End of the summer....

First things first, the VERDICT is in:

NO SURGERY

but this will be our view for the next 6 weeks

while we are best friends with the boot

*****

My tomato plants:

They are producing slowly

Perfect amount to eat on a salad

or to slice and eat alone for a snack

I got some sort of pest on one of my 4 plants.

It pretty much killed half of it before I noticed

(even though I water them daily).

*****

Last weekend we hit up a Food Truck Gathering.

It was fab and fun and just a tad warm out.

Some of us had biscuits,

some of us had tacos

and some of us had the most delish cupcakes

*****

This "ugly bug" had a mock day today.

Nothing like practicing for 6th grade.

But who ever came up with it was

PURE GENIUS!

All of our little butterfly's are gone.

And we even have a new BFF

(her 5th grade BFF moved to another school)

Traditional Front Door Picture.

We'll have another photo shoot Monday

when the Granster joins her at school.

*****

Summer has been great but

I am ready for winter.

but I love my fireplace,

my double ovens,

my scarfs,

my boots

and

school time.

Summer Road Trip Part II

On the second part of our road trip, we drove a little north through Idaho and then back into Wyoming. We had to make a little stop by the side of the road...no one vomitted BUT a few of us had to get out of the car and get some fresh air. It was worth the stop for the scenery how ever.
We continued on and met up with some of Bill's family who are "summering" in Star Valley. We had a lovely lunch visit with Cindy and Scott and Taylor. We just love you guys to pieces. Thanks for letting us invade your camper space for the afternoon!

As we drove through the teton Mountains we just looked and looked and looked. We kept telling the kids, this is what "real" mountains look like. This was by far our most favorite part of our scenic road trip. How can you not love that! We sure do.

Beauty!

We decided to drive through Dubois Wyoming and get a quick bite to eat. Over $100 later we experienced a shack by the creek, hot cocoa and tea, and very exquisite Wyoming Cuisine. I think everyone will remember freezing our trashes off at that restaurant by the creek.

What's a late night road trip with out some throwback sodas and peanut m&m's.

We visited the natural hot spring in Thermopolis, WY. Right next door they have a bison grazing area that you can drive through and see the big beasts. We only saw a couple of bison and I missed the picture. But my favorite part was this little corner where all this metal is stashed. It's kind of a where's waldo of aging cars and misc metal things. I thought it was so cool!

We took a pit stop in the small "blink and you'll miss it" town of Kirby Wyomng.
The new home to Wyoming Whiskey.
This is the first legal distillery in Wyoming.
The master distiller was gracious enough to take us on a tour and show us the process.

Here the mixture is in a 2500 gal tank. The yeast keeps it mixing and brewing.
The whole place smelled like fresh bread.
So yummy!

Here are the first barrels...taking their time with the aging process.
Wyoming Wisky has a beautiful facility in a beautiful part of the country!
It was a very education experience for all.

Summer Road Trip Part I

We decided to escape the terrible triples of an AZ July and road trip north. We drove through northern Arizona, southern UT, up the scenic highway 87 on the eastern side of UT Grandma & Grandpa S's place in northern UT.

~We played road trip bingo,

~ did brain teasers,

~listen to our ipods,

~had "poem hour"

(I read random poems every hour or sometimes 2 if we missed an hour because I was napping)

~took naps,

~~~

At Grandma and Grandpa's we:

tested out the boat on the river

Received tractor driving lessons

Used up every single band-aid Grandma stashed on the business of scootering. I was sympathetic for about 10 minutes and then I decided "someone" needed a lesson in toughen-up-cookie.