Helping in the Kitchen -- September 25

We were making breakfast ahead for tomorrow, and I was browning sausage while Hazel played with the whisks and other kitchen implements.  I noticed her nibbling on the cheese, but I clearly wasn't watching as closely as I thought because the next thing I knew she was relocating all of my grated cheese and sliced peppers to the other end of the counter.  Note the serious face!  Cooking is serious business, clearly.  She helped me put it all in a bowl, and moved on to playing with an empty egg carton.

Lounging -- September 25

Soggy Vedauwoo -- September 21

The skies were a beautiful and cloudless blue, but we've actually had a lot of rain lately.  Not as much as the folks in Colorado, where there has been a lot of flooding, but plenty to keep everyone inside for a while.  The water level made it look like spring, and everything was a little mushy.  We kept having to pick Hazel up and carry her over the muddy spots.

Happy Vivian -- September 18

It's a Beautiful Day in this Neighborhood -- September 18

The three of us girls try to take a walk at least once a day, just to get outside, especially while it's still so nice.  This day, we stopped by the playground on the way home.  Hazel is now quite proficient at climbing up and sliding down all by herself.

Emma stands watch by the stroller, as usual.

Vivian was snuggled up in the marshmallow suit, which is still adorably huge at this point. It keeps her toasty even though she doesn't quite fit it yet.

Hazel has started walking the dog lately.  She gets really excited about this.  Emma is a pretty good sport, and she behaves just as well for Hazel as she does for us, except that she does get a little confused sometimes about what Hazel wants.  

Hanging out With Dad -- September 15

Vedauwoo -- September 14

We found a perfect new spot to walk up at Vedauwoo-- it is not heavily used, the trail follows a creek so it's pretty and green, the trail is almost all flat so Hazel can walk, and it smells lovely this time of year.  This particular day, Hazel walked at least 1/2 a mile.  She was collecting rose hips, which she calls apples.  We have crab apple trees in the neighborhood, and Hazel likes to pick a few when we walk by.

On the way back to the car, Hazel fell asleep in the carrier. Vivian, again, spent the whole adventure snoozing away.

Toting -- September 12

Smiles! - September 11

It's not the best picture, but Vivian started smiling on the 6th and this was the first time we managed to capture it. It's so nice to have her smiling!  Smiles make life so much nicer.

Go Cowboys! -- September 7

We attended the home opener for the football team, and had a pretty good time.  

Hazel was a little overwhelmed at first, but she got used to the noise and even started cheering eventually.  She likes clapping, and a football game is a good event for producing a lot of claps.  Especially when the home team is doing well!

It was Vivian's first major sporting event (notice that even Vivian is wearing her brown and gold!). She was six weeks old for this, almost exactly the same age to the day that Hazel was when she went to her first Minnesota Twins game.  

There was a weather delay because lightning was spotted in the area, and we had to wait almost 40 minutes in the rain for play to resume.   We were grateful to be under an overhang so that we could stay dry.  If not for for the delay, we would have made it through the whole game, but we left towards the end of the 4th quarter.

The Cowboys beat the Idaho Vandals 42-10 in the end.

It was the first annual "Celebrate Energy Day."  We celebrated the fact that we in the state of Wyoming power America by handing out free t-shirts and honoring the energy companies who sponsored the day with footballs at halftime.  

Mango? -- September 5

Hazel first had mango with Grandpa Van in Wilsall this spring. We didn't talk about mangoes much after that until the end of the summer, when we picked up a few at the grocery store.  Now many things are mangoes, including this very large yellow squash that Nellie's dad brought back from Washington.

Talking and Drawing Videos-- September 3

This is Hazel noticing her crayons and deciding to draw with them. 

"Munny" is Hazel's word for "bunny," which is interesting, because she has lots of words that start with "B" (bottle, baby, blanket, bounce).  Here, she is requesting that I draw her a bunny.  Bunnies are the most common request, although she also likes to have us draw pictures of family members.  

Drawing -- September 2

We tried our hand and making chalk.  One color turned out pretty well, and the other was a little too much like chalk that has been out in the rain.  We had fun trying it out in the driveway.

Wyoming vs. Nebraska -- September 1

Wyoming opened up the football season with a road game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.  We went over to Nana and Grandad's to watch the game, and didn't really expect it to be that great. Nebraska is ranked, and we...aren't.  But the Cowboys hung in there and gave those Huskers a run for their money.  It ended up a 37-34 win for Nebraska, but we had fun watching, and were proud of the Cowboys for a change.