It's rather ironic. I was just looking at a friends blog, and read about how she didn't realize it had been over a year since she posted, and now, here I am, 13 months later updating. A lot has happened.. too much to chronicle in one tiny post, but I will touch on a few highlights.
Jasper turned one, he made leaps and bounds with his OT and now doesn't have to go to OT anymore. He's in speech therapy now because he doesn't say a whole heck of a lot...he makes SOME vocalizations, and actually does say about 4 words, but much like his motor skills, he appears to be on "jasper time".
We made several trips to Yellowstone. Not as many this year as we'd like. The road in was under avalanche danger for far too long.
WE've hit the wold horse Range a few times, and since the BLM have removed some horses and given them birth control we haven't saw as many.. very sad indeed!
This year was crazy. The mountains had a ton more snow than usual, and is causing the rivers to flood all over. They are mostly stable now, but we've been getting a fair amount of rain off and on still, which is rather unusual for us, and the threat is still there.. plus some of hte mountains still have snow, so there is still runoff.
I graduated with a double associates! ... just a few more years!!!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Friday, June 25, 2010
Yellowstone
My parents and Randal's son came to visit for 2 weeks.. after driving it was far closer to 1 week.. boo. We didn't all fit in one vehicle, so we rarely went anywhere as a family. My parents, and my two kids went to Cody a few times, as well as Yellowstone once. Randal and trevor went to YEllowstone multiple times, as well as the Dino Museum and up to Billings among other things.
Since I wasn't there, I won't talk about their travels. but.. heres my adventures
I decided that there was one day that looked decent enough to make an attempt to go to Yellowstone. I was worried it was going to rain on us, but wanted them to get to the park at least once this vacation. We headed up towards teh Northwest Entrance...except I was a dork and missed my turn. We ended up in Red Lodge, which, normally wouldn't be that big of an issue, except the Beartooth highway was closed. doh! We turned around, stopped in Bear Creek at this little cafe that boasts to have the best banana cream pie in teh world. I don't know if it was the best in the world, but it was definetely extremely good!! I highly reccommend this little cafe! The folks that run it are super nice, and have delicious food! It was a great "oops" find :) After lunch and turning around we finally got back up track and headed up the Chief Joseph scenic highway. No animals, but probably for the best since dad was driving. We got to the park and headed towards the Lamar Valley. We saw buffalo, Elk, deer, geese, and Finally... bears! First we saw a big old grizz dining on a pronghorn, which was gruesome, but quite cool as well. People were extremely stupid as they were WAY too close to this bruin! Had he gotten territorial about his dinner, there would have been much chaos, mayhem and death and maimings!! Then a drive further down the road found a black bear. People were even closer to this young bear!! crazy! We drove past, and dad and I hopped out. I started walking towards it and noticed it was coming our direction. We backed up... then it started running in our direction.. which caused us to run towards the car. He stopped, climbed a tree, we paused, back down the tree. Screw this! in the car we went. I got some great pictures hanging out the window from teh safety of the car. We went into mammoth, had dinner at teh new grill, and then headed back the way we came. The grizz was still there, this time he was facing the road. awesome. I should have gotten great photos, but I was dumb and took them while standing on the edge of a running car, so it was a bit blurry :( All in all, not a bad trip.
Randal, and I and the kids went to the geyser basin yesterday for the first time in forever (he and trevor went, but the rest of us hadn't been there in a while). We ate lunch at Grotto and Rocket, and Randal and Sierra wandered down to check out a few of the geysers/ pools down the boardwalk. While they were gone Rocket errupted! I love that geyser, it's pretty dang impressive. I held Jasper up so he could look at it, and told him it was his very first geyser. He stared at it was a "what the heck is that" expression. :) Randal and Sierra came back and we headed to Oblong. Daisy errupted in the distance, and I had the opportunity to share it with an elderly couple walking behind me. We waited at Oblong for about 15 minutes, but Sierra was getting restless. We headed for the car, pausing to admire a trout in the Firehole River momentarily. Sawmill was errupting as we went past, and got us wet. sierra liked it, until we hit the steam. She couldn't see, and it scared her. About that time, Oblong errupted.. dang it. oh well. We saw plume, and Lion errupt from a distance as well. We saw a few elk, deer, and buffalo on the way there and home.. but nothing super impressive. Still a fun day all in all.
