Buffalo. Balloons. Some Big Poop. and a Brisket

I can't believe it's already Tuesday!  We had a great weekend, though of course, it went by way too fast.  We started out bright and early Saturday morning by going to the Balloon Stampede on Antelope Island.  We had fun, but "stampede" was a little bit of an overstatement.  There were only four balloons there; one of them was tethered to give people rides, and another on never made it past half inflated.  I guess if you've never been to one of these things before, it was pretty impressive, but Jason and I have, so we were like "OK, where's the rest of them?"  This is the second time that we've had those kind of thoughts about stuff we've done here, so we've just come to the conclusion that Utah just does stuff, well...smaller.


Early in the morning.  See the sun rising behind us?


The buffalo greeted us shortly after we made it on the island.


The sun made it over the mountains.


A snake skin, just in case you forgot who was boss out here.


Here they go!  You like how they had the crowd on the side of the balloons that required everyone be looking into the face of the sun.  Nice.


Almost ready.


Up, up, and away!


Whew, that was a lot of work!  Time for a sandwich.


Second balloon inflating.


People watching.


Thankfully, the balloon went inland.  They were afraid the wind could possibly carry them out over the lake.


The third balloon.  This was about as big as this one ever got.  I think some of their crew failed to show up, so they were having some problems.


Obviously, Brennan is not used to getting up so early.


Making himself comfy.


Flying away.


Baffalo Poop.  Hey, I'm just reporting all the facts. : )


ReMax balloon.  This one was the tethered one giving people rides.  The line was SO LONG, there was no way we were even going to attempt it.


Brennan's had about enough of the balloons.


Jason


In case it wasn't obvious before that he was bored.

So with that sentiment in mind, we decided to pack up and head over the the other side of the island to the Fielding Garr Ranch.  We've been there a few times before (it was also one of those places we went with Nana and Papaw while they were here this summer, but I neglected to blog about it) but we always enjoy going. 


One last look at a balloon.


We picked a great time to drive over.  The buffalo were on the move.


More buffalo.


This one ran right past the truck!


We brake for buffalo!  Good thing we weren't in a hurry.


The straglers.


We also brake for running pronghorns.  They don't seem to be the brightest things.  One of them ran into the side of the U-Haul when we were moving out to Utah.


King of the mountain (of buffalo poop!)


We made it through the gauntlet of wild animals, and went to check out the horses.  The trail rides hadn't started yet, so they were all still at the barn.


Ready to ride.


I think they could have stayed here all day.


Petting the horses.


Chickens.


At the ranch house.


A big rock.  I think I'll have a seat.


Jason and Brennan


Peek-a-boo!


On the way out, more buffalo.


And more pronghorn antelope.

And that concludes our Antelope Island tour.  I didn't take many pictures of the lake because the water was way down.  I wish I could transmit the smell over the computer though, it was the worst!  And I want you to share all of our experiences, of course.

Sunday, we went to the commissary to buy groceries, did some yard work, and then I went to the Dollar Tree (by myself!!!) to stock up on craft supplies.  I love our Dollar Tree here, besides fabric and spray paint, they really have everything I need to be crafty.  Really, it's that huge.  I'll be posting about some of my finds there soon.  The rest of the day, we just hung out and did some grilling.  It was a nice relaxing day.

On Monday, we drove down the road to a little town called Hooper.  They were having their Hooper Tomato Days festival.  We were pleasantly surprised.  It was a really nice gathering.  We actually would have like to stayed longer, but we had a brisket marinating back at the house, so we had to leave so Jason could get it on the grill.  We know for next time.


Tomato Days sign.  Though, it should have been "Tomato Day," since the festivities were only on Labor Day.


First place sunflower.


Gigantic Pumpkin.


Brennan's favorite: the watermelons.


We had to leave before the Rodeo started, but we did get to see some of the Junior Barrel Racing.  So cute!


Brennan intently watching the "horseys."


We moved to the other side.  It was cold in the shade!


The older girls give it a go.


We had to take a break to do some swinging.


Another of Brennan' favorites.


Happy to be free of the stroller.


Walking the bleachers.


