Mother's Day in Wyoming: Day Seven

Mother's Day in Wyoming started with some alone time for me since I woke up at 7 and was able to get out of bed without waking up Sam. I did some writing work while I got the little treat of watching the last 10 minutes of a current episode of Madmen, one of my all-time favorite shows. Being transported back to the 1960s kinda rocks.

As everyone started getting up, we worked on breakfast: blueberry pancakes, sausage and eggs. That gave me enough energy for the relaxing (wait, there was the kayaking) I did all day.

Daddy made Sam into a robot using a diaper box.

One of the two cabins down by the pond, just down the road.

 Aron took the kids down to the pond for some water fun and none of the kids even gave me a backward glance because they knew they were going to have so much fun with their dad. While they were gone I shaved my legs while listening to The Real Housewives of New Jersey. I also took a shower without any little company and I did some writing while watching TV. They were gone about an hour and a half, then Aron came back with the two littlest.

Not even so much as a "bye, Mom!" So much for attachment parented kids being dependent!

Sam did not want to stay home, though, so I walked them down to the pond and ended up taking my maiden kayaking voyage and my maiden rowboat voyage. Great exercise, sunshine, time with family. We had kayak races and took delight in bumping each other's boats.

I was in heaven all day, as Aron did a bunch of laundry and most of the cooking! Later we had his Wyoming boss over for dinner: grilled chicken, corn on the cob, sweet potato fries and blueberry muffins. I was able to nurse Sam to sleep in bed (he was pissy! ... too much sun?) and so got an hour to help with dinner and eat it!

Later I got to do some reading in bed while snuggling with kids. What a great day! Hope your day was just as great.

P.S. My dad wants more fishing stories, so this is to let him know Joel tried to catch a crawdad as big as a baby lobster, and Aron tried some fishing but didn't have any luck. He'll be trying again some nights when he gets home at a decent time.

Real World: Wyoming; Day Six

Day Six = Saturday, by the way. Daddy worked all day. We went to the river beach for a couple of hours in the afternoon. I sunscreened faces liberally but didn't realize we'd be there so long having fun and didn't realize the sun bounced off the sand so much. As a result, I'm a BAD MOMMY and got my kids' little legs a bit sunburned. Not badly, mind you, but they griped later that night. I gave them some Tylenol and put lotion on their legs since we had no aloe or sunburn sprays. Of course they'll be nice and tan tomorrow, but I'm sunscreening the crap out of them next time!

Callie made a "pool" for Sam.

Michael and Joel made a bigger pool.

 Aron got home late in the afternoon and we were going to head to church and dinner, but Sam had other ideas. Sam had to eat at the MommyKerrie Breastaurant and fell asleep so Aron took the 3 oldest kids to the pond to kayak and rowboat. They also fed the horses since the managers are out of town for the night. Then we woke Sam up and headed out.

A Mexican restaurant in Evanston, WY. Muy bueno!

After dinner we headed to a park on the RiverWalk. Me and Callie snapped a pic while I practiced my Spanish on a couple of little girls there.

A moose feeding!

Here's a viewer question from my dad (well, two questions) that I pulled out of The Kerrie Show mailbag:

"Has it got very cold there at night? Is it alright to go out far nights, I mean do you have to be wary of wild animals there?"

Thanks for watching the show, Dad, and here are your answers:

(1) YES! Sometimes it gets to freezing at night. Mornings are chilly, but by after lunchtime we are good to go to hit the river beach for a sunny warm couple of hours in the low 70s or so (feels warmer, but sometimes there's a chilly breeze on the river's bend).

(2) NO and YES! It is pitch black out there in front of our place. In back there's one big "streetlight" ... but we don't venture outside much after dark. We had to read a pamphlet about cougars and bears and how to act if you encounter one, so that has us freaked out!

(3) Bonus answer: Dad, you know the kids are wild animals, so I ALWAYS have to be wary!

There's a triangle out back so I can call people in for dinner ... we are totally Ma and Pa Kettle out here!

