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Sigh.
It's hot here.

We are back in Vegas and we already miss everything...EVERYTHING about Pagosa. The air. The trees. The green. The mountains. The animals. The quiet.

We spent the day unpacking and cleaning and doing the stuff that needed to be done around the house so that our lives could continue as normal. But we did take a little break this morning to take the kids to see WALL*E. What a stinking CUTE movie. I am not kidding. I loved it. So did the kids... and so did the Harrisons, who joined us after I called them last minute to tell them we were going. After the movie we even spent a little time swimming at their house.

I know there are a ton of photos I still need to post from the vacation, but those will have to wait till tomorrow. But I can't wait to show you all that we did. Especially the rafting pics. HAHA they are hysterical.

Friday I'm in Love

I do love it here. I seriously can’t believe this is our last full day up here in beautiful Pagosa Springs. All day I kept trying to convince Rick to take next week off, too, so we could just stay a little while longer.

The kids got up nice and early and went fishing with Rick, Papa and Ron… they rode the ATVs out there and both Rick and Ron let the kids do the “driving” – seriously the highlight of the entire week! Their goal today was to catch dinner, so they were all ready. Noah headed out there a little later when he woke up to help out with the fishing. Alas, it was not meant to be and they came back empty-handed. They caught a couple of fish, but nothing grill-worthy so they were thrown back.

While they were all fishing, I was enjoying the quiet morning with my cup of coffee and English muffin. I got to sit and visit a little bit with Lynne and my mom before Lynne went off to her art class today. I was waiting for Papa to come back so we could hike up to La Rosa, the lot adjacent to Ron’s property that Papa is a partial owner in. That is where I want him to build a house for us… so we could spend our summers here, too.

When everyone got back, however, Papa busied himself helping Ron put together a basketball hoop for Noah, and Rick took a nice, long nap. The kids and I played cards and chilled out for awhile and I made lunch (grilled cheese for Riley, of course!). By then, the golfers were all ready to go so the La Rosa trip had to wait for when they got back. Rick and I took the kids into town… I wanted to see if I could find Violet another pair of those super cute $7 jeans Mama Lali got her. We got lucky and there was one pair left in her size! We snatched it up right away.

Next, we headed to the Malt Shoppe for our last shake of the week. Before going in there, Violet and I spent time at this cute store called Hodge Podge. The store specialized in miniatures, particularly doll houses… and we loved looking at all the cool things we could get to accessorize the doll house that Violet got from Grandma Jane. Violet and I decided to make the doll house our summer project – and we would restore it to its former beauty! To start us on our project, we picked up a cute bedroom set for one of the rooms in the house. I can’t wait to get back and get to work with Violet! I think it will be a great little activity for us.

After that shop, it was time for shakes! Violet got chocolate and I got strawberry. It was the perfect, tasty way to say goodbye to Pagosa. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the meadow below the house, flying kites and playing baseball with each other (Playing baseball is waaaaaay more fun than watching baseball). We all took turns playing pitcher, catcher, outfielder, and hitter. It was such a great family bonding time and really made vacation even that much better… that we were making memories like these together with the kids. I didn’t want to think about it too much cause it got me a little teary.

We headed back to the house just as a storm started brewing over the mountains. The golfers were still out doing their thing, so we came into the house and watched the Pixar Short Films collection as the wind picked up and rain began to fall. We looked out the window just in time to see a gorgeous rainbow that stretched from the hills to the left right down into the valley in a little grove of trees. Violet was sure she saw something black at the bottom of the rainbow… a pot of gold, perhaps? One may never know. As quickly as the rainbow appeared, it began to fade.

The golfers returned with dinner (pizza!) and we all sat around and played cards together. First we played 31, then it was a game of Apples to Apples (junior edition)… even Riley played it, which was hysterical. He just picked random cards to throw into the pile… and hysterically enough, it worked for him a couple of times! Then the kids took a break to play some Nintendo while the grownups played Oh Hell… and then the kids returned for a final game of 31. Riley declared that he was planning on staying up all night. We told him he could, only if he got his jammies on first. Then at one point, he was in the kitchen with a cold bottle of water and he was splashing the cold water in his eyes “to help me stay awake!” He did… for a bit longer. But as the final game of 31 wore on, Riley told Mama Lali he just wanted to close his eyes for a second and rest them before his next turn. Rick was carrying him up to bed within a minute. He was so cute and sweet and tuckered out. Violet planned on staying up all night and sleeping on the front porch under the stars… but when we went outside to take a quick look at the stars before getting our gear out there, I knew she was a little scared. And within a minute she decided it was just too cold to be out there all night (she didn’t have to mention the darkness and the fear of random wild animals that I know was actually motivating her to be inside).

