Witch's Potion Buffet

It's tradition to have a Spooky/Fun Dinner before Halloween. This year I came across an idea that I thought would be perfect! I made put together a whole bunch of foods with yucky names that would go into the potion, like Poisoned Entrails, Toad Venom and Black Widow Bodies.

The girls LOVED it. No surprise that Kars was super fascinated with the dry ice effect.

I think the Bubbling Swamp Slime brought out a little CRAZY;)

The finger food was not all that stellar, although we did have some fruits and veggies.

The main attraction was really the Bubbling Witch's Cauldron.

still fascinated

Environmental Learning Center

Emmrey went on a field trip this week to the Environmental Learning Center. I was happy to go as a parent volunteer. It was short and sweet (3 hours) and thankfully it was close by (FoCo) so I didn't mind the bus ride.

 The ELC is run by Colorado State University as a way to connect people with nature in a preserved open space. The "tour guides" are natural resource students at CSU. The kids were taught about plants and animals that might live in the area as well as how to RESPECT nature.

 They even got to core a tree to see how old it was. This is a way to learn about the tree without cutting it down. I thought it was so cool:)

 The class was split in two groups. Mrs. Etheredge had half and these are the rascals I was in charge of.

Astronomy Night

Karsyn has a pretty cool Science teacher this year. She has so much energy and ethusiasm {almost too much;}. Hopefully it rubs off on the kids. She has some connections at CSU and arranged for an Astronomy night to look at the moon. When Mark got word of it, he said there was no way Kars was going to miss this. We had to sign up for a slot since the viewing deck only allows for so many people. We spent the evening at the Madison McDonald Observatory on campus. I was so busy listening to the presentation and trying to view the moon, I forgot to get a picture of the gigantic telescope we got to look through. The gal from CSU was very kind and helped Kars get a pic of the moon through the scope. Turned out really cool .... just wish we could have gotten ride of that pesky dark spot!

It was fun to spend the evening looking at the stars and moon with these aliens:)

Fall Break

The middle of October, Mark had some out of town meetings he needed to attend. It just so happened that his travels were during the girls Fall Break. They all had slightly varied days off for the break, so we had to do a little juggling to make it work. We left mid day Wednesday and headed to Cody. It was late when we got there, but we managed to coordinate meeting our little neighbor/friend Sage for some dinner at the new pizza joint in town. It was so good to see that cute girl. It's been too long.

We woke early the following morning to drive to Bozeman. We went through Yellowstone. Not too far into the park we were treated to this roadside scene. We spent more time than we should have just watching them ...but it was so worth it!

 Not long after we were stopped by these two having a bit of a stand off with us.

 It was another beautiful fall day. Great for traveling. This pretty view was out the North entrance in Gardiner MT.

 Our next stop was at Montana State University where Mark attended the thesis defense for a Graduate student doing research for G&F. It was so fun walking around the campus ..  ..  or "side step hopping" around like this girl did:)

The leaves were just a crunching under our feet with every step ... one of my favorite sounds:

 

  We came across this pond and the ducks swarmed us. Emmrey was more than happy to try and get them to come to her.

 As we walked we talked to Bailee about the campus/school and college in general. MSU is a nice campus and the area is absolutely beautiful. Bailee mentioned that she might like to go there. It was strange to think that in just a couple of years we that could be a reality. Not sure how I feel about that://

Go Bobcats!!

 After our night in Bozeman we once again drove back to Cody so that Mark could participate in a video conference meeting. We were literally only in town for a couple of hours so we didn't have a chance to make plans with anyone.  We drove around a bit to see what's changed and what hasn't and saw this awesome billboard .. ... my sentiments exactly!!

We picked up lunch at our favorite Breadboard and had a picnic at Beck Lake. Did I mention how gorgeous the weather was??

 When Mark finished up we went back to Yellowstone. This time, on our way to Jackson. We stopped to check out Moose Falls  

so hard to get a serious pic of her these days;))

We got to catch a peek at some Bighorn Sheep on our drive through the park.

 Not as common as you might think.

 It is always a very different experience visiting Yellowstone outside of summer. Pretty much everything is closed and boarded up. You pass an occasional car as opposed to the steady stream of traffic in the summer. While I love the summer experience, there is something equally as nice about the fall . .. . extremely serene. I think you get a very different view of Yellowstone depending on when you visit.

view of Yellowstone Lake from Lake Butte Overlook

We took our time through the park and didn't get into Jackson until late. We checked into the hotel, grabbed a quick dinner, and then walked around Town Square.

The next morning we got up early (no sleeping in on this break;) and grabbed a quick breakfast at one of our favorite bakeries.

She really was happy, just caught off guard;0

We drove into Grand Teton to hike.  We ended up seeing 5-6 Moose on this trip into the park . ... it was a real treat!

 We hiked the 4.2 mile loop to Lake Taggart. 

The weather was perfect once again!

 Before several other parties arrived at the lake, we enjoyed some peace and quiet and this spectacular scene.

this girl just can't help herself

 We got in a quick family shot with the majestic Tetons in the background before looping back out.

Unbeatable views all around

We said goodbye to Jackson Hole, vowing to return again soon.

So happy we got to tag along with Mark on this one. The perfect fall weather was the cherry on top.

 I love a good road trip!!

Poudre Canyon Outing

A week ago Saturday, we spent the afternoon up Poudre Canyon. The main reason for this outing was so Mark could try out a new line he got for his Fly Rod. 

Photo cred to Karsyn

It could not have been a more calm fall day. The sun was shining, the temperature warm and the river was smooth as glass.

We picnicked

Relaxed

.. ... and enjoyed the water

Mark did not have good luck with the fishing, but the day in the canyon was definitely good!

La Luna Dairy

Last week, the entire 8th grade class went on a Field Trip to a local dairy. I was able to tag along. We walked about a mile to La Luna Dairy. It had been nearly 80 degrees all week and that morning a cold front blew in:((

 We all got suited up in our booties. Which I would have appreciated regardless. Due to the soft drizzle most of the day, we really would have been a mess without them!

 

 The kids were divided up into 6 groups of about 20. Our group was very well behaved. In fact, I was really quite impressed with most of the 8th grade:)

 We rotated around several stations and learned all sorts in interesting things about the pasteurization process, feed, cow health, milking, and even manure! While we were listening to the Feed Guy, one of the mamas was calving. We didn't get to witness it up close, but pretty cool that some of the kids were at least aware of this natural occurrence.

Cotton byproduct used in cow feed

 It was a very educational day at the dairy .. ..  and a little stinky too! I think it's good for people to see where their food comes from. Although after seeing it up close and personal, I kinda wanted to stop consuming dairy products ... .. except for ICE CREAM of course;)

Random Recap

A few random pics of life lately....

Stewy got a new house built for him
(which he has decided tastes pretty good;)

Emmrey decided to try a dance class for the first time

Mark spent some time in Jackson for work (and fishing)

Emmrey made a box car and raced for Activity Days

We made some yummy Apple treats with our handy peeling tool and lots of apples from Grandpa Smith's trees:)

"Pumpkin" lived in our bathtub for a few days before being set free again

This cute Yearbook Staffer covered a Unified Football game

Mark and I took a hike on a crazy foggy morning we have been having lately