Snips and Snails and Puppydog Tails

Thursday morning when Daddy left to take Bubba and Bear to school, Sam got VERY upset. He was sobbing like his heart was broken in two that he didn’t get to go with Daddy and his brothers. (Daddy said they could hear him from the car.)

A sad Sam eventually climbed into my lap and we looked at some “puppy pictures” on the computer. We were looking at dog-shaming.com, a hilarious site one of my co-workers shared with me. As we scrolled through the pictures, Sam pointed out all the “not Max” puppies and the “not Sadie” puppies, until we came to a picture of a chihuahua in one of the veterinary cones.

S: Dat’s a SPACE DOG, Mommy!

No more sad Sam.

For a trip down memory lane, here's a time when our own Say-say was a Space Dog. (she made a full recovery)

Well, ONE  of them is, anyway.

"No, Daddy! Leave me 'lone! I workin'!"

On the menu tonight? Hot dogs and french fries…or pasta, depending on when you asked. 🙂

The prep work...

Cooking his masterpiece meal

Clearly, he takes after his father in the kitchen. Mommy does not cook. (Okay, I cook, but I don’t cook well.)

Last weekend (the weekend BEFORE Labor Day), we were invited to a birthday bash for my brother-in-law Steve’s 50th birthday. It was at a fancy Brazilian steakhouse in Addison. Tracy and Steven (not the same person as the birthday boy Steve, just in case you were confused) and Eli and Eliana came up for the weekend to visit. Granny bravely volunteered to keep all the kids while Tracy, Steven, Bryan, and I got to have a fancy, adult dinner out!

And I’m not kidding when I say Granny was brave. She took 4 of 5 grandchildren (Caleb was at a baseball team pool party for a good portion of the evening) to Mooyah for dinner, then to Marble Slab for dessert, THEN to the grocery store for cookie makings. They all had a blast, and she took pictures! (These are all her pics, except for one.) Gotta love Granny Time!

Such wonderful cousin time with Granny!

And, really, is there ANYTHING better than coming home from a great date night to the smell of fresh baked cookies and happy, tired kiddos? I think not. So, THANK YOU GRANNY for being so wonderful! Our kids are so very lucky!

Awwww...Wook at the wittle bunbun!

We woke up this morning to this little guy in the backyard. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice it until I had already let her highness out to go potty. I cringed when I realized what I had just done, convinced I was about to terrorize this poor thing beyond its worst nightmare as our ferocious beast chased it from the yard. Out she charged, racing into the backyard…past the bunny to squat and pee. And then she was off like a shot…back to the door for breakfast.

Worst. Guard Dog. Ever.

Finally! The last installment of our family trip recap. (I know you’ve been on pins and needles).

On Friday, July 20, we loaded up to the gills again and headed toward Buena Vista, Colorado. Bryan’s original plan was to go from Almont to Taylor River Canyon to Taylor Park, then up the dirt road side of Cottonwood Pass, and down the paved side into Buena Vista. Notice I said that was BRYAN’s original plan. I was not excited about this plan. Anything with steep passes, switchbacks, and dirt roads with a car full of boys and I was ready for him to just knock me out and wake me when it was over. Thankfully, Bryan mentioned this plan to someone during our stay in Mt Crested Butte who told him that there was some construction on some part of that route that sometimes had things backed up for hours. Once he learned this, we decided to go “the long way” to Buena Vista – back through Gunnison, on “bigger” (ahahahaha) roads and over one “small, easy pass,” Monarch Pass.

Not sure if you can see the elevation on the signs, it's 11,312 feet. NOT an easy pass.

After a potty break (for me) and pictures (duh) at the top of the pass, we went on into Buena Vista. We stayed in the new South Main development in a private home. It was LOVELY. I’m partial to the craftsman style home, and this one was absolutely amazing.

Views in, from, and around the house in Buena Vista, CO

We got settled into the house a bit and then took a stroll to get acquainted with the area.

Views of the street and the Arkansas River.

Victoria, Austin, and Sophia joined us Friday evening and stayed through Sunday mid-morning. We were having so much fun together that I didn’t get any pictures – sorry. 🙂

We celebrated Jacob’s 12th birthday Friday night.

Jacob's 12th birthday!

Other things we did while in Buena Vista:

We rented bikes and explored the town on two wheels.

Sam got to try out a Stryder for the first time.

We spent some time at the river.

Bryan took the boys up (the paved side) of Cottonwood Pass and they did a little hiking. Sam and I did NOT go. I’d had enough of passes at this point and Sam needed a nap.

Bryan got some great shots, didn't he?

One day when the rest of us didn’t feel like venturing out, Bryan went on a hike by himself. Yes, he had his phone with him; yes, it was a well-marked trail; yes, he was careful; yes, I was nervous until he was home safely.

Quite the amateur photographer, right?

We really had a wonderful time. After an overnight in Amarillo on the way home and one night at home, we headed to Houston for a weekend with my parents…but that’s a topic for another post.

