Vacation: Waterton

The annual hike to Red Rock Canyon in Waterton:

While Curtis wasn't exactly thrilled about putting his feet in the freezing glacier water...

...he was perfectly happy with a little (okay, a lot) of rock throwing.

Until these guys came along. (Yeah...they were a little too close for comfort.)

So we left. And visited the usual places. Cameron Falls:

And the BEST ice cream place, The Big Scoop. (Their homemade waffle cones are to die for.)

Another fun-filled day in our favorite national park! Pretty awesome, eh?

Vacation: Yellowstone

After a few more slides down our new favorite recreational activity, the Alpine Slide, the Jones family hit the road once more. Today's destination: Yellowstone.

We soon found out one incontrovertible fact: the beauty and miracle of this particular national park was completely and entirely lost on our three little ones.

While Ian and I watched this:

They were stubbornly focused on this:

And this:

Deflated, we left Old Faithful and decided to skip the rest of the park. As we continued through the park I made one last attempt to draw their attention to the fascinating pools on the side of the road. Lindy's response was a thoroughly disgusted, "It's just water, mom."

(Note to self: Don't try Yellowstone until each child is appropriately mature to appreciate the wonders of nature.)

(Second Note to self: Take an RV on that future trip...with a toilet.)

Vacation: Idaho and Jackson Hole

The first leg of our annual Summer Vacation started off with a bang. Or, perhaps I should say it started, then stopped, then started, then stopped, then started, then stopped...with many bangs in between. (We quickly learned not to let Ellie drink an entire QUART-size bottle of water right before leaving the house.)

When we finally reached Grandma's house, the kids were in seventh heaven. With a trampoline, hammocks, and a treasure chest of undiscovered toys...who wouldn't be?

Lindy playing with the animals

Ellie swinging on the hammock

After a good night's sleep, a little play time with grandma, and a nice breakfast, we set off to our next destination, Jackson Hole, WY. We had a couple hours to wait for our hotel room to be ready, so we made our way up the mountain and discovered the Alpine Slide. We had a blast!

Curtis could barely contain his excitement.

I caught a picture of him yelling "I did it!"

Lindy was also fairly thrilled about this fun family activity.

Tomorrow we head for Yellowstone. I can tell the kids are wondering if there will be a slide through those mountains...

Introducing Violet

While I've never been a fan of bovines, I have to admit that there's a special place in my heart for this spiffy little lady. Meet Violet:

She's a fine specimen of timber, paper mache, paint, and glitter, created by a wonderful team of hard-working, float-creating, folks.

As cows go, she was relatively mild-mannered, good with kids, and pretty easy to push around.

And we only had to clean up one "accident" the whole weekend.

And, to top it off...she also earned the 1st place purple ribbon! (Her coloring showed off the ribbon splendidly.) What a cow! And what a FUN parade! Even though it was a million degrees outside, it was fun to be a part of such a great entry.

Dear Float Committee: Way to go, everyone! It was a pleasure working with you all! And, I finally know how to make paper mache clay. That's gotta come in handy somewhere in life, right?

(Oh, and thanks for the cow pie on my doorstep. We needed a good laugh after a long vacation.)

Posing

She learned young to "pose" for the camera. It has mutated into something quite different...apparently she thinks she needs to pose her face/head right next to something.

Go figure.

Pulling Teeth

Proximity

In this semi-adult phase of life I've found that Ian and I often talk about our "next house". You know, the one we're going to buy when we are ridiculously wealthy. The dream house. Perfection. Yup...that one.

We have made many declarations regarding this house. We've discussed the yard, the carpet, the paint, the height of the ceiling, the length of hallways, the width of the entryway, the distance between the master bedroom and kid's rooms, the kitchen appliances, the size of the mud room, etc., etc., etc.

But never before have we paid heed to one tiny little detail: The distance between the tub and the toilet. And why would we? I mean, really...I'm OCD, but I wouldn't have considered it worth mentioning.

Until tonight.

Until we found our wet, naked, previously-in-the-tub, two year-old STANDING in the toilet bowl.

Apparently it was just a little too close. What's a boy to do?

Table Dancing

Swimming and Sunshine

We finally broke down and pulled out the swimming pool and all it's accompanying paraphernalia. While the kids certainly enjoy the pool, their favorites seem to be the buckets and paint brushes which, it should be said, were purchased for a pittance (and worth their weight in gold). They spent most of the day "painting" the concrete,

hanging out in the buckets,

and stealing paintbrushes from sisters when they weren't looking.

And while they had a most remarkable day, with much joy and little fighting...we did learn a tough lesson: mom and/or dad should supervise the sunscreen application a little more closely.

Yeeeouch!

Dental Hygiene

My kids found an old gag binky from when Lindy was a baby.

It's still utterly disturbing yet hilarious at the same time!