I’m glad Robin mentioned Daisy in her comment on the last post.  I want it noted that I do NOT approve of a very large portion of Daisy’s wardrobe.  But the beauty of your 6 yr. old loving the show is that he doesn’t even seem to notice!  He’s WAY too into the car chases, car crashes, running from Roscoe and Boss Hogg, how cool it is that the General Lee’s doors are welded shut, how the Dukes are ALWAYS just trying to do the right thing, etc.   So as Robin said, all in all… it’s pretty tame.

There.  Now it’s in writing.  Don’t approve of  ”the Daisy Dukes,” but not worried right now either.

“…like a true modern-day Robin Hood.” (EVERYBODY!) “Yeee- Haaaawww!”

CMT often shows re-runs of “The Dukes of Hazzard.”  Once in a while we let the kids watch it, mainly for nostalgia-sake.  (Mine, that is.  Tim was 16 when it started and thought it was barely tolerable.)  Tim and I get the biggest kick out of watching Ethan watch that show!  I don’t know if 6 yr. olds were the original intended target audience, but they should have been.  It’s a bit strange to think that I was 6 when that show started, and now my 6 yr. old loves it.  He is so animated and excited and… words fail me.  It’s just too funny.  We hear things like, “Oh no — oh noo- oh nooo!  YES!  Ha! Ha!”  ”Oh, I can’t watch!  Go – go – go! Yeah!”  ”Oooo!  They’re gonna get ‘im!”  ”That’s AWESOME!”  All this while he’s jumping up and down about 3 feet from the TV.

Surely my brother and I were never THAT into The Dukes of Hazzard, or The A-Team, or Battlestar Galactica (the original, of course).  :-)

Note to self: DO NOT try to purchase, roast, debone, portion out, and freeze five chickens on Wednesday.  Any other day it might work, but not when you’ve got Bible class.  You’re just not that good.

Self: Duly noted.

I was a little busy yesterday.  So…. here ya go Alyssa!  You asked for more scenes of our vacation life in CO.

First off, these pic’s are all going to be about a year and a half old.  So now Caleb rides in the middle, and Ethan’s in a booster seat.  But this is still a common sight during the very long drive.

We usually try to plan for an extra-long stop in Colby, KS.  They have an awesome truck stop/ gas station called “The Oasis.”  Amenities include: gas, potty (with the loudest air hand driers known to man!), gift shop (I always browse, never buy), Quizno’s, Baskin Robbins, Starbuck’s, and a GREAT fenced-in playground/ field/ picnic area.  Also, if we have to spend Sat. night on the road and finish up on Sun., I love trying to work it so we can go to church in Colby.  The church there is a whole other post.  I really admire the work they seem to be doing there, and their friendliness, and…. anyway.  Back to the trip.  So yes, the stop in Colby extends the trip time.  But we feel it’s worth it.

I know, Caleb’s getting more face-time here, but I just love these shots of him.  And as I recall, Ethan kept moving too fast for me to get good ones of him very easily.

This “brother shot” is them at a little piano toy.  I call this “The Blues Brothers.”  Love it!

Can’t believe I’m actually including a picture with ME in it.  But this shows part of my parents’ house.  In this shot I would have the best view of the mountains — if that makes any sense.  OR the photographer’s back (Tim, I assume) is to the mtns.

The sandbox Caleb is next to was built by Granddad the year before, with some “help” from Ethan.  :-)  It’s got a great screen cover for when it’s not in use to keep the cats from pooping in it.

So most of the rest of the pic’s for today will be of the family hike we took that summer (with as few shots of me as possible!)  We went up the Poudre Canyon to Young’s Gulch.  Gorgeous!  We DID keep all together, not allowing children to run ahead even though they wanted to, and made plenty of noise.  (This is mostly for you, Alyssa…)  NOT doing these things is a decent way for a mountain lion/ cougar to kill your child, if one’s in the area.  In fact, that very thing had happened in another canyon that summer.

A cave we noticed way up on the hillside.  Wonder what lives there?

Simple beauty.  Indian paintbrush.

It started raining JUST before we got back to the cars.  By the time we ate sandwiches in the cars, got down the mountain and home, we were treated to a double full rainbow.  One of those many times when a camera is simply not good enough.

HOME.

This is how Caleb currently sings Matthew 6:33:

“Seek ye first the kingdom of the God.  Ezra-miaaaaaaaahhhhh!” (Like Ezra and Nehemiah combined, with last syllable extended as long as needed to fit the tune.)  continuing…    ”King of the kings — <grr!> THAT’S NOT RIGHT!”

He does it over and over and over.  Same way.  Every. Time.  For about 4 days.  Now Ethan is trying to teach it correctly, and he’s got a few extra words thrown in.  I love when they mess up in cute ways because the day will come when they’ve got it right and a piece of me will miss the messed-up version.  But they seem to truly want to do it right.  So I’m off to continue my children’s education.  While we’re at it, I guess it would be a good time for them to learn that those words are actually IN THE BIBLE, and where they are.

We’ll see if the ever-increasing mess in my bedroom gets dealt with today…. But at least they’ll be able to sing that song and (hopefully) know where it is in the Bible.

Oh yeah, Happy Valentine’s Day to all!