We Can Lego Too.

This post is mainly for my sister and her kids, just to let them know that me and Autumn can Lego too and thank them again for passing on some cool stuff.


There are several notable features to this modern barn. First, our animals are special so we don't relegate them to the ground level. No they get a pasture and corral on the second story. Also the pig trough is near the top of the barn. This way the pig has to earn his slop and stays fit and trim. Also check out the sun roof openings on the first level ceiling. This is a dairy farm as well, so the milk catchment sytem is at the top of the barn. This keeps the farmers aim in top form.

And finally, cattle rustlers will not be tolerated.

Last Light

First Light

Two of the People I'm Most Thankful For

More pictures to check out at Flickr.

Autumn and Cedar Flickr Update

Check out some of the girls latest adventures by clicking on the link to flickr.

You Never Know...

...what you are going to see. It's fun having a bit of a view of the ocean. We see whales on occasion right from the couch and yesterday Amy caught this house going by. I guess that makes moving easier when you can just take the whole house with you.

Deer Season Part II

Deer season in SE really winds down in mid-September when deer leave the alpine areas. They are pretty secretive and difficult to hunt until November when the breeding season starts and bucks begin to get less wary. I've been out a few times the last 10 days or so watching for the rut to kick in. We had our first snowfall last Friday which helped me identify an area with a lot of deer activity. The first tracking snow of the year is always a fun time to be in the woods. It's like reading a book if you know what to look for. I slipped back into the area at first light yesterday and lured this mature buck in with some calling. He came in fast and determined and gave me a pretty easy 10 yard shot. It was even more exciting to see how interested Autumn was in him. She liked petting dad's deer. I've got high hopes...

Caption Contest

There's got to be some creative ideas out there for this picture....

Official Baby of Major League Baseball

With the World Series in full swing, I've been encouraging the girls to watch. Autumn has been telling me, "I like baseball." I can't tell if she really does or likes that bed time this week has fluctuated with the 9th inning. What else...

Cedar: loves her cabbage patch doll. Wants to stand all the time now. Says "be-be" over and over. Bucks wildly when happy. Is a yeller.

Autumn: loves riding her bike. Serenades us constantly. LOVES swimming and went down the slide on her tummy yesterday. Memorizes entire books after just a couple readings.

For more pics of the two of them, visit flickr.

Autumn Quote of the Week

"I haven't tried pot."

Amy and I each got selected to take part in a nationwide health survey. A surveyor came to the house and administered a computer based test to each of us. Later that evening we were discussing the various topics and questions in the tests. You gotta be careful what you say around a two year old parrot.

Flickr Update

More photos and video at flickr.

Applesauce Anyone?

Stick with it to the 34 second mark.

Recent Autumn and Cedar

We went on a family blueberry picking mission last Sunday. We got enough for Amy to bake a pie. Autumn was about as close to nirvana as I've ever seen her. As her eyes rolled back in her head she would just whisper to herself "mmmm, booberry pie." It was so good we had it for breakfast the next day.

Cedar is really digging the solid food thing.

A couple nice bucks from a recent hunting trip.


My parents requested more pics of Autumn and Cedar together to make it easier to pick their most current screen saver picture. Happy to oblige.

Kazam!

Autumn got her first real 2-wheeler last week. We had been planning to get her a bike for Christmas this year but when this bike came available locally we couldn't resist. It's a Kazam balance bike. The idea is kids roll around on it using their feet to propel themselves and as they learn to balance they begin putting their feet up on a small platform and coasting around. It's the new training wheels. Supposedly they graduate from this right to a pedal bike. Autumn is having a great time and we already see tons of progress. She may wear an oval track around the couch though as I think the sunny day in the pics is the last we are going to see for a long time.

Linguistic Challenge Answer

A Linguistic Challenge

I know what she's saying but I know how to speak "Autumn." Anyone out there want to give it a guess?

