Ignorance is Bliss or Stupidity is Stupidity?

I am coming to believe that the majority of the world follows the philosophy illustrated here by Calvin:

County Fair Fun

We went to the county fair last week with our friends Brad, Emily, and Mya. We wish we could say that Emmie enjoyed seeing all the animals but they kind of freaked her out. Mya on the other hand loved them!

Although she didn't like it, we forced her to pet the animals anyway.

We saw some excellent pig racing.



And we enjoyed the make your own scarecrow contest. I think next year we will enter a scarecrow.

And Brenden even met Ringo Star.

We also found this very disturbing slogan on a bag of calf feed. How morbid!

5th Anniversary Picture

We do this every year. Good times.

Warning! Emzilla on the Loose!

I'm the next Martha

I had this skirt sitting in my closet for a few years and I never wore it. I really liked the fabric so I decided to use it to make a dress for Emmie.

I used the same pattern as her Easter dress but this one turned out way less Sgt. Peppers-esque. I only had to take this one apart and start over maybe 6 times. I am getting better! She smiled real big for me didn't she? Brenden and I are thinking red might not be her color.

Cabin Adventures 2009

After a few days respite from the madness that was the Clawson DC reunion, we piled back into the car and headed off on another adventure. Our car was so packed that Emmie (whose car seat was in the middle of the back seat) couldn't even see out the windows because stuff was packed in around her. Very full!

I dropped Julianne off at the Buehner Cabin in Island Park, ID on the Henry's Fork of the Snake River and went up to Calgary to the Glenbow Institute Archives for research. A few days later I made it back and we spent a little over a week with family and friends. It was a much needed recharging of our batteries. Here are some photos.


Emilia sitting by the fire ring.

Gregg, Rachael, Julianne and Brenden at the Summit of Sawtell Mountain. This is looking roughly NW.

As tradition dictates, we of course made a pilgrimage to Old Faithful. Our new tradition (started by Gregg a few years back) is to start yelling WHOA! WHOA! really loud way before the geyser blows - just to get people really worked up, excited and then watch their spirits crushed as nothing happens.

On July 22nd, it was my B-day. This is the 2nd time we've celebrated my Birthday at the Cabin. At least we didn't have to scrape paint off the exterior and repaint it in 90 degree weather like last time. Also on my Bday, I went fly fishing by myself and it was fabulous. I caught 29 fish in about 3 hours. Very fun. That night, Julianne surprised me by taking me to Elk Creek Ranch for a tasty dinner of salad, scones, Rib Eye, bacon-fried green beans and cheesecake.

Emilia's latest trick is clapping. She gets really excited about it.

Something possessed Julianne into giving Emilia some marshmellow smore. I don't know how she thought it would turn out, but it seemed pretty obvious to me - STICKY MESS!!! Emmie thought it was tasty though.

On Thursday we floated down the Henry's Fork on a power-paddling speedrace down the river (we were going to be late for a campfire). On the way, I spied a great rope swing, and even jumped out of the boat, swam over, gave it a jump and swam back.

So, on Friday, once our great friend Ken had joined us, we (Brenden, Gregg and Ken) went back in the car and found it. It was SO fun! (and cold)

We met up with our friends Jake and Andrea who used to live in Lincoln. Andrea's dad lives in St. Anthony which is about 45 minutes south of Island Park. They treated us to a dinner of deep fried salmon and venison. I know what you are thinking but it was delicious.

Of course there was scum late into the night.

Our friend Ken also came down from Seattle for a visit. It was cold the day we were in the park and Ken being the good boy scout he is loaned Julianne and Emmie a coat.

We had so much fun spending time with the Buehner/Clawson/Crandell clan- we sure do love you guys!

Update

Brenden in Calgary @ the Glenbow.

Juls relaxing on the Henry's Fork @ Macks Inn.

Emilia terrorizing wildlife in the greater Island Park region.

Joyful reunion eminent.

Wish List

A reminder for all.

I do have a posted wish-list!

And encourage buying USED to save $

New family photos!

Thanks to Zac, Rachael and Lance for taking the photos!

Clawson Family Reunion 2009 in D.C.

We just spent a week with the Clawson clan in D.C. We had a really fun time hanging out with family and getting reacquainted with long lost cousins. All of Grandma Olive's kids were there with quite a few grandkids. It was a full house! Our home-base was Gary and Judy's amazing spread on Lake Anna. They have an old 1870s house (with 1920s additions) on a nice farm. They had completely redone the house and it was just gorgeous. It makes for a 2 hour commute into DC, but just might be worth it.

Here are some highlights from the trip . . .


Lake Day + Barbeque!

Lake Anna was created for a adjoining nuclear power plant, which uses the water for cooling purposes. The discharged water is piping hot, so the private side of the lake, where we were was SO nice and toasty. The best lake for swimming on earth! We swam, wakeboarded and kayaked about for a whole day.

Here is Grandma Olive on a jet ski. Could your 80 year old grandma do this?

Emmie boating with Grandpa Randy

Brenden trying to tip Carianne and Rusty over

The 'que.

Julianne via Rachael's super cool shades

Gregg and Rachael + Nieces

Days in DC on the Mall

Randy and Emmie with President Lincoln

The crew tired and sitting

On the night of the 3rd we had great seats (on the grass) for the dress rehearsal of "A Capital Fourth." Here we are with Gregg and Rachael waiting for the dress rehearsal to start.

This just might have been the highlight of the week for Julianne and the low light of the week for Brenden. If you look really close you can see Barry Manilow in a white jacket. He even sang Copacabana. Even Brenden admits that was pretty rockin'! The best part was when Manilow accidentaly yelled out "Happy New Year!!!" and then had to correct himself, "I mean . . . Happy 4th of July!" Aretha Franklin, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Muppets and others also performed.

Jeff really wanted to go to his favorite burrito place, California Tortilla. We rode the metro to Chinatown to find it. Thumbs up from all. Here are the California burrito fans and those that chose the burrito.

Turns out there was a Potbelly Sandwich shop right next door. This just happens to be our brother-in-law Rusty's favorite. Here's the group that ate sandwiches.

For the 4th we went back to DC and braved the traffic and crowds. It was well worth it! Here is

Brenden waiting for the Fireworks to start. The mall was packed.

Historical Sites

We also went to Monticello. Here is Julianne on a foggy, misty, and surprisingly chilly day at Monticello. We were a bit cold actually. We're not sure how we lucked out, but the weather was great the whole trip! Nothing hotter than mid-80s.



On Monday, it was a hotter at Mount Vernon. We liked it better than Monticello and had fun with Emmie and the rest of the family there.



In the end, we learned a valuable lesson. Babies + Historical Sites/Museums = trouble.