BIRTHDAY!!

It was a great day, or rather, a great 2 days. On Tuesday night, we went out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner...

Having a nice time with Daddy.


It's been a while since we've gone to this type of place with Miri, and dinner time with an 11-month-old after a long day at school can be tricky, but all was fine, fortunately.

And then, it was time for a little "family adventure", as we called it. To Mommy & Daddy, this meant the reveal of the new big girl bike! We went to a nearby empty parking lot so that her first ride would be easier than doing it at our house on the grass or gravel.


Here she is, realizing it's hers.


Taking it for a spin. She said, "Mom, is this mine for always?" And then it quickly turned to, "Mom, you and Daddy and Miri can drive home in the car, and I can just ride my bike and meet you there!"


The next day, the girls went to school dressed "as twins", according to Aleaha.


For her school party, Aleaha requested chocolate cupcakes with purple frosting and little horses stuck into them.


She had purple frosting everywhere, including up her nostrils. I took a picture, but decided to spare you all that angle.


She had a very good day at school, wearing her special star-birthday necklace,with "wishes" for her from each of her classmates. Very cute idea.


While dinner was cooking (she requested ham, broccoli, and "letters-n-numbers" pasta), the girls played a little game of Roll The Ball.



Later that evening, we had a little get-together with a few friends to celebrate, and scarfed more cake. This time, it was in the shape of a horse. Hard to tell from this angle that's what it was, but it satisfied her request.


It was a good training session for Miri, of course, as she gears up for her birthday in a few weeks. Here she politely offers Daddy a bite.



She had chocolate in many more places than Aleaha managed to get it. She also got sort of chocolate-drunk, as this photo shows.


Aleaha received so many wonderful presents from friends and family. Here she cheezily shows off a very pretty sundress from Jon & Holly.


And a sure-to-be-favorite "bucking horse" sweatshirt from Aunt Kelly.

Misc. and Sundry

Aleaha got a LiteBrite as an early birthday present. She and Daddy wasted no time getting right into it.


Took a Bob-stroll last weekend. Or, call it a Bob-push -- much more work with an extra 35 pounds sitting on the front. Aleaha takes a rest, but Miri kicks her and pulls her hair the whole time, so lately Aleaha's been thinking maybe it's better to walk!


On that stroll, we saw the largest slithering bit of wildlife I have ever seen here in the Valley. Thank heavens Aleaha was riding on the Bob at this point, cuz it was basically a Salma Hayek Snake Moment for her.

Given that A's birthday is on a Wednesday, we had to prep her birthday cake in stages. Sunday: make and freeze cakes. Monday: make frosting. Tuesday: defrost-n-frost cakes. Wednesday: eat!

Miri on the 4-wheeler and Aleaha on the little car.

No caption needed.

Mrs. Jones decided to take a nap in the toy box. Crazy - Miri decided it was fun to play there too.

We got to visit Daddy at the track for "Fire and Thunder." It was, unfortunately, a case of Hurry Up and Wait. We were waiting with him in the staging lane for quite a while.


Miss Miri had fun playing in Gary & Jeanie's travel trailer.

Bath time is a lot of fun. A lot of work, but fun too.

Critters and Kids

Mrs. Jones lays claim to the little table on the back patio.


We took advantage on Sunday of a sunny break to go for a Bob stroll.


I remember doing a lot of this as a kid -- reading the cereal box while eating. Funny to see her doing it too.


One night last week, while Daddy was away for the evening, Mommy got brave (I was going to say "lazy," but brave is a better word) and took the girls to Izzy's for dinner. This shot captures the time -- Aleaha talking a mile a minute with some story, and Miri-Yell doing her thing. Maybe that's why Miri yells so much. As #2, she already has intense competition for vocal time.


Cute little tree frog on a feed bag down in the barn.

More visitin' pics....

It was a long trip back to the ranch. Kids were pretty good, considering how much carseat-sitting they had to do.

I loaded an iPod with kid-friendly music, and that was a hit. Here's Miss A listening and groovin' to toddler tunes, shouting out now and then, "Hey, Mom, I know this one! POP Goes the Weasel....".

Moments after the previous shot was taken, we had this. Aaaaaahhhhh.

This, you see, is a little slice of heaven. It's where I'm from. (Mom & Dad, you can click on the photos to view them larger. :) )

It was so green and pretty. Amazing. We usually refer to E.O. as The Land of Sun and Dust. But this trip, it was more like The Land of Mud and Rust. I didn't care -- it's been a long time since I have seen these 'scapes in this season.

Family Visit and OUR NEW HORSE!!

Don't have time to write much, but here are a few shots off one camera. (More to come later, we hope, if Mommy figures out how to get the pics off her new phone. Ugh.)

We stopped in Pendleton to pick up our new horse. We still don't have a name yet, and there are already a few stories to tell about this new boy (or maybe about what was lurking in the woods, watching Mommy & Daddy ride....as Jake was also a bit worked up, for some reason). But we did get in at least one nice pony ride!


Sylvie wanted to ride Jake, because she remembered two years ago that she only got to ride Chloe, and so now it was time to ride Jake.


Little kids on the little horse. Don't they look darling?!?


Cousin Sylvie holds Miri for a nice photo op.



We had an extra-special surprise that weekend with visits from Shelley's Aunt Peggy and Uncle Wes and Aunt Jeannie and Uncle Robert. Wow, was it ever good to see them!!! Here's Peg with Miri-Yell.


Getting introduced to Uncle Wes. She did warm up a little later and played the E.T./Give-You-The-Finger game.


Aleaha played nicely, either with her cousins or by herself. Ah, a little peace was SO NICE.


The boys got along great. Jake made haste to take a load off his feet in the yard. Hey, he knows what vacations are for.


The new horse took the hint and followed suit.


Miri does her own nanu-nanu version while devouring dinner. She's at that stage where she can really put away a lot of food. And really make a nice mess doing it.


And so, it was time for the requisite baby bath in the kitchen sink! Turns out Miri gets to be the first baby in the family to bathe in the new sink of the Big House.


GrammaBon, Aleaha, and Cousin Sylvie making a strawberry-rhubard pie. (GrammaBon is a Pie-Making Machine!!)


Cousin SpiderMan helped too.


Cousin Hank and Uncle Mike wait for the fire to get to the good-coals-for-s'more-makin' stage.


Oh, but it's worth it.


Silly girl loves s'mores.


Miri likes it rough. Uncle Mike delivers!

And a Good Time was had by All!!