Wyoming

Nothing like traveling and then coming right home to a holiday for a picture backlog... it seems the most photo-and-blog-worthy times are also those when one is least able to sort through photos and write...

With no further ado, lets begin the catch-up with a recap of our trip.

Dates:  March 25-29, 2013

Destination: Guernsey Wyoming

Travelers:  Mommy and Jack and Ivy (otherwise known as the world's best traveling children.  seriously, they were great.)

Ready to leave from CLE...

The kids were very excited to see that our plane had a polar bear on it. They were super on the flight.  Thank you, new crayons...
They were rock stars through the Denver airport, and LOVED the shuttle bus to the rental car place ("Dese bumps are lifting up my butt!!")...We got a free upgrade to a nice Hyundai SantaFe which the kids said they wanted to keep forever...

We drove into the night from Denver to Guernsey, arriving around midnight Wyoming time... The boy was back asleep in the big bed before I covered him up.  The girl?  She thought that 3 hour nap was all she needed.  Two hours later, all 3 of us were asleep at last..

A quiet Tuesday in Guernsey:  Time with Grandpa, playing the Wii, and golfing...

My dad's new golf cart was the hit of the trip, I think.

I drove behind them in the rental car, with a sleeping Ivy -- it was so sweet to watch Jack turn around and check on me, this giant grin on his face, as we zipped along at 13 miles per hour....

Ivy is carefully covering Grandpa with every small animal toy she can find.  She was quite enamored of "my grampa!" as she called him...  

A surprise of Easter baskets from Grandpa and Vovo topped the day.  Jack was so in love with that white plastic volleyball.

Wednesday:  A trip to the Trail Ruts-- a heaven of a day!-- curtailed by my over-confident boy having a bit of a fall.  But their cries of "I can see the whole world from here!!" as they climbed up the crest of the hill?  Priceless.

We visited Vovo's school to let Jack participate in her Kindergarten Spanish class.  The boy has returned home with a collection of Spanish DVD's, a few new words, and a lot of motivation to learn. Vovo is magic. She also got Jack talking about his own school experiences, in a way we never can.  She gets stories out of everyone..

Jack is quite the Smartboard whiz.

Enjoying the great playground at school. 

Thursday, Vovo was off school so the whole group took a picnic outing to the Castle, one of my favorite destinations in Guernsey. Climbing, eating potato chips, pretending to be baby birds, throwing rocks into the reservoir... good times.  The scenery is a bit different there this year, with blackened trees from last year's fire, and a very low water level.  But still a breathtaking view.

The day was too good to be spent inside so after Ivy's nap we trooped out again, for a sun-drenched bit of exploration at Register Cliffs.

Jack climbed himself way up here and was enthusiastically "Making sand" with  rock...

Ivy loved "making an artist" in all the dust.  Every time I turned around, there she was, plopped down and drawing with her finger...

We stopped and got out of the car to say hi to this Great Dane.  Cause you can do things like that in Guernsey.

The trip was really too short.   By Thursday we'd all finally adjusted to the time change and the altitude, and the kids and the grandparents were thoroughly enjoying each other and soaking up the mutual love.  I so wish we could just spend a Sunday together, anytime.  I love my dad and Anna so much and it is just so wonderful to see my children appreciating them, too.

Story time with Vovo on our last night...

 Our drive back to Denver on Friday morning was smooth and sunny. The kids entertained each other, sharing toys and stories, all the way to Cheyenne...

A stop at Sierra Trading Post...

 

 .. and then off to Denver (with some help from iPad and iPhone distractions..) for a grand two hour visit with Leigh.  She's not only a dear friend, but also a tremendous sword fighting opponent.

 She quickly won Jack and Ivy's hearts and reminded me of why I miss her so much.  Sigh. After a lovely lunch at this great lakefront playground (with city and mountain views, no less) we parted, agreeing to pretend that we do this every week....

And off we flew home.  Buying DirectTV for Jack on the way back?  Best $6 ever spent.   Ivy nursed and napped for a good part of the flight and before we knew it, we were landing in Cleveland, all of us very happy to see Nat...

A fine trip, indeed.  Priceless to have our family together for this bit of time.  My children impressed me to no end with their patience and forbearance in the face of travel.  We'll have to do it again soon.

Spoke too soon...

Well, spring didn't last long.  Its been back to snow and cold for us this week, and a whole winter's worth of cold virus for this mommy, all at once.  I had to leave work early on Thursday, I was feeling so crummy.  Realized I should stay home on Friday when I got up and tried to make Jack's lunch, and was taxed to exhaustion by pulling the crusts off the bread.  It's been a tissue-y, cough drop-y sort of week for me.

The children (knock on wood) seem to have escaped the affliction thus far, and have had a pretty nice week, I think.  They've been well-behaved, for the most part.  And cute.  We also enjoyed the added bonus of Monday and Wednesday evenings with Daddy home, as Nat's spring break was this week.  We went swimming, we went to the library, the children went about their daily routines...and somehow it is Sunday again and I am steeling myself to head back to work and clean up the mess.  A day and a half with last-minute subs in my classroom-- this is tough for the teacher who never calls off!

