Category: Uncategorized

Playin’ with the boy

Ollie’s about a year and a half old now, and he’s a ton of fun. Pepper and I had the opportunity to babysit him for a few hours, and we had a great time outside.

He loves pushing this Tonka dump truck up and down the sidewalks for blocks around the apartment. (Note: it’s not actually his truck; it usually just sits in the courtyard of the apartment complex and is apparently a communal truck for all the little kids.)

We went to the park, which was about half a mile away. His little legs got tired, so he got to ride “up high” with grandpa.

He loved the swing.

The slide was super lame, though. Grandma tried to make it fun, but basically the two of them just kind of slowly scootched down it, squeaking the whole way.

It’s fun to watch him explore and learn about the world. Before we know it, he’ll be a surly teenager who just wants to play video games and stare at his phone. I guess we should enjoy these days while we can!

That’s a big watermelon

Green River, Utah is apparently known for its… watermelons? I don’t know what that’s all about. But there are melon stands everywhere in town (admittedly not a very big town) and a gigantic wooden watermelon slice sitting in a parking lot. So, naturally…

Moody skies

After the storm…

… comes the light.

The funny thing is, these photos are completely unrelated. They were taken almost two weeks and a thousand miles apart. But I still think they’re cool.

Cuivre River

Today we gathered up the fam and went on a hike in Cuivre River State Park. I love saying “Cuivre River”… catchy. We circumnavigated Lake Lincoln, which is a pretty little lake which happens to be (pointed out by Kari) shaped like a cat.

Katy

With beautiful weather again, Mom and Dad suggested we hop on some bikes and ride along the Katy Trail. It’s a 240-mile path along old railroad tracks, generally following the Missouri River through the center of the state. Dad led the way and set the pace: a breezy 15mph. The scenery was great.

In all I think we covered a little over twenty miles. The day before, we’d done something like twelve on trails near the community college.

It was good to get out on a bike again; we don’t have much opportunity to do it around Montana.

Main Street

Mom suggested we go for a walk along historic Main Street in St Charles while we were visiting. The weather was gorgeous, so we headed down to the riverfront and spent a few hours walking along the sidewalks, brick streets, and bike trails.

There were odd statues of dogs scattered about…

And a statue of Lewis and Clark as they set out on their historic expedition:

The old buildings and the streets were really cool.

In December we plan to return, this time to enjoy their Christmas celebration. For now we just basked in the crisp fall sunlight.

Super Dad

In preparation for a new TV stand, Mom and Dad decided to dismantle and donate their old entertainment center. This thing was a beast and took us nearly an hour to break apart. At one point, Dad and I had to heft the top portion while Mom and Pepper unscrewed a bunch of cables. Dad makes it look easy!

Skull King FTW

Cindy and her kids visited us earlier in the summer, and she returned the favor when we were in Colorado on our epic road trip by letting us crash at her house for a night. The kids had a blast playing Skull King with us, so when Brooke heard that we were coming to see them, she was all ready with her deck. We showed up at their house kind of late in the evening, and it was her bedtime, which made her very sad.

However, she struck upon an idea: “What if all of us get up at 5:30 tomorrow morning so we can play Skull King before school?” And she was quite serious. She was willing to set her alarm and be ready at the kitchen table, if only we’d get up with her. Now that’s dedication!

As it turned out, we did play before school, but not at 5:30. She was a fierce competitor.

I’m hoping Brooke comes back to visit us next summer so we can see her indomitable spirit again…