Fun pictures

Madelyn and Lucas sitting in their favorite lounge chairs (little brothers' car seats!), and Ms. Long-legs at the library...when did Madelyn get so TALL!!?

hand-knit gifts, a right-side roll, and lap time

Well, here are a few pictures of Miles sporting some beautiful gifts - a sweater from Patsy, and a fuzzy blanket from Laura J. Miles had an exciting day this week - he pulled off a right-side roll! I left him on his back while I went into the kitchen, and when I came back, he was stuck on his belly! Also, we have discovered that he's strong enough to sit in Madelyn's lap without the boppy anymore. Here's a little interview with Madelyn tonight after bath...

Madelyn took a great picture that shows our NEW ASPHALT! Now, usually, I wouldn't get so excited, but... it's been THREE YEARS in the coming, and crazy construction this summer! Construction still continues, but pavement on Redmond is not far behind.

Amy's 40th

We headed up to Antelope Flats near Kelly tonight for our friend Amy's 40th birthday party - what fun! Great food, folks, music, dancing... and hula-hoop making! Here are some clips of Madelyn dancing and Miles all bundled up for the cold night air. Poor kid, who dressed him!?

Pink Bike

As I was dropping some goods off at Browse N' Buy (our local thrift store), a car pulled up next to ours and started unloading bikes... lots of them. One of them happened to be Madelyn's size and I asked if they could just load it in the back of our car. And so the hot-pink bike came into our family! It's a little large for Madelyn, but she's excited to try it. Who knew the motion of peddling was so difficult! It's been hard for her to figure out the motion for breaking (backwards) vs. forward motion. We'll probably just dink around on it this fall and really try out the peddle bike gig next summer. Pictures of Mike fixing it up, etc.

3 months, and a dance class!

Today Miles is 3 months, and Madelyn is officially a 3 month big sis! A milestone for sure! Miles is 10 pounds 12 ounces, smiling away his mornings and evenings, grasping, has a strong neck, and working on pushing up.

Today was also the much anticipated FIRST DANCE CLASS! The energy has been building around this one for weeks, beginning with ordering tights and a leotard, checking the mail, the first try-on, practicing pulling her hair back, etc. Madelyn was abuzz from the get-go this morning. There are 3 other 3-year-olds in class - I couldn't take my eyes away from the one-way windows - just about the cutest thing I have ever seen!

Off to school... with HATS!

IT must be fall in the Tetons, we had to break the warm hats out this morning for our stroll to school! Madelyn is back at school 4 days a week, and will be starting dance class this Wednesday (MANY pictures to come, I can assure you). She brought in her leotard and tights for show and tell today, she's counting down the hours!

Old Bill's Fun Run

It's Old Bill's Fun Run weekend! For those not in the know, Jackson has an amazing community celebration that fundraises for all of our outstanding non-profits. "Old Bill" (a semi-anonymous donor and friends) matches all pledges that are made to each non-profit, and the entire community gets out and does the run/walk/bike with a big breakfast and farmers' market celebration at the end. This year Madelyn decided to bike it, and we serendipitously ran into Tate and Julia who had the same brilliant idea. Hence the biker gang! The kids did a great job, although biking through a crowd and navigating heels, dogs, strollers and parked cars proved to be a little tough! Getting pictures of these kids was also really challenging because they were so fast!!

Kelly Warm Springs with Goerwerts

The kids and I hit up Kelly Warm Springs with Cindy, Lucas, and baby Ciao this week... but not before fueling up at the Kelly Store (yes, singular... Kelly only has ONE!). The kids had loads of fun trying to catch the tropical fish that reside in the Springs - everything from colorful guppies, swordtails, zebra stripped ciclids, and the occasional goldfish:) We heard big bull-frogs, tiny peepers, but alas, weren't able to catch any hoppers. The babes slept peacefully through it all, you can see them in their car seats in the background of a few pictures. Madelyn reported that the water was "only a little warm, and not hot!" It was a little bit overcast and sitting in 70 degree water is something I leave up to 3-year-olds!

Chat with Miles

Picnic dinner at Schwabackers

We packed up some Pica's picnic dinner and headed up to Schwabackers for our big Labor Day adventure. I always think of the Schwabacker's picture as so "cliche," but really, it just can't be beat. What a beautiful place - the wetlands, beaver dam/lodge, and of course the backdrop... Madelyn had loads of fun sloshing around in the mud. Miles, even though he has been on a sleep strike today, seemed to enjoy it as well. We saw two beautiful dragonflies that seemed like they were attacking each other - MK got some cool pictures of it.

Other news... mad 13 half-pints of raspberry jam today for the freezer - THANKS Shuptrines!

A busy week!

What a busy week! No school for Madelyn this week, which meant both kids at home. Perhaps that's why I feel like toast! I went into school on Tuesday to help my sub get all set to go - Miles joined me and Madelyn had a date with our friends the McReynolds. The McReynolds must be one of the most fun-loving families I know. They live in teepees all spring/summer, have a low trampoline strattling Ditch Creek (ditch), an outside art studio, greenhouse, tree fort, rope swing... their house is a kid's (and adult's) dream! On top of playing at the McReynolds, they also managed to get the boat out onto Jackson Lake (see picture of Madelyn).

We also squeezed in our "end-of-summer" local's special horse ride - Madelyn waited patiently for about an hour to get up on this horse and be lead around for a few minutes. She just had her heart set on it!

Michael took the kids to the Farmers' Market this morning so that I could sneak up to Dick's garden - carrots are in!

Miles is starting to look really big to all of us - we've swapped out his newbie clothes for 3 month stash, he's getting stronger and bigger by the minute. Madelyn and Miles are now sharing a room, which so far has worked out pretty well!