Pikes Peak

On the day of Miles' Birthday we took to the trails and enjoyed a beautiful fall day.

Pikes Peak State Park, nestled on the bluffs on the Mississippi River, is nowhere as spectacular as the Pikes Peak in Colorado but it is named for the same man, Zebulon Pike.

We followed the trail down to a spring.

And then caught another trail back up to the top.

There sure were a lot of stairs. A Birthday hug from big brother.

Birthday Boy is One

October 16, 2010.

Miles Westley turned ONE!
Braeden was more excited to unwrap the gifts.
Miles did jump in and play as soon as all the hard work was done.

He did not like the feeling of the frosting at first.
Once he got used to it,,, he had no problem digging in.

And when it came time to take the cake away, he was not too thrilled.
He had fun mashing the cake.

He enjoyed re-decorating the dining room.

I did not have to worry about a sugar high since almost none of it found it's way to his mouth.

Braeden was cracking up over the mess that was being made...

I am afraid to see what Braeden decides to do with his cake next month.

Miles weighed in at 19.5 pounds, 32 inches tall.

He likes cruising the furniture and pushing dining room chairs around.

He has not yet attempted any steps on his own.

He says "a da" for all done.

He blows kisses and gestures "come" when he wants you.

He puts his hand, or a toy, or a shoe to his ear and says "hi".

I guess I am on the phone a lot.

Happy Birthday Baby. Can't wait to see what is in store for you!

Sunrise to Sunset... and everything in between

ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL

This was the sunrise out the back window as we headed West early Saturday morning. We woke up early, were on the road by 6:15.

Boone, Iowa was our destination and a train ride was on the itinerary.

The Pumpkin Express.

Boone, Iowa you ask? Not the birthplace of Daniel Boone but the birthplace of
Mamie Eisenhower, wife to Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Size of the town? A whopping 8.9 square miles.

A charming little town.

Iowa State University is just 17 miles away in Ames.

Des Moines is about 30 miles.

The Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad

The railroad got it's start in the area in 1893... coal mining was the industry.

The coach cars were built in 1927. Everything original.

(except for the energy efficient light bulbs).

The seat backs could be pushed to the other side so that two benches faced each other.

We had been driving in the van a little over 3 hours and were anxious to get going.

(That lady in the pink sweatshirt just should have stayed home.)
The boys were loving the wind in their faces.
Train track on stilts...

The trestle was built in 1912 and 1913 over Bass Point Creek.

Sure, I felt safe!

After about 40 minutes, the train came to a stop at the pumpkin patch. Everyone on the train de-boarded, picked up a pumpkin, snapped pictures and climbed back on board.

Miles was sooooo excited!

The train ride out to the pumpkin patch was quite pleasant. The noises on the train were that of happy, excited children. Folks were taking pictures and kids were laughing.

I think...something happened... at the patch.....

The train ride back to the station was filled with cranky kids and the air was filled with tired, antsy cries. (except for my children, of course)

Dramamine...

Sean took two, hoping that he could enjoy the ride. On the way back he was just about passed out... awake just enough to not let go of Miles.

My children are not ones to just fall asleep anywhere.

So when they do, we know that they are past exhausted.

We made it back to the station and took a quick look around at the different trains.
We left Boone and headed to Des Moines for the first time. We stayed just long enough to eat lunch at On the Border Mexican restaurant. We had not eaten at one since we left Colorado Springs in 2004.

Man, I really miss Mexican food. And man, I really miss traffic. I really do!

We had a 3.5 hour drive home and were delirious by the time we made it.

We did make a quick stop in Waterloo. Birthday shopping for Miles at Toys R Us... and a trip to the Starbucks drive thru so that we could make it that last hour on the road.

It is harvest time in these parts and tractors are everywhere.

A gorgeous end to a Fun day!

Frozen Apples

We made our first trip to Wisconsin, 40 minutes or so, and we were not prepared for the weather. It was cold...

The orchard was having their festival over the weekend and there were plenty of people.

The poor kid that was hired to entertain with his guitar had icicles hanging from his nose.

We headed to the row of Honeycrisp and picked away.

Braeden and I took the tractor ride through the orchards... and shivered the whole way.
The best apples were at the top.

Once we finished picking, shopping and playing with the rabbits... we headed to town and hit the local pizza hut to de-thaw.

Why are Pizza Huts always so dirty?

That Dirty "F" word.... again

If you have kept up with my blog since we moved, then you will remember the original post in June, "The Dirty F Word".

Filth.

This is our basement. See the water softener and that trash can looking thing (brine tank).

We add salt to that tank every month to condition the water.

The property owners were around last week and I asked if we could clean the tank.

"CLEAN it"? was the response I got.

The water that is circulated in this tank is the water that comes out of our faucets.

Thankfully we called Culligan when we first moved in and we get drinking water delivered.

This is the float... covered with scum.

This is the float after cleaning. Who knew it was beautiful blue?

This is the inside of the tank, complete with dirt, dead flies and ladybugs. Yup, this water is the water we have been using to wash our dishes, take our showers and rinse our mouths.
This is the inside of the tube that houses the float. No, the tube itself is not black in color.

We took the tank apart tonight and bleached the heck out of it. When the guy comes in the next few days to fix the timer on the water softener, I will be adding some bleach to sanitize it too. You may want to buy some stock in Clorox.

Thanks for letting me vent.