Wild West

We've been there and back again, a wonderful trek to the west to spend time with Grandpa and Vovo, and soak up some delicious Wyoming air while we were at it.  It's a banner year, with two Wyoming trips in the space of 6 months. We were thrilled to bring Nat along this time (can I tell you just HOW MUCH EASIER it is to travel with two parents??? It is SO MUCH EASIER.  SO. MUCH.). The kids and I have gotten used to seeing Guernsey and its white rocks and magnificent skies on a regular basis and it was fun to see it all through fresh eyes.  Sometimes I forget just how different Wyoming is.  Like no place on earth, as Nat reminded us often.

With no further ado, a trip through our trip...

A smooth trip to Denver was made more exciting by a tornado warning just as we arrived at the rental car building, where we were ushered into the break room with about 30 other travelers to wait out the storm.  That was interesting.  Even more so because of the fact that we'd been hunkering down during a tornado warning not 24 hours before in Cleveland Heights.  Maybe its us....

We stayed the night with Nat's cousin Ashley and her girls, and we all thoroughly enjoyed our time in their lovely home.  Ivy and Riley became fast friends within seconds and were too sweet together. Our kids are so lucky to have such wonderful cousins everywhere they go...

We broke up our drive the next day with a stop in Cheyenne at the the wonderful Children's garden, and of course a little shopping at Sierra Trading Post...

In Guernsey we split our time between the Guernsey pool (the kids' favorite place by far) and the Castle at the Resevoir (parent's choice), with some time out to play disc golf and some quality time watching TV, playing Wii, and chatting with Grandpa. We had a few adventures outside of town too, spending one morning at a County Fair Parade in Torrington, and another exploring Laramie Peak, the mountain range just to the west of Guernsey.The mountain air was so intoxicating that day, it definitely has me dreaming of a trip to Dubois and the Wind River Range.... one of these days!  I went for a few high-altitude runs along the river; time by myself under the Wyoming sky, the smell of juniper and the pure air in my lungs reminding me how much I enjoy being out west.  Wish we could make this country a little smaller in the middle so we could visit more often...

Disc golfing in the rain...

Making homemade Italian bread with Grandpa

We love the golf cart!

Fishing at the slough...

"Worm girl" in action!  Jack, like me, prefers not to deal with night crawlers.  Lucky for us Ivy has no such qualms...

Ivy's photography skills continue to improve...  after dinner at Lira's restaurant in Lingle..

Torrington Parade!  The kids got SO. MUCH. CANDY.  Seriously.  It was out of control.  I need to locate some of the pictures that show the giant handfuls being thrown mercilessly at us from all directions.  Their bags together must have weighed more than 5 pounds.  They were so happy.  Jack has already asked if we can go to this parade next year...  

Exploring the trading post in Fort Laramie. This insanely cute little group of log buildings also contained a pretty nice antique shop...

...and these really creepy mannequins.

Castle time!  Best picnic shelter ever.  The kids were crazy about playing hide and seek on each of our visits this year.  It's like they designed the place with hiding places in mind.  Jack got himself into some pretty impressive spots...

Me and my daddy!  #selfiesatthecastle

Up at Brimmer Point Overlook...

Checking out Sandy Beach...

Sunset over the Guernsey hills.  I had to stop running about 15 times to try and get pictures of it.  None of them do it justice at all...

 The Guernsey pool-- an excellent spot!  We spent about 3 hours a day there, for most of the trip.  Nothing says vacation like hours spent lounging in warm water, reading in the sun, and of course, going down the waterslide...

Ivy was crazy about the waterslide and even went down a few times by herself, with Nat catching her as she shot out the bottom.  She also jumped off the diving board and swam like a little fish between us or back to the wall.  She's really coming along and will certainly be an independent swimmer next summer.  Jack, the big fish of the family, is just amazing.  He learned to do a handstand in the water on this trip, and its impossible to count how many times he did that waterslide, up and down all on his own, chatting with other kids at the top.  When did my baby grow up???

 Our Mountain Adventure to Laramie Peak:  Nat dubbed the day "Wildlife Friday" to get the kids interested in scoping out the scenery as we ascended the twisty mountain roads.  It worked, and it was highly successful, as we spotted 16 species over the course of the day:  turkey vultures, cows, antelope, deer, bison and a crayfish to name a few...

Bison on the road!!  I am sorry that we didn't get any pictures of the group of mama bison nursing their bison babies on the hill, only a few feet from us.  We were too busy watching in amazement.

We stopped at a pretty little picnic spot by Horsehoe Creek, where Jack was thrilled to get some real stream fishing in.  Its the best spot to fish in the whole world, he says, because there were so many fish.  Indeed, he had a school of  about 15 tiny little Brook trout following his worm as he watched, and he even managed to hook a few of the two-inch babies (who were, of course, released).  Even more excitingly, he caught two crayfish, who grabbed right on to his line...

Three generations of guys I love, in the mountains.  Perfect.

 We were thrilled to welcome Anna back home from Brazil on the 2nd, and enjoyed a visit back to the Reservoir with her, visiting the spillway for the dam, and of course the Castle..

A few more pictures to come tomorrow once we finish getting our lives back together.  We are slowly adjusting to the time change and our real lives, mostly unpacked, catching up on laundry and trying to accept the reality of being back from vacation.   We have the mad rush of the last two weeks of summer ahead of us, full to the brim with fairs and festivals and last-chance summer fun squeezed around work and prep for the new year.  Sigh.  I'd rather be lounging at the pool.

I'll leave you with a vista that can get us through it all..