Boulder Mountain Tour - pre-race day

We are up in Sun Valley this weekend.  Its a beautiful weekend after a couple weeks of inversion in Boise.  I haven't blogged for a couple of months.  I feel terrible about it.  Rather than trying to trace back for lost time I figured its worth diving in on the happenings today.  

So we have a new family addition.  Her name is "Sparky"  after Sparky the fire dog.  We started asking Lindsey a month ago about what she would name a dog if we had one come live at our house.  First she said "pinkie".  Then I asked, "what color would you like the dog to be" and she replied "pink".  I asked, "what color would you like her collar to be", she said "pink".  I said, "well, the dog is going to be black" and Lindsey said "black collar then mom".  So the net result is a 13 week golden retriever and border collie/australian shepherd mix named "Sparky" from a litter of 13 puppies born in Mountain Home, black with a white patch on the chest, and purple collar.  We picked her up 2 weeks ago.  While her official name is "Sparky", she is affectionally referred to as "Sir sparks a lot", "Sparkles", "Spark", or Shit Head depending on the behavior.  Lindsey reads her books, gives her hugs and kisses, and takes her on walks around the house with her stroller.  We have a few months of training ahead to ensure peaceful coexistence.  Sometimes Chris and I feel like we are referees.  Unless you are truely a dog lover, I would not suggest a puppy and a toddler at the same time.  But for all the chaos it brings to our house, we love our little Spark and Lindsey has designated her as a "best friend".

Carrying on with the theme of "Sparkles", some may recall that Chris's nickname amongst our Portland friends was also "Sparkles".  Spark and Chris have some similarities in personality in that they both like to cuddle and exercise.  Some say that owners start to look like their dogs over time, I guess our dog might just be considered Chris's alter ego.

Reading Hello Kitty "Let's Help" to Sparky.  We've read it so many times at home that Lindsey about has it memorized.  Lindsey sure wishes Mimmy would pick out pink flowers instead of red.

I really like my elk antler, is there something else going on outside my cage?

Writing "L-I-N-D-S-E-Y" in the snow.

"Hey Lindsey, want to drive the car?"  "Sure Dad!"

Tigger, candy, and potty

Lindsey was Tigger for Halloween.  Lucky for Lindsey, we started potty training on November 2nd and the reward for going potty was Halloween candy.  Lindsey had never eaten much candy so it was a hit.  It took 5 days of "tell mommy and daddy when you need to go to the potty", a few tears, a couple of "I want my diapers back", but after 5 days she loved her underwear and hasn't looked back.  We love you and are so proud of our not so little Lindsey Kate!
 

Leaf pile

Ellie, Lindsey, and Garrett making good use of the maple leaves in our back yard on a warm late October morning.
 

Rocktober camping

I call it Rocktober because October in Idaho is absolutely stunning.  It simply rocks.  Chris had to drag me to Ketchum for the weekend after a long couple weeks of work.  I was admittedly not terribly enthusiastic but once we were there, it was awesome.  We rolled into Ketchum and ate dinner around 6 pm Friday night.  Our plan was to sleep in the tent trailer at on of the Forest Service Campgrounds north of town.  We forgot about the government shutdown so when we arrived at Easley Campground around 8 pm, we decided to keep heading north.  We turned off on Silver Creek road (or something like that) and travelled a couple of miles thinking about how it would suck if we had to turn around.  We ended up driving straight into a wonderful spot and set up camp for the night.  We woke up the next morning to beautiful snow covered mountains, yellow aspens, and sunshine.  Our weekend consisted of a fabulous family bike ride further up the road that we were already camping near, trailing of the sheet in Ketchum, and snow on Sunday morning.  The pictures don't do the scenery justice.  It was absolutely spectacular. 

good morning Dad, thanks for breakfast!

bicycle built for two

 

dismount

aspen grove

a visit to Ketchum isn't complete without fries from grumpies and some saturday college football

campfie, hotdogs, and smores

dad, take a picture

girls are cached

profiles

sheep on main st.

the tent trailer..with a broken lock..long story

bike ride break, time to push dad, the trailer, and bire

 

 

sunday morning snow outside the tent trailer ~ 7000 ft

family pic

October family time

Mom and Sparky.  Fun fact - Sparky was once an American Gladiator.

We woke up early on October 5th to race out to Station 10 for some pumpkin gathering.  Station 10 grows pumpkins in the back of the lot.  They have pumkins up to 100 pounds.  Lindsey and I sang ring around the rosey and 5 little monkeys in the dalmation bounce house.  She didn't want anything to do with "Sparky" the fire dog.  As we headed down Chinden towards Station 10, 6 hot air balloons took off from the Fair Grounds.  After naptime we went to Harvest Fest at the botanical gardens where we met up with Drew, Jill, Adri, and Lexi.  Lindsey and Adri had fun playing in the fountain.  Great weather, good fun, and happy memories.  

 

 

Lindsey (2+ years) and Adri Wollam (3.5 years)

Yellowstone and the Tetons

This picture is for Jana.  Its a close up of one of the Grizzlies at the Yellowstone Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone.  Our trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons in August was full of bears, some caged, others not.  The story goes something like the commentary below.  Its been a few months so my recollection is a little fuzzy.

This bear was re-homed in West Yellowstone with its twin after their mother was killed in Alaska.  We visited the Center for the afternoon on our way from Papa Jim's to the Teton Climbers Ranch.  There are several "bad" grizzlies, wolves, and birds of prey in captivity.  These bears are absolutely massive.



We went on a lovely hike around String Lakes.  Lindsey and Chris are walking down the steps to the lake shore.  Snuggles in tow.

 

While taking this picture, unbeknownst to us, a black bear is standing right behind us eating berries.  We knew there was a black bear in the area and had seen it on the trail so turned around and started heading back to the car.  After 10 mins of walking I stopped to take a picture of this osprey nest and we watched the ospreys take off and land a few times.  I turned around to talk to Chris (who had Lindsey in the backpack) and I saw what was probably a 300 pound black bear but in my mind it might has well been a grizzly.  The bear doesn't care we are near him and is just eating berries.  Berries are everywhere...  I say to Chris "hey, that black bear is about 10 feet behind you", we start walking away quickly and Chris says "hey, did you get any pictures"?  Are you kidding me???  Now Lindsey talks about bears and says "bears walk on the trail and eat berries".  I say wow, glad our bear spray was at home in our basement.  WTF?

 

 

Doesn't everyone walk like a penguin when hiking?

We rode the Jackson Hole Resort tram up to the top of the ski area.  Lindey and Chris taking in a view of the range.

Deuces

 

 

Tram ride back down to the resort

Monkey nap mat

Nana visited last month while Chris was visiting Kel and Olivier in France.  While she was here she attended Ms. Rose's class with Lindsey.  Nana came home with Lindsey after school to inform me of one of the many essential items that I am sure I'll neglect to equipt Linsdey with over her lifetime.  I sent Lindsey to Ms. Rose's class in June with a sheet, blanket, and pillow per the instructions I received.  I was unaware of the well-known pre-school accessory called the nap mat.  Nana bought Lindsey a monkey nap mat which Lindsey refers to as her monkey blanket.  She loves it and has been asking if she can bring it home from school for her bed.  I told Lindsey that the nap mat is from Nana and she said "that's nice Nana".  Thanks Nana!