Anderson Farms 2009

I think we've been to Anderson Farms in the fall every year that we have lived in Colorado.  It has barnyard animals to view, hay rides, a pumpkin patch, fair-type food, a hay maze, a barrel train ride, several other activities, and most importantly, a corn maze!  The picture above is an aerial view of the maze, taken when the corn stalks were still green.

This baby alpaca was born just 2 days before our visit.  Still a little unsteady on its feet - so cute!

I told John we need a rooster like this, or at least some kind of fancy looking hen, whenever we get around to getting chickens.
The kids played on the hay maze for over an hour.  Yes, "on".  I guess you can actually walk on the ground between the bales and try to get through the maze, but almost every child there was on top of the hay, leaping from wall to wall.


Our friends, Chris and Kathy, have gone to this festival with us for the past couple of years.

Helene in jail.

John was out of town this weekend and arrived back just in time to join us for the corn maze.  We only did one of the three maze sections.  We wandered around the front of the train engine section, which is supposed to be about 1.6 miles.  Each of the other sections was over 2 miles.
There are punch stations along the way, so you have a goal and can punch a number on your card as you find each station.
Last year, our trip to Anderson Farms was on a cold, wet day, and we had the run of the place.  Our boots were sticking in the mud while walking through the maze.  Helene's even stuck in and she walked right out of it at one point.  This year, it was hot, dusty, and CROWDED.  I think I prefer cold.  But we still had a great time and got lots of fresh air.

Mother of the Year

Here are two not-so-shining motherhood moments, and they both happened today!

1) When the kids got into the car after school, Helene said, "Mommy, you need to wash my school water bottle.  It has moss in it."  Lovely.  She brings it home at the end of the week to be washed, and she keeps it on her desk at school all of the next week, filling it up with fresh water every day.  I am 95% sure I washed it this weekend.  But, then again, as I confessed to a friend earlier today (before this incident, coincidentally), sometimes Helene leaves the water bottle in the car on Fridays, and since it never makes it to the house, it never gets washed.  I have been known to just stick it back in her backpack on Monday morning, thinking: "It's just water. . ."

2) Just hours later, driving home from Campbell's gymnastics class, the kids said they were hungry.  I had thrown an individual pack of Ritz bits in the car yesterday - this peanut butter kind:

I had just found them in the pantry a couple of days ago while scouring the cabinets for Reese's peanut butter cups I hoped would be hiding somewhere (they weren't).  I have no idea how long these crackers have been in the pantry.  So, we each popped one in our mouths at the same time this evening and immediately spit them back out.  They were rancid.  I passed out tissues to wrap the disgusting remains in, quickly followed by peppermint gum to try to save our palates. Ugh!  I thought "food" like this that was packaged with all kinds of preservatives would surely last forever.  I was wrong.

And that, friends, is why I have disqualified myself for the Mother of the Year award, in one short afternoon.

Smaug and Sam

John and the kids found a garter snake in the yard one day a week or so ago and decided to keep it as a pet (while I was out - that will teach me to leave the house!).  

They designed a very nice habitat for it in an old aquarium we had stored in the basement.

The next day, Campbell was cleaning up some toys from the yard and found another one.  So, he brought it in and now we have two pet snakes (joy).

This is Sam.  He is the second, smaller one.

This is Smaug, named after the dragon in The Hobbit.

They both escaped this evening through a hole that we were aware of but thought we had covered adequately.  I sent the kids upstairs to bathe, and they yelled down, "Both snakes are gone!"  I thought they were just teasing me, and I ignored them for a while.  But after Campbell got out of the shower, he told me again, so I went to check, and sure enough, they were not there.  As Helene got out of the bath, wrapped in her towel, and headed into her mostly dark room, she called out, "I found one!"  Smaug was crawling out from under her bed.  I think that would have freaked me out.  She handled it so calmly and bravely, though.  As I headed downstairs for duct tape (with which to better seal the hole), I found Sam on the rug in the entryway.  All snakes accounted for now.  And hole closed.  Hopefully that will hold them.

Homework at the Bradley Manor

Helene has books that she is supposed to read aloud to us as homework.  She was reading to John yesterday evening, and I looked over to see that she was on his back, reading over his shoulder.  So cute.

I don't think she liked having her picture taken, though.
So, I decided to take a picture of Campbell working on his spelling homework.
Same reaction.

I'm doing a major rearranging of rooms right now.  Campbell is moving into what was the upstairs guest room (don't worry guests, we still have a room for you downstairs) and his old room is being turned into the "study/office" for the kids.  Soon they will be able to do their homework upstairs without their mother doing annoying things like taking pictures of their cuteness.

Livin' Off the Land

Our garden has done really well this summer, and we have enjoyed eating the produce.

Some of our harvests:




Some of the meals we've made:
Look at the "octopus carrot":


The rhubarb has done really well.  I never knew how big the leaves were:



Yum.

Alaska, Day 6

On our last evening in Homer, I sat at the computer blogging and watching an otter swim outside our hotel room window.  Then these two bald eagles flew by.  It made for a very peaceful final night in Alaska.

Day 6 was the last day of the Backroads trip.  We had a guided walk through the Wynn Nature Center in Homer.  Our guide was wonderful and we learned so much about the flora we had been seeing all week.

This is the Watermelon Berry or Twisted Stalk.  I tried a berry; the ones that aren't completely ripe taste like cucumbers:

This is Monk's Head.  It is deadly poisonous (so I didn't taste it):

This is Fireweed.  At first, we thought that was a strange name for such a beautiful flower, 
but it really is all over the place in patches like this:
Some of the hillsides look purple from a distance because they are just covered with it.

Wild Rose:
Wild Geranium:
Dwarf Dogwood:
Star Gentian:
Lupin  (I somehow did not manage to get a picture of the blooms.  They look just like bluebonnets because they're from the same family, but the ones in this part of Alaska were more purple.)  I liked the way the leaves collect water:

After the walk, we had a nice picnic lunch, then a 5 hour van ride to Anchorage, then an overnight flight back to Texas.  It was a wonderful trip.  I highly recommend Backroads to anyone looking for adventure and luxury all in one trip.

Alaska, Day 5

Today the sun finally came out, and I felt that I could appreciate the beauty even more with a blue sky overhead.  We kayaked around Yukon Island, in the Kachemak Bay.  About halfway around was easy and laid-back, and the other half was against the wind and waves.  A good upper body and core workout to balance out all the leg work we've done this week!

There were often otter swimming close to us.  I think there's one in this picture, out in front of the boat, but I can't see it in the small version.  I think they are the cutest, most playful creatures.  They have always been one of my favorites to watch at the zoo, so it was really special for me to see them in the wild.

Elephant Rock:

Lots of jellyfish (or sea jellies), as well:

When we arrived back at the hotel, I got to watch this otter eat a crab:

This is our entire group.  All wonderful people, with so many different talents and experiences, came together to form a very cohesive, compatible group.  I'm really starting to miss my kids, but I'm also sad that tomorrow is our last day in Alaska.