The Honey Badger

Hannah.
Lunchpie.
Buttchew.
Honey Badger.

Hannah has plenty of nicknames. And she responds and refers to herself as all of above...depending on her mood. Honey Badger has come along more recently.

See, Hannah is our "I do what I want" child. Our dare devil. Our fall down at least 3 times a day child. Hannah doesn't care.

So we thought it was appropriate to provide the background of where the Honey Badger nickname came from. Hannah is the Honey Badger.

Enjoy the link!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg

The Dinosaur Train

Every summer around Father's Day, the train runs a special train for kids. Usually it is a Thomas the Train deal but this year they changed it to the Dinosaur Train which is based off a show on PBS...maybe. It doesn't really matter to us - we haven't seen either Thomas the Train or the Dinosaur show, but the kids love any opportunity to ride the train. Grandpa Dan was nice enough to take us on the Dinosaur Train. This is the perfect train ride - it just goes to the north end of town and back! The girls loved it. Once we got to the end of town, there were plenty of activities to do: dig for dinosaur bones, go in the bouncy house/slide and meet the dinosaur guy. Thanks Grandpa Dan - it was fun!

I swear - Grandpa Dan was having fun.

Lunchpie did not appreciate the Dinosaur

A man and his fishing

Even though Aaron is a fishing guide, he doesn't really get to fish that much on his own. This summer he has been able to fish a couple of times - on the Dolores, the Animas and the high country creeks. Its amazing what a day of fishing for himself can do for that man! Not to mention - he's pretty good at it.

Some kind of bug

Another big bug!

Fish on!

Happy Anniversary #7

Back in May, Aaron and I celebrated a wonderfully, relaxing anniversary weekend. Speaking for both of us, I am pretty sure that we both couldn't believe that we've been married for 7 years.  Thanks to Granny Beth, we were able to head out for the weekend sans kids.  We stayed in Ridgway, CO the first night and ate at a fantastic Mexican restaurant - The Adobe Inn - I would recommend it to anyone that happens to find themselves in Ridgway.

After a night in Ridgway, we headed over to Telluride.  However, it wouldn't be a Hyder vacation without some fishing.  Originally, we really wanted to float the San Miguel River but since the water was so low this spring, it wasn't going to happen.  Instead, we wade-fished the San Miguel in several places.  We both love seeing new places and getting on new rivers.

Telluride was wonderful.  Even though we would be back in a couple of weeks for the bluegrass festival - we like going there often.  It's small.  A lot like Durango.  Good food and laid-back people.  One thing about this weekend - we both probably slept more than either of us has in the last couple of months.  It was wonderful!

On the way back from Telluride to Durango, we had to stop and fish the Dolores and the West Dolores Rivers.  Aaron even found a cow skull and brought it back for Emma.  She is still proudly displaying it in our front yard!

What a wonderful weekend and here's to many more!

The Carnival...or call it the Fair

I don't like the fair. Maybe it's that I am a little skeptical of the rides that are assembled, disassembled and then re-assembled every 3 days as it moves. Maybe it's the characters they hire to operate these rides. Or it could be that I feel like I need to walk around with a bottle of hand sanitizer. I find it gross. And how is it that we live in such a small town...and I have never seen ANY of the people that are at the fair? It's as close to a cultural experience that we'll get here in Durango.

But the kids love the fair. And they stick it right in the middle of town, so we have to drive by at least twice a day so there's really no avoiding it. But Aaron likes the fair. Good thing he doesn't mind spending $40 on 3 rides each. But that's another thing about the fair :)

Good thing the girls had fun! And good thing we don't have to go back until next year.

Granny riding the Merry-Go-Round with Hannah & Emma

Riding the train ride with Hannah

Aaron taking the girls on the "go in circles way too fast for me" ride

Congratulations Perri!

Congratulations to Perri who graduated from University of Colorado - Colorado Springs this spring.  Perri graduated with degrees in Art and Women's Studies!  However, I realized I don't have any pictures from the weekend except for the picture that we have in the hotel lobby!  The weekend was fun because we got to hang out with family, play at the park and of course, swim in the hotel pool.  However, Hannah did get some communicable disease from the pool water...but now I can't even remember what it was!

