Grand Junction, butterfly place

Here are some of the pictures that I took with the Nikon point and shoot, since Grandpa took the other camera away......First up is Grandpa in his stylish shorts outfit.



Next up is Ed. I caught him looking at his pictures on this camera. He likes to take pictures just like Grandpa.



Here's C on the jolly green giant. If you look closely, she has a mustache from the smoothie they were giving away.



And here is the little W. Doesn't look too happy, does he? But at least he's not crying. And it was hot, at least hotter than we're used to.



Ok, I found pictures from CJ's birthday party, and M's party, and more feeding ducks, this time with a different cast. I'll post them next. Hope you enjoy the pictures. I sure do. Leave a comment so I know you came. I'm not doing this for the galaxy, you know..LOL

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More kids from the weekend. In descending age. G up first.



C:



M:



CJ with Bekka(He showed up on the sleepy side, which was good, because he spent the rest of the time until bedtime chasing G and C up and down the sidewalk.)



W: (he loves his daddy's computer so much!)



And guess who W took to? It's NOT FAIR!! I'M THE GRANDMA!! HE'S SUPPOSED TO LIKE ME BETTER!



But I have to say, he did like the book I brought him, and he would come to me with it to read. But I still couldn't pick him up. And he even cozied up to Grandpa (which picture I can't post because Grandpa wasn't completely dressed.) And I have to say, Grandpa did have a computer beside him, so maybe he cozied up to the computer and not Grandpa.

Fish at the Butterfly place. There was only one butterfly, and my picture of it has the butterfly out of focus, but all the leaves around it are in focus. Only me!!



And right after I took this picture, Grandpa had to have the camera because I wasn't taking enough pictures for him.....So I got stuck with the coolpix, and haven't unloaded those pictures yet....more to come.

On another note, I had a very busy day today. Left just before 9 am to pick up horse meds, a receipt from the periodontist, and a parking tag for school before a 10 am class. First thing to go was the horse meds, next thing to go was the periodontist as I was running late. At house plus 10 miles I remembered the stuff I was supposed to bring for Linda. At house plus 25 miles I remembered that I didn't bring an ice chest for the groceries.

At class time - 20 minutes, I pulled into the parking garage, and all the spots for PPCC were taken. Overflow spot was full also. Found a spot next to a wall that was jutting out, and scraped the right rear door on that. Backed up, and took two parking spots marked compact cars only. Figured my truck is a short bed. That's compact!

Got to the office for the parking tag, and mine's still good.

Got out of class, picked up the receipt and met Linda for lunch--Happy Birthday Linda!

Went to Sam's, then had to bring those groceries home. On the way, I stopped by the vet's and got the horse meds. Good thing Grandpa volunteered to come with me to WalMart and the library, because I was going to whine if he didn't!

Busy day, I need to go to bed now!


So

More Pictures of ....guess who?

OK, so I publish a lot of pictures of the grandkids, and what they are doing. Last weekend, we had the two, M and CJ. They got to play in the water, and then help Grandpa put together another raised bed for plants. We had one rhubarb plant, and were getting another. Unfortunately, we were short of dirt, so they didn't get planted. But here are the three of them building the planter.


Now for some other news. Can anyone guess what the cats are doing here?

Well I can tell you. They are looking for the mouse. That's right, I have a mouse in the kitchen, and the cats know it! Now you would think that with six, that's right, six!! cats in the house and another three in the garage at night, that mouse would be history. But no! All they can do is look at the dishwasher intently, like it's going to suddenly materialize in front of them. With my luck, they wouldn't be able to catch it anyway. So, due to the amazing mouse catching skills of my cats, we went to Walmart in Monument for mouse traps.

Guess what? No mouse traps. We looked, then we asked, and the guy looked in the same place that we had looked, and then Clyde went to Customer Services and asked, and that guy went back to the same place to look. All the while, Clyde is muttering about how they mustn't have mice in Woodmoor (rich peoples place to live). This guy isn't going to fail, though. "Hurmph! They must be in the back" and off he goes to look. So we end up with two mouse traps, the live trap kind so when we catch a mouse, we can take it outside and let it go......presumably so it can find it's way back into the house. And guess what? The mouse hasn't found the trap yet!


So this weekend, we got up and went to feed the ducks. After all, how would they live if we didn't show up periodically with food?

Here's the three duck feeders.

Back at home, we got the pool out. It's really a water trough for the horses, but it's big enough for M and CJ to have fun in. I didn't catch the first time CJ jumped in...he surprised me and fell flat on his face! But I did catch the next time. Oh the fun you can have with a little water when it's not a bath!

They brought their bicycles and helmets. M was out riding on Saturday night, and then wanted to go play in the sand. When asked if she wanted to take the helmet off, she replied, "No. It's going to rain, and I need to keep my 'rain' bucket on."

So that's what she remembers from when Clyde called it a 'brain bucket' last weekend. And the helmets remained 'rain buckets' all weekend!

And to finish off the day, nothing's better than a picnic on the patio at the kids table.



Another lovely weekend, except I had to mow the lawn (a very loose description). I waited for the rain, then put down fertilizer and weed killer, and wouldn't ya know.....a couple of hours later it poured and washed all the weed killer off the weeds! So I will continue to have a lawn made up of grass and weeds. At least they're green!

Last day in Grand Junction

Grand Junction part III.

The last whole day in Grand Junction started with a hike (even tho the path was paved with cement, it was more than a stroll!). We went back to the Colorado River State Park, and turned left towards the wildlife area. That was supposed to be 1/2 mile away, but with the heat it sure seemed longer. And what did we find when we got there?

