Snippets and Such

Y'all I've been silent for nearly a month.  We were out of town for almost two weeks straight and then all hell broke loose at work and I've been single-parenting all week while the MM trains some new Wildland Trekking staff in Flagstaff, AZ.  You know that bumper sticker that says "All mothers are working mothers."  Does that make me a working working mother? Because keeping your child fed, clothed, bathed, safe and happy while also working a crazy full day at work is hard.  I have the utmost respect for single parents.

So we had a blast in Lander, WY for Thanksgiving, but my camera stopped working, so I only have iPhone photos. 

 

 Naturally the Lander Children's museum has a U.S. Forest Service "Jeep."

Ford with his cousin, Seddona

 

We were home for two days and then flew to Portland, OR for a workshop for me and then some fun for all.  Portland was great, especially for the MM and Ford.  They went to the zoo! Remember that YouTube video that circulated of the lion trying to eat the baby through the glass at the zoo? That's the Oregon Zoo in Portland:

Here's the Ford photo still version with cheetahs:

He also loved:

The penguins

 Our hotel windows

The giant light-bright at the mega Children's Museum (true story: I just typed "killer Children's Museum, but realized that's just wrong)

In other kiddo-related news, here are three things I'm completely enamored of these days:

1.  Toddler Bogs.  Best winter boots ever. Easier to put on that Sorels and Ford loves them because of the monkeys (I think, he doesn't really explain these things to us)

 2. Carhartt Overalls

3. Any and all Loud Crow Interactive iPad apps.  They've taken all the best children's board books and stories and made them better. Seriously--great narration, fun, but not over-the-top interactive touchpad stuff.  I just bought their re-creation of a very old pop-up book version of The Night Before Christmas and was blown away by how charming it was.  Almost as good as being 5 again and hearing my Papa read it to us.  Almost. 

Tomorrow I'm going to wrangle two dogs and a toddler out to the new kennel for a canine meet and greet and then hope I can pull something together for the first of several office-related holiday parties. It would almost be comical if it wasn't so completely nuts.