Your Blog is Lame

And by that I don't actually mean YOUR blog is lame. You see, after a conversation with my Lineman, he informed me "Your blog is lame". My husband. My soul mate. My best friend. He tells me my blog is lame.

"I check it every day and there is hardly anything new since you went on vacation" he says.

My soul mate. My best friend. Best friends are great though. They tell the truth. All the time.

So he is RIGHT. I know my blog has been lame. I tell you this summer thing is rough on a mom of three boys. Between my 2 week vacation in Montana. Then coming back right at Cheyenne Frontier Days we have been swamped. We don't do a whole lot during the year so we are packing in a ton of stuff now.

Now I have really done it to myself. As if I didn't have enough going on I entered some photography at the fair. Some photography. Who am I kidding. I entered all but 3 of the classes. I entered in a total of 22 classes. Yikes, way to jump in my first year. I have been so busy getting prepared for this.

The good news is that they are due on Saturday. So even if I do or don't have them all submitted at least things will finally slow down a little.

That is until we go to the Black Hills. No rest for a mom!

Their Heartbeat

This was the first year we took the time to go to the Indian Village at CFD. It was really enjoyable and if you get to CFD you should take the time to go see it. A tribal elder woman described the dances and the costumes as each new dance came to perform. She said the song is the heartbeat and without the heartbeat there is no dance.

This one is one of the Fancy Dancers. He intrigued me the most. I think it is not only the colors but the fact that his eyes are covered as well.
I loved watching the younger children perform. They start as soon as they can walk.

Three of the Fancy Dancers waiting to perform.

This woman was so impressive: elegant and athletic all at once. She was invited from the Black Hills to perform with this group here at CFD. The CFD committee wanted a Hoop Dancer and they were lucky enough to get her to perform.

This was so amazing to watch. She danced to the heartbeat (their drum) and all the while was changing the position of the hoops. Now, I am an athletic coordinated person, but I'm sure I would have fallen over, dropped the hoops and made a complete fool of myself from the very beginning. It was obvious she was proud of her people, her dance, her culture. She gave the dance everything she had.

She was really spinning and moving too. I finally slowed the shutter speed down to give you an idea of motion. It was really a great time to watch them and listen to their music.

Thunderbirds and Powerlines

Of course while Cheyenne Frontier Days was going on we HAD to go see the Thunderbirds. Last year we went right to the viewing area. Now that is an exciting, loud time, let me tell you. This year I wanted to see them but not so up close because of little man. What kind of mother would I be if his little ear drums blew out when the Thunderbirds do their sneaky flyby? He can go to concerts when he's bigger and blow his own ear drums out.

To back up a little bit, in the morning we went to the Pancake Breakfast. We didn't get there very early because the oldest son was at PBR (Professional Bull Riding) with a friend until 11:30 the night before. Hold on... let me mourn the fact that my son has more fun than I do...... ....... sniff ........ sniff, sniff...... I wanted to go to PBR........ sniff....

Okay, I'm back here!

We went to the Pancake Breakfast and waited in about 2 miles of line. Actually, I'm not really kidding on this one. It is a long line, but it does move fast. And it's worth it. And I love pancakes. And watching 'em throw pancakes is a kick. And I love pancakes. But wait! This is a Thunderbird and Powerline post - stay focused, Carin!

PBR, Pancake Breakfast.... hurry, we're gonna miss the Thunderbirds. I told the kids to cram those pancakes in their mouths and we took off for a viewing area. We went to a top of a hill in town. A top of a hill that was covered in powerlines. UGH.

Look, there's the Thunderbirds. Look, there's the powerlines.

"Hey, Mom.... those pictures aren't going to be any good with all those powerlines in the way".

Ah, man. A close fly by and the powerlines are in the way. What is with these powerlines anyway? Good grief, they're everywhere. Someone should really do something about these powerlines. It's an atrocity! It's appalling. It's unacceptable. Oh, what's that you say? What about those powerlines? They're my husbands? Lineman? DOE? You mean they go right to the substation? To the substation where his truck is parked this very minute? The very powerlines that pay our bills? That feed and clothe our children? That keep little man in diapers? Oh. You don't say. Well..... who needs diapers anyway?

Look Ma, no powerlines!

See ya next year, Thunderbirds. We'll be in the viewing area for sure. We'll just let little man blow his eardrums out cuz were never letting him out of the house to see a concert anyway!

The Grand Parade

More pictures from the Grand Parade. There are hundreds of entries in the parade. Probably about 752,681 horses! Okay, not that many but there are a TON of horses. Old cars and tractors, the list goes on.

I really liked this picture of a grandfather and grandson. I didn't get the John Deere in the picture because I was so intrigued by this pair.

One of the original buses for Yellowstone. I would love for someone to share any memories or information they have about these old buses. Please share!

I snapped this picture of the fire engine at the last minute because I was busy waving to all the people I know on it. I wasn't going to include it except Carl commented on a horse drawn fire engine. No, it's not horse drawn but it does also steer from the back. I would love comments on this one as well.

Hey, this looks like us when we moved here! (The one above, not below - come on people!)

This float always has a lot of fun. They are totally soaked by the end of the parade route.

Altogether now... "Boooooo Booooooo"

Oh, no! He's getting away, that scoundrel. Run! Catch him. "Boooooooooo"

"Booooooooooo"

The Daddy of 'em All

I'll take a brief break from our Montana trip because...... The Daddy of 'em All has started here! Cheyenne Frontier Days, CFD, has tons of fun things to do during the ten days it runs here. There are pancake breakfasts and grand parades every other day. But that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of all there is to do at CFD. Yesterday we took in one of the parades....I just love all the entries in the parades. Here are just some of the many great wagons.

