Keystone: Day 1

We were able to take a four day vacation up in Keystone a couple of weekends ago thanks to my godfather, Jim.  He and his wife, Kristin, have a condo right in the mix of things at Keystone.  It was so nice to be in cooler weather and to just take a break from regular life.  We hiked a lot, which was great!

Look who's lost her fear of water:

Who reads this blog? No one ever comments anymore and I MISS THE COMMENTS!! Hint hint.

Maci is SOOO close to crawling.  She gets up on her hands, and she gets up on her knees, and as of today, sometimes she gets up on her hands and up on her knees at the same time.  She's very strong, and also likes to pinch.

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Ellis today, as I pulled up to the pump at the gas station:

"Look, I see some Philistines over there."

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Ellis skinned her knees tonight out on some cement.  Later on she came up to me and said in her best British accent (which is far better than mine), "I hut my knee outside tonight so I bandaged it up and now it feels bettah." 

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At the grocery store this evening:

"It's cold EVERYWHERE in this store!  How can this be happening??!!"

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After using "like" once, Ellis learned that I will laugh every time she uses it, like when she says:

"Maci's like, 'I dunno where we're goin'!' "

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While passing the water fountain in the wall along the staircase at her Grammy and Grandpa's house when it was turned off:

"Oh look, the fountain stopped leaking."

So she maybe doesn't yet understand what a fountain is supposed to do.

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Missing her friends Amelie and Finley while they were away in Montana:

"Can we go to MANtana?" Other variations on this frequent question were, Antana, Mintana and Montello.

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The other night we were all in the backyard and Ellis wanted me to help her find her "old house".  I didn't know what I was supposed to look for, so she explained that her old house looked like a little Vada.  We found it (it was the garage??)  She said it was in Myvada.  Gabe said, "Arvada?"  (where we do live), and she corrected him, saying again, "No, it's My-Vada."

Growing girls and gardens

So it turns out I don't have a black thumb, I just had anemic dirt. The cure?  Guano.  The translation:  seabird poo.  Here's my first lettuce harvest (from last month).

Sweet little 6 month old.

The photo that will disqualify me from that Mom-of-the-year contest.

Basil harvest!

So one day a couple of weeks ago Ellis decided she wanted to start writing letters, so that's what she did.  Homeschooling is going to be so easy if she keeps doing things without my help.

Maci is finally starting to hold her own in the sister arena :)

Why did I include this photo?  Keep scrolling to see what came next...

Ha! Where she stayed for half a minute, or so.  Not sure if she fell asleep for a second, or if this was somehow comfortable.

If you've never grown food, might I recommend starting with lettuce. Grows fast and easily, even without the nitrogen rich bird poo.

On a day I was feeling a bit frustrated and hopeless over how poorly our garden was doing, I planted something here.  I think it's squash of some sort.  But because I had the attitude of, it's not like it's actually going to GROW, so what's the point of marking it?? I didn't mark it and now I'm anxiously waiting to see what comes out of this plant.

We had a fun time catching up with some Ochockis the other day.  Here's a funny (to me) one of Grayson (Greyson?) and Maci.  It reminds me of Grant Wood's American Gothic.

16 new posts ahead...

The Big Littles

And bubbles!

By the end of the visit, these two had worn each other out so it was time for a tv break.  Little sweeties.

And a bonus baby pic from yesterday.

Cousins

Sisters Squared

Getting 8 month old Clara to smile is not a problem.  Getting her to sit still for a picture...poses a bit of a challenge---but does make for funnier pictures every time.

 Might be my favorite...

 Hilarious.

Macia is a good sport, and quite durable.