Back to school! Wednesday the boys were
off to school and I was left feeling a lot like
"Wiggy"...a cat at the shelter. Actually, I did
try and upload the picture of the boys on the first
day but it wouldn't load right. The boys both love
their teachers and the kids that are in their class.
It's all good.
Di

New Pets

Yes, more pets. Not that we don't have enough but Michael and Ben wanted pets of their OWN.

I heard them discussing getting kittens but I was able to put the stop on that! Michael got stuck on the Mice right away and I was able to talk Ben out of Gerbils (they chew everything and I already have a pet like that). So, after making them wait 2 months (after our big summer trip) we spent 2 weeks getting the mouse house and other supplies. I took them over to Denver Dumb Friends Leauge (animal shelter) to look at their supply of unwanted mice and there were quite a few females to pick from. Ben found his right away--it had to have spots (thankfully it was very friendly), Michael had to go through about 4 before he found a very nice white and grey one. He couldn't decide between the white/grey and a red one and I felt bad for the red one since they were cage buddies---we took both. Yes, I have a mouse now too!

As for our recent trip up to Glacier...there are a few things that the guide books forget to mention:
WYOMING-Rolling, sagebrush filled highways (boring) with truckers and gas pipe lines if you go I-80 and many, many, many flat, squashed, dead rabbits if you go I-25.
UTAH-N.E. Utah NOT like the the rest of Utah (no rock formations)
IDAHO-Roads surrounded by fields of potato plants or black, chunky lava rock.
MONTANA-
--Record heat for the 2 weeks we were in the area (98*).
--Record heat driving us to swim in the snow melt river feeding Lake McDonald (36* or so?)
--Free range cattle/horses/dogs in the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. This in an area where the
the speed limit is 70mph and the road is twisty. 2 free range horses wandered around camp
on the reservation just outside the East entrance to Glacier. The cows act like they own the
road and take their sweet time getting off to graze. I guess maybe the grass IS greener on
the other side!
--The last minute repairs on Going-To-The-Sun road in Glacier were scary...a substantial
bridge that seemed to be stuck to the side of the mountain...well, we aren't quite sure how.
--Light until 11pm! Hard to get the kids to believe you that it's way past bedtime.
--Hiking in trails with snow fields with Bighorn sheep and Mt. Goats on the trail with you (this
a NICE surprise).
--Casino's. They were EVERYWHERE. The gas station, the restaurants, the reservations.
Seedy looking places with seedy clientele.
--Grama spending time taking the boys fishing at least 6 times, in 6 different places and the
only person who caught a fish was me (with Ben's abandoned pole). To top it off it ended
up being a fish on the endangered species list.

With all that said we had a GREAT trip. It ended up being a very different trip then what I imagined. I didn't think it would be almost 100* everyday. I never dreamed we would spend hours on the shore of the lake swimming (it was a chilly lake). While we saw Bighorn sheep and Mt. Goats all over the top of the pass, we hardly saw any other animals due to the heat. They did close all trail in a major section of the east park due to grizzly activity. I quickly decided that I didn't want to camp in that area. We went into Canada to Waterton Lakes National Park which is connected to Glacier in the north. There was a few nice places we found but not terribly impressed by the scenery. Digging for fossils was dirty hard work but interesting. We had hoped to find more fish fossils but found a few anyway. The boys got the hang of breaking the rock open the right way. The dogs spent a week at a kennel outside Glacier. They had as much fun swimming in the lake as the boys did.

We got up at 3:30am to catch an early flight back to Colorado today. It sounded good at the time but it wasn't so much fun to do! We all spent Sunday (father's day) at my sister's in Sparta. As always, she was a great host. We ate very well and the kids were entertained in the form of pool, trampoline, ATV rides, nerf guns......
Monday the boys and I did some shopping at the LL Bean outlet where they got their new backpacks for school next year. They also swam in Mike's pool for hours before going out to dinner at PF Changs (yummm). Yesterday I took the boys up to my old shelter and got some paperwork to copy and use at my current shelter. I also took the boys on a tour of my old home and neighborhood. They weren't too sure about swimming in the lake everyday like we did (but...there's algae!). We also went to Denville Dairy to get Ice Cream. Mike had a big meeting down in Trenton Tuesday night so after an early dinner I took the boys over for more swimming in the pool. While I don't like apt. life so much I DID like having a place to take them in the evening where they could go crazy for a while.
We are glad to be back.

Long Beach Island

Friday the boys and I met Dawn at a rest stop off the Parkway and drove down together to Long Beach Island State Park. The kids were thrilled to see each other....it's been a year! I was worried that we were going to freeze since it was only supposed to be a high of 70*. It was overcast but off the kids went into the water. The tide was going out and there seemed to be a strong undertow. There weren't any lifeguards on duty and so Dawn and I were a little stressed trying to make sure they didn't wander out too far. We broke for lunch around 1pm and headed down to the south end of the Island. We walked for a while down on the part of the beach where the trucks are allowed to go. The highlight of that walk was a found coconut. The kids all lined up to trows the coconut on the parking lot but Morgan got it open in one throw. Yes, it had been around a while.
We took the kids back to the beach to swim in the small window of sunshine we had. They spent a few hours in the water, shivering and shaking but having fun none the less. It was funny to watch them ride the boogie boards in....they would put the boards down on the sand and wait for the water to come and pick them up. They quickly learned to get some water under them first!
Di

Magness Camp

We attended our annual Cub Scout camp Sunday-Tuesday. This year I insisted that Mike come since they boys would be heading off for the day in opposite directions. Ben was trilled to have HIS friends along this year. The first day we had to pass a swim test so the boys could swim the lake during the camp. If we wanted to take the boys out on the lake in the canoes we, the parents, needed to pass the test as well. So, in 50* water I gamely jumped in, lost my breath and swam the required 25 yds until I could get out. Ben jumps in and can't get his breath so he's doggy paddling across the lake going "uh, uh, uh, uh.....chatter, chatter, chatter...). Poor kid.
They got to throw tomahawks which they enjoyed, as well as the usual archery and BB guns. The second night we had some pretty severe winds which in a tent that is barely even there was interesting. The wind would blow and the tent flags would bang against your cot and the whole tent would billow out and in, out and in. The kids were off around camp with their friends during the down time and you'd only see them when they needed snacks or something. They had a great time and Mike and I survived another year.

Welby

On Friday I left Welby at our Veterinary referral clinic for some more tests. The neurologist determined she has Pulmonary Artery Thrombosis. Basically she has blood clots in her femoral arteries that aren't allowing the blood to flow into her hindquarters. She gets very tired after walking for a few minutes. After blood work, an ultrasound and an echo cardiogram they still have no idea while her blood is clotting-well they call it "Ideopathic" Pulmonary Artery Thrombosis. She spent 3 days in the clinic getting heparin shots and she is now home with some drugs (Wafrin) to keep the blood thin. She isn't supposed to rough house which is hard with Auggie who wants to play. This is a picture of Welby with the stuffed duck that came with the "nuerology-to-go" bag. Yes, believe it, a doggy bag of sorts. I guess you pay enough money that throw something in to make you feel better! The kids thought it was cool and have gotten more play out of it then Welby has. The kids (and I) are glad to have her home.
Di