Oscar Stew

Ther were a few days during Spring Break that allowed us to break out and enjoy some fresh air. What exciting and amusing activities would we pursue? How about some bone-crushing, back-breaking manual labor? Yay!    

First project: Gold mining! Ok, it might be fool’s gold, but it sure makes the grass look nicer and greener once you rake all the dead stuff out.

Think there’s any gold in there? Only a fool wouldn’t check from time to time!

All the miners earned their wages. In life, there are some jobs that are harder than others, ain’t that right Brinley?

Take this job for example: Holding up a tree is very difficult when you’re only 1.167232876712…years old!

Aw Rowan! We’re not doing that kind of gold mining! Yeah, yeah…grass flew into your nose blah blah…whatever. We’re still going to show this picture to all your boyfriends!

Alright, you little miners go have fun playing at your friend’s house; Mommy & I are going to go enjoy a gold mine of flavor in honor of her birthday. Oh yeah!

We enjoyed the warm weather on yet another letterboxing adventure, and discovered that our very lives were at stake!

It’s not too hard to believe that letterboxing is a dangerous hobby. There were kids throwing rocks… 

…fields full of spiny, prickly plants…

…don’t even mention the horned dwarf elephants running rampant through the brush!

Horned dwarf elephants? That sounds kinda funny!

Well, it’s supposed to be a letterbox adventure, but these monkeys have been pawing through the grass for a while and still haven’t found the treasure. Keep looking! 

Ah ha! I knew there was a horned dwarf elephant stomping around here somewhere! Is that a magic leaf to help you stand up?

That’s right Ellie, we caught you standing up! What are you doing over here all by yourself? Soaking up the sunshine? Playing in the grass? Grazing?

I think the answer to all these questions is yes. She seems to be at ease in this natural environment…

…and so do the monkeys. I guess that means they found the treasure. Onward!

Look closely, this rare creature is signing! I think she’s saying she wants another chance at stomping through the brush!

Speaking of sign language, Drew doesn’t know any. No offense Boulder, we’re just throwing rocks! 

For being such a cute eleaphant, it sure seems like the wind could knock her over.

Thanks for the help Drew. Sorry about the horn in your ear. Ha!

What?! We’re leaving? Noooo! I’m an elephant, in my element! I will show you NO mercy!

Well, looks like all the kids had a good time. Oh Drew, horn in the nose! Arrrgh!

Since we’ve been living in our house for over a year now, nothing we do at home is exciting anymore. Turning on the sprinklers for the first time this year? Boring!

That’s a pretty good impression of what the guy on his shirt is doing, no?

If the grass wasn’t brown you could swear this was the middle of summer. 80 degrees…in March!

Ah yes, another clue that it’s not summer yet…ice cold mountain water in the pipes! Brrrr!

Not everyone seemed to mind. Brinley looks like she’s being carried away by the water. Hold on tight Drew!

Daddy hasn’t adjusted the sprinklers to keep them from watering the rocks yet. There’s no escape Eleanor!

Nope, you can’t fly over the water either Drew. He actually got drenched a lot faster this way…

These kids aren’t hippies. They’re Yippies. Take a bath…Yippie!

The last time we spewed was October 1st, and it was about what we were doing in July. So now we’re going to catch up on all we’ve done for the last 4½ months in excruciating detail, just in time for Christmas! Yeah…not so much.

By the way, this is Ryan posting. I had to put my foot down in order to crank out this post. I could see the twinkle in Amy’s eye: she was thinking about making another quilt! the horrors! I told her no more quilting until she got some pics uploaded for the blog. Two days later, she delivered. Victory! And she gets to buy more fabric. Win-win!

Every year we go to “Color Mountain” in search of beautiful fall landscapes. This year we were a bit too late for the best colors, but we had fun sightseeing and letterboxing in the Rockies. We started off by visiting San Malos Catholic church, which is a must see in Colorado…

Visiting that old chapel was really cool. Afterward we took a stroll around Lily Lake. Rowan was feeling very uplifted…

Drew ran into old friend at the lake! Unfortunately this great master was on the move and didn’t have time to give Drew another Kung-Fu lesson. Bummer!

Do as I’m doing…Rowan has kicked into full annoying little sister mode. She MUST be doing what the older kids are doing.

