Go Broncos
A typical Sunday will find Flossie hitting the grocery store to secure mass quantities of cookies and milk for her family for the upcoming week (sometimes she brings home yucky vegetables and other things the kids and I revolt against, Mom's...). Depending on behavior in the days leading up to this epic shopping adventure, one or both of the kids may accompany Flossie and add thirty to forty percent to her shopping time, as well as visiting the ladies in the bakery department for free cookies.
This week, Tyler and I had to get our ears lowered, so it was Nora and Flossie. Over the past few trips, Nora has been eying a pair of cheerleader pom-pom's in the toy aisle for some reason. And, for some other reason (unknown to myself), Flossie decided to give in to Nora's conning and running in the door this afternoon, Nora had to show me her new found play item. With that...words cannot describe things, so I will let the audio/visual aides complete this short story. Go...Broncos !
Afternoon Crafting
Flossie had to run to the crafts story earlier today, and Tyler and Nora accompanied her on the journey. While there, they picked up supplies for Tyler's upcoming Geography presentation on the state of Wyoming, as well as picking up a couple craft projects for the kids. Tyler picked out a mold and paint kit, and is eager to mold his race cars and paint them. Nora picked out a jewelry box that one can decorate with sticker-like sequins. She cracked it open after lunch and has worked on it by herself for about two hours across the afternoon, and just brought in the results. She was quite happy, and now has some decorating on the sides to work on.
A Short Wilderness Adventure
We have kicked around the idea of taking Tyler and Nora camping this year, but to-date, we have yet to take the plunge. Over Labor Day weekend though, we decided to head up past Idaho City to a familiar twisting waterway, Crooked River. Flossie and I have hiked along here several times, the first probably in 2001 with Ralph (and Ralph only back then). We also took a hike here with Larry and Jeanne back in 2003 or so. The Crooked River Trail is fairly flat, and the trail stays pretty close to the waterway, usually ten feet or so above it, so it keeps things easy for short legs and gives ample opportunity for rock chucking and taking a dip in the mountain water.
We left Boise just before noon, and enjoyed a nice drive on Idaho 21 through Idaho City. The sky was clear, with the temperature hovering around 78-79 degrees on the way to the trailhead. We arrived just before 2PM, tossed on the packs, saddled up the dog, and set out on the adventure.
We made it about two minutes down the trail before Nora had to use the restroom. While Flossie took this chance (and period of time) to teach Nora how to be a lady in the great outdoors, Tyler, Eros and I jumped down to the river and kicked off the shoes to see what the water felt like. After spending a few minutes on our own, the girls re-joined us, and Nora and Tyler kicked off their pants and had a good time. We walked out into the middle of the stream, but the water climbed up to waist level of both kids, so we halted our advancement across the river.
After getting clothes and shoes back on, we continued down the trail for a quarter of a mile, and took a break for lunch. The kids were a bit upset the jelly was showing through the bread, they are not used to roughing it I guess. Eros enjoyed the break, finding a comfortable spot in the shade, and she was rewarded with the crusts from Tyler's sandwich. Then, we put the packs on and headed back onto the trail.
We made it another quarter mile, and then the toils of hiking for a bit began to set in with the short-legged kids. Tyler bemoaned how much he hated walking and Nora just plumb started to wear out. Eros, however, voiced no such concerns. We made it down to a bend in the river, snapped a few pictures of the surroundings, and then turned around, going about 8/10th's of a mile along the Crooked River in just over an hour.
The trail was fairly busy, and we passed one family camping just off the trail with a few older pooches guarding the camp. A number of kids, some right around Tyler's age and a few years older, also trekked along the river on this beautiful day. Eros loved the smells, and on our way back, she had the opportunity to visit a rodent friend. Unfortunately for her, she never caught wind of him, although Tyler's keen eyes picked him out as he casually enjoyed a snack, ignoring our picture taking and gawking.
The kids had enough of the fun, and we did not take a dip in the water again. We arrived back at the Escalade after three hours on the trail. The temperature had warmed to the mid-80's, although the shaded trail with river nearby made it very pleasant and it never felt a bit hot. The dusty Erben's hopped back in the car, and we headed toward big city again (snagging buffalo wings on the way home for dinner).
You can view all the pictures from the day in the Flickr set. The kids may not have been wild about the entire journey, but it was good to get them out of town and into the woods. They are excited for Grandpa Larry to come with them next time and "maybe we can bring our tents and eat marshmallows" they claim. May need a few more hikes to roughen them up a bit still.
View
20110904 - Crooked River Trail Hike in a larger map
Daddy.SetEmotion(eEcstatic)
Nothing brings a warm fuzzy feeling to a software engineer like flipping through your first-grade son's homework and running across his first program !
Tyler's First Logo Program
Tyler has computer class two days a week as we understand it -- Tuesday and Thursday, just after lunch, taught by his kindergarden teacher from last year. The first week of school, he learned the username and password to logon (passwords are supposed to be secrets he informed us, but he could tell us because you cannot keep secrets from your parents). Now, it appears they have jumped right into Logo. On Thursday, Tyler created a box, 100 units on a side, and was able to bring home the proof.
