Combine Fun

If there was anything I could really live without it would be a combine.  And lets just throw in the fact that I am super allergic to grain dust and Quinn hates the combine (because he is always working on it) and you can see why I could live without it.  But Andrew loved it!  Thomas loves the combine.  Where did these kids come from?  Andrew was a super helper this year.  He would hold the bolts and nuts for his dad.  Big Helper!!! This is on the field by Pescadero road. 

Ode to a Woodpile

If I was a poet I would write a poem about a wonderful old woodpile.  But I'm not so I won't be writing one anytime soon.  So when we bought the farm we inherited a wood pile.  Then when we remodeled the house we increased the wood pile.  Well I have thought that it would be nice to not have said wood pile there but until this fall Quinn didn't feel the need to do anything with it.  But he had to get into the shed right by it and couldn't so that spurred him into action.  So he enlisted a few employee's and a few neighbors (they wanted the wood for fuel for the winter) and they got rid of the Huge Wood Pile!!  It was big if you don't remember seeing it.  I unfortunately didn't get a before picture.   But here is an after picture.

 So some of it was so old that he just burned it.  He dug big pits with the backhoe and then put the wood in it then burned it.  Let's just say that he started this in the dark so that the neighbors and people driving by called me and asked what was going on.  But he got it done, eventually.

New to us Truck

 Well like all things around here all good things must come to an end.  The Burnt Orange truck is dead.  Yes dead is a good word.  It has definitely had its moments but it's moment has moved on.  So we had to have another truck.  (yes I am quoting Quinn) So we bought this ford from the neighbor.  It's a good little truck and its a 1995.  The year I graduated from high school.  Good way to remember right?  Nolan has claimed it as his own.  I'm not sure why since he can't drive legally for a few more years.  Who knows what will happen between now and then. 

Pack Meeting Refreshments

Okay so I should have taken some pictures of my kids doing Cub scouts but instead I took a picture of these cute kids eating ice cream sticks.  Becca is on the far left and then Paisley Lloyd and then Oakley Lloyd and then Andrew.  Paisley and Oakley are Shawn and Tasja Lloyd's children.  They are SOOOOO cute!!!  I just want to kiss their cheeks every time I see them!!! Oakley let me hold her for a good 5 minutes that night!!!  Whoohoo!!!

Intermittent Springs In Afton Wyoming

So for Labor Day (yes it is true, we did not Labor on Labor day, o.k. we did a little) we went over to Afton, Wyoming with Grandma Dana and the Higley family and went to Intermittent Spring.  It is a natural spring that starts and stops.  It fills a cavern and then flows till the cavern is empty.  It was awesome.  We got to actually see it stop and start.  So it was beautiful on the drive up!!  So I took lots of pictures. 

 The kids found these slugs and put them in my car!!!  Lets just say they were not dead and were on my windows!!

 I thought this was super cute of Becca and Cassidy holding hands.

 So here is the spring flowing.  It comes right out of the mountain.

 Here is the top of the spring.

 This is us walking up to the mouth of the spring.

 The trail got a little steep and it made me fairly nervous with Andrew.

 At one point of the trail I looked up and saw this above my head.  Talk about a flash flood area.

 What cute kids. 

 Here is the head of the spring.  You will notice that there is no water flowing out.

 Thomas decided not to be in the picture with the other kids.  I think he was nervous that he would get stuck above the spring. 

 So we were waiting for the spring to start up again and it started to rain.  At first it seemed like a light mist and then we got a little concerned that it was going to get worse.  Of coarse we had no rain coats or anything because it was such a beautiful day when we hiked up there.  Can you see the trees growing out of the rock?  I thought it was cool.

 Here is Thomas headed down the trail.

 When we were a little ways down I looked back up and saw that the spring had started again.  I sacrificed and pulled out the camera to get a shot.  By this point is was raining a little more.

 So we got back to the cars and lets just say we could literally wring the water out of our clothes.   I stripped the kids down and put them in blankets and wrung out their clothes.  All while I was under the back hatch of my van.  We were SOAKED!!  But it was fun and a great day.  This is a picture of the falls on the way back down.  It's hard to see it in all the mist.

Happy, Happy, Birthday Baby! Nolan!

Nolan wanted crepes so bad for his birthday this year.  So I got up extra early and made him crepes!!  Wasn't that nice of me?  I think he turned 12 but it's hard to know.  He tends to act two-ish but he is almost as tall as me so it's really hard to know. 

 Isn't he so cute when he's sleepy?

 He did have some help opening his presents.

 Andrew really loved the box that the sleeping bag came it.

 It's a nice and big.  Big enough for two.

 Andrew loved to roll up in the pad.  He thought it was hilarious.

 Here is Nolan's birthday meal!  We had peach pie and banana cream pie!  It was yummy.