Meeting Edgar

We live in a small town. Very small. Like population 3000. Things happen here, of course. Things like a tractor causing a traffic jam. Or, the annual bed races they have down main street (we have yet to go!). But as far as celebrity sightings. It just doesn't happen.

Until now.

Today we got to meet this guy:

That's Edgar Hansen. He's the deckboss on this boat:

On a pretty awesome show called Deadliest Catch.

It's one of our favs.

Our local grocery store brought him in.

And since things like this never happen here. And because we really love the show, we HAD to go meet him

As far as celebrities go, he was way nice. He was laughing with people and giving hugs and signing autographs for everyone. On the show he seems like a nice guy. It's nice to know he really is.

He was very nice and signed two autographs for us. One for Dave so he could take it and hang it in his office at work and one for our whole family.

And in related news. The grocery store had this beautiful cake on display. I'm wondering if it could make it on Cake Wrecks. I love how the ship looks like it's getting wrecked. Maybe everyone waiting in line couldn't resist touching it?

And, I found this super cute video for all you Deadliest Catch fans. Sesame Street parodies Captain Keith Coburn from the Wizard in this piece called "Heaviest Catch"

A little light reading

Logan recently discovered books. He really, really loves them. He'll sit and listen while I read a whole story. He patiently waits for me to turn the pages. In his broken jibberish, he tells me about the pictures. He is often seen carrying a book around the house.

But, tonight was a first. I put Logan in his crib, but I was still waiting for Max to get ready for bed. I left the room and came back to this:

 He was so involved with the "story" the he really didn't even notice me taking pictures.

At least for a minute anyway. Sorry to interrupt, Logan.

I'm so glad he loves books!

First Day of School

The first day of school was long anticipated this year! The kids were excited. I was excited. We really needed to get back in some sort of routine.

I found this fun t-shirt idea on Pinterest. (Have you been on Pinterest yet? It's awesome!)

I thought it would be fun to copy the idea on my Silhouette. They made great first day of school shirts.

Max started Kindergarten this year. He goes in the afternoon. He absolutely loves it! After the first day, I asked him how school was and he said "It's just not like school, mom!" The first day he got homework, he was so excited he could hardly stand it. It was a hide and seek counting game. We played the game and I put his homework back in his backpack showing we had completed it. After school the next day, it was still in his backpack. I asked him why he didn't turn it in. He said that he brought it home because he really wanted to do it again!

Bria is growing and learning so much! She made new friend practically the first day and they've been besties ever since. I can't believe how well she is learning to read already this year. Bria is just growing up too fast. She is in love with all things Selena Gomez and has a boy following her around with a crush. I feel like she's 7 going on 13.


And for posterity...here's the backpacks. Bria's is the same as lat year, but we added a rhinestone B on the back. Max was thrilled with his Mario backpack. He loves Mario.

And of course, the new shoes. I love new shoes. They stay so pretty and nice for such a short time. You can't tell in the picture, but Bria's are sparkly. They're pretty awesome! Max has Agent P shoes from Phineas and Ferb. For being a boy, he was sure was picky when it came to choosing shoes. Anything short of Mario shoes was unacceptable. The only problem was the store didn't carry any. Thankfully, he finally decided on these. I love how he's posing his feet!

Happy Birthday, Logan!

I can't believe that Logan is already 2! He's growing up to fast! His birthday was at the end of August.

He is turning into such a cute boy! Right now he absolutely love cars and trains.

When he talks it mostly sounds like jibberish, but you can always understand him when he says "Thomas" or "Cars".

He has lots of favorite foods. But, he really loves bananas. We have to keep a hefty supply on hand for his banana cravings.

Out of everyone Logan knows, Daddy is his absolute favorite. When he learned how to give kisses, Daddy was pretty much the only person that got them.

Logan also love to jump. It took him quite a while to figure out how to do it, but now that he has the hang of it, he jumps constantly. In his crib, on the chairs, on the trampoline. He is a crazy jumping fool!

He got a very appropriate shirt from Grandma that says "King of the Jungle". He thinks he's king of our family. He is absolutely beside himself in a very two-year-old manner when things don't go his way. It's hard not to think it's kinda funny.

We sure love this little boy!!! It's so fun to have him be part of our family!

Happy Birthday Logan!

Martin's Cove

The last stop on our vacation this summer was Martin's Cove (I tried to find a link with better information, but they don't seem to exist!)

