Cooking for 2

I was getting dinner ready the other night when I hear a lot of pots and pans "clanking" in the living room. Kate is usually the source of the noise so I did not think anything of it. Suddenly I noticed that Kate had joined me in the kitchen but the noises continued. Here is what I found in the living room....

Another Chef is born

Guess who "helped" Lauren start cooking

Home

It has been nearly a week since we made it home. One plane ride story(don't worry it has a happy ending): We got onto the plane in Jackson and it took off after we sat on the runway for about 30 minutes. I could already hear Kate having her first meltdown! I had no idea that she had thrown up the cookie and yo-go's into Dad's lap at that point. Regardless, we are flying high and soon enough we are about ready to start the down to DFW when the pilot let's us know that DFW is shut down because of weather. "We are going to circle around Witchita Falls for 30-45 minutes and if they don't open DFW we will have to land in Lubbock to get fuel.". Things are not looking good for us at all but we are forced to circle and circle and circle. Pilot then comes back on and gives us the news, we have to land to get fuel, and oh by the way, we are landing in Austin. YEA!!! And they are going to let any passengers headed to Austin off the plane!! YEA!! We could not get our luggage but by that time none of us cared(and most of the passengers around us were so THRILLED to have us off too). We made it home about 2 hours before we should have(if the plane was on-time) and 7 hours before the plane would have landed had we had to stay on that plane(and make/miss our connection in Dallas). Someone was really looking out for us thank goodness!!

SO we are home and Kate started school on Wednesday. She will be in class two days a week from 9am to 1pm. She was acting all of 2 when I tried to take her picture in her new dress(from Granny) but here is a first day of school shot.

Where's Queenie?

A phrase I often hear is "Where's Queenie?". It suddenly popped into my head that the phrase is appropriate when viewing the blogs from Idaho.
Queenie has been essential to our time here(from coining the phrase "I need that" to making a mean peach crisp) and to leave her out would be criminal. She "allowed" me to take one picture just after naps. It has been aptly titled "The Queen and Princess Awake"

Images from our final day in Idaho for 2006

Today has been the coldest so far (a whopping 55 degrees right now). We are in the midst of cleaning up and packing but for Kate and Grandad the dogs and birds still must be fed.

Dan and Grandad also made a final fishing bid but the cold kept the fish below the water.
Kate ready to go outside(must have her bow and sun glasses)

Pruning Queenie's herb garden(loved eating the chives)

Chasing those well fed squirrels...
Reading with the girls(a calm before tomorrow's "storm")

The last Friday

The last friday we will be in Idaho. It is raining outside and a cool 59 degrees...it is going to be tough going back to 100 degree Austin.

Dan is on a fishing "expedition" with my dad, Dr. Mick & Henry(two long time friends of my folks). His fishing skills have really improved in the last few days and I bet he catches a lot of fish with this bunch.

Kate is driving to the Farmer's Market in Driggs with Queenie. Here she is leaving for the day (note the bow, bracelet, purse, and sunglasses...)

Lauren and I are home to recover from another restless night. I just realized that she is almost 6 months old-where has the time gone! Lauren still has a killer smile, blue eyes, and a little red tint to her blond hair but she is clearly teething(little bit of tooth is coming out on the right) and she is almost sitting up on her own.

Aunt Sal and Brooke Visit

My Aunt Sally and her daughter Brooke drove here from their home in Eagle, Idaho for a visit. We had no idea what fast and easy friends Kate and Brooke would become.

Ten seconds after Brooke came through the door, she and Kate were inseperable. They push babies in strollers, they "cook", they color, and they put Ms Potato Head back together.
Lauren gets in the mix every once in a while and both girls prove how sweet and good natured they are.


We did go on a bit of an adventure. About 30 minutes from here is a place called Big Spring. It is actually a major source of the Henry's Fork river and it is some of the most beautiful untouched water around. We were able to see huge trout, ducks, gulls, and a few beaver looking animals. The girls had fun watching all the action in the water. Behind us is the actual source of the river...