Right now, she is sleeping by Riley’s side. I finished packing up all our clothes and Rick packed up all our gear. I can’t believe we have to leave tomorrow morning. I really, really don’t want to. It’s funny – usually by a week into vacation I am ready to go home. But not this time. Too much fun… too much potential… too many memories still to be made. Someday. Someday we will have a place here, too. Rick and I have a new five year plan.

The Best Day Ever (according to Violet)

Fitting, as today she is 8 years old… I can’t believe I have an 8 year old. I can tell this is going to be a great age – the beginnings of her asserting her independence and yet she still holds us in her highest respect. That is why I loved teaching the 3-5th grades. These kids are the best.

The day started out with each of us, in turn, giving Violet 8 spanks. Riley was especially excited about this and we had to remind him these were “love pats” and not actual spankings… then, after breakfast (mine was a peanut butter & honey English muffin and a cup of delicious coffee), Violet asked Ron if she could go for a ride on the ATVs. He said sure and the guys went down to fire them up!

Violet and her Papa were on one, Riley and Ron on another, and Rick and I on the third. We drove all over the 300 acre ranch, through deep woods, across streams, over logs and boulders, in the meadows, up hills, down into valleys, and even right next to a couple of buck deer that were clearly annoyed that we woke them up with our engines. Have I mentioned how amazing it is here? That this place is indescribably beautiful? That every single corner of Ron’s property just gets more and more lovely the more we explore it? Well, it does.

Violet was especially thrilled by the ride because Papa let her handle the controls a few times – so she was driving! And of course, we know how Papa enjoys speed – the two of them were barreling down the dirt roads, Violet cheering and screaming in delight the whole way.

Back at the ranch, we put the ATVs away and relaxed for awhile, eating lunch and playing some cards. Riley challenged Noah to some Nintendo football and Violet learned how to play Solitaire with actual cards and not on her dad’s phone. Rick read his book on the porch and I sat next to him, watching the different birds fly by. I don’t know anything about birds or bird types. If I lived here I totally would. There just aren’t a variety of birds in Vegas. But here… I saw this yellow one – it was little, like the size of a sparrow. And then a black one that had a red spot under its wings. And a blue one that I almost didn’t see cutting across the sky because it was the same dark color. And one that was all red. And another that was black and white, but when it spread its wings there was blue on the wings, too. And hawks… and buzzards… and ravens. Wow.

We headed out for the afternoon – I went to the rafting place to get my image CD (which was there *and* worked on my computer! Yay!), and then we headed out to an ice cream parlor our rafting guide had told us about. It was right behind the Mexican restaurant where we had dinner last night. Called “50-something”, it was like a walk into the past. Checkerboard floors welcomed you and red and white vinyl booths lined the outside. Framed posters of 50s music and advertisements hung on the walls, and popular 50s music played from the jukebox. You could sit right at the soda fountain if you wanted, too! Everything was brand new – not like you were walking into an old restaurant that was built in the 50s, but rather you were transported to that era by going through the door. Even the old couple who worked behind the counter seemed like they were from a bygone era.

Violet ordered two scoops – magic cookie with M&Ms and chocolate chip cookie dough – on a waffle cone. Riley ordered a scoop of Superman ice cream on a waffle cone. Rick ordered moose tracks on a waffle cone and I ordered chocolate moose tracks on a waffle cone. We ate them in one of the booths while listening to Rock Around the Clock, Great Balls of Fire, and more. Of course Violet’s eyes were bigger than her stomach, so Rick had to finish her cone.

From there, at Violet’s request, it was on to the Wildlife Park just outside of town. We got there about an hour before feeding time and walked around the grounds, checking out the coyotes, grizzly bear, black bears, porcupine, wolves, bobcats, elk, emu, goats, mountain lions, sheep, and even a baby black bear cub. For 25 cents you could get a bag of feed and go feed the goats and sheep, which both of the kids thought was awesome. After walking through the grounds I was kind of done with the place, but the kids wanted to watch the animals getting fed. Um, ok. So we met the guide (an animal behavior specialist who is going to school to become a veterinarian… she totally reminded me of Heather), and she took us around as she fed each of the animals. While she was feeding them, she talked about each of them – their life spans, how they were acquired at the ranch, what they eat, how to identify them in the wild, and common misconceptions about the different animals (it is a total MYTH that porcupines shoot their quills! The only way you can get a quill stuck to you is if you touch a porcupine! OH and their quills have little barbs on them that make it impossible for a quill to simply work its way out of you – instead, if you don’t pull it out, the quill will continue traveling through you till it comes out the other side!).