Mad because he got too far away and Daddy had to go retrieve him.


Unfortunately, time to go home.


We did stop at the Farmer's Market on the way out.  I sauted the squash and zucchini to go with the brisket, and sliced one of the tomatoes.  Yum, yum!

I hope everyone else had as great a weekend as we did.  It was definitely a great closing weekend to summer. 

Friday Funny: Catalog Living

Bon Voyage...

In her annual end-of-season ritual, Elaine sent the outdated summer cushions out to sea.

Some of these posts made me laugh out loud!  Check it out: catalog living

"Helping" Mommy

Here's Brennan's version of helping mommy get the clothes out of the dryer.

What I'm Reading This Week

I Made A Pillow

So, I haven't worked on my quilt much lately, but I did finish up this beauty.  For the most part I made it out of stuff I already had, scraps of fabric from past projects and a pillow insert from Savers . Yeah, baby!  The only thing I didn't already have were the buttons, and I got them for super-cheap off of eBay.  (Love, love, love eBay!)



I love just about anything monogrammed, and I'm already thinking about making another one for our bed.  I priced personalized monogrammed pillows at a couple of different places, and found out that they run from $35 to $70.  I think I'll keep my version, thank you. Super-cheap and made with love.

I spy with my little eye...

Any guesses?











Why it's a yellow matchbox car hiding in a snack cup of Goldfish crackers! 

I keep finding Brennan's "Cool Cars" stuck in random places.  The other day I even found one in the deep freeze!  I am impressed that he color coordinated though.  For awhile we thought that everything was going to be parrrrr-ple for the rest of his life. : )  Yay yellow!!

Friday Fun: Ultimate Play Dough

As the title suggests we played with play dough today.  AND if that's not fun enough for you, it was homemade!  It was pretty simple to make.  The hardest part was all the kneading I had to do to get the food coloring mixed in.  Well, that and convincing Brennan that he shouldn't eat it.


My first batch of homemade play dough.  The recipe says this stuff will last for months if you keep it in the refrigerator.  We'll see.



Brennan really wasn't as much into the play dough as I thought he would be.  I made a flower.



Then I got him to help me make a fish.



Brennan thought the fish was more like it!  After we got him all stuck together, he had to take him out for a swim! : )

Overall it was a fun project.  Though, I think it took me longer to make the dough than the time we actually played with it.  I will just chock that up to the attention span of a two-year-old.

Here's the recipe for the dough if anyone else wants to try.

The Ultimate Play Dough Recipe

Ingredients:
½ cup salt
1 cup plain flour
2 tbsp cream tartar
1 cup water
1 tbsp oil
Food Coloring

How to:
1. Mix all ingredients in a medium saucepan.
2. Stir over medium-low heat until dough thickens and is hard to stir.
3. As soon as it is cool enough to handle, knead in the food coloring.
4. Store in a well sealed plastic bag or container.
5. Create magnificent doughy sculptures.

What I'm Reading This Week

Summer's Almost Over...A Long Post About Slacking

Maybe when fall gets here, I can get into blogging regularly. 

Maybe...


Home Sweet Home, Where the Blog Action Happens

We've done some really fun stuff this summer, but you all wouldn't know that, because I neglected to get any of it put up on the blog in a timely manner.  Maybe I'll just do a summer recap post, and put it all in there.

Some days I wonder why you guys stick around, I do really good for a week or so, and then I just fall off the blogging bandwagon.  It's not really a fall though, it's more like I get drug off.  You know how it is, dang responsibilities. 

Lately, my excuses are...
We're still potty training.
I started the "30 Day Shred."
I revamped our whole menu for the month for healthy eating.
Jason has been working a lot of hours.
I'm refinishing 3 bookcases.
Oh, and did I mention potty training?
I still have pictures on my computer from June that need to be edited.
I'm making Halloween decorations.
I started Christmas shopping.
And then the usual suspects, laundry, cooking, cleaning bathrooms that never stay clean, groceries, going to the playground, blah, blah, etc., etc.
And potty training.

