Cool, Snakes!!

 We took the boys to see the "Zoo Lights" at the Smithsonian National Zoo in D.C.  Mainly to cross it off the list of things we must do while we live here in Virginia. 
 I had no idea what to expect actually.  There was a blurb on the radio about it. They said it was free admission, cool lights, why not?

Cooper wanted to be the photographer of the evening, it was a tricky time of day to get things set right but over all, he had some good shots.  This water fall had changing lights- red to blue to yellow to green.  The green lights made the boys instantly think of " A snot water fall, COOL!!!!"

 
 
 
 

I know lots of people don't enjoy the Reptile house at the Zoo.  Some folks just ignore it and walk on by.  That NEVER happens on the outings we have to zoos.  We love creepy crawlies. As long as they are behind glass.

 Yep, we  like 'em just fine. In fact, we had a pretty great time wandering about the Reptile house together.

This guy was snoozing away! He looked rather comfy on his perch wouldn't you say?  The boys got a kick out of seeing all these creepy, scaled creatures.  Even the teen-ager, who was dragging his feet, almost kicking and screaming to go out the door.  Poor child.  Forced to have fun with the family.  He'd better get over it. 

Christmas is next week!

I have always loved winter.  I grew up in Southern Idaho and we are blessed with 4 glorious seasons.  Unlike Texas where my dear hub hails from. In Austin it is either hot and muggy or burning hot and muggy. I really can't get used to it.  I applaud my family that can. I remember when I was about 4 years old having our house entirely snowed in.  My kids have never seen snow like that!

We get snow days for inches of snow here in Virginia, bad roads, etc. I understand. But I would love it if we really could get a real deal snow.  Right now my wonderful friends in Ohio are up to their ankles in snow, I am jealous. That is my Christmas wish this year.  A White Christmas.  We are not separated as a family this year, as so many military families are.  We don't have a family health crisis. We have had those in the past.  My husband works Christmas Eve, but not Christmas Day.  We are blessed. I hope we can ease the pinch for some families in our area, we were once one of those families that lived a very small way. Small birthdays, small holidays. Now we have a little extra and can give. Merry Christmas to all!!!

A Ball of fun in the Fall

We set our course for the much acclaimed and highly entertaining Brumbaugh's a few weeks ago.  Well after a few wrong turns and a scenic route later, we arrived to find some serious Fall fun.  Not only do they have delicious apple cider, there is a bakery offering fresh doughnuts.  It smelled divine.  They have a hay ride, story book forest, mini-zip line, mazes and a 40 ft slide.

First we had to check out the hand pump duck races. 

Can you see Jeremy hiding behind the chicken coop?  The camera was out and he was not about to let me document his shenanigans.

 

 

 

Summer Sillies

Sometimes the daily questions of "what are we gonna do today?" have good, bad and ugly answers.  I love it when we have spontaneous fun times to fill our days.  For example.....Hitting a school playground to be crazy with our buddies!

Check

out super Zeb on the jungle gym and speedy Miss Leizl crusin' on by.

Our buddy Ike here, rocking the tuff Tonka bike, seriously it weighs almost as much as he does!

               Austin and his totally great ride...borrowed from our pal. Such a turkey.

Jeremy was DIEING to ride this toy. I have no idea what its called, but as soon as the girls abandoned it, he claimed it. Heeeeer's METTA! We love this little sweetie to bits.  She loves my boys. Plus we get to hangout in Nursery, where all the cool kids are.

 
 

Look at her smile! Our friend Ava, so darn funny and cute.

 

 

 

         Look out, here comes little Cora! Cooper refused to let me take his picture, but that is his arm.  He shadowed Cora all around she is so precious.

 

 

Cheese! Mr. ethan

shocker he has his shoes off! Really though

that black top had to have been hot!  We had

such fun with our buddies, so glad we have

these great times of silliness

and summertime.

Proud to be a country bumpkin.

A country girl, like myself hopes that when given the chance to get down and dirty out on the farm, that the next generation steps up and jumps in with both feet.  My boys did not disappoint.  Off they went to my Uncle's farm south of my home town Burley to Oakley,  to be given a day in the life. 

 

 

 

I won't lie, they got to ride in MUCH better equipment than I did when I was little.  These babies are fully equipped with AC, cup holders  and GPS.

 

 

 

Cooper had such a blast.  I don't think he stopped grinning, until he had to switch out of that sweet tractor to give someone else a turn. 

 

 

 

Jeremy and his cousin Paige cruised in this 40 foot massive monter of a combine my cousin Brandon was "test driving". Good golly what a beast!

 

 

So here you can see the grain getting shot into the hopper, classic Idaho beauty right there.

 

Such dirty, happy, crazy bunch of young-uns, one thing can totally tell you these are city boys, THE SHORTS!! Grain is so flippin' itchy.

 

Ethan, Austin and cousin Harrison (he lives down the road a piece from the farm) made sure that they crushed as many dirt clods as possible.  I wouldn't expect any thing less from them. Makes a momma proud.

 

I have the bestest brothers, right there is my oldest bro Cody, he took all my boys out to the farm along with his 2 girlies that day and it wasn't always a picnic.  This day trip literally took all day long, they had to switch fields, fuel up, and of course it wasn't a real experience with out a break down. I love my country roots.

Road trip to Burley

This summer we had a heck of a lot going on in July and August.  To be honest though, having it all packed in like that instead of spread out over the entire summer (like last year) made it bearable.

We loaded up to drive all the way out to Grandpa and Grandma Larsen's house.  Headquarters for all things cowboy. It's pure heaven for the 4 ruffians that call me Mom. This year we had some time for more than riding the horses, we played on the river too.

My super fantastic cousin and his kiddos took us all out for some wet and crazy fun on the Snake.  This boat was SO fun.  All the kids took rides on the huge tube, on occasion bodies went flying.  That was when the riders in the boat would jump off the boat and swim in the water...Ethan was particularly excited to jump again and again.

I did not Drown and other things

The end of July meant Triathlon time in Burley.  I have been training since February, with a slight derail when my ankle got hurt doing a workout with Justin.  With all that behind me though, I was pretty nervous and excited.

 

This is the only place anyone will find a picture because folks, that outfit doesn't need public viewing.  I found out later that the announcer at the finish line was my Dad's friend, so my intro was a little bit more detailed than the average Joe.  that was pretty cool.  At this moment I was so beat.  The altitude nearly killed me.  But hey, I didn't drown.