Since I wasn't there, I won't talk about their travels. but.. heres my adventures
I decided that there was one day that looked decent enough to make an attempt to go to Yellowstone. I was worried it was going to rain on us, but wanted them to get to the park at least once this vacation. We headed up towards teh Northwest Entrance...except I was a dork and missed my turn. We ended up in Red Lodge, which, normally wouldn't be that big of an issue, except the Beartooth highway was closed. doh! We turned around, stopped in Bear Creek at this little cafe that boasts to have the best banana cream pie in teh world. I don't know if it was the best in the world, but it was definetely extremely good!! I highly reccommend this little cafe! The folks that run it are super nice, and have delicious food! It was a great "oops" find :) After lunch and turning around we finally got back up track and headed up the Chief Joseph scenic highway. No animals, but probably for the best since dad was driving. We got to the park and headed towards the Lamar Valley. We saw buffalo, Elk, deer, geese, and Finally... bears! First we saw a big old grizz dining on a pronghorn, which was gruesome, but quite cool as well. People were extremely stupid as they were WAY too close to this bruin! Had he gotten territorial about his dinner, there would have been much chaos, mayhem and death and maimings!! Then a drive further down the road found a black bear. People were even closer to this young bear!! crazy! We drove past, and dad and I hopped out. I started walking towards it and noticed it was coming our direction. We backed up... then it started running in our direction.. which caused us to run towards the car. He stopped, climbed a tree, we paused, back down the tree. Screw this! in the car we went. I got some great pictures hanging out the window from teh safety of the car. We went into mammoth, had dinner at teh new grill, and then headed back the way we came. The grizz was still there, this time he was facing the road. awesome. I should have gotten great photos, but I was dumb and took them while standing on the edge of a running car, so it was a bit blurry :( All in all, not a bad trip.
Randal, and I and the kids went to the geyser basin yesterday for the first time in forever (he and trevor went, but the rest of us hadn't been there in a while). We ate lunch at Grotto and Rocket, and Randal and Sierra wandered down to check out a few of the geysers/ pools down the boardwalk. While they were gone Rocket errupted! I love that geyser, it's pretty dang impressive. I held Jasper up so he could look at it, and told him it was his very first geyser. He stared at it was a "what the heck is that" expression. :) Randal and Sierra came back and we headed to Oblong. Daisy errupted in the distance, and I had the opportunity to share it with an elderly couple walking behind me. We waited at Oblong for about 15 minutes, but Sierra was getting restless. We headed for the car, pausing to admire a trout in the Firehole River momentarily. Sawmill was errupting as we went past, and got us wet. sierra liked it, until we hit the steam. She couldn't see, and it scared her. About that time, Oblong errupted.. dang it. oh well. We saw plume, and Lion errupt from a distance as well. We saw a few elk, deer, and buffalo on the way there and home.. but nothing super impressive. Still a fun day all in all.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Memorial Day
Memorial weekend has come and gone. It was a bit on the chilly and rainy side all weekend, which pretty much sucked. We attempted to go to YEllowstone on Friday, but we didn't even get halfway up the Northfork Road and it was raining hard and the temperature had dropped by about 10 degree, leaving it pretty unappealing. We saw a bunch of bighorns and mule deer at least. Monday finally brought 70 degree temps, but a chance of rain. We were determined to get out of the house, and decided to head to the Bighorns to avoid the traffic and unappealing looking weather over yellowstone.
We headed up the bighorns Via lovell and Burgess Junction. The mountains were beautiful. We saw a couple moose and what we think was a sandhill crane, as well as a ton of pronghorns and mule deer and one white tail deer. The white tail made me miss home just a little bit, and also got me thinking about my grandpa, who passed away on Memorial day about 8 years ago. I think we saw several "seasons" while going through the mountains. There was distinctly winter and spring depending on the elevation. There was a lot of snow still up at the top of the mountains, and wildflowers at lower elevation. I was a bit disappointed the trail my mom wants to go on next week is closed and still full of snow. Quite disappointing.
We came home through Buffalo and then around through ten sleep and back up via Worland. It was a nice loop drive, albeit a bit long. The kids did great through most of the journey but got a bit restless around Ten Sleep. We stopped in Worland for dinner, and they both settled down for the rest of the drive home.
A bit of trivia for you. Ten Sleep got it's name because there were two large indian nations in Wyoming. One in Casper, and I don't remember where the other one was, Lander area maybe? Anyway, they would meet in Ten Sleep, and it got it's name because it was exactly 10 sleeps from their home base to get to the meeting point. Kinda cool history!
