"A Good Time Was Had By All"

Last weekend Elsie, Ida, Ella and I drove down south, into the snow. LIke this snowman.

Ida and Elsie built him when we stopped for gas. Because our electrical car has limited range.

whoa; wait a minute.  Something I didn't say was that Maggie, Theo and Miki headed out earlier in the day.  Early enough that they could stop and have some hot chocolate with Christians!

This bro?  He was in London, eating his "first English Breakfast," but he showed up the next morning and started dancing Gangnam Style.

Things got really heated once the bibs got strapped on and everythin

Later, girls chewed gum as we headed to the mountains.

Oh, here's a picture of me at a Mormon event sometime in 1988.

Back to Black Butte--mornings there were a lot of stripes!  Vining sisters had a twin thing going on.  ONe morning I came in without my glasses and hugged Ida from behind, gave her a big kiss...and it turned out to be Maggie!  She was cool about it, though.

[Photograph here of the Vining sisters in their striped dresses and Miki in her striped pajamas in the kitchen--excellent!  But redacted because Ella had not washed her face and this blogger's enthusiasm turned out to be bad judgment.  Maybe some of you glimpsed it in the 23 minutes it was posted and before I was beaten down.]

Hoodoo is a better ski resort than I thought.  Ida and Theo and I even rocked the tubing area.  Very, very fast, it was.

I told Theo, a little later, that she couldnt' just pick the m&ms out of the trail mix.  Later, this woman in the background came and told me she was a teacher of grammar and grabbed me by the ear to punish me for some injustice or other.

Should I tell that story again?  It was like a waking dream.

[Another photo redacted due to wifely concerns.]

I posted this photo before, but I'm really proud of it.

Theo, MIki and I rode the sleds down this hill and into a snowbank about forty times.  Exciting.

Here's some stills of that Vining Sister karate battle I documented before.  It was actually quite a bit more violent before I made that film:

Probably Ella got the best of it.

The girls were just happy to have some ice cream.

And of course snow is always a big deal and everything.

Preview of Past Adventures

Will take a while to recover from this past few days' free-for-all in Central O.  But here's a glimpse:

And a terrifying fragment:

Recent Wisdoms

Miki:  "Daddy, don't worry, you won't bonk your head when you're 65, since you stop growing when you're 45...except your feet."

Ida:  "If a shark could get up on the land, it would eat a cow."

various catch-up

Miki's kind of out of control at Tumbleweeds; she's into it.

I stole these photos, documented by teachers. Thanks!  (This is some kite flying.)

I don't even know when this dentist trip was, but I think early in 2013.  No cavities!

Elsie only had seven birthday parties this year.  This is the one at the rink.

Check out Arthur's site if you want to see how his skating is going, these days.  And yes, Ella has a bun-warmer skirt.  Her buns, I can verify, are warm.

Went to feed some ducks and geese, a while back.  They went crazy.

Crazy:

And that brings us to today.  Arthur's in London, or something, wearing one of those beaver hats with the chin strap on his big chin.  Meanwhile, we're getting the outdoor fireplace going.

That's Maggie, in case you didn't recognize her.  In her special s'more outfit.

Elsie's not afraid.

Theo can hardly believe her good luck.

and Miki's got a gigantic mouth. The better to say, "S'more!"

Independence

Got a call from a neighbor this morning. "Do you know," he said, "that your girls are out walking in the neighborhood?"

"Yes, I know that," I said. "Did they cross any streets?"

"I just saw them disappear down Lexington Street," he said.

"Okay," I said, to make him feel better, "I'll go out and intercept them."

Ida vs. Kricket vs. springboard

Much to update you on, internets.  But for now here's a little film of Ida working with her gymnastics coach, Kricket.  Weekends here go swim lessons, soccer class, gymnastics.