This was Eleanor’s first visit to our super secret favorite picnic spot. She didn’t seem too excited to be out of the car…

After a nice lunch we meandered around the area and relaxed by the creek. Drew used the force while Brinley won first place in the shot-put competition.

Hi Ellie! Welcome to Daddy Island. She looks a little on edge. It’s because we are, Ellie!

Keep it cool, hot head. It was a scorching hot autumn day and the kids used ice packs to keep cool!

Hey Scoob whatcha doin? Mining for gold?

Brinley can see some color. And I can see a cat & dog about to get into a fight!

Brinley found a Cinderella-certified ride in that bush!

These are our own accidentally-home-grown pumpkins. The plant just appeared in the grass one day and we watched and waited as it blossomed.

Of course the kids wanted some pumpkins they could carve. We were unable to locate any larger accident pumpkins in the backyard, so we elected to go the pumpkin patch and look for some winners.

Aww Rowan, very cute! But remember, when it comes to picking pumpkins it’s blah blah blah, science-science, BIGGER! And bigger is better!

 

 

 

Now you’re gettin’ it! But you gotta haul it out yourself. Say whaaaaat?

Not big enough Drew! Keep trying!

What’s this? Brinley declares the pumpkin upon which Rowan sits is the greatest pumpkin of them all? Now she’s trying to sweet talk her so she can hi-jack it.

Nice pose Binnie! This patch is our favorite; you can’t beat the majestic backdrop!

Ok, now that we have our winners picked out let’s have some fun. There was no leaf pile this year, but Drew still had some wicked levitation skills.

Hey Drew how ’bout you let an old man show you how it’s done? Don’t I look…focused?

The wind picked up and it sent shivers down our spines. Except for Ellie, who was nice ‘n’ toasty in her mama coat!

Here’s our best family portrait of 2010.

Here is what all the other attempts looked like. Nice!

Real pumpkin carvers do it topless!

 

 

Drew wasn’t the only one with his shirt off. But isn’t painting your hair orange going a bit too far?

Some of you may remember Drew’s first Halloween costume. He may have been a cute little dude, but nothing compares to this Elea-phant! Awww…

Behold: Elephant, Zebra, Candy Witch, & Toothless the Night Fury; no tricks accepted!

Those wings aren’t just for show. We made them out of sprinkler pipe and coat hangers, so he better fly!

 

Here is the Night Fury’s furious tail after it had been to a few parties and back. The back view of Drew’s costume is way cooler than the front, but alas such a photo does not exist.

I’ll get you my little pretty…and your little dog too yadda yadda…did anyone notice she has real power?! Her broom is killing the grass!

Trunk or Treat…It should really be Treat or Treat. Unless you feel like tossing your kids in the trunk…

Chikerchee! Chiker-cheee! That is the sound a Zebra makes when on the verge of becoming diabetic…

Hello dawling, was it a bit chilly outside? Good idea then to stop inside for a spot of chocolate and ice cream.

Hey Night Fury! If those candy bags can hang on your wings without breaking them off you don’t have nearly enough candy! Now get out there and get your dad some of the good stuff!

Eleanor saw a scary ghost and stampeded away. Careful Ellie! He’s still got his arm around you!

It was a hard night’s work for this little zebra. One Reese’s cup and she was out. Will she be up for round 2?

Ding ding ding! Good night!

So, we got dirty. We’ve established that. But was that all? Of course not! There was A LOT of planning and effort that went into making our mountain adventure a week to remember. Everyone contributed in different ways and we all had a great time. Here’s to us! ha! Just a warning…if you ain’t blood, this post might not be for you.

Did an occasional rain shower dampen our spirits? Naw, we had Ro-witchie to scare the clouds away. You can literally see the lightning bolts coming out of her fingertips! Mommeeeee!

The fam would like to thank this guy for making the trip a screaming success. He brought everything we could possibly need, even the kitchen sink! literally!!

Dancing With The Stars ain’t got nothin’ on Dancing With Babies. Now that’s a hot show! Especially when your trainer is a former Prom Queen!

Ok, I couldn’t resist. One more pic of the mud bath couldn’t hurt, right? what a bunch of crazies…

Run Rowan run! Queenie is gonna get ‘cha!!

Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it. Tag you’re it…

Blondes really do have more fun…

Brinley spent some quality time climbing trees. One tree turned out to be Uncle Aric. Watch out Brinley, he bites!