The dog here at Kingfisher Bend Ranch, Socks, is the perfect bribe to get my kids to do anything! If Sam is having a fit, we just ask if he wants to give Socks a treat or wants to go pet Socks and he's happy. Looks like we'll be getting a dog in October after all.

As for music here in Evanston, Wyoming, let's just say there's plenty of country but I found THREE great rock stations ... the only catch is they only play stuff from the 70s and 80s. So I get to go back in time on a regular basis, but when I get home I'll be uncool on the music scene. That's okay.

If you missed any installments of the Real World: Wyoming series, head to the right-hand side of this here blog, look for Categories, then click on Wyoming.

Real World: Wyoming; Day Five

The usual type of day: coffee, breakfast, laundry, shower, dishes, pack lunch and off to town to hit the Family Dollar for a few toys, then Dollar Tree for some sand toys for the beach, WalMart for more grocery stuff, post office to mail Mother’s Day cards. I love when strangers tell me I'm raising polite kids :-)

Lots of chillin', then threw a lasagna in the oven and hit the beach for a while to catch some rays and build a rock dam. I chilled on the sand and watched my amazing kids just play, something I rarely do at home. This reinforces the goal we have that soon we'd love to be able to afford a place in the "country" (as country as you can get near Kansas City) where we can just go for a hike in the middle of the day to a stream and forget about household chores.

Gathering rocks for the dam.

Sam could be in San Diego for all he cares. Sand is sand and water is water. It's all fun!

Callie laying out on the beach.

Tonight I told Aron I can put away the dishes instead of him because he worked all day, and that I can write while I nurse after I put away dishes. He said, “Yes, I know you can write while you nurse. You’re very talented that way. But go do something else.” He just wanted me to relax, which rocks.

Catch you later for Day Six (Friday).

Real World:Wyoming; Day Four

Loving how the kids can run free around here and I don’t have to worry about them. They love the dog here, Socks, and there are kittens to be fondled next week, plus the horses. I can hear the Bear River out the back door.

The boys tried to fish at the pond but it was too windy. So we went to “town” for groceries. Found out the bank shut down our debit card since we’re traveling and spending lots of money. 

Here's the cake Eva knocked off a shelf at Smith's so we had to buy it. Aron says he's surprised she didn't then start knocking down all sorts of baked goods!

Back to the ranch to unload a million dollars in groceries, and my friend would kill me because it’s a lot of processed junk, but it makes life easy.

Getting domesticated. Made some muffins for us and for the managers of the  place.

Don’t worry, lunch was a nice romaine, carrot, strawberry, feta, tomato salad with light balsamic. The kids had mac and cheese and muffins J

Why am I posting so many pictures of food?????

The rest of the day and night were spent chillin' out.

If you missed any installments of the Real World: Wyoming series, head to the right-hand side of this here blog, look for Categories, then click on Wyoming.

Real World: Wyoming; Day Three

Breakfast at one of our lovely kitchen tables at the Kingfisher Bend Ranch! The living area is behind the kids ... a couch and a chair. Down the hallway are the other 2 bedrooms which we don't even use but they are great for the kids to play in.

A wicked cool tree out our back door.

Joel is already in ART MODE, drawing pictures of different birds and animals we see.

The view out our back door.

Had a showdown with the high-falutin' washin' machine. I'm used to beating my clothes on a rock, so this computerized contraption was hard to figure out.

The managers, who are living in a residence ATTACHED to ours (poor people!), gave us a tour of Bear River Beach, which is about a half mile walk from the lodge.

Then there was horseback riding for all in an arena. We'd never been before, so it was amazing! Even Michael got on a horse for a little bit!

Learned a new term: mate-poaching. Ladies (and gentlemen), don't try to poach my hot cowboy mate, m'kay?

Michael made some strawberry juice.

Grandpa and Grandpa on the front porch.

To Salt Lake City for a rental car for Daddy since he works 40 minutes from where we're staying. Target stop for decent shoes for Eva, then WalMart stop for fishing poles.

Aron's Buick Regal. He says the Mommyvan could take it in a race no problem. We'll test that theory later.

Pizza casserole for dinner, and watching deer out the back kitchen windows and door.