I was definitely glad I stayed for the tour. It was well worth the extra time and we learned all sorts of things about the animals… like how elk antlers grow, how to tell the difference between a bobcat and a lynx, and how to defend yourself if a mountain lion tries to attack you. And at the very end, we got to see how the guide bottle feeds the baby bear cub (very carefully!). She actually sits behind a large stuffed bear so that the baby identifies eating not with humans, but with another bear. I thought that was very interesting. The cub also gets a lot of playtime with the guide (at least 3 hours a day), because normally black bear cubs stay with their moms until about 3 years old and he is only 6 months. So they wrestle and play in the water and climb and swing and have all sorts of fun together so that they bear will grow up well adjusted.

We headed back home after that, and Violet and Riley played outside for a bit while Rick and I cleaned out the car and organized our stuff, cause you know how a car can quickly transform from a vehicle to a homeless person’s living quarters in a matter of a single road trip. So our car is back to looking pretty good – at least for a couple more days till we drive home.

The golfers came back at about 7:30 pm and we started on dinner (spaghetti and meat sauce) for the birthday girl. We ate dinner and then Violet opened presents. It was so sweet for Ron and Lynne to get Violet a Pagosa t-shirt, and Papa and Mama Lali had a gift bag of cute clothes for her, too. Rick and I had gotten Violet a stuffed animal that she had fallen in love with yesterday, and she was so very excited about that. Even Riley got a little something (for his half-birthday)… a pair of boxers that said “beware of natural gas” on the back. HAHAHA! Finally, we had a delicious cookies and cream ice cream cake for dessert. Violet declared it was her best birthday ever. I have to agree.

The Best Day Ever (according to Riley)

The kids got up early and went out to the lake to go fishing with Ron and Papa… so Rick and I slept in. Can’t beat that! I got up and had my coffee and bagel while sitting on the porch, trying to identify all the different birds chirping around me.

The kids came back at about 9 am with all sorts of fish stories to tell… Riley caught TWO fish and Violet caught another one! Riley was so excited to tell us all about the fish he caught – first with Ron on the shore, then with Papa on the boat. Both were pretty big fish, too (although, of course Violet insists they were nowhere near the size of *her* fish).

Riley spent the rest of the morning playing Pokemon video games with Noah while Rick, Violet, and I went for a hike up to the top of the rocky hill on the property. When we got up there, the view was incredible – 360 degrees of gorgeous scenery. We could see all the ranch, trees, houses, horses, lakes and streams, and beautiful mountains in the distance. It was awesome. Violet commented that we should have brought a sack lunch to have on the top of the rocks and I totally agreed. But of course, we didn’t, so we headed back down the hill, retracing our steps. Fortunately for us, Violet left us markers on the trail so we could find our way back – four daisies that she had picked along the way. She is such a little adventurer!

Upon returning, I made us some grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch and we planned the afternoon. We decided it was a perfect day for river rafting, so we scheduled a family raft trip on the San Juan River that flows through town. The rafts are big – holding as many as 12 people at a time – so we weren’t sure who would be going with us.

When we got there, we saw another family of 7 waiting for the afternoon rafting trip. But there were two boats! Maybe we would be lucky and have our own! After getting suited up with our PFDs and learning all the different techniques for surviving if we were to fall out of the raft, we got to ride a fantastic rainbow-colored school bus, dubbed the “Tube Bus”. Every inch of the bus was covered in some sort of paint or picture or graffiti – things like “raft guides do it in the rapids” and “tu-be or not tu-be… that is the question.” People who have ridden in the bus all seemed to have left their mark somehow – signing their names, adding a doodle, or writing a note. There wasn’t anything offensive, and I didn’t see any profanity at all. It was the perfect distraction whole we rode up to the launch site.

Matt, a young guy with shaggy brown hair and tanned muscles, had just gotten out of the Marine Corps. He moved to Pagosa in April for a change of pace after his years in the military (including several months of deployment to Kuwait and Africa). His goal is to spend the summer rafting and guiding and the winter as a ski bum. After that, he will figure out if he wants to stay here or move on. He loves his job as a river guide, and on his days off he searches for more challenging rapids to ride in his kayak.

