TravelingMel

Henry took a well deserved night off and went to Bozeman for dinner and a movie with some friends. That meant Anders, Finn and I had to make our own fun.

Anders is all about coloring lately. Books are out and markers are in. Well, he still likes books, but he asks for the markers more. After dinner, I pulled out the pens and paper and let him get to work on yet another creative masterpiece.

Anders coloring away.

And a few photos of Finn in tummy time.

Hey, look! I'm a movie maker. I used my point-and-shoot camera and imovie. It's no Henry H. Harrison masterpiece, by my actor is pretty good.

Emulating some friends of ours who always stop at Chico for a swim before heading out for a hike, ski, or bike ride, we spent an hour or so this morning soaking in our local hot springs. The idea was to tire Anders out for the ride down to Gardiner and keep him sleepy while we skied.

He fell asleep moments before we got to the trailhead and that was it for the day. Oh well, he went to bed quickly tonight and we hope he sleeps in to at least 6 tomorrow. He still hasn't quite gotten the idea of the time change.

So, after a nice soak we drove down to the Bear Creek area near Jardine (above Gardiner, MT). The snow was ok; definitely pretty good for the first ski of the season. We stayed on the road and skied for a couple hours.

Diesel didn't get to go since he tore his ACL last week. Poor doggy. Rigby did something to his shoulder and had to limp out. We are considering opening a hospice for dogs.

H pulled Anders in the Chariot and I got to ski with little Finn. Anders loved standing on my skis as I shuffled around and went down a little hill. All in all, a pretty god day.

H could be posting these same pictures as we speak, so sorry for any repeats.

Anders clasps his water bottle in preparation for the big ski.

Rigby, pre shoulder injury

H pulling Anders up the hill.

Anders enjoying the ride.

The only part of Finn exposed to the elements. Actually, it was in the 40s, so it was hardly cold.

Anders holds a snowball and gazes at mom.

Anders admires my sweet skis. Next year he gets his own pair.

Rigby tries to dig something up. Anders observes.

Finn and I on the home stretch.

And a video H shot with his point and shoot.

I have two things to say today: Yeah for an Obama victory!!! I know I have a few readers who are not fans of our president elect, but for the rest of us it feels like a new day.

Not to be too overstated, but finally a president we can be proud of. Like he said in his speech, we have a long road ahead of us and it won't all be rainbows and daisies (the rainbows and daisies are my words, not his), but I think the country is rejuvenated and ready to get to work repairing our economy, getting out of Iraq and restoring our standing in the global community.

The second issue of the day is that I now hate daylight savings time. Well, I don't hate it, but I hate that Anders did not get the message on the time change and is getting up at the crack-of-before-dawn every day. Sunday it was 5 am, yesterday 4:45am, today 5am. I am going to have to start a Pika call on this blog for Anders. H and I are feeling a little tired.

Any tips for making a 21 month-old with a ton of energy sleep? Putting him to bed later does not help. Yelling "Go to sleep" from our bed does not work. Now that he is getting an hour less sleep at night he is falling asleep while eating lunch. Henry had to wake him up the other day to get him to swallow the bite of sandwich in his mouth!

I know I said there were only two things to say, but here is one more: H put up a bunch of photos at his site. Surf on over.