In the meantime, some photos for you.  Most of these good times were had in my absence, so not much narrative tonight.

Oh! I would like to share with you a couple of cute Ivy-isms, first--

Nat and Jack got their haircut on Thursday afternoon.  As I was home feeling crappy, Ivy got to go along and watch.  She eagerly explained to me that "Daddy and Jack took a haircut but I didn't take a haircut..."  I love the use of the word "take" in this situation..  Today after dinner at Melinda and Will's she proceeded to have Daddy take a haircut again, as she wielded a pair of play scissors.  Absolute concentration, tipping her head to the side, snip-snip-snipping with precision, even holding Nat's head and ordering him "Dohn move your head, Daddy!!"  She certainly paid attention on Thursday!

At the mall with Gram yesterday:  after Gram named the people in Ivy's family, the girl sternly corrected her:  "No, Gram Gram.  My Daddy's name is DR. Nat!"

She got some points with Nat for that one.

Ok. Pictures.  

Here are some older shots. 

I really like this one of my mom on her birthday.

 

 And of her handsome boy, Pip.

 Ivy at the museum last week...
They went again this Friday, too.  I stayed home.  whiny sick mommy, blah blah blah...

Oh, how long ago this seems!!  Our wonderful day just one week ago, when spring seemed like it might really happen...  I can't even bring myself to take a picture of the dismal  world outside today....

  Big news for the boy-- he likes to just jump out of the van and head to the school on his own in the morning.  That little figure disappearing across the giant field?  My big boy...

He also got his 2nd term report card this weekend!   All 4's  with an occasional 3 in some "new skill" areas.  And much to my chagrin, 2's in music... how do I have a child whose worst "grades" are in music????  I am actually tempted to be that mom and call the music teacher for suggestions of what we need to work on to bring his music grade up.  Which is extra silly as he doesn't actually get grades at all....

(For those of you wondering, a 4 means "does this skill independently", a 3 means "With limited prompts" and a 2 means "with frequent prompts"....)

During the haircut....

 

And after...

 

Nat was the parent helper in Ivy's class on Friday.  Yay! more pictures of the incredible cuteness!

Here are a few pictures that are more indicative of the weather we've had this week...

And, oh, how I love this funny little girl...

 and this boy, too...

 Happy week, everyone. ..

Signs of spring

The sun's come out this week and we've seen the good side of 30 degrees for several days in a row, so life is pretty good around here.

We've got these two kids who are growing up more every second.  Jack is just so... big.  Yes, tall, and remarkably solid for one who eats like he does.  But also, the way he carries himself.  The attitudes and expressions.  The confidence.  He's been a great kid this weekend.  He's always a great kid but sometimes he's also an annoying kid who bothers his sister too much.  This weekend- he's been sweet, even sometimes polite. Loveable.

Friday night found our crew at the Art Museum.  Nothing like 45 minutes in the coolest.playroom.ever to start the weekend off right.

 Saturday I spent the morning at a choir rehearsal so Nat took the kids to the zoo.  Thanks to his nifty new Facebook group, friends met them there, and Jack and Greg took the zoo by storm.

Today, temperatures topped seventy.  The kids and I had the most wonderful, nigh rapturous, "Thank god its almost spring!" trip to the park this morning.  Seriously.  They were rolling in the grass.  We stayed for an hour, reacquainting ourselves with the swings, the slides, the sandbox: these grand old friends we'd lost touch with over the winter months.  The slides have gotten smaller, I swear they have.  it can't be that my children are that much bigger by comparison...

The afternoon was spent singing what I think may be my favorite West Shore concert ever. The mix of music was just so very lovely, melodic, familiar,gracious.  And, I felt as confident singing it as I have in a long time.  I think I had a good share of the music memorized, knew my parts cold, and the notes just seemed to float out.  There was a lovely ring to the sound in the sanctuary where we sang and I just poured my heart into it. The standing ovation indicated, I hope, that it was all well-received.

The weekend closed with the last Second Sunday Soup of the season.  Appropriately, the weather reminded us why Soup is ending-- with the coming of the light, we won't need to rely on our collective warmth to  survive.  We'll make it through the months more easily now, until we need to come together again as the days shorten in October....

We had just a small gathering tonight, 10 kids tracking mud and leaves in and out of the house, climbing the tree house, playing together like a dream.  Asparagus soup to celebrate spring, glasses of wine to celebrate life.  Promises made to barbecue all summer long and see each other soon-- but comfortable in the knowledge as we parted, that we will certainly see each other again in the fall. 

 One friend noted that one of her favorite things about Cleveland in the winter are our Soup Suppers.  Granted, we don't have a ton of competition in the category of "good things about Cleveland in the winter".  Still, her words are in my heart.  I love our Soup Suppers and I am infinitely grateful that others like them too, that people come and come back and that we have had this tradition for three years now.  

Here's to Soup.   And here's to spring.