TravelingMel

It's catch-up time again.

I saw these yummy watermelon Valentine pops on a crafty website and decided to make them for Anders to take to his Valentine's Day party at daycare.

Watermelon pops in the freezer.

Anders shows you the love.

Valentine's Day card from Anders and Finn. Not the best pictures of them, but a very sweet thought (by our daycare provider).

Last weekend the boys and I took a day to play at a couple museums in Bozeman, both to have little out of town fun and to give Henry a break.

We started out at the Museum of the Rockies where we climbed on the treehouse exhibit, played in the kids' room and checked out the dinosaur exhibits.

It was the in front of a Triceratops that Finn threw up. You may recall that last time we went to MOR Finn also threw up. I'm beginning to think it might be something at the museum.

Getting into gear at the Museum of the Rockies.

Anders watched the dino who watches the other visitors.

Group photo in front of the museum.

After the puking we decided to head out before being kicked out. Finn seemed fine so we headed over to the Children's Museum of Bozeman.

Anders went straight for the train table since he doesn't get enough train time at home. Then we played at the rice table, which we discovered to full of beans this time. We love it when they change things up.

Bean counter.

Finn brings his own fun with him.

Dumping beans.

Anders, Finn and I went sledding the other day. Fortunately we ran into Gwynne (our daycare provider) and her three girls. The older two girls pulled Anders up the hill for the first run.

We took about 4 runs down the hill and then played in the snow.

Approaching the sledding hill.

I'm Anders Coble Harrison. Who the $%$#@ are you?

Sitting in the snow.

Finn and I get ready to climb the sledding hill.

Another adventure I took with the boys was a visit to the Museum of the Rockies. We went to see the model train exhibit, which entranced Anders.

It made Finn sick to his stomach and he threw up all over me and the lobby floor. Gallons of puke. Then Anders got down on his hands and knees and crawled through it. Then we left. It was fun.

Lunch break at the Museum of the Rockies.

Careful when you poke a stegosaurus in the eye.

Watching the train go 'round.

This magical train goes underwater and past hot springs.

A few more shots, just because I can.

Playing with a Christmas present we hid in the closet for a week.

I'll do anything for a little rest.

By the hammer of Thor, what is going on here?

We went to the annual Livingston Downtown Christmas Stroll last weekend. It is a combination of art walk, stores staying open late, and Christmas activities. There is a hay ride (too cold for us!), pictures with Santa and crafts (line too long for us), art exhibits (we saw a few) and a reading of the "Polar Express" at the Murray Hotel.

We went to the reading last year and had such a good time that we had to go back. There is hot cider and cookies, middle school and high school choirs and the highlight of the evening: a man dressed as a conductor reads the story.

If you aren't familiar with Livingston's past, it is/was a railroad town. Currently, only freight trains stop here, but there is a beautiful depot across the street from the Murray that was used with passenger trains. Many of the old hotels and buildings downtown were built in conjunction with the railroad.

The "Polar Express", a story about a train ride to the north pole, is the perfect pick for a town like this.

All the kids are handed bells and instructed to ring them at certain points in the story. Anders was about a half step behind on the ringing, but he sure had fun doing it.

Henry and Finn getting festive.

Anders does a little stand-up for the crowd...

...then shows them his dance moves.

Anders and I getting festive.

The conductor prepares to read the "Polar Express". Note giant Bernese Mountain Dog stuffed animal. They give that away after the story. Every child wishes themselves the winner and every parent prays they don't have to take that beast home.

Reading the story.

Anders inspects his bells to be sure they are ready for ringing.

After the Murray we went across the street to the model railroad museum. It's in a couple tiny rooms in the basement of the Depot. We've never been down there before and were amazed at how cool it was. The set ups and sceneries these trains travel through are so intricate. A bunch of retired guys hang out here and must spend a lot of time working on this.

Anders was entranced. He is into trains right now. Our friends have a train table at their house and whenever we go there he heads straight back into the bedroom and plays by himself for a long time. And he is always trying to talk us into walking over to the train tracks to look for real trains.

Model train.

Another train with its conductor.

Anders and his friend Logan and his other friend Logan watch the train go by.

Someone is looking sleepy. Anders is tired,too.

More trains.

Labor Day this year was a rainy one (you may have guessed that from the title of this post). Rainy days scare me a little because that means being in the house all day with Anders.

Anders has a lot of energy. I blame it on too many vegetables in the first 15 months. Since then he has been spitting them out, so we hope that tones him down a little.

We spend most of the day outside whenever we can. Then Anders can run, pick up rocks, point at ducks and generally feel free to do whatever he wants without hearing any "no"s.

On this rainy Labor Day I figured I better get creative.

First we pulled out the tent and tunnel play thingy that Bih H picked up at a garage sale.

Brrr....44 degrees on September 1st.

Crawling fun for everyone.

Playing pirate in the tent.

After that we made some play dough.

Mixing flour and salt to make play dough.

Patting play dough.

Using the spoon and cookie cutter were the most fun.

Finn chills out while Anders and I play.

We're lucky our neighbor hangs her bird feeder right outside our kitchen window. When Henry took a break from work we did a little birdwatching.

Watching the sparrows and magpies.

Birdwatching with dad. Notice the super cute Rigby-puppy photo on the fridge.

After lunch and a nap (for Anders) we went over to Bozeman for the grand opening of the Bozeman Birth Center. Our midwife, Stacey, and another midwife opened this beautiful birth center. I want to go there some day without kids, sit in the whirlpool in front of the fireplace and read.

Bozeman Birth Center

Our lovely midwife Stacey with Henry and Anders.

May 9, 2008

After waiting three weeks, I finally got my car back. We bought a 2004 Passat VW Wagon in December and it has been nothing but trouble. We've had several expensive fixes, had to jump start it a handful of times and had a rock come crashing through the sunroof on the highway. We took it back to the dealership and they agreed to take the lemon back and trade us for a better car--one that runs.

Three weeks later I couldn't take the waiting anymore and Henry got them to to do the latest fix for free instead. Cross your fingers.

All that is to say, we had to drive to Bozeman on Friday to pick up the car. And since we all had to go, we stopped by the Children's Museum of Bozeman to get in a little play time before hopping back in the vehicles and heading over the hill.

Anders loves being carried through the beads, too bad they aren't long enough to reach the floor so he could walk through them himself. He giggles like crazy when they graze his face.

This was Anders' first time playing the piano. Can you believe how good he is?

In a previous post I mentioned how much Anders' loves the rice table (technically I think it is a sand and water activity table) and although he tried out a couple other activities this time (with a little prodding) the rice table is still the most alluring thing in the museum.

The rice table is Anders' all-time favorite activity at the Children's Museum. I don't know why these other kids were there, getting in the way of Anders' play and my picture taking.