I Was Attacked By A Bear

Well, at least my message was. Sally, does this qualify as ironic? That's my garbage can, proudly displaying a "Keep Alaska's Bears Wild, Handle Your Garbage Responsibly" bumper sticker. The night before trash pick-up, early evening but dark and the garage door was left open for just a few minutes. I don't know if I should be amused or ashamed.

Ridicu-list #1 Trigger Assist

The Cabelas catalog is full of widgets and doo-dads aimed at hunters. It's a testament to the power of marketing that some of these things actually sell. So mining from the wealth of "must-haves" from "The World's Foremost Outfitter" I will attempt to bring you regular installments of the Ridicu-list.

From Cabelas: "Even, consistent trigger pull is critical to good marksmanship. Enjoy trigger-pull reductions of 50% or more, greatly improving accuracy. Made of durable, corrosion-resistant aluminum, this is an affordable alternative to expensive gunsmith trigger jobs. Easily removed for use on multiple firearms."

Yes folks, it's a trigger that pulls the trigger. Kind of like the lever that pulls the lever that flushes the toilet. So when that trophy buck is in your scope, don't trust your finger to pull the trigger on your rifle, you need to pull the trigger that pulls the trigger instead. I wonder if you can mount two on your gun so you could have a trigger that pulls the trigger that pulls the trigger! Forty-four customers gave it 4.6 stars so it must be a pretty sweet trigger. Hey! Pull my finger, er, I mean trigger.

Next on the Ridicu-list: "The butt-out"

Autumn and Cedar Update

Don't worry, I'll get back to the hunting posts soon, but wanted to get a few recent pics of Autumn and Cedar out. Cedar is growing fast, even these pics seem "old" to me and Amy. She is pretty much mobile. She's not really crawling but still manages to get where she wants with a modified army crawl/arm pull. Her signature move is called "the Superman"where she arches on her belly. I didn't know backs could bend like that. She's working on solid foods. We ditched feeding her with a spoon and just put stuff on her tray and let her have at it, she's happier with that arrangement. She has four top teeth and two bottom ones. She does not sleep through the night yet and neither do we. Autumn is becoming a great big sister. She gives Cedar lots of kisses and squeezes. She's also becoming quite the little helper. She helps with housework such as loading the dishwasher, sweeping, laundry, and being a "gopher." She even helps me grind venison. She can go down the slide at the pool all by herself. She loves to sing and astounds me sometimes with the songs she knows such as the raindrops and kittens song from Sound of Music. She's great at cutting paper with scissors, not so great yet at picking up all the little shards. She can talk a streak and Amy and I can actually understand 1/2 of it. Fun times.

Sheep Hunt Bonus Post

This is what several hours and many miles under a 100+ pound pack will do to you.

You couldn't ask for a better sheep hunting partner than Scott, but this guy is my favorite to hunt with.

This sheep hunting really gets into your blood, to the core of your DNA, and you leave the mountains a changed man.

Lagniappe (Lan-yap) Caribou

Means something extra, an unexpected gift or benefit. Like when you buy a dozen doughnuts and later find out the baker threw in a few extra for free. Well, Scott and I were so efficient on our sheep hunt that we had a few extra days left to fill before I headed home. So we grabbed our buddy Joel and took off for the Nelchina country to help him fill his subsistence caribou tag. It was an unexpected treat to get to spend some quality time in the field and around the campfire with good friend Joel and super cool to help him provide for his family. Like Scott, Joel's another man to ride the river with. It was supposed to be an easy hunt, road hunting and ATV involved. But we soon discovered that we suck at road hunting. When we finally just laced up our boots and strapped on our backpacks like we normally do, we did just fine. We had a great time chasing caribou for miles across the tundra and finally got Joel connected with this fat, tasty cow. And a caribou split between three guys makes a mighty pleasant pack out.

Sheep Country Beauty

A few more pictures of some of the amazing things we were privileged to see during the sheep hunt.