Colter Bay

After 1140 miles of driving we are camped at colter bay, Grand Tetons National park.  Go figure that cell phone coverage is spotty in such a popular place, but we could surf the web in the middle of nowhere on the drive here.  Hopefully we will get some canoeing in tomorrow because thunderstorms are imminent tonight.

Fossils

The boy was in no mood to be posing for pictures.  We took an hour detour to look at some fossils get the kids some excersize.

Camping

I am aware of how hillbilly it is, but it is so covenient.  Utah had very full, or very closed, rest areas so we made it all the way to Evanston WY.  And where else can you get a cup of coffee and bike innertubes at the same time?

Mile 718

Americana

In Wendover, NV.  Just after this we were rained on - which was nice because the temperature dropped about 15 degrees.  A quick snack then off to the salt flats.

scenic view

My favorite part of long road trips is driving at dusk.  This is right near the Nevada-Utah border.

California Trail Center

Here are the kids in a replica pioneer wagon.  We are trying to get them to learn something, but their favorite part of this attraction was riding their scooters in the parking lot.

Cosgrove rest stop

450 miles done.  We looked at the trail markers about the pioneer trail.  Thank goodness we are in an air conditioned truck covering a pioneers day long journey every 15 minutes.

Wholesome family fun

Annie Oakley was giving a clinic on proper technique.  I'm kind stunned how well she did.  Anyway, the fun for the day is over.  Back to the road.

On our way

...to breakfast.  They got up suprisingly quickly once we reminded them were on vacation.

Five going on fifteen

You would think they are teenagers seeing how hard they were to wake up this morning.  I guess it is good news that the trailer bunks must be really confortable.

Boomtown, NV

250 miles the first night.  A bit further than I had hoped (and a bir further than I wanted) to make the first night.  The Donner pass rest stop was closed, and the rest stop prior to that was completely full.  So, after a bit of stretch and some caffenated soda we pushed on to Nevada.

Vacation 2010

Here we go.  Only an hour behind schedule to start - which for us is really good.  It's a thousand miles to Grand Teton national park.  Let's see how long it takes us to get there.

5:00

It's 5:00 in the evening and this is what the boy is doing. His sister isn't far behind him. I guess a week of swimming all day will do that to you. I don't have the heart to wake him up.

I know his eyes look open. He, like my cousin sleeps with his eyes open when he is really tired.

Amusing Time Had By All

We went to an amusement park with some good friends. The kids and I had a great time.




My boy and my friend's girl are daredevils. They kept their hands up the entire time! As soon as they got off they both yelled...awesome and got back in line. They rode the big roller coaster about 10 times.




My girl went on once, which was very brave of her. She doesn't like roller coasters. She doesn't get that from me, or her Grandma D. As you can see from my girl's very first roller coaster ride. It was with Grandma D when my girl was two. The look on each of their faces is priceless. One of joy and the other of apprehension. It is funny, as the girl loves to be scared. I guess just not on roller coasters.

The end of a fun day at the amusement park.

Swim Party

A beautiful summer day and friends to share it with. The girl and boy swam all day with some out of town friends and some local friends. It was a perfect day for swimming and the kids had a blast. I remember swimming with my friends and how much fun we had. I am glad all of the kids experience a day of doing nothing but swimming and hanging out with friends. They are all now very tired and should sleep great.

Garden Pictures

The girl took over blogging duties today. She took some pictures of the flowers, fruits and vegetables in the backyard, with her camera. Hopefully, we will get our peaches canned tonight. That is, if I can keep hubby from eating half a dozen a day.

Shasta strawberries. Small but sweet.

White eggplant blossoms.

Purple onions that are looking more like scallions. This my first time planting onions. I didn't know you had to separate each bulb. They taste like a shallot.

Dragon Tongue purple and yellow beans. These are even tastier than regular shelled beans.

Peaches...yum.

Baking Fool

Since it is in the 90's, I thought now would be an excellent time to fire up the oven and bake. This way I get the entire house nice and toasty.

I wanted to bake something for all of the teachers and administrators that took care of the girl when she split her forehead open (which is healing nicely). I made two banana breads, cinnamon-blueberry muffins and two loaves of zucchini bread from the neighbors zucchini. My cousin came over for lunch and she was the guinea pig...I mean official taste tester on the zucchini bread. It was a new recipe. It came out a little denser than I like, so I don't think I will use this one again.

Seven

Seven stitches.  You might think that is bad, but you should see the door frame!  What a hard head.   What a tuffy getting the stitches too.

Happy Fourth of July

We hope you are all enjoying celebrating America's Birthday (as the kids call it). We are off to spend the day with cousins and see some "firepops", as the boy used to call them.