The only downside I suppose is that he is using a Windows program to learn Logo instead of cutting his teeth on an Apple II like I did, but he is about four years ahead of me as I did not get my first crack at programming (with Logo at least) until fifth grade as I recall. I did however spend a little bit of time with Basic on the Commodore 64 a bit before then, but probably not around first grade (more fun to play Donkey Kong and Sea Wolf).
Now you'll have to excuse me, downloaded ACSLogo and I am off coding...
Early Night in Boise
Eros, Nora, and Tyler call it an early night in Boise before another routine week.
First Day of School for Tyler and Nora
The first day of the 2011-2012 school year was a tale of two completely different children to start the day. Sunday evening, Tyler was out like a light, snoozing well before 10PM. Nora Caitlin on the other hand was up, down, running around, and all jazzed up for the next day. She probably counted her last sheep around 11:30PM, a bit of a worry, but she should still pickup seven plus hours of sleep.
Come breakfast time, Nora continued down the sugar high-like roller coaster, bouncing off the walls, hopping and dancing, prancing and talking all morning long. She only ate about half her oatmeal, but was all into getting her uniform on, brushing her teeth, and doing her hair. Then there was Tyler. He took some rustling to get out of bed after ten or so hours of slumbering. He left his summer vacation mode on, dawdling through breakfast, and getting dressed slower than Eros wandering the backyard at 2AM looking for chickens. Not a smile, not a frown, not a single emotion from him, although he did show a little bit of excitement for a split second as he tossed his lunch pail in his bag.
On the way to school, we ran through the plan for the day with both kids. Tyler, we will drop you off first, then you will have class, lunch, class, then extended class time, then we will pick you up. He starts to ponder. Nora, we will drop you off after Tyler then pick you up at lunch time and you will go to daycare. "Ohhh man" she exclaims. Then she starts talking about school...and is jumping in her seat, the excitement pouring out. She started coughing and I though she might have worked herself sick, but no. Tyler is just quiet, and just before we get to the school, he remarks "I just want to go to school for half the day, you come pick me up." Now the fun begins for the parents.
After waiting a few minutes, the elementary drop-off process begins. Fourth in line, we pull up, and Tyler clams up, scrunches up in his seat, and the tears and emotion start pouring out. He convinced himself he was not going to school. Flossie hopped out, took him inside and up to his classroom where the hysterics continued as she helped him put his bag up and sit in his desk. Oh boy...what fun. Back in the car, Nora is jabbering my ear off about everything related to school, clothes, her hair, and her shoes. We wait a bit less than ten minutes and she's out the door and off into pre-school, oblivious to our existence.
At lunch time, Flossie scurried out to Challenger and picked up Nora. She talked to Gramma Bean a bit and shared with Flossie that she would miss Tyler at daycare, but otherwise she had a wail of a day. She brought home a badge in the shape of a school bus with her name on it and string so she can wear it around her neck, and she had a piece of paper with her name on it that she traced over three times.
Around 5:30, Flossie had Tyler picked up and had just scooped up Nora from daycare when the Escalade landed at HP to snag yours truly. I get in the car, worried about how Tyler's day turned out, and had zero chance to ask him about it as Nora assaulted me with the events of her day in a ninety second run-on summary. After she stopped to take a breath, I looked at Tyler and asked how his day went. He looks at me and simply states "AWESOME!" Whew. After Flossie left he settled right in, had a good time eating lunch with his classmates, and after school during the extended class time (aka, daycare at school with more educational structure) he played Simon-Says and it was way cool. I asked him if he was ready for school tomorrow and it was all "oh yeah"'s for Tyler.
Ridin’ Four Wheelers at the Cabin
In July, Tyler and Nora spent a week+ with Gramma and Grandpa Bean in Laramie, as well as heading up to the cabin in Albany, WY during the weekend. While at the cabin, "Max", the kiddo four-wheeler came out to play. After a safety briefing, Tyler saddled up and took off, having demonstrated the ability to operate not only the throttle, but the horn (repeatedly). Then, with Gramma occasionally assisting, Nora went for a spin around the meadow.
Grandpa Rolls Through Town
Grandpa Rick made an appearance in Boise on his August 2011 motorcycle sojourn, rolling into Boise Friday evening, and heading out Sunday around noon. After dinner Saturday night, Nora asked Grandpa for a tour of the bike, and she quickly became quite comfortable with the operations.
Getting Ready for School
Tyler and Nora try on their school clothes for the upcoming year, starting 08/22. While Nora is not required to wear a uniform for pre-school, try telling that to her. She has one jumper to wear each week, with the rest of her wardrobe consisting of a variety of very girly items. Her new school shoes are almost worn out too, she tried to wear them tonight while riding the scooter.
A few other photos are on the flickr page.
Zonked on a Sunday Night
Nora Caitlin, after a busy spring weekend playing outside and such, turns in a bit early after bath time.
Recent Bloggin’
- Go Broncos
- Afternoon Crafting
- A Short Wilderness Adventure
- Daddy.SetEmotion(eEcstatic)
- Early Night in Boise
Recent Comments
- Gramma on Go Broncos
- Granny on Afternoon Crafting
- Flossie on A Short Wilderness Adventure
- Gramma on Daddy.SetEmotion(eEcstatic)
- Laura on Daddy.SetEmotion(eEcstatic)
Friends n Family
Multimedia
Random Photos @ Flickr