Aunt Sal got to spend some quality time with Lauren(which left me momemtarily baby free)
And of course, Brooke got to participate in the daily "go dogs".

A final shot of two new friends ...

Grandad and Kate

I wish I could describe what happens between Kate and Grandad with any brilliance...it is so sweet and wonderful. Here is just a glimpse of what they do together everyday.

Kate and Grandad feed/walk the dogs twice a day. Kate wakes up every morning saying "Where's Grandad?" and "Go Dogs"...

Feeding the birds, chipmunks, raccoons, crows and any other member of the wild kingdom that happens to be in the neighborhood. Kate especially likes the peanut butter "leftovers" on her fingers.

Dad joins us in Idaho

YEA!! Dan decided that Austin was too hot and came up early! He flew up on Friday and will be here until we all leave (boo-hoo) on the 27th. Lauren was especially happy to have her dad here.

Good pics of Lauren & Laura

As I have said, we owe Laura BIG for all that she did to help us get here. The girls were not the best travelers(and the new security and two delayed flights did not help). I did get some good pictures of her and Lauren that might help her to remember how great the girls are outside of airplanes....

(view from the deck)

Day in the park

Today we woke up early to head out to Yellowstone National Park. It was a cool morning (around 35 degrees) and we thought that the weather might bring out more animals. We thought wrong.

Our main goal was to get Kate to see some buffalo. Never our favorite animal, they are everywhere in the park and we figured she could see and experience them like no other animal. Today(of course) we could not find any buffalo or any other animal for most of the drive. We did finally see a few herds and Kate had one walk right past her window. She also got to see elk but seemed unimpressed with their sleeping ways. Ironically her favorite animals were those we saw on the way to the park, cows and horses.

The most important part of any trip is the food. We always make a stop at the Lake Yellowstone hotel for lunch and today was no exception. After lunch, Grandad reclaimed his seat in the great room with Kate on his lap.

Lake Yellowstone 2006

Lake Yellowstone 2005 (!!!)

Lauren's first pic at the hotel

Kate loving Idaho

On a walk with Aunt Funny

Self photo of Kate & Aunt Funny

Smelling the flowers

"Cooking"

To Idaho we go...

We picked a great day to get on an airplane! Terrorists had targeted flights from the UK to the US and now our little flight to Jackson was going to suffer. We hit the airport with security lines like you have never seen and people really confused about the whole thing(it was 5:30am and most had not been up watching Fox News all night with Lauren and I-our hair gel was already packed). BUT in the end, we made it!! And I could not have done it without Aunt Funny's help(yes, Laura I still owe you BIG).

So we are here in a place of beauty where the temperature has not been above 80 and we wake up to 40 degrees every morning. Here are some pictures of the girls, "having fun at Camp Wood" (aka Toyland North).

Kate sees her first bear at the airport in Jackson.

After a long day traveling, Aunt Funny, Kate and baby rest on the swing (note the Aunt Funny "supplied" Kiwi lipgloss styling Kate's hair)

Kate asks to hold her sister(and sits still long enough for one picture...)

Lauren and I enjoying the cool air and the view

TV Stars!

Yesterday a local news station came and filmed Strollerfit. Something about sisters in the red stroller...here is the link to the footage. KXAN: StrollerFit

On another note, I am feeling very well rested. After six nights of hourly feedings(all night long) by Lauren, last night there was only one(at 2) and then we were up for the day at 4:45...Keeping my fingers crossed that her growth spurt is OVER!

Sister's first bath

Last night began with hamburgers at our new Saturday "hangout", Red Bud Grill. We had all had a long day so there was little debate about how quickly we needed to bathe and get in bed. To expedite the process, Dan and I decided tonight we would put both babies in the bath at the same time.
At first, Lauren was not so sure...

Soon, both she and her sister decided it was fun being together.