It never seems like there is enough time to fit everything in.  Brennan's naps are super short nowadays, so I really only get enough time to "shred" and then he's up and running again.  When Jason gets home, we eat, clean up, do the bathtime routine, Brennan goes to bed, and then we only have just over an hour or so before we go to bed, and the whole cycle starts all over again.

Enough complaining though, right?  Nobody wants to read about that.

I assume most of you stay around to see pictures of this guy...

Shady Character

Like I said before, we're still potty training.  He's doing pretty good.  We did go on a roadtrip over the weekend and had a big wet mess, but when our days are relatively normal, he does well.  I am hoping all the rest will just fall into place on down the line.

I'm still in the long process of redecorating our house.  I wish I could get one room completely done and ready to share with you, but it just doesn't seem to come together for me that way.  For example, I really wanted to just focus on the kitchen until it was done, but then I found new bedding for Jason's and my bed (which the big brown truck should be dropping off today, yeah!), and then I was told the bookcases I mentioned before need attention.  They're for Brennan's room, and Jason said they are not sitting in his garage for another winter.  I agree, so I've been sanding them down to get them ready for painting.


New Kitchen Curtains.  Made by me with my mad sewing machine skills.  (Don't look too close.)

As far as the "30 Day Shred" goes, I wasn't going to mention it until I did it 30 times, but I already blew it, so I will give you a progress report.  I am still on level one (I did level two once, but I decided to go back to level one for awhile.  It was tough!)  So far it's been about two weeks and I've lost 5 lbs.  I did take measurements to see how many inches go away, but I won't check them again for a couple more weeks.

I just hope I can buy a size smaller jeans for this fall.  At this point, that is my only goal.

Anyway, I better run.  I took a day off from working out to type this post, and I can now hear Brennan yelling "Mommy" from upstairs.  I also heard him say uh-oh, so I definitely have to go check that out.

I hope it was just a little, non-messy, nothing broken uh-oh.  Wish me luck.

Blue Dragonfly

The Dirt Shirt

The other day Jason told me he had been shopping on the internet.  At first this was a little alarming, since one, Jason rarely gets on the computer at home, and two, when he does decide to go shopping online, what he buys is never anything that I expect. 

So I ask, a little tenatively, "What did you buy?" 

His reply, "A Dirt Shirt."

Blank stare from me.  Then he explained what a Dirt Shirt was, and all was well.

Anyone curious yet?

OK well, Jason is a big fan of Mike Rowe; the Dirty Jobs, Ford Spokesperson, voice of Deadliest Catch guy.  Mike Rowe has a website, called Mike Rowe Works; it's kind of a PR site for hard working Americans, a discussion board for making things better here in the US.  (One motto is "Work is Not the Enemy," and another is "Brown before Green," as in if we are going to live a greener life, we're going to have to get dirty.)  Anyway, while Jason was on the site, he bought a Dirt Shirt.

The story behind the Dirt Shirt is pretty cool.  Here's the tag off the shirt.  After you read the story, make sure you read the washing instructions.  Also, let me tell you, when the shirt came in the mail the plastic bag it was in was coated with dirt on the inside.  Yeah, that was one dirty shirt!


Mike Rowe's Dirt Shirt.  Wash twice, ha ha, yeah right.


Dirt Shirt, Wash One.  Oh, my poor washer.


Dirt Shirt, Wash Two.  That's still one dirty shirt!


Dirt Shirt, Wash Three.  Oh dear.


Dirt Shirt, Wash Four.  Enough is enough already!!


And finally Jason modeling his new Dirt Shirt. 

All I can say is please pray that shirt never gets in with my lights or whites. : )

Patiently Waiting at the Gate

Everyday when Brennan wakes up from his nap, he usually stands at the gate and either rattles it or calls for me to come and get him.  Yesterday, he must have been in stealth mode when he got up, because when I went to the top of the stairs I found this.


Hi Mom!, Yeah, look how cool I am, I'm wearing Daddy's boots!


Okkkkk, you're supposed to be letting me downstairs now.  You know, open the door like this!


Why are you just standing there taking pictures of me?  I guess I'll just have to climb the gate.  See?

He never got close.  I think the other boot weighed him down. :)