Golfing

I love this time of year, when the weather is sunny, but cool enough to actually get outside and enjoy it. Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous, so after taking the dogs and our lunch to the park, we decided we'd all go golfing. I'm not a golfer, myself, but I used to go (years ago) with the husband and drive the cart around, enjoy the scenery, read a book. This was the first time we've taken Little M, and we had a great time! I didn't get any reading in, of course, but I did drive the cart around, and M even did some putting at the greens. We saw three super cute baby squirrels that were, in M's words, "too adorable!" We had a hard time shooing them away so we could drive on without running them over, though. Very friendly little rascals. And the husband got to play 9 holes and be with us at the same time. Perfection!

What I Did on My Summer Vacation, Part II

Well, since I labeled the other post as part I, I feel somewhat obligated to update with a part II, even though the information is woefully old. It will at least give me the opportunity to post some mediocre photos of some spectacular scenery. Our camera died right before the trip, so we bought a cheap one at the last minute. We are NOT impressed with it.

At the end of July, just after selling our old house, not buying the new house, and becoming homeless, we went on vacation. Brilliant! Well, the plans had been in place for months for us to go with some friends on a backcountry hiking/camping trip in Rocky Mountain National Park. Little M went with us as far as Loveland and had a great time staying with her Aunt Cindy, Uncle Kurt and Cousin Tiffany, while we spent 4 days and 3 nights roughing it in some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen. We started at the Dunraven Trailhead, just outside the park (northeast), and hiked with Steve to our first campsite, Border Creek. The next morning Brent and Nancy met up with us and we hiked up to our other campsite, Lost Falls. We stayed two nights there and day-hiked up to Stormy Peaks Pass and up past Lost Lake. A fantastic trip. If I were to do it again, I'd like to camp up at the Stormy Peaks campsite... That would be quite a trek with a fully loaded pack, but worth it.

If you'd like to see more pictures from the trip, they're online here.

Lowe's Rocks!

We take our little coyote to Lowe's every other Saturday for their Build and Grow clinics. They are so cool! This week she built a pirate ship. Arrrrrrrgh! In case you don't know about it, the Build and Grow clinics are twice a month, free, and totally cool. The kids get a little Lowe's apron, and they get a patch for each project they complete. The projects are prepackaged, so you show up, sign in, grab a project and a hammer, and get to work. My girl has mad skills with a hammer.

And we went to another birthday party at the gymnastics center over the weekend. Excellent choice for the location, since it rained all day. Leftover from Hurricane Ike, I think. I helped make the craziest cake for the party. I like to call it "Skeleton Pirate Hideout". Or just "Three Crazy Ladies Make a Cake". The boys loved it, though. I was sure the birthday boy's mom was being overly ambitious when she told me her idea for the cake, especially since it was all out of her head and she didn't have any instructions or examples or anything to work from. But I think she pulled her vision off quite well! Love the crushed oreos, cocoa crispies and rice crispies for the sand and rock. And my friend Bon is a cakespert and told me how to do the water. Way cool. I could definitely see me enjoying decorating more cakes. Maybe I'll pick up a new hobby.