Tour of Grandkids, Part 3

We love driving up to the Galyon house and seeing Alex, in her cowboy hat and Aubrey with her squinty eyed grin waving from their  window.  Poor Papa is left to unpack the car while Gaga drinks in these excited little girls.

We had loads of fun swimming, bowling, shopping at IKEA and most of all playing in the backyard – racing, playing restaurant, lying on our backs looking at clouds and playing on the slide

Alex loves kindergarten.  Papa met her teacher this trip who confirmed, much to Papa’s chagrin, that Alex had indeed not told her about him.  Ya gotta give him credit though, Papa will not be deterred.  He keeps asking Alex if she has told Mrs. Anderson about him!.

The necklace that Aubrey is fingering on her neck?  It has magic properties.  Jamie just mentioned the fact that it would keep Aubrey safe from Gracie at dinner.  After that, Aubrey would hold it up whenever Gracie came near.

The Broomfield Rec Center has become a second home for Aubrey and Jamie. Everybody knows and, of course, loves Aubrey in daycare while Jamie has become a work out animal.

Love these slides at the rec center!  Aubrey had no fear going down the slide no matter who was with her.  Of course, Mommy is her favorite!

Now I know why Doris Day liked the vaseline on the lens trick.  I am loving the fuzzy look!

Had to include this frown – have no clue what it was about.

“Matching” Easter outfits and expressions.

I thought the following pic was going to be displayed first as these were our welcoming outfits.  Aubrey is wearing one of the fantastic skirts that Adrienne sewed for the girls to wear on their trip to Disney World.  The girls wear the skirts and the tee shirts all of the time!

Tour of Grandkids, 2nd stop

It was such a treat to see the Hirst kids.  Damian was away in England and we were sorry to miss him but happy to provide a few sets of hands to help Adrienne. 

Keanan is on a warp developmental schedule.  Crawling, sitting to crawling, crawling to sitting.  He does it all with a big grin on his face.

“So do you want to play, huh? huh?”

Beside buses and bananas, Thomas the Train is Charlie’s favorite thing in the world.  We went to the quaint town of Grapevine and spent the day seeing Mr. Topham Hat and riding on a vintage train pulled by Thomas.

The railroad car had old velvet upholstered seats, brass fans, stained glass windows above and windows that opened by each seat.  The kids spent most of the trip with their heads out the window!  We think they know now why dogs like it so much.

Lots of folks wanting to take photos with Thomas.  Having the picnic lunch that Mom packed held a much greater attraction.

Every grandkid has to have Papa’s hat at some point before they turn one year old.  That and Papa’s cases for his eyeglasses seem irresistible.

There is so much to do in the kids’ playroom including pretty much daily attempts at reaching the highest point in the room

Aunt Jamie worked in a costume store before Halloween and bought all of the kids some great costumes.  Adrienne’s arms are thin but unbelievably strong, helping Superman Keanan to fly while Ellie helps extend his cape. Charlie is his fire fighter outfit looks on.

A Thomas the Train costume – life is good!

You know your vision is bad when you need reading glasses for a picture book with very large print!

Best friends and buddies.  It’s a joy to watch them share and look out for each other.  Err, well, a vast majority of the time anyway!

“Ya gotta do this Charlie, it’s really fun!

Adrienne does an amazing  job!  The kids are so happy and fun to be around.  Their life is full of singing, laughing, eating, and loving each other.    

Side trip to Austin

Our long time friend Roxanne grew up on the Western Slope of Colorado in Paonia. We went on lots of backpacking trips with her in the mountains back when we all had a whole lot more energy!  To us, there wasn’t even the remote possibility that Roxanne could call anywhere else home. 

Then along came Ira from Texas.  For many years Ira would make the trek to Roxanne’s world, which was then Vail.  He was tenacious in his pursuit of her.  Roxanne finally agreed to share her life with Ira as long as he understood Colorado would always be a part time home.

The years passed quickly as they do nowadays.  Now,  Austin, Texas is Roxanne’s home too.  Both Roxanne and Ira are dedicated conservationists, into permaculture and sustainable agriculture themselves and into helping others help the earth through a center they have built on their land in Austin.  Ira is running for county commissioner on his favorite platform – saving the Edwards aquifer in the face of ever- increased demands.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is a neighbor to Roxanne and Ira.  It seemed to be a perfect time of year to visit the Center as well as Ira and Roxanne.

