STEM Expo

Alyson recently attended the STEM Expo.  It's basically a huge science fair for all of Great Falls. She has been working with her ECS (extended curriculum services) group on programming robots.  They programmed a robot to cut down trees.  She and her two other teammates dressed up like lumberjacks for their presentation.  

Here is Alyson at the STEM Expo.  STEM = science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  Notice her flannel?

She and her teammates programmed this robot to do the job of a lumberjack. They were hoping to save some lumberjack lives.

Here is their display.  They worked really hard.  They got a score of 24 out of 25.  They got gold medals.  AWESOME!

Halloween, Crabs, and a Turkey Disguise

It's been a while since our last update so this will be a random assortment of things.  Halloween was fun and cold as usual. Rylee trick-or-treated at about 5 houses and then she was done.  The pictures shows them without coats, but we did put them on for the trick-or-treating.  The kids helped me design and carve some jack-o-lanterns.  We had fun doing that.  The kids got creative and cute with their pumpkins.

This picture is without the flash but, you can see our Jack-o-lanterns better.  Alyson chose a Harry Potter design, Logan's is classic and Ethan's is supposed to be scarier.  

Here they are in their costumes.  Logan is Commander Cody, Ethan is Spider-man and Rylee is Minnie Mouse.  Alyson was a ninja but she went with a friend and wasn't there  for picture time.

 Alyson was recently in the school play.  The play was "Blackbeard the Pirate."  Alyson played the role of "Snow Crab."  The crabs were in charge of protecting the buried treasure and they were grouchy.  Alyson did an awesome job.  Definitely the best crab and the cutest.  One of her lines was "Back you fiends!"  She delivered it wonderfully.  We were very proud parents.  Way to go Alyson!

Alyson and her fellow crabs.

A closer picture of Alyson in her crab costume.  She played the grouchy "Snow Crab."

 And finally, we have Logan's recent school project.  It was labeled as a "family project" and Logan was sick  and throwing up that day so I did most of it.  It was fun.  The assignment was to create a disguise for your turkey to keep him safe during Thanksgiving.  Logan decided we should disguise him as Mickey Mouse.  So I had a good time making his costume.  If you can't read the story, I'll tell you what it says.  The story was the part that Logan did all by himself.  It says,  "I am NOT a turkey, I am Mickey Mouse.  So please don't eat me.  It you eat me you won't be able to come to Disneyland.  So please don't eat me, I am Mickey Mouse."

Logan's disguised turkey.

"Back" to the School

Yesterday was the first day of school.  Alyson and Ethan were not that excited about it, but Logan was.  I found that pretty surprising. We only had a couple of days between Yellowstone and school to get ready.  I gave the boys haircuts but I told Alyson that I would take her to a salon for the first time ever.  Normally I cut hers too.  Logan and Ethan's teachers requested money so that they could buy all the school supplies for their class.  I bought Alyson's school supplies and that total was more than $50 and I'm not quite done yet.

On the morning of the the first day of school, Ethan came to our bedroom and woke us up by telling us that Alyson couldn't breathe.  So we asked for more information, and he told us a story that we couldn't understand.  So we got up to find out what was going on.  Alyson and Ethan told me the following story:
It seems that the day before Alyson and Ethan had been watching Back to the Future and they got a great idea.  They decided to wake up early and put earphones in Logan's ears and then blast loud music to wake him up.  Remember this scene?  Anyway, apparently while they were getting ready to do this, Alyson told Ethan that he should get on her shoulders so that they would look taller and scarier.  Ethan climbed up and at this point, Alyson realizes she's not strong enough to do this.  She falls down and Ethan falls on top of her and knocks the wind out of her. I can't believe this brilliant plan went wrong!   She seems to have thrown out her back as well, so she kind of hobbled off to school.  I laughed about this all day.  It was as an awesome way to start the day.

Here are some pictures of them on their first day with their new haircuts.

Yellowstone

Here we are upon arrival at the North entrance's historic arch.  They all look so clean .

This is the top of the upper falls.

The grand canyon of the Yellowstone never ceases to impress me.

Speaking of being impressed, the kids weren't impressed with the smells of Yellowstone.

Morning glory pool, which I remember as being a little more glorious.  They say that people throwing things in has ruined it.

What an amazing view along the North east drive. Forrest as far as you could see.

We spent a couple of days in Jackson Hole and the Tetons.
This is us getting ready for an alpine slide ride.

Rylee getting ready for her ride.

Ethan thought it was amazing.

Rylee and I coming in for a landing.  She thought it was great. 

Alyson, slow and cautious on her first run, went like a bullet on the second round.

Here's Logan and I on our second run.  I let Logan man the brake. If I look scared, it's because I am.

After the slide we did a round of mini-golf.  

Rylee loved running on the hill.

The Tetons at sunset.  Beautiful.

The kids playing at Jenny Lake.

If you can find it, this is the first bear I've ever seen in Yellowstone.

Here is the 2nd bear we saw right outside of Yellowstsone.  He was sitting on the side of the road eating some roadkill.

Our trip was lots of fun. We saw more wildlife in Yellowstone this time than we ever have.  We saw the usual elk and bison, but we also saw a wolf, moose, pelican, and our two bears.  We also heard a pack of coyotes making a big ruckus about something.
We also played the license plate game, we tried to find all fifty.  We found everything but Delaware.  That would've made the trip really complete.  Ethan says that if Delaware is not going to visit us, then we shouldn't be visiting them.  Amen, Ethan, amen.  :)
We came home to find that the neighbor kid had destroyed our swing set and flooded our basement by leaving the hose on.  It is a big mildew-y moldy mess.  Not a great way to come home.  I am debating whether to tell this kids' parents about what happened.  It made me want to turn around and go straight back to Yellowstone.

Rylee's Birthday

Rylee is 2 and I can't believe it.  All of my babies are gone.  Rylee is turning into an adorable 2 year old though.  We had so much fun because Kathy and Mark's families were able to come.  Here are some pictures of  Rylee's birthday.

The cousins and siblings decided she needed an entire bag of cookies for her birthday.  She was happy to oblige.

I stressed over her "melmo" cake and we finally settled on Elmo cupcakes with no mouths.  Pretty cute.

She was able to blow out one of the two candles.

She got her own mega cupcake. This elmo was made at the bakery and had a mouth.  I liked the ones without mouths better.

Here she is in her birthday outfit, getting ready to open presents. She looked adorable.

What's inside?

We're Swingers!

A few months ago, we got a flat tire on our van.  We had to replace both back tires.  They gave the tire that was still good back to me.  I told Neil we should make a tire swing out of it.  So after a few months of convincing, and more money than I had anticipated, we're up and swinging.  The kids love it.  Unfortunately, so do all the kids in the neighborhood.  I push all day long.  It's a pretty good workout though.

Our "New?" Car

This is the 8th car Neil and I have owned since we got married.  We have had some bad luck owning two cars at the same time.  We'll give it another try though.  We were extremely lucky to get this car for $500.  Not too bad right?  I love not having to make car payments.  This is a 2001 Ford Taurus.