Two E’s keeping each other warm & toasty.

This is Brinley’s quarter-staff. Actually, it’s a buck and a quarter quarter-staff, but she’s not admitting to anything. What?

 

We slaved for hours to create this perfect cake to celebrate Aric’s quarter-centennial. Do you think his wish will come true?

Here’s the mess hall at Camp David. This is where it all went down…the hatch, that is.

Drew demonstrated his vast knowledge of geothermal physics and re-created the “Old Faithful” geyser right in our campsite. Kapow!

There maybe some geothermal physics going on in Ella’s pants too, but she’s not telling. Did you really think we’d miss out on a poop joke?

What?! No recycle bin? What kind of heathens are you people?!

Apparently heathen enough eat the forbidden fruit! Now she knows the difference between sugar and A LOT of sugar.

Livestrong? You wanna live strong? Try a diet consisting of Twinkies and bananas. And try wearing half of it…

True to our hippie-color-loving selves we tie-dyed our way into the highest echelons of high (mountain) fashion.

While Brinley strolled through the forest she came across the enchanted Fountain of Caffeine…

Then she took a swig and discovered the secret to limitless power! Wowowowowowww…

 

Glub glub…

What the? This potion doesn’t have any special powers! It’s just another Mentos ‘n’ Coke! Glub glub urrrrrp…

Of course there were dirt cups! You don’t vacation with D&B without dirt cups, it’s tradition.

Hey guys, are you gonna finish those worms?

Mission keep Rowan’s-hair-from-gluing-itself-to-her-sticky-face complete. Where’s the parade?

Welcome to the World Series of Go Fish, Utah Hold’Em! Entry fee is 25 skittles and a punch mustache. Looks like Aunt Hwenna will be sittin’ out this game.

 

This itch is brought to you by the word “disposable”. But cloth diapering for a week in the mountains? I don’t think so!

5 Aces?! Check her sleeves!

Here’s Drew, caught in the act of swiping a sucker from the “secret” stash. What did he have to say for himself? “Yummy!”

Ella-wooo!! Getting her insides rearranged by her “doting” big sister. Now she’s ready for a nap, thanks Rowan!

Have you ever tasted the rain? My suggestion is to do it without the filter!

No nap for this tent monkey, which is kinda devastating when you’ve been playing as hard as we were.

Stubborn doesn’t even begin to cover it… Thanks Kelz for snapping this pic!

Ella-weee!!! This could quite possibly be my favorite picture of the year. love that little girl…

Not quite the same as a Mentos ‘n’ Coke, but we might be able to get an official nap out of you this way!

Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’…into the future…

Is that the iCorn 3000? Yeah, I’d like a double-double on wheat with fries & a coke…and don’t forget the fry sauce!

It’s a .44 Magmallow, the world’s most powerful mallow gun…

So I’ve got to ask you one question: Do ya feel lucky?

Well, do ya? What a bunch of punks. I had a mallow stuck to my lens after this shot, not cool guys! (although I did ask for it…)

Luck had a little hiccup as Drew rode the wheels off this 4-wheeler, but Grandpa had it fixed before Ryan could find someone to pass Eleanor to so he could give it a shot…

As soon the glitch was fixed, Drew hit the trail again and made up for lost time. The boy and the machine have become one!

 

When it was time to retire the beast Drew had no qualms about putting it away himself. Grandpa was just there to supervise!

Sunset, the best time of the day. The kids are winding down & getting ready for bed. The fire is roaring…ahhh, yes.

 

This mountain adventure is winding down, and it couldn’t come any sooner. All of our kids are wandering around with a punch drunk look on their face!

We saved the homemade vanilla-bean mallows for our last night on the mountain.

The homemade variety is trickier to roast, but the taste is unparalleled. Amazing barely covers it…

This rugged gentleman wasn’t cooking for himself; he shared his kill with us lowly scrubs. Thanks dude!

Here’s one lowly scrub displaying his finesse and professionalism like no one else can…or would.

 

In the event that Rowan wasn’t exhausted enough to sleep most of the drive home, she got to stay up with the big kids for the late night premiere.

Is this movie in 3D? Why is there a campfire in the theater? And where are my Raisinettes?

We ended the trip with a bang, that’s for sure!