The Martin's Cove area is an important pioneer site. It was part of a combined route for the Mormon, Oregon, and California Trails as well as the Pony Express. More than 500,000 pioneers traveled through this trail. In 1856, the Martin Handcart Company passed through. There is so, so much to the story. But, to be brief, the company left late and started with the bare minimum. They were a poor group of pioneers, which is why they came with handcarts instead of wagons. An early winter storm left the 500ish pioneers stranded inside Martin's Cove. Almost a quarter of the company died and nearly everyone who survived were starving by the time they were rescued. It's pretty much a miracle that any lived!!

Martin's Cove is a incredible place. Dave's been there twice and I've been once. The feeling of reverence that you get while there is really indescribable. We both wanted to stop and show our kids. We were only there for a very short time. We didn't trek or hike any of it. The missionaries were very nice and took us up to the Cove on a Range Rover. It's almost 3 miles to hike it. When our kids are older I hope we can take them back and trek in true pioneer fashion. Seeing a small glimpse of what the pioneers went through gives me such an incredible appreciation for the blessings we have today.

Although a lot of trekkers go through Martin's Cove, it is very accommodating for families. We were there for a few hours, but we could have easily spent longer. There is a little loop trail that you can pull a handcart around. If you're feeling really ambitious, they let you take the handcart out on the real trail. It's quite long, though. Maybe when the kids are a little older.

In true modern pioneer fashion, Logan rode in the back.

There is so much wildlife in this part of Wyoming. It is literally out in the middle of nowhere. You can drive for hours and see no cities, or even houses. It is exactly like it was when the pioneers went through.

Apart from the wildlife, there is also a lot of sage brush and even more sand. It's really hard to pull handcarts through the sand. This area was so difficult for the pioneers to get through.

This is actually in Martin's Cove. The hill behind Logan was a small protector from the wind and snow for the Martin Company. It's what makes the cove.

It is very difficult to describe the feeling of actually being inside the Cove. Even with our kids running around and talking loudly, it really feels like being in the Temple. It is very sacred ground.

We didn't hike the trails, but we thought it would be good for our kids to walk a little ways at least.

This wagon is outside Fort Sumner. The fort is tiny. It's so hard to believe that so many people were freezing and dying when there was a warm cabin nearby. But, there was really no room to house that many inside.

This is Devil's Gate. Dave and I hiked in last time we were here, but with all of the kids we just saw it from a distance this time.

We also went to see Independence Rock. It's almost right across the street from Martin's Cove. Independence Rock was an important landmark for pioneers traveling through here.  It marked almost half way along the trail. Many stopped and carved their names in the rock.

Between Bria and Max is an inscription. There are hundreds all over the rock.

This was the perfect way to end our vacation!

Mount Rushmore

After even more driving, we headed to Mount Rushmore!!

LONG POST WARNING!!! We took a TON of pictures. This is really only a small amount.

This part of the trip wasn't really planned. We may or may not have gone had we actually thought ahead. You see, starting in about Cheyenne, we started noticing quite a few motorcycles. But, it's Cheyenne. We don't live there. Maybe that's normal. As we got closer to South Dakota, we started seeing more and more motorcycles. Maybe outnumbering cars two to one. It was Wyoming back country. Maybe motorcyclist like this part of the country. Thank goodness for Dave's iPhone so we can look important stuff like this up on the road. We soon found out why there were so many motorcycles. It was Sturgis. Last year, 60,000 motorcyclists attended this massive convention. It's like a pilgrimage for motorcyclist. It was crazy! I've never seen so many motorcycles in my life!!

More about Mount Rushmore. I was a little worried about going. I heard that there really wasn't very much to do. My thought was that we would just pull over on the side of the road and take a quick picture. I hoped that wasn't true. We had driven a long way! Thankfully, it isn't true. There is TONS to do at and around Mount Rushmore. We could have spent days in the area with plenty to keep us busy.

My honest first impression when we first go to Mount Rushmore is that it is a lot smaller than I had envisioned. It's really not small at all, but I had this idea of a huge mountain and that takes up the face of it. In reality, it's a peak at the top of a huge mountain. But, the more we learned, the more I really could see the gigantic-ness in it.

Just in case you are already getting bored of this post, here's a picture:

There is so much to do at Mount Rushmore! Leading up to the Grand Terrace, there is an Avenue of Flags. Every state (plus the six commonwealths/territories/districts) is represented in the Avenue with their flag and an inscription. It was fun finding the states we knew.

It's such a patriotic sight!

Of course, we found Idaho!

At night, all lit up:

And, here's a picture of Mount Rushmore (because we have so many!):

The sculptor of Mount Rushmore was Gutzon Borglum. This sculpture was done by his son Lincoln after he died.

