Hailey gets puzzled

On our most recent trip to Beaver Creek Hailey joined in the puzzle fun! She has always had her own 60 piece puzzles to do but hasn't been ready to help "us" yet. This trip she not only helped she helped a lot! She put together part of the edge, the entire green spot you see below and helped in many other places! She scouted out her own pieces and really had a great time and a great attitude.

It was really fun for me to see Hailey get Puzzling with us!

This is the finished product

What a yummy puzzle!

PS - Hailey is doing ok since the surgery - she is not back to 100% yet but she is hanging tough and we are knee deep in Peter Pan this week so I am a bit absent to say the least and yes, I changed the header on the blog...I will be moving it soon if technology ever cooperates...

Dam It - Part Duex

Dam, Grandpa's Damn Broke

If you haven't seen the original Dam It - you should take a peak...

Simply Sisters

WARNING BABY BIRDS ARE NOT CUTE

On the back patio, supremely sheltered from the weather

Is a nest, and in that nest is a bird

I would love to get a peek at this mama's little eggs. We are pretty certain she is a Robin and they have the prettiest little eggs!

But she is a very protective mom, even an air horn wouldn't send her from her nest! Maybe we will get lucky and get to meet her babies when they hatch?

We got lucky - They hatched Saturday night (well, all but one) and the Mama is leaving her nest often BUT it is really hard to get the camera up there to get pictures - and I am terrified that she is going to fly in and peck at my head while I am on the ladder....

Glad no one thought to take a picture of me taking a picture of the babies because that would have been a site about as pretty as that baby.

TPT? or just resourceful...

Yes, we are blessed to get to spend time at Grandma and Grandpas mountain home...Most of the time the girls "swim" in the hot tub...but with summer approaching and dreams of diving boards in their heads we had to make some changes.

In comes the pool in the truck...

And the lawn chairs seated near the car with music blaring for entertainment

And the pool on the driveway

and the Size 3 Kate Mack that is STILL being made for diaper wearers

thus creating a very attractive sags in the rump

Hey at least we clean up well...

Take a hike

Or at least a walk up the road.

Coming to the mountains really forces me to slow down and appreciate the beauty and wonder. I could live here, I really could.

I love the sound of the rushing River, especially in the spring when it is so heavy from the winter runoff.

The girls love to go for walks when we go to Beaver Creek - the road my parents house is chalk full of cool things to discover. Sometimes it is a brown bear looking for lunch, other times it is simply a marmot squealing to protect their young. There are Deer (complete with babies in the spring), Elk, birds, the occasional Owl or Wild Turkey...but more importantly to the girls this year is there is an abundant crop of

YUP. Dandelions! I am SO not kidding. These things are EVERYWHERE and they are huge - and quite frankly they are actually kind of pretty!

They are great for wishing on too!

and if your lucky you might even see a cute "sister" moment

But watch out...one of them is sporting a TAIL!!

Have you met my brother?

I have mentioned him before...he has even commented a time or two - Brad is my "baby" brother he is 5 years younger than me (bummer) but he is awesome.

He and his wife Anna recently bought a house, on top of a mountain (literally). It is simply beautiful up there and I am so jealous I threatened to put a shack somewhere on his property so I could live their too.

Brad has always been a GQ kind of guy - Armani, Polo - dressed to the T at every turn. He is also a gadget guy - Loves his "toys"

but I wonder if any of us know the REAL Brad?

Beacuse this weekend he had this delievered

and its tires are as big as Hailey

and it sits in his garage next to this

And it makes for great photo opps with the girls...

But something didn't seem right. HIM with TRACTOR?

So we did a little investigating and we found this cozy air cushioned seat inside the cab

and upon closer inspection one can find AC and HEAT controls as well...

You might say this is the GQ Tractor, the BMW of John Deer - whatever you want to call it - my brother owns a tractor and that makes me giggle - but in all fairness to him the GIANT snowblower attachment is going to be a MUST have in the Colorado Mountain winters!

However, I am left wondering if my dad is going to have tractor envy? Because this is his Mtn Property Tractor

Yes it was I

Ok, yes yesterday's picture was me, in 1976 at Hailey's age...by my families Christmas tree! I was SHOCKED at how many people thought it was Lauren - I figured I would get a lot of Hailey guesses! As you can see they did NOT get their hair from me...I had very little hair at the same age Hailey is now!

In other News: We are going home today, Lauren was still awake a 11:00 last night and I don't know how many times I had to tell her "coming into my room is not going to help you fall asleep". She is our GOOD sleeper, I don't know what was wrong but I am certainly in for a long day today!

We are almost done with the "last" puzzle for this trip. My folks pretty much hate me for buying this one and I pretty much don't blame them

Don't forget to check out the Ficklet giveaway below...and tell your friends! I got the nicest email from the founder of Ficklets this morning it made me a little teary eyed! I would love to help her spread the word even more!! If you want to link to it, tweet it or simply tell your neighbor it would be great!

Oh, and stop by Tales from the Nightstand today and enter the giveaway over their too! I truly love Usborne books with so many priced below $10 and most having some educational value...I think I own most of thier books! I am, however, a sucker for books!

Jingle all the way

Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride

In a Snow Cat driven Sleigh.....

We were off to Beanos Cabin for dinner on the mountain (this is also where "he" and I had our wedding reception 10.5 years ago)

We, didn't - but we have before! Porcupines as big an excersize ball, deer oh and have I mentioned the bears?

Hailey - Fever at 101.6 - on Tylenol - enjoying the view

Lauren getting ready for a yummy meal!

Grandpa teaching Lauren what "that" is and her hanging onto every word

The view while we were riding (there is a storm a comin)

The Thinker (the real story)

Maybe you already know the story behind The Thinker...

But do you know what he was REALLY up to?

???

???

???

He was doing a Springbok Puzzle!

Do you think Crayola thinks this hard when they make crayons?