He was the perfect guide for us – strong enough to handle the river on his own, so even if the kids didn’t paddle we were just fine. Rick and I helped out a bit, but the ride was definitely easy, and allowed us to have some good conversation with him as we enjoyed our six mile boat trip. The kids were sitting right in the front and they had an awesome time. Every little wave of the rapids elicited screams of glee from the two of them – and they dutifully paddled when instructed.

Papa took photos of us as we passed under the bridge in town, and the rafting photographer caught us as we went over the big wave in town. The pictures were sooo great and I had to buy them. Of course after I had paid the $45 they told me that the CD they put it on wouldn’t run on Windows Vista (huh?). The photographer came back and said she would go ahead and copy it onto another CD that is Vista compatible (perhaps she should have just done that in the first place??) but I would have to pick it up the next day. SIGH.

We did a little shopping and then drove back home to watch the College World Series. Unfortunately our friend’s team didn’t win, but it was still fun to watch… for baseball, anyway. We occupied our time by playing games. Violet and I played Scrabble and Riley and Rick played Go Fish.

We had dinner in town at a Mexican restaurant that served the YUMMIEST margaritas (mmmm…. Mango margarita!) and super good food. The kids drew hysterical pictures on their placemats and we all enjoyed the relaxing meal together.

We came home and planned on playing cards till the wee hours, but apparently the alcohol affected me a bit more than usual because the second we came in, I crashed on the bed, completely exhausted. It was another wonderful day in Pagosa. I still want to live here.

A lovely Tuesday in Pagosa Springs

This morning was wonderful - although the kids woke up at buttcrack thirty again, Rick let me sleep in... and I didn't roll out of bed till 9 a.m. The aroma of that wonderful creme brulee coffee was a perfect wakeup call.

Rick and the kids had been hiking around the grounds with the dogs, who at one point had taken off (no doubt after some small animal) across the meadow. Violet volunteered to go after them but by that time Riley was tired... so Rick and Riley came back and got the car to pick up the pups, who had also by that time gone swimming in a couple of the watering holes. Soon Rick, the kids, and the dogs were all back and tired from their morning activities.

After a leisurely coffee and bagel breakfast, we planned our day - we would take the kids to a local petting zoo where they could see all sorts of local wildlife including elk and a BEAR! The kids couldn't wait. We piled into the car and headed out there... only instead of going left, we went right... and we ended up far off track. We didn't let that deter us... instead we turned it into an adventure - and we ended up at a beautiful hiking trail.

It was called "Treasure Falls" and it was an incredible waterfall - and legend has it, somewhere nearby there is a whole lot of gold buried that has yet to be found. The hike was only about 1/4 mile each way, but it was a little bit tricky because it took us 200 feet up, right to the waterfall. There were a couple of overlooks that were simply amazing... and one, the "misty" overlook, where Violet and I got completely soaked trying to read the trail marker.

After that hike, we kept driving... up winding mountain roads, until we noticed we seemed to be sort of at a summit - and sure enough, we saw the marker on the side of the road. We had reached the Continental Divide - the middle of the Rocky Mountain range that separated the San Juan Forest from the Rio Grande Forest. We stopped and hiked around a bit - and the kids even got to play in the snowy areas by the trees. They couldn't believe that there was still snow here in the middle of the summer!

After that little stop, we headed back, since we realized that clearly we did not go the right way to the petting zoo. Instead we went into town and looked for a place to have lunch. Lynne had told me about a cute little coffee shop over by the river that had good Internet reception - and I thought that would be a perfect spot to eat so that I could finally upload my photos. It was right by the river and we got to watch rafters and kayakers go by.

The only problem is that since I am on Rick's computer, I don't have any image editing software - so I couldn't make the file sizes smaller before uploading the photos. This meant that even though I could reduce them in Photobucket, I still had to get the full size files there... and each file took about 3 minutes. So that alone was about an hour... and then I had to post them to the blog. While all that was going on, Rick took the kids on a walk around the river and springs areas... twice... and finally lost his patience. Fortunately I was finishing up my photo blog postings and could leave with him.

We made one last stop - at the malt shoppe - for the kids to get shakes. At the back of the shoppe was one of those brochure stands... and we looked for a local company that did river rafting tours. We found one that was right down the street and was reasonably priced - and they offered family river tours! We decided we would definitely do it later on in the week.

