Hazel Mows the Lawn -- May 18

Hazel discovered that it was fun to help push the lawnmower, and it's possible that her joy in mowing will be a primary motivation for mowing regularly this summer.

Chickens Visit the Out of Doors -- May 17

In the Backyard -- May 15

The new backyard is great--lots of grass, a place for swinging, and plenty of space.  One swing was a gift from Abbi last year, and the other was here when we got here.

And a nice picture of Hazel with Grandad from that evening:

Vivi's New Room -- May 15

Hop on Trolley -- May 14

Hazel decided that this bookshelf was a trolley (sometimes it was a train) and she would take a picnic with her and say goodbye.  Vivian got to come along too.

Montana -- May 7-11

We had been planning and hoping to make it to Montana to visit with family for Memorial Day this year, but we ended up going earlier.  Granny Z passed away on May 2, in her room at the Livingston Health and Rehabilitation Center.  The funeral was in Livinston on May 8, and we drove up the day before after Andrew finished with work.

There were a lot of pansies, her favorite flower.  We were so sorry to have missed her.

It was nice to see Grandpa Van, Christina, Ned, Cindy, Caity, and Eric (although he had to rush back to school for finals week).  Ned facilitated an opportunity for Hazel to see the baby cows up close, and she asked Christina to do her hair and refused to let me put her ponytail in.  Vivian had a rough time, she was teething and had a fever.  Cindy ran down to Clyde Park for us one evening so that we could give her some baby Tylenol, which totally turned her mood around.  It rained a lot, but we did make it out for a walk on the hill behind the house.

We left on Sunday morning, and we should have been home at a fairly reasonable hour, except that there was a snow storm and most of the roads closed.  We stopped in Casper with our friends Mike and Sherril, and they fed us supper and let us use their computer to check the roads.  We ended up taking a back way into Laramie that was open against the odds, and after crawling, going about 30 mph, driving about 2 more hours than we had intended, we made it back to Laramie.  The roads were all closed by the time we got home, including the one we had been on.
This is what the view out the back door looked like the next morning:

Granny's obituary can be found here:
http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/announcements/obituaries/chloris-guth-zimmerman/article_f28ee8f8-2b7d-5cb2-b146-d26052a7075e.html

Vedauwoo (Outside Again at Last!)-- May 3

It had been cold and miserable for over a week, and we finally escaped to the out of doors.  Hazel had just gotten used to being able to got to the park regularly, to to riding her bicycle.  And then it was cold and snowy for days and days.

Hazel walked a lot, and she was tired on the way back.  Andrew carried her in the backpack, and I carried Vivian.

First Ponytail -- May 1

Baby in a Backpack -- April 26

Hazel got a new baby doll with a backpack for her birthday, and she was determined to take her baby out for a walk in the backpack.  She also insisted that I carry Vivian in the big backpack--no stroller.

She has since named the baby Isaac.

Vivi at the Vee Bar -- April 26

We went out to the Vee Bar for an early anniversary celebration and brought Vivi along.  She had a good time, and enjoyed eating their homemade bread.  She also enjoyed cake.

Dressing Up -- April 24

Tea Party -- April 24

Hazel has been having a lot of tea parties lately, and Vivian is generally up for participating.

Monkey and Kangy shared the little chair, and the big bear sat in the little rocking chair.  Hazel and Vivi took the floor.  One of Hazel's new favorite library books, Tea Rex, involves a tea party.