The Count-Down has Begun!

The count-down to the Rooster's Return has begun.  We aren't 100% sure when he will be home but we have a round-about guess and so we made a trip over to Savannah's downtown to The Paris Market where they have all sorts of fun things to look at and want to take home with you.  The jar on the right (the tall one) is one of the things that wanted to come home with us and I could not tell it no! So basically we are moving marbles from one jar to the other with 2 big ones for the 2 final days of the count down.  We did end up making an afternoon of the trip and wandered around for a bit and stopped and got coffee and a snack at a coffee shop down there.

The marbles that were picked from the buckets of joy.

A view from the top. The top of our parking garage, the kids always want to park up here. Quite frankly I don't mind at all, I like the view as much as they like the idea!

I discovered this store (The Paris Market) has a few bucket-fulls of marbles, or as I like to call them 'buckets of joy'.

This walking elephant was quite cute, we sent him down probably 15 times before we got enough of him.  I could have adopted him and brought him home with us. 

A Saturday Afternoon Picnic

When asked by her friend what is your favorite thing to do? Ruby replied, "I don't know, right now having picnics on a Saturday Afternoon."

A Picture

Every time I see this picture I can't help but smile, thought I would share

Happy Sunday!

Aunt Mary and Uncle Jeff's

We were lucky enough to be close to Aunt Mary and Uncle Jeff this summer too.  We weren't there very long but we managed to pack as much fun stuff in as we could!
We spent the 4th of July there (when I think of the 4th I will forever think of Mary and Jeff and Lander, I can't help it, Mary and Jeff are part of what makes our 4th of July the 4th of July).
Uncle Jeff took the kids fishing where they both caught their very first fish, and 2nd and 3rd and 4th and ... the fish were apparently biting faster than Uncle Jeff could get the worms on the hooks!
We (or rather Ruby and Aunt Mary) made cupcakes.
We did some front porch sitting.
Played at the park where we saw that crazy moss growing in the river there and took a walk around the park on another day right about the time the sun was going down.
And of course there was lots of talking and coffee drank. What can I say? It's what we do, it's what we enjoy!

At the end of the summer we of course had to go home, but this summer was spent with people we love and enjoy being around.

Cheyenne

There is a park in Cheyenne where Scarlett and Aurelia live.  This park is full of things that other parks don't have like water you can get in, and a bridge that moves by the force of little hands pulling it back and forth, a cool fort with benches and tables in it, tipis with drums, a windmill that runs water from the pond up a hill and out spouts down the rocks and back into the pond...
We made it there once while we were there this summer.  We spent three weeks in Cheyenne playing, working, sewing, sweating, running, screaming, sleeping, reading, walking, dancing...

Cannot get over the cuteness of this picture!

Sorry for the 4 pictures of basically the same thing, but really I couldn't decide which one I liked the best (ignore the finger in the corner)

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason I have spent the last 7 months without the Rooster here, the fact that we can fly this flag and walk (or ride horses) up and down the street flying this flag! 

This one is for Grandpa, 2 tractors! Yes, you saw that right, 2 tractors in 1

The pink shoes? Really? Who doesn't want to eat this little girl for lunch?!

This one basically sums it up! Cheyenne! In the state of Wyoming! The state The Rooster and I have fallen in love with and hope to get back to some day

...but mostly what we did was relax, drink coffee, and enjoy each other's company! 

Love ya Aunt Elizabeth, Uncle Todd, Scarlett and Aurelia! 

Ash Hollow

If you have never climbed this hill you may think it is as easy as pie. You would be mistaken! 

Grandpa has more energy than all of us combined.

You can see for miiiiiles

From the top looking down

For those of us where grew up in this area of Colorado/Nebraska we most likely know about Ash Hollow and if we were in the 5th Grade Class we got to go to Ash Hollow and make a day of it.  My kids (as much as they have seen and as many places as they have been) have never been here or even knew something like this exist.  So for those of you who don't know what Ash Hollow is here is a little lesson for you:

When settlers were moving from East to West they had traveled for days and many miles to get to this point.  This was a place where they could stop and rest and replenish supplies and fix wagons and whatever else needed to be done before they headed out again to face the Rocky Mountains as they got closer to their destination.  However, there was this big hill they needed to descend before they could go on their way.  Many many many wagons came through here leaving ruts in the ground where they descended down the side of the hill. Over many years of wind and rain and natural erosion those ruts became even larger and this has become a national historical site.  There is a trail you can walk up to the top with just a couple benches along the way for those who need a break (up or down) and it is a doozy (up and down)!

Now I am sure there is more to the story than that but 5th grade was a long time ago.