We headed up the bighorns Via lovell and Burgess Junction. The mountains were beautiful. We saw a couple moose and what we think was a sandhill crane, as well as a ton of pronghorns and mule deer and one white tail deer. The white tail made me miss home just a little bit, and also got me thinking about my grandpa, who passed away on Memorial day about 8 years ago. I think we saw several "seasons" while going through the mountains. There was distinctly winter and spring depending on the elevation. There was a lot of snow still up at the top of the mountains, and wildflowers at lower elevation. I was a bit disappointed the trail my mom wants to go on next week is closed and still full of snow. Quite disappointing.
We came home through Buffalo and then around through ten sleep and back up via Worland. It was a nice loop drive, albeit a bit long. The kids did great through most of the journey but got a bit restless around Ten Sleep. We stopped in Worland for dinner, and they both settled down for the rest of the drive home.
A bit of trivia for you. Ten Sleep got it's name because there were two large indian nations in Wyoming. One in Casper, and I don't remember where the other one was, Lander area maybe? Anyway, they would meet in Ten Sleep, and it got it's name because it was exactly 10 sleeps from their home base to get to the meeting point. Kinda cool history!
cranberry almond biscotti--passed on from budget bytes
these sound absolutely amazing and you can make them for under 4 dollars, making them about 12 cents each. yum! I'm pretty sure a person could doctor these up a big to make them just a bit more healthy friendly.
Here is her blog posting.
Why haven't I made these before? I have seriously been missing out on some extra enjoyable morning coffee time! I will, without a doubt, be making these on a regular basis.
Here's a little background... A long time ago in a land far away (no joke), I earned my wages as a barista for a small coffee roasting company. Every few days we would have homemade biscotti delivered to our shop by a local baker. These biscotti were like no other biscotti. They were crisp enough to stand up to dunking but not dry or "cut your mouth" hard. Cutting your mouth is not okay... unless we're talking about Captain Crunch, but I digress.
Anyway, I've since been on the search for another biscotti that was so perfectly balanced between crisp and tender. I do believe that today my quest has ended. After searching through biscotti recipes all across the internet, I finally decided to make a hybrid of this one and this one. I like the Food Diary recipe because of the texture (not cut-your-mouth dry) and I like the addition of cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon zest in the Not Derby Pie recipe. I intended on making just almond biscotti but then half way through remembered that I had some dried cranberries so I added them to half. They're good either way and dried cranberries are expensive so if you don't have them on hand, don't worry. I also reduced the amount of sliced almonds from 1 cup to 1/2 cup (because they're expensive also) and it seemed to be plenty.
In the end, I made two weeks worth of biscotti (assuming I eat two every morning... let's be realistic) for the same price as two biscotti at a coffee shop. I consider that a victory.
Oh, did I mention that they're ridiculously easy? Yeah.
Total Recipe cost: $3.64
Servings Per Recipe: 30 pieces
Cost per serving: $0.12 ea.
Prep time: 15 min. Cook time: 45 min. Total: 1 hr.
INGREDIENTS COST
2 cups all-purpose flour $0.12
1 tsp baking powder $0.03
1/4 tsp salt $0.02
1 cup granulated sugar $0.18
4 Tbsp butter $0.20
2 large eggs $0.24
1/2 tsp vanilla extract $0.15
1/4 tsp almond extract $0.54
1/2 cup sliced almonds $1.12
1 small lemon, zested $0.25
1/2 tsp cinnamon $0.05
1/4 tsp nutmeg $0.05
1/2 cup dried cranberries (optional) $0.67
TOTAL $3.64
STEP 1: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Stir very well so that the baking powder is evenly distributed.
STEP 2: In a second bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla extract, almond extract, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon zest. Whisk it all together until it is evenly incorporated and has a light creamy appearance (see photos below).
STEP 3: Pour the wet mixture into the dry flour mixture. Stir until it is evenly combined and you have a wet dough that is similar to cookie batter. Fold in the sliced almonds and dried cranberries (if using).
STEP 4: On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, form two semi-flat logs about 2 inches wide and 12 inches long (see photos below). Make sure the logs are a few inches apart because they will expand slightly while baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
STEP 5: Using a spatula, remove the logs to a cutting board. Cut the logs into 1 inch thick slices on a diagonal (this makes the biscotti longer). A serrated knife works best for slicing the biscotti. Place the slices back on the baking sheet. Bake the slices for 5-7 minutes more on each side (depending on how crisp you like them). Larger, thicker logs will require a more time to crisp up.
STEP 6: Allow the biscotti to cool. Enjoy the biscotti plain or dunked in coffee!