A lake with ducks and some really tiny fish. We did see a jackrabbit and a nesting dove, but that was all. Nothing interesting like a bobcat or mountain lion! Oh, and lots of ants, they were everywhere.

Later that day, we went to one of the parks in Grand Junction. After it had cooled off somewhat.
I mean, the truck thermometer was registering 101 degrees, and I didn't even know it had a hundreds column, hadn't seen that before!

Here's Cordelia, with hands on hips, probably trying to correct Wyatt.


And here's Wyatt, drinking. This kid is FAST!!! He runs all over the place! And climbs, and explores, and whatever else little boys do.


And here's Cordelia thinking about climbing one of the cottonwood trees. These things can get very big, especially around. The bark in uneven, so theoretically it could be climbed, but I think some steps would make it easier!

Notice them long legs on Cordelia, this kid is going to be tall.

And here's Grandpa. What more can I say?


And that's the end of the trip. Now I have to think of something to blog about!

Colorado National Monument

On Sunday while we were in Grand Junction, we drove the scenic route (only route) thru the Colorado National Monument. The views were great! However it goes really high, and depending on the side of the vehicle you are on, you can be looking straight down for several thousand feet! So here's one of my first pictures of the Monument itself. Most turned out kinda washed out because we went in the middle of the day, but you can bet that I'm going to get back there at sunrise or sunset. It would be awesome!


Here's Rachel with Wyatt. She kept a very close hold on him...kinda like a death grip so he wouldn't get away and run over the edge. And we all watched Cordelia to make sure she stayed away from the edges, even tho there were railings at all the lookout points.

All three of them after Cordelia tried to catch a lizard. Guess she's going to be a tomboy like her grandma was!

And here's Ed and Grandpa at the first stop. I thought we were going to be doing this all the way thru the Monument, but Ed didn't get his tripod out all that much, but Grandpa did!

We picnicked at the visitor center where there was some shade, but we all came back with some sunburn. Very hot and bright out there.

Patio: Yesterday, I finished the patio. Got more flowers to plant, and more potting soil. So what does it do last night (July 4th)? We had a total of four different hail/thunderstorms. It poured!
This morning, I get up and go out and the flowers are all beaten by the hail, the sand between the bricks is all washed away, and the pollen producers from the pine trees are all over the place. So I spent the morning cleaning up the mess. And planting the new flowers.

New Duds for the Dolls

We're back from Grand Junction, so I can show you the new outfit I made for the Fancy Nancy dolls. Miss M took hers home last week, and I took Cordelia's to her. She wore the new outfit all weekend.



Had a great time in Grand Junction, saw the art on the street in the downtown area, ate gelato, walked along the Colorado River in Colorado River State Park (which is a whole 2 blocks from where Ed and Rachel live), drove the scenic drive thru Colorado National Monument and had a ball playing with Cordelia. Wyatt was another whole story.

All of my grandkids (except Wyatt) really seem to like me. That kid spent Saturday and Sunday running after Rachel and crying if I just looked at him. By Monday he was getting tired of all the running and just ignored me. This is going to be a challenge to me. He even let Grandpa touch him! HUMPHFF!

Now I have to start planning my strategy for the next time I see him. I will have him in my corner with the rest of them. I will!

I'll post pictures of the trip as soon as I get them off the camera.

A New Year, a New Month......

Today is the first regular day after the holidays. Things are getting back to normal, whatever that is. The past two weeks went by without too much hassle.

I got everything I wanted for Christmas and then some! The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook was a real hit. I have eaten very well since that showed up. We have had sour cream pancakes twice, whiskey cream gravy twice, spiced pulled pork, macaroni and cheese, and a blackberry cobbler. And I haven't even had to do any of the cooking. But the eating has been great around here! Thanks, Rachel!

I have two new sets of Yarka watercolor paints, and I can't wait to get started on those. Unfortunately, I have to clear the drawing board, literally, before I can try them out. Thanks Clyde!

I spent the money from my mother on the gold hoop earrings that I wanted. This was the end of my Christmas list. But I did get some surprises....

Bekka and Brandi decided at Thanksgiving that I needed a purse....Apparently my denim tote bag wasn't good enough. So, Thanks Bekka for the purse!

And James and Solitare packed up a 15 qt covered tub with mints, cookies, chocolates, candy canes, hot chocolate, boxes of candy, a very nice warm throw, a back massager (which G has already tried out on me, and it works!) and a microwave heating thingy filled with beans to wrap around my shoulders and neck. Clyde can use it too. Thanks you guys.

Got some socks, dish towels, an oven mit (presumably for Clyde the next time he tries to burn the turkey) and the coolest cookie scoop for making cookies from Susie.
Can't wait to use that one!

We got G a camera, again. This one came with a warranty (extended) and we took the kids out to take pictures on Saturday. It started snowing these really tiny snow pellets just as we got there, but the ducks didn't care. They thought the bread was delicious.



If you look closely, you can see some faint white streaks. That is the snow coming down.


The pictures aren't perfect, but I think G has the idea that he needs to get close. Now we just have to learn to hold the camera still.


But I think he did a good job. G likes to click the button and take the pictures, and he sure liked that I printed him out some 4x6's. But I don't think he's much interested in the processing just yet. Right now we'll just concentrate on the pictures, and the rest will come.



G caught CJ sleeping on the couch after we got home. That little one sleeps wherever and whenever he needs to. Just lays down and goes to sleep. What a cutie!