Borglum was incredibly hardworking and dedicated to his vision. He was also very arrogant. Some argue that it was his arrogance that enabled him to sculpt such a huge monument. The idea wasn't actually his, but the state of South Dakota commissioned him to make some sort of sculpture in the Black Hills of South Dakota. He chose Mount Rushmore. When he found it, he climbed it and right then and there declared it a National Monument. Of course he had no authority to do that. Another interested fact is that his family immigrated to the United States with Mormons. Borglum was born in Idaho and raised in Utah. Kinda cool.

There is a trail that goes up closer to the monument. Some of the things along the trail were closed by the time we got there. We didn't even pull in until almost 5:00 pm. But the trail was open and we took a little walk around it.

The view is different the closer you get. One of my favorite things about the sculpture is the eyes. Each president looks like he has a white twinkle inside. It makes the eyes look so real.

It was a cloudy day, and eventually the clouds turned to rain. It was so pretty because the sun was still shining too.

 We took a little break from walking and let the kids play for a while.

I absolutely love this picture! Logan was doing his One, Two, Three Run! thing again. Look at Max. I love it!

 At the end of the trail is the Sculptor's Studio. These are the smaller sculptures that Gutzon Borglum used as a scale model for the sculpture on the mountain. This is an idea of how Borglum wanted to finish the mountain. He never got to finish completely. He died and his son Lincoln took over. With funding problems, Lincoln was told to wrap up the project.

Look at the kids next to the scale model. The model was constantly changed during the construction and is proportionate to the actual sculpture. It was designed so that every one inch equals one foot on the mountain. It's pretty big when you look at it in this proportion!

This is a rendition of the Hall of Records that is located behind Mount Rushmore. Borglum wanted to have a vault included to house records about each president and about our nation. Discoveries like Stonehenge and Easter Island included no records and today no one knows for sure why they were built. Borglum wanted to avoid the same fate. With the Hall of Records, the monument could be identified thousands of years in the future. Borglum said "You may as well drop a letter into the world's postal service without an address or signature, as to send that carved mountain into history without identification."

The Hall of Records was actually never completed. In 1998 a small titanium vault was placed at the entry of the Hall of Records to complete Borglum's original dream.

There is so much to learn here! My guess is that 90% of you readers are just looking at the pictures. That's okay. I just get so fascinated by history when it is brought to life!

Here's a little bit about each President:

George Washington was the first to be carved. He, obviously was chosen because he was the first president.

Thomas Jefferson:

Thomas Jefferson was the second. Some interesting facts...Jefferson was actually supposed to be carved on the other side of Washington. They actually carved most of his face, but there was such a large crack that they decided to move him on the other side. They blasted away the original sculpture. Borglum chose to sculpt a younger Jefferson (closer to the time he wrote the Declaration of Independence) as opposed to the older Jefferson that was the president. Some people believe that Borglum sculpted Jefferson gazing higher up than the other presidents because he was such a visionary, but in reality it's because of the structure of the mountain.

Theodore Roosevelt:

Roosevelt was not actually part of the original plans, but when Jefferson's face had to be moved, it opened up room for one more face. Borglum was actually friends with Roosevelt. He helped campaign for him during his re-election. I think it attests a lot to Borglum's feelings about the character of Teddy Roosevelt that he chose him to be represented on the mountain. The coolest thing about the sculpture of Roosevelt is his glasses. It's amazing the way he carved them.

Abraham Lincoln:

I think the reasons Borglum chose Lincoln are as obvious as those of Washington. But, Borlum really had a love for President Lincoln. He admired Lincoln so much that he named his only son after him. Borlum also carved a marble bust of Lincoln that is on display in the Capitol. He debated on how to carve him and originally was going to carve Lincoln younger with no beard. I'm glad he didn't.

Are you still with me? We're almost done. After walking the trail, touring the Sculptor's Studio, walking through the Museum, watching a movie, at eating dinner in the cafe (the buffalo burgers were yummy!), we decided it was time to find our seats for the evening program.

The kids were absolutely exhausted by this point and Logan was pretty bitter that we put him back in the stroller. But, we didn't want to miss out on the lighting ceremony!

The program was run a lot like a fireside. They showed a movie and afterward asked all of the veterans to come on stage for the flag ceremony. It was hard not to feel an overwhelming pride for our country!

Then, with patriotic music in the air, they slowly lit up the mountain. So breathtaking!

It was truly amazing visiting Mount Rushmore! One of my fears with going is that I had already seen so many photos of Mount Rushmore and it wouldn't be anything different. But, it really is. It was amazing!

(In other news...because we went during Sturgis, the rooms were upwards of $250.00 per night! We had to drive 4 hours to Casper, Wyoming to find an affordable room. After leaving Mount Rushmore at 10:30 pm, it was a long night!!)

If you stuck with me on this record setting post! YAY!! And, thank you!!