My First Camping Trip

I had lots of fun last weekend! I went on my very first camping trip and I hope there's more to come in the summer. We drove for a pretty long time...but we saw lots of awesome scenery, so it was worth it. We stayed overnight at a place called Beartooth Lake (the 4th picture is Beartooth Lake). It was very pretty....but for some reason there was grizzly bear signs up. Not a great start knowing there is a bear lurking around! We heard bull elk bugling at night and then saw a cow elk in the morning by the lake and she was "talking" to her male friend a lot! I'm not sure if you've ever heard an elk "talk" but they sound really weird. The only problem with the trip was that it got REALLY cold at night...20 degrees Fahrenheit (-7 degrees Celsius). It's a good thing we had lots of blankets and I had a jacket, warm sleepers and a down sleep sack! It was weird sleeping in a new bed with my mom and 2 dogs (my dad was relegated to the other side of the tent trailer), but at least everyone stayed relatively warm. All in all we had a great night and I can't wait to do it again...but only when it's warm!

Montana Scenery

Montana has SOOOO many beautiful places to see. Yellowstone Park was ranked #3 by the Today Show (even though most of the park is in Wyoming). On our way down, my mommy took a few pictures because I was sleeping...she said she'd show them to me later. The first picture is going up Beartooth Pass...at the top you reach over 11, 000 feet. It's pretty cool going up all those winding roads! The second picture is of the "Grand Canyon" Montana...we didn't get to take a picture of the really cool part, but this turned out pretty well. The 3rd picture is of our "landmark" mountains, Pilot and Index...named because of the "index finger" pointing up to guide pilots and Pilot is named because he wasn't looking up at Index and slammed into the mountain side...so now it's called Pilot. The other pictures are of Old Faithful at the south part of Yellowstone Park. It's a pretty neat place because of all the "hot pots". It stinks like rotten eggs in some parts of the southern part of the Park because of the thermal activity.

Don't Feed the Animals!

The really cool thing about Yellowstone Park is that you never know what kind of wildlife you'll see. Well, bison are pretty much a given...my mom and dad call them park cattle, but as for other things, it's always a surprise. One of the rare sightings that caught people's attention and caused a road block was a grizzly cub. My daddy told me not to mess with him, because momma bear wasn't too far away! We also saw a bison on the road...he almost got hit by another truck. In a place called Mammoth, we saw a TON of elk...a little raghorn male, a 6x6 male and a whole bunch of cow elk and their babies. My daddy was surprised not to see the "big boy" with his herd because they very rarely leave them during mating season just in case another bull elk tries to take the harem. It was pretty cool to see all of these elk in one spot...too bad my daddy didn't have a hunting permit for the Park!

Fire in the Park

Well it's not everyday that you get to see a forest fire brewing in a major US National Park, but that's exactly what we got to see. Since they had the road blocked off for awhile to let the helicopter "bomb" the woods with water/fire retardant, we got some pictures! My mom was pretty excited to see this, my dad wanted to get through the roadblock and I wanted the windows closed so I didn't get smoke inhalation! Needless to say, they got it under control and we were allowed through after about 30 minutes.

Echo Canyon Kids Daycare

Well, this is my new playroom....I mean daycare. My mommy and daddy worked very hard on it and it really does look great! There are so many toys to play with that I don't know where to start. Mostly I like the blocks and the gigantic legos. My mommy said that she's putting some of the toys away in the box for a rainy day (like that will ever happen here...we've been in a drought for years). I guess I will have to wait until the "rotation" of toys happens to see what else there is. I have made a couple of new friends and I like seeing them a lot. They keep me busy!

Great Gran's Clan

Well my great-grandma got quite a treat because all of her great-grandchildren were in one spot at one time. Now that certainly doesn't happen very often! So...from L-R...Faith, Taylor (on Faith's lap), Shaylah, Declan, Graycen (on Declan's lap), Great-Gran and Gabriel. Great-Gran also came down to Birch Bay with us so that she could visit with me and my mommy before we came home. She played with me, sang to me, tickled me and gave me Eskimo kisses. Those Eskimo kisses were pretty funny!

Cousins

I had so much fun with my cousins! Not enough pictures though, because some people are missing. Anyway, I got to meet a lot of them for the first time and that was pretty neat. I also liked playing with them...especially because some of my cousins are not that much older than me and we could "speak" the same language. It was a lot of fun to play with everyone!

Fun at the Beach

I got to go to visit my Canadian family at the beginning of August and it was a lot of fun! We spent some time at my Grandpa's beach house in Birch Bay, Washington and I went out on the sandbars with mommy. I was listening to all the seagulls, watching other people and their dogs...but mostly I had fun digging in the sand and crawling around. I even tasted the sand a couple of times, but figured out that it doesn't taste very good at all. Anyway, I had a great time and that's all that matters!

Fun with Jewelry

I'm not sure if I like this jewelry stuff or not yet...my daddy hopes not because he says his pocket book isn't big enough to support that habit. Anyway, I had fun with the necklace and boa while taking pictures!

I'm 9 Months Old!

Can you believe that 9 months has come and gone? Life is so much less frustrating now that I can move! I am crawling everywhere...nothing is sacred in our house now. I can pull myself up on furniture and side step a little bit, but mostly I love to bang the furniture with my hands. I have found that the dog bowls are very convenient now. I love to play in the dog water and tip it over. I have also found out that kibble is pretty tasty! My mom and dad ruined my fun though, because the dog bowls have magically disappeared. I love to crawl into really small spaces just to see if I can get in there. The problem isn't getting in, it's getting out. That's still a bit frustrating at times. I have started swimming lessons every Saturday morning and it's really fun. I get to try and blow bubbles, and listen for the "fishes" in the water. I actually like getting my head wet, but in the process I seem to always get a mouthful of water. I am walking when my mommy holds my hands and that seems pretty fun, but it's not nearly as fun as crawling. I am eating everything in sight. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE fruit and I eat grapes, blueberries, pears, plums, bananas, pineapple and anything that is fruity. I'm not fond of kidney beans though as my mommy found out. I am pretty independent and want to feed myself most of the time. It makes for a messy mealtime, but the dogs don't mind because they get half my meal! I have learned all of my consonant sounds so it's not unusual to hear me babbling up a storm. I love to clap my hands and make motorcycle sounds just like my daddy. Everyday becomes more fun now that I can do more stuff! I'm excited to see what other stuff I can do to keep my mommy and daddy on their toes!

Bath Time!

Bath time is truly my favourite time of day! I get to splash around and sing and kick my legs. I used to cry when I had to get into the bath, but now I cry when it's time to get out!

Up Close and Personal

I'm not sure why, but my parents like taking pictures of me up close. They say it's because they love looking at my "Gerber baby" face and beautiful, big blue eyes.

Under Construction

Well, our house is under construction! Daddy worked very hard to take our sun room with all the glass and aluminum down. Now the new room is up! For those who don't know, Mommy and Daddy decided that Mommy should stay home with me. Sooooo, we are opening a DAYCARE! Wooohooo! Now I will have lots of kids to play with and Mommy can stay home with me too. We are all VERY excited. Echo Canyon Kids Daycare will be open for business on August 6th!