussions, running in the woods (TICKS!), skirt-making and the Children's Museum were among the activities. They also let me shoot them at the Robbins Farm Park. That is one photogenic family.

And then I played with Laura the Iggles some more. I like that baby-iggle. And that toddler-iggle. and that sister-iggle. We played around with newborn photography, and I realized it's so so hard to make a baby go to sleep in an uncomfortable pose.

The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone Adventure

Highlights:

• Jackson Lakeside swimming
• Jackson Lake boating- one of my greatest joys in life is taking watercraft to the middle of large lakes, stopping them, and then taking a swim. It scares me to death to fathom the fathoms below, and that's why I like it.
• Old Faithful, of course. 
• Other Geyser basins. Miraculously, no one in our party was boiled alive.
• Revisiting Grant Village and the sandbar, skipping rocks, and attending church at the outdoor amphitheater.
• Hiking like crazy mountain goats. At one point Calvin complained, "Why do we have to hike or walk ever day!" Hikes included: the Heron Pond, String Lake, and the brink of Lower Falls.
• Mammoth Hot Springs. We lost Bryn and  Calvin here for a while. I ran every boardwalk there was searching for them until Peter finally found them at the top. Bryn was so sad that we were worried.
• Games galore- my kids, along with my three brothers' kids, never ran out of games to play back at camp: Ghosts in the Graveyard, singing Mason the Thomas theme song, Colored Eggs, No Bears are Out Tonight, and Hostage Adoption Family (it's complicated). 
• The thunderstorm that made our tent into a waterbed. Amazingly, it stayed dry inside even though is sat on a 3-inch deep puddle. Thanks again to the noble efforts of those who helped (or cheered) the great tent-relocation.
• The people! I loved being there with my parents and three of my brothers and their families. I missed the other brother and my three sisters (Tasha!!!) and their families. 

And if you still want to see/hear more about our grand vacation, Jill's post is here, Dad's posts are here and here and here and here (and more, just look at the picture section), and Lance's posts are here and here (he wins the wildlife competition, hands down. And probably every other contest, but we don't want him to get cocky).

Hot Dog, I Love a Good Cookout

Despite extreme fire conditions, we found the safest picnic area up Logan Canyon and had a cookout with my parents, Peter's parents, and Lance, Dani, and Mason.

Slip and Slide

My Dad's side's family reunion was held at "redneck waterslides" this year. There were two slip-and-slides (one huge and steep, one little and still steep) and a rope swing. Fun ensued:

There are two songs worth of fun in this video. Also, there are a few clips that are garbaly-gooked, so ignore those; the rest of it works fine.

Road Trip

We drove from Colorado to Utah in one day.  I have decided that Wyoming's state tree is a telephone pole. It was barren and hot and flat, so when we finally drove into Bear Lake and Logan Canyon at sunset, it was the most beautiful sight in the world.

How we got through the 10-hour drive:

• Movies on the DVD players- Despicable Me and Dora the Explorer
• Books on CD- Happy Birthday Mrs. Piggle Wiggle and Tangled (in story form)
• Coloring Books
• Reading books
• Stops at Arby's and Little America for lunch and dinner
• Music. So much music. I had to drive the whole way because it was ridiculously expensive to add Peter as a driver to the rental policy, so I entertained myself by singing along to almost every song on  my iPod, from Radiohead to Peter Paul and Mary to Into the Woods.  
• Silliness. So much silliness. By the time we rolled in Calvin was deliriously giggling at just about anything. We also planned to build houses in the middle of Wyoming and talked about the benefits of having miles and miles to roam.

Get High on Mountains

We flew into Colorado and stayed with Karen and Zack to begin our summer vacation.

Highlights:

• Biking around the reservoir with Karen and the pedal did not fall off this time. Also we saw a flock of geese, a snake, a bunny, and a bunch of cool birds.
• Hiking Bald Mountain in Boulder, CO. It was 2.2 miles and the kids all did mostly great. Calvin kept building cairns. Bryn sliced her toe open at the top so I tore up a diaper and made a makeshift band-aid. Ivy hiked the entire way up the mountain (a first for her). 
• Swimming at the pool and watching Bryn and Calvin discover the joys of a water slide.
• Hanging out with dirty hippies in Boulder. Oh wait, that was us. The kids enjoyed a magic show and have been pulling quarters out of everyone's ear since.
• Spending time with the coolest younger sister ever and her awesome family. 

Amelia Earhart Ate Breakfast at Our House This Morning

 Bryn researched Amelia Earhart for the biography fair at school. She dressed up as Ms. Earhart and gave a bang-up presentation.

A memorable part was when she quoted Hillary Clinton who said something like, "Find heroes to lift you up," and then Bryn ended by saying that, "Amelia lifts us up with her example and lifted herself up- literally. Thank you Amelia!"

Watchers

We went animal-watching with Laura and Tim and Squiggles at the Wildlife Refuge on Memorial Day.

This is a fun game I like to call, "Bevy of Turtles." See if you can spot all the ones we did.

Photogenic Heron

He even stuck his tongue out at us.

Photogenic Bryn

Photogenic Flowers

Back to the Farm

I'm the Science Enrichment Chairwoman for my kids' school, and it definitely has some perks. As part of my duties, I coordinate the chick-hatching project for the Kindergarten classes. Now that the chicks have hatched and are even starting to grow real feathers, it's time to return them to the idyllic farm in Concord from whence they came.

We paraded them out to my car, were stopped hundreds of times by people wanting to gawk, and then endured the 15 minute drive cooped up with the chick box (very VERY stinky). But it was all worth it because of who was waiting to welcome the chicks.

Farmer Edie is a rare jewel on this earth, with the capacity to run a full-fledged farm, tenderly care for the animals, and still find time to explain and show some of the inner workings of her farm to my kids as we were dropping the chicks off. I want to be her when I grow up.

The Goose Family- they were uber-protective of their lone gosling.

Little John, strutting his stuff. He came in for a classroom visit, along with Clucky's Sister (Clucky had flown away that morning, but returned 3 days later).