Sunday, December 28, 2014

Good Times

 Due to lots of snow we've been hanging out at home enjoying some post Christmas fun.
This is a Bananas Gorilla Puppet (from Richard Scarry).
 Pre-haircut lego village..
 Post haircut bag on head/Lego belly poke.  (Still a few hairs that need to be cut)
 Viola made a card for Charlie.  She loves him.
 Lots of art making!
 We also discovered that dust pans are great fun in the snow.
 And we decorated some gingerbread men with cream cheese icing, all natural sprinkles, coconut and mini chocolate chips. 
 There was a lot of finger licking!

Monday, December 22, 2014

Father of the Year

I returned from my photo-shoot yesterday to find this.  Good job Papa!

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Thursday, December 11, 2014

At Random

 Charlie made an Owl out of Legos.

 Barefoot in December, that's Colorado for you.

 And our house looks like Snoopy's dog house!
  It's very festive.  I'm sure all of the college kids that we live next to really love it.


Wednesday, December 3, 2014

They have Reindeer!

 We went to get our Christmas tree last night (at Bath Garden Center) but the little guy fell asleep and missed the whole thing, including two live reindeer!!  To make it up to him I took him back today.
 But just like Viola he was way more excited about the tiny house.
Well, I was impressed.  Look at that rack!

Sunday, November 16, 2014

I don't remember how this happened

Just uploaded some photos of paintings and found this little gem.  I can't recall how this moment came to be but it's a beautiful peaceful one worth remembering.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

First Snow of the Year!

 We awoke to white this morning.  Time to pull out the hats, mittens, snow-veralls, and wool sweaters. 
 Everyone took a turn rolling in the snow.

 And a lovely flock of Canadians flew over.
 This one couldn't stop eating snow.
 First snow of the season calls for first hot chocolate of the season!

Viola wanted a guitar...

...So Papa made one for her.
It a hybrid guitar/ukelele/lute.  She's pretty excited and will soon be hitting the road for her first tour.




Monday, November 3, 2014

Sequoiadendron Giganteum

 Viola has her first research project on the Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron Giganteum).  Happily the forest service planted them all over town in 1998 so we could get some hands on time with a not so giant cousin of these huge trees.

 Sadly, our local tree didn't have any cones.  Perhaps because it likes a humid climate and we have, not that.
 We did find these awesome cones on another tree near by.  Everybody wanted to bring one home until they held it for a couple of minutes.  Charlie left his behind.


We gave them swords.

What were we thinking?
It didn't last long before they were attacking each other and the fun was over.

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Just a couple of kittens

 Viola decided to be a cat for Halloween.  So guess who else had to be one too.  But after we dropped off cat #1 at school all he could say was "I want my sister cat!"  Pool little guy.  So I consented to being a Mama cat with pink nose and whiskers.  No photos to show for it.  Sorry.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Family Pumpkin Porch Portrait

The kids put together this display of the Newell Family in the form of pumpkins, complete with leaves, berries, rocks, and rose petals.  The large one represents Brian and I hugging.  Happy Fall!

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Attempted Hike to the "A" and Success at Red Fox Meadows

This week provided many opportunities to get out and enjoy some beauty before the impending cabin fever sets in.  Viola was off school for fall break and we used the time to get out and soak up some fall.
First the attempted hike to the big "A" (CSU used to be the Aggies but are now the Rams but still there's a huge "A" on the foot hills).  Anna joined us for this adventure.  We gave it two hours and made it half way there.  Next time we will park at the closer parking lot and pack snacks!
Never the less, time well spent enjoying nature and prairie dog barking.
Here's one of the little fellows now.
We tried to coax one out with kissing noises but it couldn't be done.
The little guy started out fast and furious but by the end it took a "magic" penny, a lot of encouraging and some shoulder rides to keep him on the move.
Since I didn't actually get a photo of the "A" here is an artistic rendering courtesy of Viola.
Next venture, Red Fox Meadows.  This sweet spot is no more than a mile from our house.  Must visit more often!
Some urban wildlife and an enormous "dandelion".

 I remembered the bars this time.
 Chocolatey faces and nature.
 Climb up the hill, Run down the hill, Tumble down on your head (not pictured).
 Viola tried to convince me that we needed to bring this stick home for her pet termite that lives in the backyard.  I know that we already have a bizarre pet (the hedgehog) but a termite, I just don't know about that.
  We left the stick there.
Sorry for the barrage of nature outings but we just can't get enough.