Three Little Boys All in a Row!

Last week was one of work, work, work. We finally finished the bed, but then had some major rearranging to do in the boys' room. Josh and Aaron had been in bunk beds. But Nate is into this stage where he wants to do everything his older brothers and sisters do, and would not stay off the ladder to the top bunk. And since he isn't coordinated enough yet to go up and down a bunk bed ladder, we had to separate the bunk beds for his safety. So, we have three little boy beds all in a row now in their room. Josh actually ended up with the new bed because Nate needed guard rails (which Josh's top bunk bed had). I love the way the new bed turned out. We got the mattress at our neighbor's yard sale for $20 (and it was in great condition), and the materials to build the bed were about $60. So, we've got a great new bed (including mattress) for around $80--not bad at all! In the picture it goes (left to right) Josh's bed (the new one), then Nate's bed, then Aaron's bed.



Notice the new dresser in the corner by the window. That was Nate's birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa Howell. It came in a box in a bunch of pieces and required assembly. It took me one whole day to put it together, but I did it! It's proving quite tricky to get Nate to stay in bed at nights. He loves that he can get out of bed, and he does. So, most nights he has been rocked to sleep, then placed in his bed, or he just gets put in his crib to sleep. It's a process and requires lots of patience, but he'll eventually get it.

Next up--I need to decide on paint colors and get some paint up in that room!

Saturday

I'm almost done catching up on everything. Saturday was our work day. Before we left for vacation, Scott had cut the wood for the new bed and I had sanded it all. So on this day we went to work staining it (and then sanding it and staining it again). I also mowed the lawn and did some weeding in the yard. While we were gone, we had developed dry spots in the lawn, so I set a sprinkler out in the back yard. Then I went back to work in the garage on the bed. 6 hours later I remembered the sprinkler, and by then we had a major flood going on in the back yard. Since it was 90 degrees out, we decided to let the kids have a little fun.









Grandma and Grandpa Howell came over in the evening for some dinner and a belated birthday celebration for Nate. Nate's gift from us was the new bed. Grandma Jo and Grandpa Mike gave him a new dresser (he currently didn't have one) and some clothes.








Once again, Nate loved getting to blow out the candles (I didn't have any candles, so we used matches as candles). Happy 2nd Birthday Nate! We love you so much!!!

Coming Home Day

Friday was our coming home day. We planned on leaving Aberdeen in the early afternoon, but didn't leave till around 6 because Savannah couldn't tear herself away from her kitten. We kept trying to leave, and would send her out to say goodbye to Baby (that's what she named her kitten). She would be outside for a while, then come in crying because she just didn't know how she could stand to leave Baby. So, we'd let her go back out to play with her kitten a bit more, then we'd repeat the tears again. We would have loved to let her bring home the kitten, but we just don't know how it would work right now. We live in a neighborhood that requires pets contained to your yard, and we all know how cats like to wander. The other option would be an indoor cat, but with a new baby coming in less than three months, now is not the time to be taking on an indoor pet. So finally we convinced Savannah to leave Baby for now, and then when Grandma and Grandpa come for Sara's birthday next month, they would bring Baby for a visit (we can handle a kitten for 3 days, I think).

It was wonderful to come home to our house. The kids were all happy to be back in their own beds, and so was I. But, of course with coming home from a week-long vacation, comes a lot of work. But, since we didn't get home till 9:30, I decided to let that all wait till the next day....

Day 5

We woke up early and got everything packed up and checked out of the cabin. We said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa--they needed to get home for a doctor's appointment. We then parked downtown West Yellowstone and did some souvenir shopping. Savannah and Josh picked out t-shirts, Sara picked out a pink necklace and bracelet, Aaron picked out little plastic dinosaurs for him and Nate, and Nate got something a little extra (a furry teddy bear) because it was his birthday. That's right--our little Nathan turned two on that day.

After getting our souvenirs, we started the drive back to Aberdeen--but took plenty of stops along the way to fill the day with fun. Our first stop was just outside of Island Park at the Johnny Sack cabin at Big Springs. The kids loved looking off the bridge at all the fish. And we were lucky enough to spot a muskrat.






Then we took the little walk up to the cabin on the other side of the springs. Nate kept stopping to throw rocks in the river. In case you can't make out the words on Nate's shirt--it says "Warning: I am Two"!






Our next stop on our drive was at Bear World just outside of Rexburg. Since we didn't see any bears in Yellowstone, we decided this would have to do. It turned out to be a great stop. First we drove through the fenced off area where there are bears just roaming (you have to keep your windows rolled up and your vehicle moving). The kids were fascinated. Then we left the fenced area, parked, and had fun with the rest that Bear World had to offer.


The kids loved watching the baby bear cubs play.






Standing on the bridge getting a glimpse of Stiltz the Moose (and some fish and ducks).





Then it was into the petting zoo. Nate and Aaron were pretty nervous about actually petting the animals. They had all kinds of animals--deer, pigs, chickens, goats, etc.








Then came the kids' favorite part of Bear World--the rides. They had 5 little carnival rides and the kids spent the next three hours riding them over and over and over.















They did take a little break from the rides to enjoy snow cones.


Finally, when the kids (and parents) were exhausted, we loaded back in the suburban and finished the drive to Aberdeen.


Once we got to Grandma's house, we had brownies to celebrate Nate's birthday. He loved getting to blow the candles.