Here is her blog posting.
Why haven't I made these before? I have seriously been missing out on some extra enjoyable morning coffee time! I will, without a doubt, be making these on a regular basis.
Here's a little background... A long time ago in a land far away (no joke), I earned my wages as a barista for a small coffee roasting company. Every few days we would have homemade biscotti delivered to our shop by a local baker. These biscotti were like no other biscotti. They were crisp enough to stand up to dunking but not dry or "cut your mouth" hard. Cutting your mouth is not okay... unless we're talking about Captain Crunch, but I digress.
Anyway, I've since been on the search for another biscotti that was so perfectly balanced between crisp and tender. I do believe that today my quest has ended. After searching through biscotti recipes all across the internet, I finally decided to make a hybrid of this one and this one. I like the Food Diary recipe because of the texture (not cut-your-mouth dry) and I like the addition of cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon zest in the Not Derby Pie recipe. I intended on making just almond biscotti but then half way through remembered that I had some dried cranberries so I added them to half. They're good either way and dried cranberries are expensive so if you don't have them on hand, don't worry. I also reduced the amount of sliced almonds from 1 cup to 1/2 cup (because they're expensive also) and it seemed to be plenty.
In the end, I made two weeks worth of biscotti (assuming I eat two every morning... let's be realistic) for the same price as two biscotti at a coffee shop. I consider that a victory.
Oh, did I mention that they're ridiculously easy? Yeah.
Total Recipe cost: $3.64
Servings Per Recipe: 30 pieces
Cost per serving: $0.12 ea.
Prep time: 15 min. Cook time: 45 min. Total: 1 hr.
INGREDIENTS COST
2 cups all-purpose flour $0.12
1 tsp baking powder $0.03
1/4 tsp salt $0.02
1 cup granulated sugar $0.18
4 Tbsp butter $0.20
2 large eggs $0.24
1/2 tsp vanilla extract $0.15
1/4 tsp almond extract $0.54
1/2 cup sliced almonds $1.12
1 small lemon, zested $0.25
1/2 tsp cinnamon $0.05
1/4 tsp nutmeg $0.05
1/2 cup dried cranberries (optional) $0.67
TOTAL $3.64
STEP 1: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Stir very well so that the baking powder is evenly distributed.
STEP 2: In a second bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla extract, almond extract, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon zest. Whisk it all together until it is evenly incorporated and has a light creamy appearance (see photos below).
STEP 3: Pour the wet mixture into the dry flour mixture. Stir until it is evenly combined and you have a wet dough that is similar to cookie batter. Fold in the sliced almonds and dried cranberries (if using).
STEP 4: On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, form two semi-flat logs about 2 inches wide and 12 inches long (see photos below). Make sure the logs are a few inches apart because they will expand slightly while baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
STEP 5: Using a spatula, remove the logs to a cutting board. Cut the logs into 1 inch thick slices on a diagonal (this makes the biscotti longer). A serrated knife works best for slicing the biscotti. Place the slices back on the baking sheet. Bake the slices for 5-7 minutes more on each side (depending on how crisp you like them). Larger, thicker logs will require a more time to crisp up.
STEP 6: Allow the biscotti to cool. Enjoy the biscotti plain or dunked in coffee!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
state track 2010
the weather this year was less than nice. chilly, windy, and some days..just plain COLD. We didn't do our normal site seeing/ treating it like a vacation. It just felt like a normal sporting event, except that we got to eat out every day. Which happened to be the best part lol.
The boys took 2nd, the girls didn't fair as well...but thats okay I suppose.
On the way to Casper we counted 400 pronghorn, saw more, but it's hard to get an accurate count. Several of them had babies, and they were super adorable. I wish I could have gotten a photo of one. On the way home we counted 475. Again, we did see more, but weren't able to count them all. I also saw a mountain goat in the middle of flat land and have NO clue what she was doing there. It seemed like a pretty unlikely spot to see one. As always we saw a bunch of mule deer. They are all over teh place. Almost hit one, which wasn't cool..thankfully we were able to stop in time.
Beyond that, it was just another day in the neighborhood. The weather is getting nicer and hopefully the posts will start racking up as we have more wyoming adventures.
The boys took 2nd, the girls didn't fair as well...but thats okay I suppose.