Finally back to the house we went and Riley fell asleep. Rick, Violet and I played cards for a little bit while watching the College World Series on ESPN. I know. Shocking. Baseball. The most boring sport on earth to watch. But I suffered through it so we could watch our friend Bryce (#29 on Georgia's team) play. Georgia won last night so if they won tonight it was all over. Unfortunately, they didn't win - so the series is tied and it all comes down to tomorrow night.

Papa and Mama Lali arrived just as the game was starting and it was great to have them here. We ate a lovely dinner of barbequed chicken and venison, corn on the cob, and salad. And after dinner we all took a hike down to the picnic area for a yummy dessert of smores by the fire... but before eating smores, we all (ALL. even mama lali!) played hide and seek. It was hysterical having everyone sneaking around everywhere and hiding in the trees, behind bushes, or what Riley did - crouching down in the tall grass.

Once it started to get dark we headed back to the house to chill out. Our plan was to play cards and watch more stars, but we were too tired and before we knew it everyone was heading to their respective beds. And I hopped on the computer for my nightly blog. Looks like service is decent tonight - hopefully this will post quickly and I can get to sleep, too!

Hopefully we can get to town tomorrow so I can add more photos. :)

Pagosa, day 1

We took a hike around the 300 acre ranch...
And saw an elk cow...
Then we went fishing! Violet caught her first fish ever! Pretty impressive catch. I love that the fish is smiling. :)
Riley learned how to hook a worm and cast his line too...
And we enjoyed the view of Ron and Lynne's private lake.

More soon... I hope! :) This took about an hour to upload so I don't think Rick is happy with me right now. haha.

Traveling to Pagosa pictures...

Crazy creepy stop on an Indian reservation... see the dude on the tricycle? Yep. He was riding down the freeway near us. I wonder where he was going?
Four Corners... Violet has fulfilled her wish of doing a backbend in all four states at once.
With a reward of a yummy sno-cone, she was thrilled (so was Riley). It was about 105 degrees there, so the treat was definitely welcome.
Here are our feet in four states.
And Riley's souvenir. Tinty, wait till you hear him play! He's a natural :)

Zion pictures

Here's the pics from the first leg of our trip! YAY!

Riley is a Rock Star!!
We climbed up to these cool rocks... in flip flops! awesome.
See our little car down below?
Oh... here it is! :)

Pagosa, day 2

Alas... no photos again today. Hopefully I paint an adequate picture with words.



We slept in the Elk Room at Ron and Lynne’s house. It’s a beautiful room with a queen bed, sitting area, private bathroom, walk-in closet, and balcony with unbelievable views. The kids slept in the office area just outside our room in the fold-out bed. They could have stayed in the room with us, but they wanted their own place… of course sometime during the night both of them ended up in our bed. I have a feeling the coyotes outside woke them up and they may have been a little scared. We shooed them back into bed where they slept in until about 6 am.

Ron and his son Noah went out fishing at that time – Riley wanted to go with them but Ron told Riley he couldn’t go because he wasn’t dressed yet. Lynne made Riley and Violet some Lucky Charms cereal (must be vacation! Yesterday was fruit loops and today is lucky charms!), which made them forget all about fishing for a few minutes.

The kids woke us up just before 7 am… the sun, filtered by the aspens and pine trees, was streaming in the window and I was once again awestruck by the incredible scene that God painted outside just for me. My nose was greeted by the scent of brewing coffee and I came downstairs and poured myself a cup of the Seattle’s Best Crème Brulee coffee that Lynne had made. No sweetener needed – it was brewed perfectly with just a hint of sweetness in the beans. I toasted a bagel and drank in the view along with my coffee. An elk mama and baby were drinking from one of the little ponds in the meadow down below, and in another open glen horses grazed lazily. Birds sang softly from the trees surrounding the house and only the occasional howl of a coyote sounded out of place in the wilderness. I was totally at peace here, my eyes following the tree lines as they wound their way up and around the surrounding hills. I am just not used to trees… especially ones like these. Aspens with trunks a foot in diameter, that seemed to touch the clouds with their tops… Majestic pines in shades of green and blue-grey and silvery sage… Flowers of all kinds growing wild around me – yellow sunflowers, daisies, lavender…and lush, green meadows that looked like waves rippling in the breeze. And the sky…. the sky that is bluer than I could have imagined – a deep, rich blue that lightened to almost a porcelain color at the horizon… dotted with the occasional billowy white cloud – clouds that have the potential for creating some good thunderstorms later in the day. I hope so!

