Sunday, July 24, 2011

Summer Pictures (part 6)

























We took a day "off" to just play and relax. That afternoon, I took the kids up to our favorite park as there is a beautiful strip behind the playground of huge trees and green, green grass. I hoped to get some pictures of them - decent pictures with no fake cheese faces. We gathered all of our gear, changes of clothes (just in case), and of course... jelly beans.



That being said... my pictures don't do justice to the scenery. I loved seeing how little the kids were compared to these giant trees that have probably been there since Idaho Falls was "born" if not much, much longer. Anyway, we had fun. Carter managed to 'treat' himself to a few jelly beans to the point that juice was running out of his mouth and down his shirt. Laney fell off a tree stump, and I swore she broke her neck. I can't quite crouch like I used to seeing as I can't bend at the waist much these days. And while super pretty, wide open spaces to run are just that. So... there weren't too many "sit here" opportunities. Other than that... just another day in the park! :)


Of course Grandma came and saved the day at the end. I managed to get some REAL smiles. I would love to make this our 'picture place' and get some shots there on each of our visits to see how the kiddos have grown. Next year... there will be one more to chase around :)

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Thursday, July 14, 2011

Bear World (part 5)



Our next stop was Bear World! There are lots of pictures in this one, so 'bear' with me.

Lame, I know.


All of the rides were included in the price of admission, so the kids could ride whatever they wanted as many times as they wanted. This may have been even better than the bears to them. Grandma was a trooper and rode with the kids when I couldn't. "Chicken Little" didn't always want to go by herself, and I literally couldn't get in some of the rides.





After watching this one and realizing it only spun around silly when you turned the wheel (which I didn't encourage in ours), I hopped in the big bear. This was pretty benign.


























So I got on the car ride with Laney. I was twisted up like a pretzel and THEN bumped in the air to boot. Grandma made it look easy, so I decided to give her a break and try it out for myself. Not my best decision of the day, but I managed to avoid delivering my child at Bear World.

Of course we hit the petting zoo, too. Laney wasn't so sure about it, but Carter wanted to feed everything. A lot.








The little goats would wait for people to come up to the machines and just stick their mouths at the bottom. This hard-headed goat met his match when C decided to get some food out.



















Who could pass up this photo op? I wish someone would have gotten a picture of the 'behind the scene' - literally. Grandma was holding up Laney somehow, and I was on one foot while Carter was sitting on one of my legs.







These little guys were SOOO CUTE. For a $$, of course, you could feed them a bottle. Honestly, I could have watched them play all day. The kids only had so much patience for it, and then it was back to the rides.





We took a 'Curator Tour' of the facility to see all of the critters. We were able to drive through with our own car, too, but you had to leave the windows up and not stop, so pictures weren't really an option then.



The tour guide handed out a basket of food for each person at the beginning of the tour. Different food types for the different animals. These pictures are actually in opposite order of the way we went, but that's ok. You get the idea.





The guide said there were about 45 bears in the park. We didn't see all of them; some were snoozing in their hidey-holes, some were just hiding in the grass. Many would move from stop to stop with us to get the most food. All of the bears in the next few shots are Black Bears - even if their fur isn't. And I think all of these bears were born in captivity. None were plucked from their mommies in the middle of Yellowstone or anything. No need for PETA. :) The park started off as a place for 'acting' bears to come in the off season. They then got their rehab license.








This is Rusty. He is one of the bigger guys at the park. I think the lady said he weighed about 600 pounds. Hard to tell from the picture, but he was pretty hefty! Funny story... there are several scheduled stops along the route for people to feed the animals. It's a BIG rule, the only rule really, that you can't feed until the truck comes to a stop. Don't want to hurt the animals. We found Rusty waiting for us, literally, at the last stop. About 2 stops ahead, you could see him sitting on the side of the road on his bottom just hanging out. He was right by the 'designated stop' sign. It was pretty cute.




Nice Dollar store shades, huh? They didn't have any girly ones, so L got stuck with the black ones. The fashionable Hello Kitty glasses got left in the car at home.








This is one of three wolves they have on the premises. He is a Timber wolf and was actually a little scared of the bread. Laney had no problem with the Black bears and Grizzlies we were feeding, but she got a little anxious when the wolf came up. Go figure.




They clearly know the drill here.
















This is Bridgette. She is one of the few Grizzlies they have. The Gs are kept separate as they are a bit territorial. They are also the only bears who get meat. The other bears get protein pellet type food.