On the way to Casper we counted 400 pronghorn, saw more, but it's hard to get an accurate count. Several of them had babies, and they were super adorable. I wish I could have gotten a photo of one. On the way home we counted 475. Again, we did see more, but weren't able to count them all. I also saw a mountain goat in the middle of flat land and have NO clue what she was doing there. It seemed like a pretty unlikely spot to see one. As always we saw a bunch of mule deer. They are all over teh place. Almost hit one, which wasn't cool..thankfully we were able to stop in time.
Beyond that, it was just another day in the neighborhood. The weather is getting nicer and hopefully the posts will start racking up as we have more wyoming adventures.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Time Flies
Wow, Time flies when you are having fun...and more importantly, when you are going to school and raising a family. excuses, excuses, yes, I know :) I'm gonna attempt to start blogging a bit more regularly again, but don't get too used to it too much.. cuz once the fall semester starts, I won't be doing much of anything except school and taking care of the family.
That being said...
Spring has come in the big horn basin...or, has it? We were lucky, but many across the state got completely hammered by a spring snow storm that dumped up to about 3 feet of snow in places. South Pass for instance got 39 inches of snow during the two day storm! This is MAY!! I want warm weather darn it! Okay, I won't complain too much, today was nice. The kids and I spent 2 hours running errands around the college campus and the weather was wonderful. The next few days will be nice as well. Good thing since we have baseball games to attend.
We've managed to go to Yellowstone twice since it opened already this spring. IT's a bit of a tradition to go the opening weekend. Just like last year we stayed at the Best Western in Gardiner. That won't be happening EVER AGAIN. We got the exact same room as the year before, and just like last year, it was dirty...gross dirty! The front desk girl cleaned it up, but 2 years in a row.. nope, sorry.. game over, do not pass go. ...by the way...thanks for offering something to try to keep my business, to show you actually cared. It's okay.. It wouldn't have helped anyway.
In the park, we saw a lot of buffalo and elk and a few pronghorn. The highlight was a female moose and her two yearlings. We got plenty of pictures!! I even had one publiched in the paper! yay me!
The second trip was for Randal's birthday. It was a much shorter trip since the East Entrance was open, but the road to Old Faithful wasn't. Interesting story.. We talked about going in friday as well and I'm glad we didn't. Apparently, we missed an avalanche at the pass...it's apretty scary looking area...although I must admit, it didn't look all that formidable this year. Last year it was incredibly intimidating. We didn't see a birthday bear for Randal this time.. but we did see a wolf and an otter (in 2 different locations) very cool! Happy birthday baby!
The north Fork road has been prime with critters again this year as well. We are seeing huge herds of mountain goats, elk and mule deer. Still no bears, and no moose along the north fork either. We also haven't saw the neighborhood fox yet. He's pretty darn tame, you can tell people feed him a lot. He lives under the porch of one of the cabins next to the Pahaska TeePee. We have also saw several eagles already. I love seeing those!
One of the more exciting adventures of the year so far was going to the dinotrack site. We got to go for a hike that led us to some decently preserved dino tracks in two different sizes. It was pretty cool. You could see them really well from the platform, and then when you walk around where you could touch them, it's so hard to make them out.. crazy! While we were there, we decided to follow the road and see what else there was to see. This was a bit crazy on our part as there was a large sign warning that the road wasn't maintained and 4 wheel drive vehicles are advised. We made it...obviously...in one piece even lol. Scraped bottom 5 times, had a few spots I thought were particularly scary, and decided we are never going through that patch of road beyond the 5 miles to get to teh dino site again! The other thing we decided...we need a 4x4 lol.
We went to the Big Horn REc area once already too. We were a bit disappointed that we didn't see any wild horses this time. It was the first time we havent ever saw any. I'm a little concerned, since the BLM did a horse roundup there, and I'm worried they took a bunch of horses from teh pack that roamed that area. It would be quite sad indeed if they did. I hate the horse round up...but, thats not a rant for this blog.
I think thats about all the cool things from teh spring so far. I guess I should do a short entry about winter.
Our first winter in Wyoming was really mild. I think we got all of about 4-6 inches of snow all winter long. The temperatre hit the negative teens a few times for a few days to a week, but it wasn't bad, even when the wind was whipping around. Funny how staring at beautiful mountains all day can make the coldest temps not feel so bad. We didn't get to do much traveling this winter and early spring because of me being pregnant. We did go to the regional volleyball tournament and cheered our college onto a victory, which was really awesome. I was crying right along with the team. I'm blaming prego hormones! Two of the girls on the team were really close with Si, and I'm gonna miss them but wish them the best of luck in their next step. Basketball was fun, the mens team was really enjoyable to watch. The ladies team could be.. but not all the time. Kinda frustrating to watch, knowing they had so much potential. The local junior hockey team was fun to watch as well. They lost a heart breaker, and just missed out on the final round of the playoffs. I was really hoping they could have made it, but...I wouldn't have been able to travel to Boston anyway...so, Maybe it's just as well. The wrestling teams (high school and college) were fun to watch this year as well. The high school team lost by 1 point as a team for state... 1 measly point..maybe even just half a point.. but yeah, it was close. We crowned a 4 time state champion wrestler, which was pretty awesome. He's a great kid.