Everyone started school this week. Yes, everyone.* Aren’t they handsome? Big thanks to Jacob and Caleb’s mom for sending me their first-day-of-school picture, since they weren’t with us that morning. Everyone had a great first day from all I’ve heard–well, a mostly great first day. Apparently Sam didn’t much want to listen or participate in art on the first day…oops.

*No, Sam is not some genius-toddler who skipped a bajillion grades to start “big school” early. (Though we all know he IS a genius.) His daycare uses the A Beka pre-school curriculum, and this year, he’s big enough to be using it. So, while his first day of school wasn’t quite the dramatic change from summer fun-time to hard-work (and fun) school time, I did try to dress him up a little bit more than usual and I insisted on taking a few pictures.

He sings songs from school, songs he’s heard at home, and sometimes just songs he makes up. He even sings a couple of prayers (the one they say before lunch at school and the Shema at night before bed). Here are two of my latest favorites.

Tonight at dinner, Sam and I had this conversation:

S: [unintelligible toddler-babble] . . . bes’ fwen

M: What was that, baby? Are you my best friend?

S: No. I not you bes’ fwen.

M: [with sad face] You’re not my best friend? Oh, I’m sorry. Who is your best friend?

S: [grinning ear to ear, head tilted in that adorable way] Lily!

Can you say *MELT*?

We arrived in Crested Butte in an absolute downpour, with about an hour to kill before we could check into the condo. We let the rain slack off a bit, and then parked at one end of the adorable main street and walked to a pizza place we’d read good things about. Aside from the service being rather slow, it was great. The pizzas were quite tasty, and large enough that we had leftovers for more than a day! Forgive me for not having any pictures at the pizza place – we were all damp, hungry, and grumpy – not an ideal snapshot opportunity.

After lunch we headed up the mountain to the town of Mount Crested Butte to check into the condo. It was, in a word, gorgeous.

Interior Condo pics

Really, these pictures don’t do the condo justice…and this is just the first floor! There are two master suites downstairs, both with king-sized beds and private baths. Up the stairs are two more rooms – one with a queen bed and one with 2 sets of double or queen (I couldn’t tell) bunk beds – and a full bathroom. The place was amazing – it will definitely be on our short list to stay in again; maybe even with another family? (We’ll start taking applications in January.)

The stairs quickly became Sam’s favorite spot to sit (especially for breakfast), and really, can you blame him with views like this?

Sam’s favorite spot in the condo.

The two main views from the condo’s balcony

Staying in Mt Crested Butte was amazing. And it was perfect for the kids. We were walking distance to the Adventure Park (which is the ski base in ski season). We took lots of walks around the base area.

Views from a walk around Mt Crested Butte

More Mt. Crested Butte Wanderings

The two towns (Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte) are about three miles apart. They have a free shuttle between the two towns. The buses are painted in all kinds of crazy murals, and Sam quickly dubbed it the “Crazy Bus.” He loved to point them out and talk about them, but he refused to ride in them – they were too loud.

One of the crazy buses

There’s a paved parks and rec trail between the two towns. Bryan and I made use of it for walks and runs.

Views from the trail (and proof that I survived the run between the two towns).

Close to town, the trail crosses the Slate River, so the boys enjoyed some creek stompin’!

Creek Stompin’

We spent time in Crested Butte, too. The town is adorable and walkable and friendly. I think if we could have just picked out a house to stay in forever, we’d have been happy. There were great parks to run and climb and play in. The boys even played some pickup baseball games with the local kids (sorry, Dad has those pics).

In the town of Crested Butte

Swinging at the park

In the Adventure Park area in Mt Crested Butte, the boys enjoyed some bungee trampolining.

Bungee Trampolining at Mt Crested Butte Adventure Park

Sam discovered how fun putt putt is. His rules included letting Mommy help with the first putt, then just picking up the ball and putting it in the hole for the second “putt.” We didn’t keep score, but I’m pretty sure he won.

Sam loved putt putt

We went up to the “ghost town” of Gothic, about 7 miles outside of Mt Crested Butte. I say “ghost town” because it’s actually inhabited year round now as part of a research facility, the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. We stopped at the general store and then went on to the Judd Falls trailhead.

Judd Falls hike pics

More Judd Falls Hike pics

This was marked in our books as an easy 1 mile hike to the falls. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA – Easy, my foot. It was only a mile each way, but it was steep (and warm that day) and rocky. But, it was pretty.

Yep, this is from that hike. Over an hour for just over 2 miles.

While we were in town, there was a free concert in the Adventure Park area. The big boys went off to toss the frisbee with other big kids, and Bryan, Sam, and I camped out to enjoy the music.

Dancing at the outdoor concert

Loving on Daddy during the concert

We had an amazing time in the Crested Butte area and were sad to leave it when our time was up. But we were excited to pack up on Friday and head to Buena Vista (pronounced Byoona Vista by the locals) where we’d get to spend the weekend with Tori, Sophia, and Austin, and live like locals for a few more days. (Vacation Part 3 – Buena Vista)