The other animals were kept in a different area for obvious reasons. The white Elk was really pretty. Not albino, just white. There is actually a white Elk baby there as well, but I didn't get a good picture of him. Very pretty, very rare.






A few bison, too...





Some sweet deer who knew we had some yummy stuff for them.






Goats... and babies up there somewhere...


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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Funland and Park (part 4)

That Monday morning, the kids and I stayed home and played while Grandma got to catch up on some things. We enjoyed lunch out on the patio, and then the kids got to catch up on naps from our adventures the day before.



After naps, we headed up to 'Funland' for some rides and sno cones.








As Funland was closing, we grabbed our sno cones and headed for the bike/ skate park. The kids loved watching the 'big boys' do tricks on their bikes and boards. I told Janet she was responsible for anything Carter tried to imitate at home!










We moved over to the 'big bowl' area where the kids could get a closer look at the tricks. At one point, we noticed a little girl waiting very patiently on her pretty pink and white bike. She couldn't have been more than 10. Anyway, the guys were nice to her and gave her a chance to 'show her stuff' on the ramps. She did a great job, and Laney commented: "Wowie Kazoowie - that was cool." She then got this funny look on her face and said, "Hey, I used to have a bike like that." REALLY??? WHEN???


Moving on from the bike/ skate park, Carter and Grandma started a pine cone tossing contest where I became the target. I guess I was probably the biggest and easiest target around! Laney, of course, continued her musical performance for any and all who would watch. She makes me dizzy just watching her.





As Carter picked her up, we could hear Laney saying, "Be gentle, be gentle..."




We ended our afternoon with a playground tour around the park. There are several different areas with play equipment, and I think we played on everyone that day. Another Laney funny (that you had to be there to appreciate): The kids were running across the field to get to the next stop, but they had to cross a driveway first. We told them to run to the trees, but do NOT cross the road. Of course, Carter was running a little bit faster than Sister, but we heard her calling to him saying, "Tartar, don't cross the street, ok??????" And his response, as usual, was a wave and an "OK!!!!!!!!!!"

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Sunday, July 10, 2011

Farmer's Market and Cabin (part 3)




Our first Saturday in town, we hit the Farmer's Market. Our favorite pancake people were there along with many others. Carter enjoyed some free strawberry shortcake - and mine, and Laney's. We also had the most fabulous kettle corn (and I'm not always a fan) and some yummy, yummy peaches. C&L helped Grandma pick out a turtle for her flowerbed and Laney helped Grandma pick out some jewelry. We were pretty loaded up when we went home.





After naps, we headed outside and played for a while. I am sure we went to a park or something - so many great places to just run and play. Anyway, we had dinner on the patio and enjoyed some evening entertainment from the kiddos: a Laney concert and lots of Carter gymnastics.








This picture makes me laugh for some reason. Looks like Turtle is giving C the evil eye.








Sunday morning we loaded up and headed for the Cabin - or as the kids call it "Grandma's Mountain Cabin." (Everything is Grandma's Mountain -----. Even the library was called 'Grandma's Mountain House Library.') It's only about a 45 min- an hour drive and a really pretty one at that. We were about 15 minutes out when G, GG, and I started talking about some funny stories that happened last year at the cabin. I mentioned something about the key to the gate and they both gasped. No one brought a key to the cabin OR the gate. We decided to eat lunch first and then hunt for a way in second. Carter kept asking where the cabin was, and I told him we already past it. We just wanted to drive all the way to Wyoming for lunch. Of course he didn't understand that, but...


Long story short, we found an open gate and the spare key. Actually, Grandma had to do some pretty fancy crawling in the hidey-hole to find the key, but we got in. The kids went on a nature walk with Grandma while I drove around and tried to look for some photo ops. I think most of them are the same ones I got last year! And the rest turned out horrible as my camera settings were all off. Anyway, it was still nice to just take in the view. The kids started to get a little antsy and I was afraid they were going to break something, so we didn't stay TOO long. They didn't cooperate with any pictures, of course, but I got a few. I found the perfect little spot on a log among some wildflowers, but their faces were absolutely pitiful.






























View from the road in.





My favorite view of the day. It did warm up QUITE a bit by the afternoon, but still nothing like home!



We grabbed a quick bite for dinner on the way home. Thankful IF has Sonic!! We missed the notorious ice cream stop on the way, so the kids had a bit after dinner. L wore most of hers.






No dinner ( or any event) is complete without a little L song and dance.

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