I'm actually excited for baseball, and am looking forward to tomorrow. It should be another great year of baseball!
...with that, it's late, and the kids are finally both asleep.
That being said...
Spring has come in the big horn basin...or, has it? We were lucky, but many across the state got completely hammered by a spring snow storm that dumped up to about 3 feet of snow in places. South Pass for instance got 39 inches of snow during the two day storm! This is MAY!! I want warm weather darn it! Okay, I won't complain too much, today was nice. The kids and I spent 2 hours running errands around the college campus and the weather was wonderful. The next few days will be nice as well. Good thing since we have baseball games to attend.
We've managed to go to Yellowstone twice since it opened already this spring. IT's a bit of a tradition to go the opening weekend. Just like last year we stayed at the Best Western in Gardiner. That won't be happening EVER AGAIN. We got the exact same room as the year before, and just like last year, it was dirty...gross dirty! The front desk girl cleaned it up, but 2 years in a row.. nope, sorry.. game over, do not pass go. ...by the way...thanks for offering something to try to keep my business, to show you actually cared. It's okay.. It wouldn't have helped anyway.
In the park, we saw a lot of buffalo and elk and a few pronghorn. The highlight was a female moose and her two yearlings. We got plenty of pictures!! I even had one publiched in the paper! yay me!
The second trip was for Randal's birthday. It was a much shorter trip since the East Entrance was open, but the road to Old Faithful wasn't. Interesting story.. We talked about going in friday as well and I'm glad we didn't. Apparently, we missed an avalanche at the pass...it's apretty scary looking area...although I must admit, it didn't look all that formidable this year. Last year it was incredibly intimidating. We didn't see a birthday bear for Randal this time.. but we did see a wolf and an otter (in 2 different locations) very cool! Happy birthday baby!
The north Fork road has been prime with critters again this year as well. We are seeing huge herds of mountain goats, elk and mule deer. Still no bears, and no moose along the north fork either. We also haven't saw the neighborhood fox yet. He's pretty darn tame, you can tell people feed him a lot. He lives under the porch of one of the cabins next to the Pahaska TeePee. We have also saw several eagles already. I love seeing those!
One of the more exciting adventures of the year so far was going to the dinotrack site. We got to go for a hike that led us to some decently preserved dino tracks in two different sizes. It was pretty cool. You could see them really well from the platform, and then when you walk around where you could touch them, it's so hard to make them out.. crazy! While we were there, we decided to follow the road and see what else there was to see. This was a bit crazy on our part as there was a large sign warning that the road wasn't maintained and 4 wheel drive vehicles are advised. We made it...obviously...in one piece even lol. Scraped bottom 5 times, had a few spots I thought were particularly scary, and decided we are never going through that patch of road beyond the 5 miles to get to teh dino site again! The other thing we decided...we need a 4x4 lol.
We went to the Big Horn REc area once already too. We were a bit disappointed that we didn't see any wild horses this time. It was the first time we havent ever saw any. I'm a little concerned, since the BLM did a horse roundup there, and I'm worried they took a bunch of horses from teh pack that roamed that area. It would be quite sad indeed if they did. I hate the horse round up...but, thats not a rant for this blog.
I think thats about all the cool things from teh spring so far. I guess I should do a short entry about winter.
Our first winter in Wyoming was really mild. I think we got all of about 4-6 inches of snow all winter long. The temperatre hit the negative teens a few times for a few days to a week, but it wasn't bad, even when the wind was whipping around. Funny how staring at beautiful mountains all day can make the coldest temps not feel so bad. We didn't get to do much traveling this winter and early spring because of me being pregnant. We did go to the regional volleyball tournament and cheered our college onto a victory, which was really awesome. I was crying right along with the team. I'm blaming prego hormones! Two of the girls on the team were really close with Si, and I'm gonna miss them but wish them the best of luck in their next step. Basketball was fun, the mens team was really enjoyable to watch. The ladies team could be.. but not all the time. Kinda frustrating to watch, knowing they had so much potential. The local junior hockey team was fun to watch as well. They lost a heart breaker, and just missed out on the final round of the playoffs. I was really hoping they could have made it, but...I wouldn't have been able to travel to Boston anyway...so, Maybe it's just as well. The wrestling teams (high school and college) were fun to watch this year as well. The high school team lost by 1 point as a team for state... 1 measly point..maybe even just half a point.. but yeah, it was close. We crowned a 4 time state champion wrestler, which was pretty awesome. He's a great kid.
