February Camp Out

We are attempting to camp in every month of 2016.  For February we camped at Cooley Lake Conservation Area on the Missouri River.  The kids had a ball digging in the sandy banks!

 Logan dug out a wind break... it was really really windy that day!

 Amanda and Mom... sunset on the river.

A Few Random Photos

 My little girl has always been a fashion setter. This particular morning this is how she dressed for school and I just had to take a photo or two.

 Family photo... this time next year I predict that my son will be taller than I am!  He is going through a crazy growth spurt right now and his voice is changing.  I'm not ready for this!

 This was a winter break trip to play laser tag.  What a hoot!

 Can you tell that Eric is a little competitive?

For years I have been taking photos of Amanda and her crazy flexibility.  She was just casually sitting at the table with her face on her foot.

Then this happened!  I can't believe she could put both feet on her face like that!

New Favorite Sled Hill

We have a new favorite sled hill... Grandpa's driveway!

 There is a section of driveway that is rather steep...  and makes for some interesting sledding!

 Then we can use the 4 wheeler to tow us back to the top because the hike back up is the worst part of sledding fun.

I sure hope it snows again soon!

January Camping!

Our family is attempting to camp every month in 2016.  Not sure about the other 11 months but January... CHECK!

 We went to Van Meter State Park and enjoyed bike riding (the return trip was much faster... this place was hillier than I expected), hiking, and the Native American Museum at the visitors center.

 We learned so much!  The kids practiced making corn flour, learned about usable parts of the bison, and so much more!

That night it was a little chilly but not to bad for January!  Logan and Eric made us a roaring fire to keep warm.

So sorry for the cell phone photos.  Guess who lost the camera... again!

This was  whole family adventure and the dogs really showed their age this trip.  They kept up with us on our hikes and loved every minute but I could tell that they were hurting and needed more rest time.

 We enjoyed every meal by the camp fire and why not!?!  We had the whole place to ourselves.  

What a wonderful January camp out!

Winter Bird Watching

Logan and I have a winter bird watching tradition.  I was delighted when he reminded me of this tradition this morning when he came downstairs.  We quickly cleaned up the truck so the windows sparkled and fitted the back with chairs, spotting scope, snacks and binoculars and headed to our favorite local lake.  It was a very chilly morning so we did all of our bird watching from inside the truck and let me tell you, this is the way to winter bird watch!

We saw lots of hooded mergansers, mallards, ring-billed gulls, and a few bufflehead ducks.  We also enjoyed watching a mockingbird chase many many birds away from "his" berry bush!  He was very busy and those hungry little birds just kept coming back over and over again.





















Our cozy setup!


I have also been doing a feeder watch here at home.  The best place to watch my feeders in from my kitchen sink.  This is how Logan found me this morning!  : )

Christmas 2015

We will have to make do with my cell phone photos as I had misplaced my camera shortly before Christmas.

 

 I got warmth for Christmas!  I've been doing a lot of camping in cold weather and our current sleeping bags are not keeping me warm enough.  Eric bought me this cute mummy bag that will allow me to wear it at the campfire as well as to bed!  Thank you honey!

 Family photo... with Casey's best side!  :)

 Funny how she still likes the bag that the gift came in!  :)

 Cold but not snow so we were able to try out the scooters!

 At grandma's we enjoyed some Christmas horse back riding!  : )

We also got all 4 generations of men together for a family photo.  Can you see the resemblance in these father and sons?  (and check out how tall Logan is!... almost as tall as Great Grandpa!)

A Little Makeup Fun

The Gremlins were experimenting with makeup...  I just had to get a photo of the finished look!  I'm not sure what they were aiming for, but the end product seems more fitting for Halloween than Christmas.  ; )




I see a resemblance between these beautiful girls and the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland!