Water, Hair, and Autumn Fun

I'm quite sure I blogged this story almost 5 years when it happened - when Livi was about the age the twins are now. I came into the living room to find a pile of pretty blonde hair behind the big chair. Hayley did her thing on Livi's beautiful hair.




It took a long long time for the hair to grow back to any kind of length, by the time all of the pieces were evened out.

Take a good look --

Last night at the dinner table, Dwight had the strangest look on his face. When I zeroed in on what he was staring at, I saw this --



I asked her where her missing hair was, and Emma led me right to the study/playroom closet floor. Later, Katie took credit for the new 'do. When we went to the hair salon, Emma asked Katie as we were going in the door, "Are you going to get your hair fixed, too?" Katie answered, "My hair isn't broken!" As it turned out, she ended up getting hers to match her sissy's. I think they look adorable, and not one bit like a boy (which Grandpa said they do!)




A few weeks ago I wrote a post called When a Lake Isn't a Lake. I told you I'd be back to update you when the beauty came back. If you want the whole story, feel free to go back and see what it looked like when the crops over by Greeley needed the water more than we needed the beauty - and/or the geese, ducks, and pelicans needed a place to paddle around instead of hanging out on sand bars. It's back! Not as high as it was this summer, but beautifully sparkling in the autumn sun, and reflecting the autumn leaves.








On the way home from school today, after I took the pictures of the re-filled lake, we decided to spend a few minutes at the park. I told the girls that I would like to sit in the shade and read while they entertained each other. They had a great time.

Hayley was chillin out in the great new swings.



Livi was a great helper, swinging Katie. For some reason, Emma decided to be afraid of the swings - strange after all these months of loving to swing very high.







Emma finally warmed up to the swing, as long as she was snuggling with Hayley.




The slide kept them going for quite awhile - and I managed to get them to pose.

I have much I want to share about Women of Faith last week-end, but it is hard to put the feelings into words.

Grandpa and His Girls

I have shared about my town and its love affair with bronze sculptures. We have a lovely park within walking distance of my house, where many sculptures live - some are beautiful, some are ugly (in the eye of this beholder), some are very realistic, and some are extremely abstract. Every August, the park turns into an outdoor exhibition hall, where people come from all over the world, some to show their works, others to buy, and many more to just look and enjoy.

The girls, all 4 of them, love to go to this park and visit the sculptures, and to play on them. There is a special children's section full of really great ones.

One day last week, there was an article in our paper about an elk that had come way down here into the west end of town - there are many elk running around Estes Park, coming down from the mountains into that tourist town - but it is 30 miles up the canyon from us. This one ended up in this park, and he seemed to like the children's section, too.

A couple of years ago I did a post about this wonderful piece, and its creator. The elk liked it, too.

So, back to the subject at hand - the other day the big girls were at a birthday party, so Grandpa gave the each of the littles one of his caps, got out the trusty double stroller, and took them to the sculpture park. Grandpa is totally great at coming up with adventures for all the girls. They were gone for a very long time, and I was so glad I had sent my camera with him when they finally got back. They had an absolutely wonderful time, which he did a great job of chronicling for me.

First they checked out their favorite art pieces --

Time for a bit of a rest --





Strolling down the path to their next adventure, large rocks in hand ---

Making lunch for Grandpa - mac and cheese and hot dogs --








Off to another path - this time with walking sticks - they LOVE sticks --






They headed into the "jungle" - Grandpa is too tall to go with them and Emma
takes his hand and says, "Come on Grandpa, you can do it!"

























At their final destination, after a peaceful stroll --




If a lot of dirt indicates a great time was had, then this was a terrific afternoon!

I absolutely love watching their little imaginations at work - they make toys out of anything, and create fun out of everything. And they have the greatest grandpa who helps them create their adventures.