I'm actually excited for baseball, and am looking forward to tomorrow. It should be another great year of baseball!
...with that, it's late, and the kids are finally both asleep.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
County Fair time
I thought good things were to come when I saw the size of the fairgrounds earlier in the summer due to the go-Kart club having races there. I was right...at least mostly. WAY better than the county fairs in Kansas.. not *quite* as good as the Monroe County Fair...but then again.. that was labled "Michigans finest county fair".. and thats a hard bill to follow.
I leafed through the schedule of events: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (hmm... I like some of their stuff...but do I want to pay 25 dollars that I don't really have to see them...)Jr Bull riding/ Donkey Polo (this has my interest.. I like rodeos.. and donkey polo HAS to be good.. right?) Free concert: Johnny Lee (Hey.. I like him... or at least used to! and its FREE!) There were some other events, such as the Demo Derby, but most either didn't interest me much, or I didn't think Sierra would enjoy them.
Sierra and I walked to the fairgrounds to see the animals, and check things out on the night of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band concert. She enjoyed seeing the lady walking around on stilts who juggled, and was mesmerized by the bunjee jumping ride (ack!!). She loved the animals...at least until one of the goats scared her by popping his head over his gate. :) It was kinda funny, but she wanted no part of the goats after that the rest of the way, and was skiddish about them the rest of the week as well. The bad part was, there were some 4 day old goats just down from the one that scared her, and she wasn't interested in them anymore either. One of the 4-H kids let her pet a cow... she wasn't sure about that either.
We settled down in a nice grassy spot just outside the grandstands and listened to the concert for free. It was a good concert, from what I could tell. Sierra was more interested in the mechanical bull behind us. If I would have had a spare 5 dollars I probably would have seen if he would have let us ride it, since he was letting 2 and 3 year olds ride a really gentle ride. I enjoyed watching the older boys (20ish) think they were tough and get tossed off like a rag doll hahaha.. sadly I wanted to try my luck too. Maybe next year, huh.. lol.
We stayed long enough to hear "Fishing in the Dark" my favorite song of theirs. It was getting dark after that, and it's a fair walk, so I wanted to get home.. before the mountain lions come out.. yanno.
The next day we went at lunchtime with Randal, since there was an office pool to see who could eat the most fair food. I wanted so many different things, but was suffering severely from morning sickness. I settled for my first Indian Taco.. mmmmm.. The elephant ear was a huge treat as well, since no one in Kansas knew what one was. I paid for the grease.. but it was worth it! Sierra and I parted ways after lunch with Randal and saw the animals again. We headed back after that, since it was hot, and I was tired, and knew teh grease wouldn't settle for long.
The junior bull rodeo and the donkey polo wasn't quite what I expected. Randal had to cover it for the paper. I enjoyed the rodeo...mostly. It was a little scary when the one boy got stomped, and I realized for the first time I'd be scared to death if my kids wanted to rodeo it. Funny how parenthood changes your outlook on some sports, huh. The donkey polo...well, it wasn't what I expected.. and in fact, I ended up hating it. I watched a guy break a broom on a donkey, and quickly found myself wanting to break a broom over him. The animal lover in me is starting to be much more alive these days.
The free Johnny Lee concert was pretty cool. ...except for the thunderstorm that blew in. Johnny was pretty funny... although I found some of his jokes to be offcolor...and in bad taste. Guess thats to be expected.. but I don't have to like it. Sierra was dancing as much as she could at her age, and seemed to love it. After the concert I took her up to get her pic with him... she decided to get stranger danger for the very first time, and screamed bloody murder when I handed her to him. ...so, the three of us had our pic taken. Not such a bad deal I guess. Johnny also gave me a discount on his signed pic since I'm a loser and only had 3 dollars with me. I appreciated it greatly, since I wanted Sierra to have a momento of the occassion. It's signed to her. Some day she's gonna look at it and go "whoooooooo????" lol.