Barnyard Days

This spring I was lucky enough to go on Emma's field trip to the Barnyard Day up at Fort Lewis College. It was a pretty fun day - We rode the trolley to the college, saw the farm animals, rode the tractor ride, and had a good time with friends!

Emma & friends on the trolley to the college

Emma & Ava

Waiting our turn to see the worm demonstration!

Mother's Day Weekend - Moab Daily(s)

Our family obviously loves being on the river. But I REALLY enjoy being on the river...and not fishing.  Sorry Aaron.  Rafting is one thing that I really miss doing often.  So when Aaron asked what I wanted to do on Mother's Day - I just asked that we got out on the river for a couple of days.  Our friend Scott offered to let us borrow his boat and it just seemed to happen!   We chose to head over to Moab for a couple of reasons:  A)  It's relatively close.  B) It's definitely a float with few rapids (in fact, the water was so low, there weren't really any rapids.  C)  Because you can do the different sections in a day (hence the name...daily) we didn't have to pack a groover!

Both of the girls have spent plenty of time on rivers - either on a raft or the drift boat.  However, Hannah (aka Honey Badger) does not like to wear her life jacket.  So we were somewhat worried about her spending 2 whole days in the her life jacket.  But as long as we kept feeding her....she was fine!  Actually, she did much better than that and I think she is finally used to wearing her life jacket. 

 We brought our paddle board and tethered it to the boat so we could bust it out when we wanted.  There is plenty of flat water on this section of the Colorado so we all took turns - even Hannah!

Back at camp

Me & my girls

 Dinner is the best part about camping - well in opinion - but eating is my most favorite thing to do.  The first night we dined on Chicken & Dumplings from the dutch oven and I was so proud that it turned out that I had to take a picture.  And what is camping without smores!

Now that's a big SMORE

Thank you for a wonderful weekend on the river Aaron, Emma and Hannah!

Apologies, Apologies

I've realized that I haven't posted a blog entry since April...it's now July.  But it's not because we don't have anything fun to talk about - it's actually quite the opposite!  We have had a fun-filled spring, early summer including:  Mother's Day Weekend rafting, Perri's graduation, Soaring at Tall Timber Resort, Telluride Bluegrass and Lunchpie's Birthday Bash and much, much more.  Now that I have posted some of the fun happenings for us...I will now get them posted one-by-one! As soon as I can :)

Emma's birthday party

I am not quite sure if I am a procastinator or if I truly just don't like the idea of birthday parties for any kids. And I mean - really big birthday parties that require goody bags, a rented space/activity and a full spread of food. Emma really wanted a party, so Aaron and I offered that she could have 3 friends sleepover for the night. And it was fun!! Emma's friends Ava, Ada and Avery came over for the festivities and we played games, watched a movie and ate popcorn and of course...GIGGLED...a lot! And for those of you that are worried about Aaron...he survived the night with a whole bunch of girls!

Avery, Ada, Emma, Ava and Lunchpie

Emma's new BLING!!

Emma has been talking about getting her ears pierced for a couple of months and we told her once she turned 5, she could get it done. When the day finally came, I thought she would decide that she wasn't ready....but she still wanted to go. Emma was super tough and did a great job! She cannot wait until she can change out her earrings with new ones!

Happy 5th Birthday Emma Elizabeth!!

I know that all parents say this each year, but I cannot believe that Emma is 5! Emma's school was on spring break the week of her birthday, so Aaron took the girls down to the Bounce House during the day.   I wish I had my camera with me today, so I could add a video of the girls going down one of the big slides.  Hannah laughing hysterically is maybe one of the funniest things ever.  These girls have so much fun together (usually).

After the big day at the Bounce House, we celebrated with presents and a birthday dinner of pancakes, eggs, bacon and funfetti birthday cake!   Happy Birthday to my Emma!

Emma showing off gifts

Who doesn't love monkey pajamas?

Hannah getting into the action

Lunchpie stealing frosting off the cake before dinner

This year's requested birthday dinner : pancakes, eggs and bacon.