After getting dressed, we headed into town for a bit – Rick and the kids went to the park by the riverside while Lynne and I went to a couple of shops so she could return a table she had bought. Ron had a meeting in town, so it was a perfect time to go for a quick little trip. The shops are so cute (and sooo Pagosa). I can’t wait to go back when we have more time for browsing.

Lynne and I met the kids and Rick at the park – Riley was making himself busy by the river, squatting next to the bank and making a mud pile with some rocks and sticks. Violet emerged barefoot from the trees by the river, her jeans soaked almost to her knees. She had been trying to skip rocks across the water. Across the playground of the park, a local church was having Vacation Bible School with kids in three age groups – 5 and 6, 7 and 8, and 9 and 10 years old. It just started today and one of the counselors said that if Violet and Riley wanted to come for the rest of the week they totally could. The best part? It’s free! The theme was perfect, too… “God’s Great Big Backyard” – I love it!

After the park we all headed to the Malt Shoppe – an old fashioned place with the best shakes and malts around. Rick and Violet had chocolate, Riley had strawberry, and I had black raspberry. They were a perfect late morning treat.

We drove back to the house after that for a little chill time – Rick and I played scrabble while the kids played and read quietly. Then we noticed the clouds were really darkening in the western sky, so we decided to head down to the little picnic area on the property and get it cleaned out before the storm hit. Rick, Ron, the kids, and I drove down with shovels, rakes, and brooms and set to work clearing out the little three-sided log cabin. We had to pull out the picnic tables and tarps, the chairs and the trash, and we swept out the leaves and the dirt and the mess. The kids were great helpers, bagging the trash and gathering firewood while Ron used his Magic Lighter Fluid to start a fire in the fireplace. Perfect timing too – within a minute of lighting the fire, the wind kicked up something fierce and we watched the storm roll in around us. First it was just wind, then we heard thunder, and then finally the rain started to fall. At first it was just a light drizzle – and we got to see a deer crossing the meadow on her way to the forest – and then the rain picked up and started pounding pretty hard.

When there was a little break in the weather, we got in the car and came back to the house to wait out the storm. Rick and I finished our Scrabble game (yes, I won) and Violet read a book. Then Riley and Rick took a nap and I tried to get online. No luck yet getting the Internet to work for posting photos, but hopefully tonight I will at least be able to post this blog I have been writing. We’ll see…

After naps we headed down to Noah’s lake to go fishing. We took the kids’ fishing poles we bought a couple years ago as well as some live worms Ron had picked up in town earlier. We had forgotten our bobbers so the first half hour of fishing didn’t work so well… but then Ron showed up and brought bobbers and some really cool floating bait. Rick took the kids one at a time out in the little rowboat while I stayed on shore with the other one, fishing from the side. Ron had a couple of bites with his lure but the fish kept breaking free. Finally, though, when Violet was out on the boat with Ron she got a bite! And it was a BIG ONE! So big, in fact, that the $10 pole from Target couldn’t actually handle it and they had to reel it in by hand. It was a beautiful rainbow trout – and they brought it ashore so we could look at it (and take pictures!) and then we let the big guy go back home to his family.

As we drove back from our fishing fun, we spotted EIGHT BUCKS right on the side of the road – we drove right past them! They had velvety horns and they looked so majestic! It was incredible…and I can’t believe how close we were!

We had a wonderful dinner of grilled brats and burgers and fruit salad, and then spent the rest of the evening in the hot tub outside looking at the stars. It was awesome. We saw a bunch of satellites and pointed out some constellations to the kids. I couldn’t believe how many stars we saw. One more thing that makes this place utterly incredible.

The kids are asleep and Rick is reading his book next to me. Time for me to get to bed too… after I convince the Internet service her to love me long enough to publish this blog…

Awesomeness... and not so much.

Awesomeness...

Our drive through beautiful countryside.
Visiting Four Corners with the kiddos.
Listening to Angels & Demons (ooooooooo it is getting SERIOUSLY GOOD) on CD.
Watching a storm brew over the mountains while we drove.
Stopping at McDonalds for lunch and to stretch our legs... and eating a sundae while the kids played in the playground area.
Meeting Ron in Pagosa.
Remembering Pagosa.
Driving to Ron and Lynne's incredibly amazing house.
Our new car with AWD to get up Ron's steep driveway.
Ron and Lynne's super cute Golden pups (Jake & Ellie)
The freaking AMAZING house they live in... I am pretty sure it's Shontell's dream home.
The views. From every. single. window.
Hiking around the property... to lakes and streams and meadows.
The Elk cow that came right up to us to say hi.
Dinner (homemade mac & cheese - Riley was in HEAVEN!)
Noah letting the kids play Nintendo 64 with him.
Did I mention the amazing house???
The sunset. Ohhhh the sunset.
The awesome photos I have taken of the trip so far.

