Grandpa Stan in Big Sky!

Yesterday, Grandpa Stan woke up, took the sheets off the sofa bed in the guest room, packed up his suitcase, and we drove over to his new condo just across from the store... It was 80 degrees and sunny in New York when we left on Thursday for Montana and we arrived to cold wind, rain and snow... So on Saturday morning as we drove over to Howie's baseball game, it started to snow. So we stopped at the post office and picked up his mail, then went to his new condo and dropped off all his stuff. Then we went back to the ball field and we sat in the car and watched. When Howie got up to pitch the last inning Dad braved the cold and watched Howie strike out the side. After the game we went straight to the store where we all shopped for Grandpa's new condo. Snacks and basics, cleaning and bathroom supplies. Then we wheeled the grocery cart over to his condo and unpacked his groceries and the bags we had dropped off earlier. The place was nice and warm since I turned up the heat when we dropped off his stuff earlier. After that we all went back to our house where we made a grilled salmon with mango salsa for dinner and watched the Mets beat the Yankees in a very exciting game which is what we are doing right now on Sunday Night as I blog... Mets are winning again! After the game last night Andrew drove Grandpa and Howie over to Grandpa's condo for his first night, Howie slept over to help take care of Grandpa and all went well.... We are all super excited to have Grandpa Stan in Big Sky!!!!!

Happy Mother's Day Jackie!!!!!!

Mama Jackie started her day with a crust cruise in Yellowstone National Park. This is a top secret kind of skiing that only a lucky few know about and participate in, though I hear the parking area was overflowing on this particular day. This skiing takes place in the park where nature creates the perfectly groomed giant areas of perfect snow for skate skiing, warm during the day, very cold at night, and then skiing from 7 am - 9 am is really the only time to be out there.... So Jackie and her buddy Denise headed out first thing on Mother's Day morning to ski in the natural beauty of Yellowstone National Park.... The kids and I then met her around 11 am in West Yellowstone where the Robin family sans canines traveled through the park, saw grizzly bears, wolves, coyotes, buffalo, an eagle, a blue heron, trumpeter swans, sandhill cranes, elk, everything but a moose. We stopped at the Boiling River for a natural hot spring soak along the Gardiner River and really had a fabulous day all around. A special hello to Bertil in Kenya who I hear is one of my blogs biggest fans... A special hello to Jane as well - good luck with those twin babies!

in honor of Grandma Pearl...



under the tree... a grizzly bear!

buffalo up close and personal

Howie being Howie...

Andrew & Micah walking back from our soak...
on our way home...a white wolf

crazy sizzling ground in Yellowstone...

Our last day in Arches - Friday, 4/23/10

After a great day of hiking around Arches we bought some more firewood and headed back for our last night of camping. Hot dogs in the fire and more smores. Yummmm....

Howie and his blue worm...

more pictures from Moab

Our Hike up Hunter's Canyon - Thursday, 4/22/10

the day before after our beautiful hike in Arches, we started to drive out of the park in on and off rain, everybody was hungry so we pulled over at a pullout and checked phone messages and fed the boys. There was a message from the store that said that Stan was in the hospital, so I got on the phone and tried to figure out what was going on. Somehow I got a hold of my father in the hospital, he was fine, he thought he had a stroke, but the hospital ruled that out. He said he was weak, called 911 in the middle of the night and ended up in the hospital, but he sounded absolutely fine. After talking to him I felt much better. We had some juice, cheese and crackers and then it was off to the super market to buy supplies, water, firewood, meals. The boys walked around Moab while Jackie and I did the shopping. Then it was back to the campsite. It was just starting to get dark, as I backed the car into our site. The sky opened up and the rain came. We went straight from the car to the tent. We were hoping the rain would let up, but it never did, so Jackie and I made a dash for the car, the hatchback kept us dry as we grabbed food for dinner. So we had guacomole and salsa and chips and turkey and cheese and bread for dinner and played the card game spoons until we were all too tired (except maybe Howie) to keep playing.

In the morning we made a fire, the sky was clear, it was going to be a beautiful day. We cooked up some coffee and breakfast burritos and packed a lunch and started our hike up the canyon right by our campsite. It was a great day, a great hike best shown by all the pictures we took.

the boys climbed up into Hunter's Arch...

After the hike, before dark, I drove into Moab to find out how Dad was doing. I spoke to my brother Lou who drove down to spend his own birthday with his father in the hospital. All was well, Dad was still in the hospital, but the verdict was as I suspected, dehydration and a lack of nutrition. I bought some more wood and headed back to the campsite for our fajita dinner...