Climbing on the Turtle -- July 13

There is a really nice playground in Red Hook, and we went 3 or 4 times while we were there.  It has a great little kid playground separate from the big kid part.  Hazel was especially fond of the turtle, and she was worried that it was a sad turtle.  Vivian particularly liked playing and hiding in the tunnel.

The return journey was a bit unpleasant, we hit weather in Denver again, but this time from the air.  Our flight from Dulles to Denver left the ground on time, but we were unable to land until more than an hour and a half after we were supposed to. The pilot had just announced that the flight attendants were to prepare for landing, and we would be on the ground in 15 minutes, when air traffic control sent us into a holding pattern over Alamosa for what was supposed to be about 45 minutes and then was extended...and extended...and extended.  

We missed our flight to Laramie, and United rescheduled us for a 1 PM flight the next day.  I ended up in tears at the GreenRide shuttle bus counter, where a nice young woman managed to get us onto a shuttle to Laramie,  Andrew could have rescued us, but we would have been home at about 4 AM. The nice United customer service people refunded our flight, gave us vouchers for our next plane trip (!) and meal vouchers, and they were very apologetic that they couldn't do more.  I was grateful that I didn't have to spend the night in DIA with a two year old and a one year old!  I think we will drive next time ;).

*For folks who print pictures--these were taken on my cell phone, and they just aren't very big, so they may not print well!

Airplane to Denver -- July 11

My mom's father, Grandpa Frank, passed away on July 3rd.  We saw him last in March, 2013, when Hazel was about 11 months old.  He gave us house buying advice this spring when we were still looking for a house, hopefully he would approve of our choice!  Grandpa Frank had been doing poorly off and on for a while, but it was so unexpected to have him gone so suddenly.  He left behind a community in Red Hook very grateful for all of his work on the school board, his work with the Red Hook Education Foundation, his time helping high school students write their college admissions essays, and other community involvement.  

You can find Grandpa Frank's obituary here.

Hazel and Vivian and I flew out to be there with my mom and to be there for Grandpa Frank's memorial on the 12th of July.  The first flight, from Laramie to Denver, was great.  Vivian liked looking out the window, and Hazel got a kick out of how bumpy it was in the wind in the little plane.  

Hazel played "lunch" most of the flight, asking for pretend food and eating it. She at a lot of hot dogs.

After this, we had a flight from Denver to Dulles.  We ended up sitting on the runway for an hour and a half before they would let us take off because of lightning, and that ate away almost all of our layover in Dulles.  Dulles was a nightmare-- we came in on a big plane, but were leaving on a tiny plane and had to switch terminals even though we didn't switch airlines.  In Dulles, the way the major signs point you ends up being a ridiculous journey with a stroller, up and down 6 or 7 elevators.  It's also just really  far.  

By the time we got near the gate, the boards said that our flight from Dulles to Albany was closed,  and there was no one left at the gate to tell us otherwise.  The sign had switched over for a flight to somewhere in North Carolina, and to have missed it was so disheartening after rushing so far and long just to g et to the gate.  We went to the customer service desk and we had just gotten to speak with a representative when I heard Hazel's name over the PA system.   

It turned out that were holding the flight for us, and we actually managed to make it on that plane.  The nicest flight attendant ever helped us get settled in, and was very reassuring.  The people around us could have been grouchy with us, but they were all very kind. The woman in front of us played peek-a-boo with Vivi.  I was so grateful to be on the ground in Albany, and to see my mom and my great-aunt Betsy waiting for us!  Even our suitcase and car seats made it.  We still had over an hour to drive to get to Red Hook, but both little girls were tired enough to sleep in the car, and I carried both of them into bed without anyone really waking up.

The next day was the memorial, and it was just a very hard day. 

Crazy Mountains -- July 7

We went up for a short walk in the Crazies before we had to go home.  Hazel was most excited about the water in the creek next to where we parked the car, until we found a few cows.

