October-rific

The warm fall has made it possible for us to ride our bikes to school way into October. Additionally, there is a 30-minute break between Owen's pick-up time and Hadley's pick-up time from pre-school, which allows some rare bike/scooter duets between me and this guy.  I love it!  Isn't he adorable?

It's been a beautiful fall, but let's not forget about the day-to-day October things. Remember all those apples we picked back in September?  We ate quite a few plain, but I did get a new kitchen toy to help us make some apple butter. Yum! It was so easy that Owen helped me out and we got going pretty fast in our assembly line!

Hadley has been going to gymnastics and is still loving it!  Here, she's demonstrating the bat hang (in pink shorts). She's a natural! I have definitely been impressed with her listening and following directions skills in class. You wouldn't know it from home!  :)

Not to be outdone, Owen has finally mastered monkey bars of all shapes and colors!

Our half-day schedule and the warm sunshine brought us to Bear World a few more times after school before they closed for the season.  The cubs have gotten so much bigger than they were in the spring, and they love to wrestle with each other.  Hmmm...  reminds me of someone...

One night we enjoyed an early dinner downtown and then took a walk on the greenbelt. The kids were in a photographic mood.

Owen often laments that we don't have big enough trees in our yard, because he wants to rake up big piles of leaves.  Luckily, our church has big trees and the kids played in them after church last Sunday.  See Hadley's blue sleeve?  There are actually 3 kids buried in those leaves!  They had so much fun!

Owen has been enjoying school so far, too.  He actually looks forward to doing his homework every day!  He brings home a page or two each day of what they were working on, and this one made me laugh (and all of the similar ones from that week).  Say all of the o's in a spooky ghost voice.  He came up with that all on his own.  Silly kid.

And of course there's the annual trip(s) to the pumpkin patch.

Now they've added chickens (he's laughing because they nibbled on his finger when he was feeding them), kittens, and minions.

The train is still a hit!  This year we rode with our friends, the Phillips: Abigail, Elliott, and Sullivan.  I opted not to ride, because I can now!  :)

And the mini-maze.  Do you see my little cheaters?  Or daredevils? Either way, that is not how you are supposed to do a maze! Tsk, tsk.

We also did a field trip with H's class a week later. I was proud of her hair that day. The end. :)

Biking in the Tetons

This fall has been very mild, so we ventured back to the Tetons last weekend to get in a family bike ride.  It was fun, and the scenery was gorgeous!  We are just getting into the fall colors in town, and we had already missed it in the mountains, but we did see a little in between.  We have too many evergreens to make it truly spectacular, but it's a nice change.

Anyway, we drove in on a Saturday morning and stopped to eat lunch on the patio of the Moose Visitor Center so we could finish listening to the Longhorns victory over Oklahoma! Great start to a great day with that unexpected gem!

Plus, Owen had to prove to a doubting friend that there really is a Mount Owen in the Tetons!  Every time I visit here, I can't help but remember our first trip when Owen stroked the bison fur and sucked his thumb.  :)

All right... Full tummies, a football win, and we're ready for adventure!  We parked at Windy Point and biked all the way to Jenny Lake, which was nearly 6 miles.  Owen did get tired about halfway through, but he was a trooper and made it to the end!  Hadley snoozed in the bike trailer the whole ride.  :)  I think this is the least snow I've seen on these mountains since we've been here.

Once we reached the end of the road at the Jenny Lake parking area, the only way back was on bike.  Daddy took one for the team and biked back to get the truck to pick us up. (Thanks for the pink boots, Aunt Kathy!)

While he was gone, the kids and I did the short hike to Jenny Lake to take in the views, play with sticks, wade in the water, and soak up the sun.

I have to mention that while we were in the middle of a national park with nothing but our bikes and some water bottles, Hadley informed me that she had to poop.  It should also be noted that all of the bathrooms, ranger stations, etc. were already closed up tight for winter.  As I was going over my options and mustering my courage to find some comfortable leaves, a clean tissue blew in on the wind right at our feet.  I kid you not! So, does a bear poop in the woods?  I don't know, but Hadley does!  This picture was taken before the request, but now I think I know what she was thinking about...

Ahem... Once our ride arrived, we sanitized our hands and headed to our hotel in Jackson.  I highly recommend the Parkway Inn, which was tucked away between a mountain and downtown with a city park and playground just across the street.

From there it was a short walk to downtown with all of its eateries and amusements. We love this town!

The next morning we ate breakfast at the hotel and packed back into the truck for a hike. This hike was in the Rockefeller Preserve, which has a little-known separate entrance into the park. We had forgotten the hiking backpack at home, and it was cooler and windier that morning, but the hike was only 1.4 miles each way, so we had our fingers crossed.

The terrain was varied and the hike was fairly easy, so with a little encouragement Hadley hiked the whole 1.4 miles to the lake.  Lots of pretty scenery to take in, including a deer at close range, and the trail followed this peaceful creek most of the way.  The kids even held hands for a while (see below) totally unprompted!

The hike ended at a pristine mountain lake (Phelps Lake) that was well worth the journey.

All this boy needs for fun is a big stick though!

And this bold, little chipmunk was very hopeful that we'd drop some of our trail mix for him.  Unfortunately for him, we didn't learn from yesterday and packed very light since we didn't have the backpack, leaving our lunch back in the truck. Therefore, every bit of the trail mix was quickly scarfed down by humans.

The loop back was more wooded, and Hadley traveled on Dad's shoulders for about a mile of the return trip.

After a picnic lunch by the truck, it was homeward bound for us!  I think the kids did not sleep well sharing a pull-out couch, because they both zonked on the way home, some more than others.

Bozeman

Reunited and it feels so good...
This past weekend we drove up to Bozeman and surprised Owen's best buddy Carson at school Friday afternoon.  Their much anticipated reunion melted my heart!

Unfortunately the weather was pretty chilly and drizzly all weekend, so many of our outdoor plans were curtailed.  The low-lying clouds created a ceiling in Bozeman, so that we couldn't really see the mountains surrounding the town.  I think it will look completely different if we return on a sunny day. And we even got snowed on Sunday morning! (The snow actually came from the lowest clouds, and the mountain tops were snow-free, which you can kind of see below from our drive home.)

But during our stay, we did a drive-thru of the Montana State University campus, and

Toured the Museum of the Rockies. 

Wish I'd gotten a picture of the boys' shirts - they both wore dinosaur shirts!

Watching some fossils being cleaned up from excavation.

Hadley was unsure of this recreated predatory attack; her face is priceless. The other side showed the skeletons.

Getting in some light reading at the museum play area.

We did get to eat at some pretty good restaurants, one even sans kids!

Meanwhile, the kids had some fun with baby-sitters while the parents got a night out.  I liked seeing the boys wearing boots with their PJs when it was time to head home.  :)

When we planned the trip a few months back, they were supposed to have been in their new house for a couple of weeks, but in reality they had just moved in the day before we arrived in town. D'oh! We stayed in a hotel, tried to help them unpack, and Owen got to do his first sleepover after all!  I think we'll be back.  :)