Not so much...
The internet connection here is pretty sporadic, meaning if I can actually publish this blog it will be pretty much a miracle at this point. This means I can't add any photos, though, cause it would take too much time to load them. Sigh.

So. YOU JUST WAIT. Another day, apparently. ha!

Is life a highway?

Are we going to drive it - all night long?

Actually, no. We are going to stop in Page, AZ for a little break on our road trip!

Yes, folks, we are on vacation (or as Rick likes to call it, "vaction"). This year we are taking a road trip to Pagosa Springs, Colorado to visit some family friends and enjoy the great outdoors and have fun and simply RELAX. Which Rick and I desperately need to do. We have both been pushing ourselves to exhaustion the past few weeks and it has definitely taken its toll on us. Lots of nights of very little sleep and lots of days of long work hours. And of course, the kids are out of school which means we have to figure out ways to entertain them. I do have some great photos of recent entertainment, such as golf lessons with their great grandpa and pool time with Tinty and Luke, but those photos are on the home computer (I am typing from Rick's laptop), so those will have to wait till next weekend.

So, vacation techincally started last night, when we were greeted with a broken downstairs A/C unit. And on a Friday afternoon the day before we leave to go out of town there isn't a whole heck of a lot we can do. We cranked up our swamp cooler and are hoping for the best. At least the upstairs unit is still working fine (good thing for the girls who are dog-sitting for us!). And of course we realized the A/C was broken about 15 minutes before we were having guests over for Poker Night. Good thing they have a sense of humor cause as you can imagine I was seriously fweeking out.

Our plan was to leave this morning at 10 or 11 am... but I still had work to finish up before going and Rick was messing with the A/C (which we never did get to work... sigh!), and of course there was the obligatory notes for the house and dog-sitters to write, and the packing of the car, tetris-style, with our luggage, camping gear, and misc travel food (cheez-its and chocolate hostess donettes, of course!).

OH YEAH!

The car. Speaking of the car... (The Ford Expedition is still for sale! Tell your friends! I am willing to pay a finder's fee of a free photo shoot!!)

WE GOT A NEW VEHICLE!
Well. Technically not new. But newer than we actually have ever had before! It is so cute and sooo fun and sooooooo happy and SO COMPLETELY exactly what I wanted! It's my car and I love it. It's a 2006 Honda Element and ever since I saw my very first Element on the road I wanted one for myself. Of course, had it been my choice and a new vehicle that I built myself, it would have been lime green instead of raspberry red. But other than that everything (everything) that I wanted to have included in the vehicle is in this one. Sunroof, MP3 jack, cruise control, sound controls on the steering wheel, compartments and pockets everywhere, roof rack, rear fold-up seats... you name it, it's on here. And with Rick's new TomTom GPS, it's the whole package. I still need to name the car. I am thinking Intern George. HA. Riley wants to call it "Surprise" - as in the "element of surprise."

So. This car is freaking RAD and fits everything. Of course that means that the kids EACH packed two (TWO) backpacks of toys and crap they *had to take* on the trip. Riley's bags included a baseball bat (no ball though), lightsaber, gameboy, TWO teddy bears, and thirteen different books. Violet's had another 15 books, her Polly Pockets, her baby doll, her baby Pluto doll, her PHONE (!!!!!) - this is not a small phone either. This is like an old fashioned desktop phone. FULL SIZE! - her ipod, her Nintendo DS, ALLLLLL her games, her camera, her video camera, and a few more things. I pared it down to one bag for the both of them. They have their gameboy and DS, ipod, and cameras. Each got 2 books (and Violet got to bring 2 bonus chapter books) and one stuffed animal. No phone (cause. SERIOUSLY. WHAT. what do I do with that?).