 The view was pretty great, it was a very clear and sunny day, with just enough clouds to keep the view more interesting.

Because of our camera issues, there aren't any pictures of the big dinner my dad's cousin Ray hosted at the Guth Ranch, with various relatives from around the region.  There are also no pictures of Ned, Cindy, Caity, or Eric, but it was great to see all of them! Hazel had a great time playing with Caity and Caity was super helpful with watching little girls when we were trying to get things done.  It was great to catch up with Eric too, who is also all grown up now and is headed back for his second year of college at Whitworth University in Spokane, WA.  Next time, I will not lose my camera.  At least not in such a ridiculously obvious place.

Yellowstone -- July 6

We went back to Wilsall for the 4th of July, and managed to make a trip down to Yellowstone while we were there.  There are not many pictures from this Montana trip because I couldn't find the camera -- which ended up being in my purse the whole time.  We borrowed Granny's camera for the trip to Yellowstone.  We went in the North Entrance to the park, which goes under the Roosevelt Arch.  

This part of Yellowstone reminded us a lot of home.

We spent the early part of the day walking around the boardwalk at Mammoth Hot Springs.

A nice German man visiting the park with his family offered to take a picture of all of us.  Poor Vivian is hiding in the backpack, but she was there!

We went back towards the visitor's center to find a place to eat our lunch on the grass, and we were hoping to find a spot in the shade because it was quite hot.  It was a bit of a challenge because there were elk hanging out precisely where we would have liked to eat our lunch.  Unlike these folks, we did *not* get unsafely close to the elk, nor did we get yelled at by park rangers.

The area behind the church, under the trees, was open and a nice park ranger told us we were welcome to eat our lunch back there.

After lunch, we thought we would try one small hike, so we ventured a whole half mile or so out to Wraith Falls, which was pretty and noisy.  Hazel fell asleep in the backpack, but it was such a short walk that she didn't get much of a nap.  She never fell asleep again.

At this point, the camera battery died.  We took a beautiful drive continuing east though the park to Tower Falls, where we saw another waterfall, and enjoyed a Wilcoxson's Fudge Bar at the gift shop, and hydrated.  We kept expecting the little girls to fall asleep in the car, which they did not.  We saw one small black bear, a few buffalo, and there were a number of other critters on the side of the road that other folks were looking at.  We made it back to Livingston in time to have pizza for supper, and everyone was happy and exhausted by the end of the day.

Baby on the stairs II -- July 2

Vivi discovered the stairs at Nana and Grandad's, and up she went!

Hazel was learning to do these stairs at almost exactly the same age, because we didn't have any at our house in St. Paul.  If you're interested, you can see those pictures here.

Both girls in the pool -- July 2

The water was warm enough that I thought Vivi would be fine in the pool with Hazel, so both girls got swim suits on and splashed around for a while.  Vivian could crawl around because the water was shallow enough, so she chased the yellow ball and pool noodle around.  She also splashed and giggled.  Hazel continued her watering project by watering a patch of grass that gets missed by the sprinklers.

Doctor Hazel -- July 1

Hazel is all about playing doctor right now, and Vivian is generally a willing patient.  She checked Vivi's heart and lungs, and Vivi was fairly content with the appointment.  Hazel is not quite so excited about actually going to the doctor's office, she has gotten more anxious about that recently.

Washington Park in the morning -- July 1

We started going to the park fairly early some mornings, because it's still cool and because there aren't very many people there that time of day.  Hazel collected a big pile of sticks and got adventurous climbing on the playground equipment.

Vivian spent some time on the swings, and then she had fun climbing up to the yellow slide on her own.

Pool time -- June 30

Vivian started out wearing long sleeves, but we changed that pretty quickly.  If we fill the pool in the morning after breakfast, the water is very warm and comfortable for splashing in by the late afternoon.

Hazel learned to put this bottle under the water until it stops bubbling to fill it up, and then she watered some potted trees waiting to be planted.