Jim and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary in June! We took a trip to Wyoming for our anniversary, and spent three days in Jackson Hole, Grand Teton National Park, and Yellowstone National Park. Here we are at the top of Rendezvous Point in the snow in June!
Aidan had his braces removed and wow! Are his teeth straight or what? Below are the before (left) and after (right) pictures. BIG difference for four months in braces. He still has to wear his retainer for six more months, but he's lookin' good!
We went to the Alma Highland Festival and had a lovely time. Jim, whose old leather sporran was in bad shape, found himself a muskrat one. The kids thought it was great fun to pose with their weirdo dad, in his kilt, muskrat sporran, Doc Martens, and "if it's too loud you're too old" t-shirt.
We replaced the rotting wooden door on the side of the garage with this lovely steel door. I painted it red myself, using Rustoleum of course. Dad wouldn't have it any other way! Here are the kids on the LAST day of fourth grade and elementary school for Aidan, and the LAST day of first grade for Esme.
Our little first grader, just before boarding the bus on her way to the last day of school!
Our fourth grader, just before boarding the bus on the last day of school!
We went to school for the fourth grade "graduation" festivities, which included breakfast, speeches by the fourth grade teachers, a terrific slide show showing great times from the kids' years in elementary school, and a "victory lap" parade through the school halls. Proud mom!
Proud dad!
During Esme's last ballet lesson, families were invited in to watch the children do their stuff. Here Esme and her classmates are stretching out prior to beginning class.
First position!
Esme says this is "rendez-jeanne" - but I'm not sure how to spell it!
Caught in mid-leap!
Sometimes Esme thinks so hard that she physically can't do anything!
Another lovely leap!
Practicing stepping and twirling is a true mental exercise!
Almond Tuiles, from my French dessert cookbook. The dough is very light and the cookies very airy.
Good ol' peanut butter cookies, at Aidan's request.
Red beans and rice salad. It was really yummy warm, not so good cold, like you're supposed to eat it!
Turkey and basmati rice pilaf - a very good comfort food, not spicy at all but one of those things you could just eat and eat.
Aidan chose this Lego set - Fallingwater, a Frank Lloyd Wright design - when we went to Chicago over spring break. He built it once right away, broke it in a fit of anger over something, and then rebuilt it to sit on his bookcase. Very cool set!
As always, with the close of school for the summer, the kids' art portfolios make their way home. This fish is one of Esme's pieces from this year.
Below at left - shredded carrot raita. DISGUSTING and gross. Yuk. Ewww. Below at right, railway potatoes - YUM!
I stopped by Aidan's field day to take a few snaps. Here he is in some sort of relay race involving a ball and a lot of passing it from one person to the next! He is running from the back of the line to the front. :)
My own version of a pizza I once ate at Rose's on Reeds Lake, a very fancy restaurant in East Grand Rapids. I use my mom's pizza crust recipe, except I use whole wheat flour instead of white. Then the toppings are goat cheese, fresh pineapple, basil (fresh if I can find it), and balsamic vinegar. VERY yummy, quite low in calories.
It was really hot and humid at home that day, so we decided to drive out to the beach for a while...when we got there it was cold and windy! Anyway, here are the kids on our first trip to the beach, 2010!
School's out, time for eye exams! Here's Aidan, getting his perspective tested. He ended up with new glasses with a slightly stronger prescription.
Esme did a great job, and still doesn't need glasses! Yay!
I took this quickie picture on my phone while we were waiting for our van to the Snake River on our Wyoming vacation. We took a "scenic" tour, not a whitewater one, but it was still white-knuckley enough for me! :)
It was pretty cold and windy, and even rained a little on our raft trip. But it was still a ton of fun, and even given the weather I wouldn't have chosen to miss it! Here's Jim, trying to hide his shivering!
I knew I would need something to cover my ears, but couldn't find a hat
anywhere before the raft trip! Of course, after it was over, I saw them
everywhere...anyway, this bandanna did the trick and kept my ears warm while we were on the river. The sunscreen we slathered on our faces was kind of moot, though!
It warmed up quickly after we were off the river and we went horseback riding. Me! On a horse! No kidding! We even forded Pacific Creek! Twice! I loved it! My horsey's name was Candy.
Jim, of course, looks like an old hand on Big John. What a stud. Jim, not the horse. :)
After our big hike we needed a protein burst. I had the "mixed game" at The Gun Barrel in Jackson. Buffalo prime rib, elk chops, and venison bratwurst. I'm still drooling just looking at the
picture! It was soooo good.
We landed in Jackson Hole on Sunday evening, 20 June, and stayed at the Homewood Suites in Jackson, WY. In the morning, we got up and began an all-day trek that would take us from the south end of Grand Teton National Park to the north end of Yellowstone National Park.
Who's that gorgeous guy? :)
It was hard to resist pulling off at every turnout to take pictures. Obviously we didn't resist them all!
Pretty waterfall, just before we started the nail-biting drive down into a canyon.
Same pretty waterfall, my other half. :)
We saw a lot of elk. This was the first.
At the north end of Yellowstone, at Mammoth Hot Springs. We could see that at one time this area must have been truly dumbfounding. Many of the springs are no longer active, but it was still magnificent.
Not our first buffalo of the trip, but the closest!
We got in a buffalo traffic jam! One buffalo, wandering down the road, taking his time, looking for some good grass. :)
Here he is, having found his good green grass.
We sat and waited for Old Faithful for almost 90 minutes. Thar she blows.
Lovely, lovely mountains.
We saw a lot of eagles on our rafting trip. Jim took a lot of pictures of eagles on our rafting trip.
Ahhh. In flight.
Not hard to see why they made it our national bird!
American white pelicans in flight over the Snake River.
Mule deer! They sure are neat-looking!
Finally! We'd been watching for a moose all day. We saw this one at the Moose entry checkpoint for Grand Teton National Park. I wonder why they call it that? :)
Different day, different moose!
We hiked around parts of String and Leigh Lakes on the morning of the 23rd, for about 2 1/2 hours. Most of the trail was level and the views were amazing.
Big thanks to Mom and Dad, who lent us their walking sticks. Hope we didn't get too much horse doo-doo on them!
We took the aerial tram to the top of Rendezvous Point, where we then made sure to stand on the highest point for pictures! 10,450 feet, friends!
Whee! I look more confident than I feel here!
So...come over and see the rest of the pictures! :)