We went to teh fair every day for lunch. I had some of the best food, and some of hte worst lol. It was fun though. I had a week pass to get in the fair that cost me 10 dollars, versus the 5 a day.. I think I got my moneys worth :)
We also watched a bit of this one other sport as well. I can't think of the name of it now.. it's rather weird though. Two people on horses, a bunch of cows with numbers.. the riders have certain numbers they have to get.. those are teh only cows they can put on the other side of the line. The team that does it in the fastest time win. Probably won't watch it again, unless Randal has to cover it again.
I leafed through the schedule of events: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (hmm... I like some of their stuff...but do I want to pay 25 dollars that I don't really have to see them...)Jr Bull riding/ Donkey Polo (this has my interest.. I like rodeos.. and donkey polo HAS to be good.. right?) Free concert: Johnny Lee (Hey.. I like him... or at least used to! and its FREE!) There were some other events, such as the Demo Derby, but most either didn't interest me much, or I didn't think Sierra would enjoy them.
Sierra and I walked to the fairgrounds to see the animals, and check things out on the night of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band concert. She enjoyed seeing the lady walking around on stilts who juggled, and was mesmerized by the bunjee jumping ride (ack!!). She loved the animals...at least until one of the goats scared her by popping his head over his gate. :) It was kinda funny, but she wanted no part of the goats after that the rest of the way, and was skiddish about them the rest of the week as well. The bad part was, there were some 4 day old goats just down from the one that scared her, and she wasn't interested in them anymore either. One of the 4-H kids let her pet a cow... she wasn't sure about that either.
We settled down in a nice grassy spot just outside the grandstands and listened to the concert for free. It was a good concert, from what I could tell. Sierra was more interested in the mechanical bull behind us. If I would have had a spare 5 dollars I probably would have seen if he would have let us ride it, since he was letting 2 and 3 year olds ride a really gentle ride. I enjoyed watching the older boys (20ish) think they were tough and get tossed off like a rag doll hahaha.. sadly I wanted to try my luck too. Maybe next year, huh.. lol.
We stayed long enough to hear "Fishing in the Dark" my favorite song of theirs. It was getting dark after that, and it's a fair walk, so I wanted to get home.. before the mountain lions come out.. yanno.
The next day we went at lunchtime with Randal, since there was an office pool to see who could eat the most fair food. I wanted so many different things, but was suffering severely from morning sickness. I settled for my first Indian Taco.. mmmmm.. The elephant ear was a huge treat as well, since no one in Kansas knew what one was. I paid for the grease.. but it was worth it! Sierra and I parted ways after lunch with Randal and saw the animals again. We headed back after that, since it was hot, and I was tired, and knew teh grease wouldn't settle for long.
The junior bull rodeo and the donkey polo wasn't quite what I expected. Randal had to cover it for the paper. I enjoyed the rodeo...mostly. It was a little scary when the one boy got stomped, and I realized for the first time I'd be scared to death if my kids wanted to rodeo it. Funny how parenthood changes your outlook on some sports, huh. The donkey polo...well, it wasn't what I expected.. and in fact, I ended up hating it. I watched a guy break a broom on a donkey, and quickly found myself wanting to break a broom over him. The animal lover in me is starting to be much more alive these days.
The free Johnny Lee concert was pretty cool. ...except for the thunderstorm that blew in. Johnny was pretty funny... although I found some of his jokes to be offcolor...and in bad taste. Guess thats to be expected.. but I don't have to like it. Sierra was dancing as much as she could at her age, and seemed to love it. After the concert I took her up to get her pic with him... she decided to get stranger danger for the very first time, and screamed bloody murder when I handed her to him. ...so, the three of us had our pic taken. Not such a bad deal I guess. Johnny also gave me a discount on his signed pic since I'm a loser and only had 3 dollars with me. I appreciated it greatly, since I wanted Sierra to have a momento of the occassion. It's signed to her. Some day she's gonna look at it and go "whoooooooo????" lol.
We went to teh fair every day for lunch. I had some of the best food, and some of hte worst lol. It was fun though. I had a week pass to get in the fair that cost me 10 dollars, versus the 5 a day.. I think I got my moneys worth :)
We also watched a bit of this one other sport as well. I can't think of the name of it now.. it's rather weird though. Two people on horses, a bunch of cows with numbers.. the riders have certain numbers they have to get.. those are teh only cows they can put on the other side of the line. The team that does it in the fastest time win. Probably won't watch it again, unless Randal has to cover it again.
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