The Indian Paintbrush was prolific while the blue bonnets were on their way out for the season.

The cactus was just starting to bloom.

A more gentrified garden.

Jennifer has developed this sustainable garden for Roxanne and Ira. He she is in front of Roxanne’s new greenhouse.  Roxanne has become a beekeeper as part of this venture.

 

It was wonderful to see Roxanne’s life now in Texas.  She seems to have struck a wonderful balance. She and Ira are busy doing wonderful things for themselves and for the land where they live.

Our Grand dog

Gracie is one of  our 5 grand dogs.  She was the princess of Adrienne’s household until kids came along.  With the kids’ arrival, Gracie became a part of the pack.  Now you’d think she would be a little disappointed at her fall from grace.  But, no, the morsels of food that fall to the floor together with her oh-so-important responsibilities of guard dog to the kids more than make up for her lowered status.

Gracie is getting a little break from her duties this summer  in Colorado, while the Hirsts will visit England for several months.  She tolerated her car trip with us to Colorado from Texas to find a new duo of kids to watch at the Galyon household before the last leg of the trip over the mountains to Cedaredge.  Her thoughts are loud and clear when she leaves each batch of kids – “Who is going to keep them safe and well-licked?”

Aubrey just barely clears Gracie’s head.  Toward the end of our short visit, Aubrey was getting Gracie in line with the rest of the Galyon family!

 

We’d love to get an action shot of Gracie flying around our land here in Cedaredge but we’re afraid that the camera will just not click off pictures quickly enough – sort of like trying to get shots of Cody!  So we’ll just settle a “is it snack time yet?” shot.

We know the Hirst kids, especially Charlie and Keanan, are missing Grace but we’re happy to have some quality time with our grand dog.

Spring tour de Grankids 2012

Returning from Cozumel to Houston, our first stop this year was at the Baxters’ house in Hempstead.  As always, we were so wrapped up in the many happenings there, we came up short in the picture taking department.  Here are the highlights:

Cody, 9, is playing on a 9-10 year old baseball team.  The rules call for a 9 year old on each team to pitch at least 1 inning every game.  Cody was chomping at the bit to be that 9 year old and got his wish while we were there.  While his mom was biting her nails, he did a fine job.  He struck a batter out and only allowed 2 runs.  He kept his cool after he pitched a few wild pitches.  Very impressive!

Ashlee has graduated from UT in Austin and was home for Easter weekend.  Cody is always excited to have his big sis home.  That is, at least, until the obligatory teasing comes on!  The horses were happy to go for a walk on a beautiful spring day.

Kelley and Ash on Shay and Gigi.

One of the Baxters’ 4 dogs found a bunny’s nest the day before Easter.  It took a hard sell to convince Ash and Kelley that the baby bunnies would probably do just fine if we let them be.

Some pics on their cell phones before putting them back in their home.

Couldn’t resist this vantage point on Shay that I had when I looked up from the bunnies!  Doesn’t she just exude an aura of intelligence?

Cody leads a farm boy’s dream life!  I just loved watching him in his Texas sized cowboy hat walking to the riding ring with his stirrups on his shoulder so he could ride for a while.

Boy and horse – oh, and Mom too!

Ash did barrel racing a few summers.  She doesn’t have any problem handling a flighty teenaged Gigi.

I’m glad that Cody isn’t a fan of this blog.  He wouldn’t be happy to know I was including this photo with him looking like a country/western singer!

So, some of the things we missed recording with photos were:

Cody handling his dad’s tractor with skill that makes Grandpa envious.  He used the tractor to move and smooth dirt for a retaining wall. 

He continues to love fishing and is happy that the ponds in the area have filled again with some rains this spring.  He, Jamie B. and Grandpa took  4 wheelers up the road and did some serious fishing before dinner one night. Grandpa caught the most fish.  All fighting bluegills!

Cody absolutely demolishes us playing Pictureka.  The object of the game is to find hidden pictures before other players do.  Cody was actually sitting out some rounds so that Grandpa and I could catch up.

Cody LOVES school and his grades show it.  He changed to a very small K-12 school about a 1/2 hour away.  Cody loves having a wide range of ages around and he says that there are no bullies. 

Finally, there is a new addition of a swimming pool at the Baxter house.  Fun times racing and making some pretty hefty currents in the above ground pool.