Now this next one I would have a big problem with. I would go into withdrawls from not getting enough ice. I eat about 300 pounds of ice a day so getting ice this way would surely be an adjustment. Okay, I don't eat 300 pounds of ice a day.... but close to it! I like these a lot too, could you imagine traveling hundreds of miles in one of these?
An ambulance on the prairie? I sure hope those are some fast horses to get them to the hospital in a hurry. I guess if that last wagon was too slow you found yourself riding in one of these.

Zoo Montana

Giraffes, gorillas, gazelles, panda bears, elephants, orangutans, parrots, rhinos, gazelles, meerkats, kangaroos, przewalski horses, koala bears......... are all things you will NOT see at Zoo Montana.



But.... you will see......

A vain peacock checking out his coif.... The bird of our nation, a nice chance to see one up close. They had two there that were unable to fly.
Two monkeys that escaped from their cages.......
And then the morphed into bears.........
Okay, all joking aside this really is an awesome zoo. They had a grizzly, two wolves, some draft horses, goats, peacocks, a porcupine, mountain goat, a tiger and a few other things. The best part was not the animals though. The best part was parking right by the front gate. No line to get into the zoo. No crowds to deal with. A slow relaxed pace. Really, it was like a big park. I would love to go back with a big picnic packed and spend half a day there. Just walk around relaxed and take in the scenery.......

A trip, garden & suckers

Hello? Hello, anyone there? Just checking. I am sure no one really missed my blogs but just in case I guess I will start them up again.

After more than 1,800 miles and almost as many bathroom stops we are back home. It was a great two weeks up in Montana and the boys and I had a blast.

Our first stop on the trip was to see Gramma Mary. Once we got there she gave us a tour of her garden. She has raspberries, snap peas, pumpkins, tomatoes, asparagus, and so on. She also has planted a row of potatoes. In the potatoes she co-planted sucker seeds. Here she is showing the boys where they have been planted.......

They head down the row to start the harvesting of suckers. And on a side note: Is that a gorgeous view or what?Hmmmm. My oldest is not diving in just yet. But leave it to Colt, he is not afraid to just dive right in and start looking for suckers....
Whoa! Lookie there! The first sucker is up and the harvest has begun. I love the look on my oldest boys face, he is just amazed!
No stopping them now. They gently but quickly push the potato plants aside to look for suckers.
They each harvested two suckers, what a great day in the garden. You have to look at the shirt my oldest is wearing, it says "It's my brothers fault".... yup, that is usually true.
We stayed there for a few days and they got a few more harvests. What a great garden I tell ya!

Showdown at the Shower

Is it a boy thing? What is it about boys? My oldest was going to the doctor this last week to have his big toe looked at. I told him I would be taking a shower and then he could go after me. He came to me when it was his turn to shower and we had this conversation.

Boy: Mom, I was in the bathroom and I washed my hands really good.
Me: You need to take a shower.
Boy: I even washed all the way up to my elbows.
Me: You need to take a shower.
Boy: I washed my face, too.
Me: You need to take a shower.
Boy: I even scrubbed my neck.
Me: You need to take a shower.
Boy: But mom....
Me: What body part is the doctor going to look at?
Boy: --points to foot--
---silence---

Boy: I could go scrub my feet.

Me: Your going to the doctor, you need to take a shower.
Boy: But I took a shower on Tuesday.
Me: You need to take a shower.
Boy: Mom (insert pitiful look on the face here)
Me: --- silence---

He heads for the shower. Almost 20 minutes later he is still in the shower.

So I can't get him in it and then I can't get him out of it. Oh the life with boys!

A Fireworks Blast!

All of the bigger boys spent the afternoon fishing, leaving me and the little man at home. They headed out to some beaver ponds that are just a few miles from us. They fished until the last possible minute and then came home. We immediatly hopped in the Suburban and headed for town. I had wanted to be on the opposite side of the lake for my picture taking but my lineman was not too excited about it. We found an open field instead. Then my lineman says "isn't the lake just right over there?" So we walked about a half a mile or more for a spot to view the fireworks.

I took lots of photos with the lake catching the reflection. I thought this one looked like a butterfly on the water. Too bad it was windy and the water wasn't calm. But then again... this is "Windoming". For some I zoomed in right to the action for a different look.

I took about 150 pictures. They are all kinda neat so maybe I'll put some in a slide show later. Hope you had a great 4th of July!

Flowers for Mom

With all the wild flowers blooming this time of year, it's a sure bet my boys will be picking bunches to give to me. Reminds me of a great western artist, Tim Cox. I love his stuff. One of his paintings is called Flowers for Mom. Maybe I should just blow one of these pictures up and I'll have my own "Flowers for Mom". I just adore watching them pick the flowers, so intent on getting the rights ones to give to me.


I got so many from this crop they wouldn't even fit in one vase. You won't hear me complain about that. The more the better. Now, if I could only get them to pick all the Russian Thistle.

It's Tonka Time

My boys are some interesting characters, that's for sure. I love the laughter they bring into my life. Really, it's the only reason I don't go totally insane from having three boys, because let's face it, kids don't always get along. If they didn't give me these glimpses of sunshine and pure laughter I would lock myself in my bedroom, crawl into the fetal position, suck my thumb and never come out. But thankfully, they do crazy things like this that I live for.

Who needs bicycles? Motorcycles? Scooters? Why would you need those when you've got a good ol' Tonka dump truck.
It was cute when my middle punk was riding in the Tonka but when my oldest crawled in for a ride I nearly lost it!
Don't be fooled, for his size my middle punk is one tough and strong boy. He had his brother going just as fast as he had been going.

And then this happened...................

Oh, I hate to say it but was I ever happy I had my camera on him for this one!