We loaded it up and we finally hit the road at 2 pm. Nothing like being on time... ;)

The GPS was great - we mapped out our itinerary to Page (with stops in Mesquite for potty breaks and a quick trip to Wal-Mart and another stop at Zion National Park). And of course we had our book on tape. Finally I would get to listen to Angels and Demons! Woohoo! After a bit of a slow start (and another trip home because RICK FORGOT HIS JACKET), we were off (for reals this time). I took a little nap for the first 45 minutes or so while Rick drove. We made our pitstop in Mesquite so Rick and I could get Riley's surprise half-birthday present (his own DS since his gameboy is on its last legs). He will get it before the trip is over... :)

Next we drove through Zion. What an amazing place! We didn't get to go to all the cool trailheads (you have to take a shuttle for that), but we still got to drive through and stop and check out some cool sites. We even did a little hiking! The kids loved the cool sandstone rocks and I was actually quite surprised at how much it reminded me of Red Rock Canyon (but on a much larger scale) and how I really need to appreciate what I have taken for granted for so long.

Finally, after 6 hours on the road, we made it to Page. Our hotel here is soooooo ghetto. Which is funny, because I picked it based on the really great reviews it got. So if this is the best Page has to offer, let me just say it: YIKES. At least the pool was kind of fun for the kids (but really, what pool is *not* fun for kids?). I'll let you know tomorrow how the "Continental Breakfast" is...

Right now Rick is sleeping in the bed next to me and the kids are asleep in the other bed. I know I have to do at least one driving shift tomorrow, so I should probably try and get a good night's rest. I left the camera cable in the car so I can't share photos yet, but I will tomorrow (maybe right from the road!).

We are about 1/3 of the way through Angels and Demons and it's really good. I am sad the CDs are in the car and I can't listen to them right now. As it stands, I am sure I will be dreaming of proton accelerators and dismembered eyeballs tonight, so maybe it's good I am not listening to more right before bed.

PHOTOS and more vacation journaling to come tomorrow!

For Sale - 2000 Ford Expedition XLT 4x4

Looking for a great family car that can tow your toys? Have I got the vehicle for you!
We are selling our Ford Expedition to a good home - for well below book value!

$7250 or best offer






2000 Ford Expedition XLT 4x4 Triton V8

Towing Package included

7 passenger (removable back seat)

125,300 miles

DARK tinted windows

Tilt Wheel

ABS (4-Wheel)

Dual Air Conditioning (front and rear)

Cruise Control

Power Steering

AM/FM Stereo with cassette, 6 CD changer, and premium sound

Roof Rack

Power Windows

Power Door Locks and keyless entry

Dual Front Air Bags

Running Boards

Alloy Wheels


High blue book is $8520 and Mid-range blue book value is $7855. It looks and runs great and has been well maintained. Whoever buys it will get a great deal. If you know anyone interested in buying the car, have them call me at 219.8166!

I am a FINALIST!

Hey guys -
If you click on the link to the right ------------------------------->
for my business blog, you will see that I am a finalist for the Idea Cafe $1000 small business grant! This is very exciting because I am using the money for a very special cause. It's up to the voting public to decide who gets the grant money, though... so if you are so inclined, please send a vote my way. And if you know of anyone who might want a free photo shoot with me, check out my Model Search on the same post. :)

So head over to my business blog for the full scoop, and thanks for playing!

First and Last

August 26, 2007... the first day of school.
June 4, 2007... the last day of school.

The kids are so excited about summer vacation! And we have big, fun plans! A family trip to Colorado for a week in June and another trip to Michigan for a week in August! We can't wait! Right now we are enjoying our summer membership at the YMCA so the kids can play and play and play in the pool. And I am desperately trying to find some fun activities to keep them occupied. Right now I am working on little activity buckets for them... I am pulling out some of my old school supplies and math manipulatives and letting them have fun with those. YAY SUMMER!!

Oh and speaking of summer, I got a new "do!"

(photo by Violet Baldwin)

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!

Let's jump for joy!!

I will post first day/last day pics after I take them... haha

ALSO... quick update on the house (and a promise of more photos to come!)... Floors are DONE! I am so proud of Rick. They really look great. Now I want to rip out the carpet everywhere! HA! We got our baseboards and crown moulding installed by a professional - this guy is phenomenal. He will be done tomorrow morning and it looks AMAZING. The crown moulding just frames the whole downstairs just perfectly. I can't believe we lived for so long without it! AND... we are finally (FINALLY) getting shutters installed in the front room and the back slider. I can't believe we have been in here for over 2 years without window coverings in the front rooms! This will also really help us out in our power bill.

Pics will be forthcoming! Can't wait to show you all the finished house :)