September Weather

Here is the sun report for September. 

Sunny: 25

Some Sun/Some Clouds: 3

Cloudy: 2

We had 0 snowy days. 

We had 0 foggy days. 

We had 2 days with some rain. 

We had 2 days with crazy wind (over 20 mph)
Smoke from fires: 0

September was a beautiful weather month. There was a lot of sun and warm weather. The last week, it's been about 85 every day. So nice! Looks like tomorrow will be when we start a big cool down! I guess that's October! 

Our yearly total for 2016 through September: 

Sunny: 191 days
Some sun/some clouds: 49 days
Cloudy: 34 days

Snow: 3 days
Fog: 9 days
Rain: 33 days
Crazy Winds (over 20 mph): 19 days
Smoke from Fires: 2 days

September Videos

 

Bunny Chasing

During piano lessons, Elizabeth ventured out into what she calls "the sagebrush bunny trails." We see the bunnies hop around in here and she was hoping to catch one. Well, she didn't. 

However, when she went inside for her lesson and Nathan came outside, he and I counted 33 bunnies!! It's the record. 

Tree Chopping

This spring, we had a random little tree start growing in the corner of our yard. As it grew, we realized it was a cottonwood. The kids are super allergic to cottonwood. So, we let them chop down the tree and take it apart. They had a lot of fun with that. 

The maple tree in our front yard that the builders put in has always been scraggly and terrible. Its leaves turned brown this summer for no reason and it looks dead. We dug it up today and planted it in that spot in the backyard. I guess we'll see if it comes back next spring if it's in a new location or if it was just an unhealthy tree. 

Now, Jeremy and I need to go find another tree to plant in the front yard. 

Jeremy chops wood

While at heritage days, Jeremy helped the steam engine guy chop some wood. Then, Jeremy gave some lessons in wood chopping to the explorers. Jeremy has done a lot of wood chopping! 

Nathan and Elizabeth Saw a Log

Elizabeth and Nathan sawed a log at Heritage Days.

Lewis and Clark

We went to Sacajawea State Park today to visit their heritage days festival. They had Lewis and Clark and their camp set up. They also had lots of other interesting activities! 

Papa Norm and Grandma Jane are very interested in Lewis and Clark so they decided to come down for the afternoon. 

The kids really enjoyed looking at and feeling all the fur pelts. Nathan did pretty well at identifying which animals were which! 

The campground area. 

More animal pelts. 

Looking at different historical artifacts. 

An old dugout canoe. Earlier in the day, the Lewis and Clark expedition had paddled around in the boat. We missed that part. Nathan was sad about that. 

Another wooden canoe with Papa Norm looking on. 

Asking a few questions of Captain Lewis 

Elizabeth standing on the dock where the Snake and Columbia Rivers meet. Nathan met some fishermen there and they gave him some tips on how to catch salmon and catfish. Those are the two kinds of fish he really wants to catch. 

Nathan wearing a real coonskin cap like Davy Crockett! He loves Davy Crockett. 

A 200 year old jacket. 

Native American clothes! Also very old. 

Elizabeth wearing the fur hat. 

Nathan trying on a jacket from the French and Indian War. This jacket was 260+ years old! I couldn't believe they would let kids try it on, but they did!  He decided to wear his hat that Papa and Gram got him at Fort Ticonderoga a few years ago, and he thought it matched up well with the jacket. 

Putting it on. 

A police officer and some explorers showed up and were passing out stickers. We did not know they were going to be there.  Another police officer we know quite well came by to say hi as well! 

The kids were ready to saw logs! 

Jeremy and some explorers watched the kids saw the log. 

They cut the log! It took them awhile, but they did it. 

Jeremy chopped some wood for the guy running his steam tractor. Then, he gave some lessons to the explorers on how to chop wood. Jeremy is a pro at chopping wood. 

The old steam tractor. 

There was a "Birds of Prey" exhibit. The kids loved this! There was a red tailed hawk, a barn old, a horned owl, and a falcon. 

Nathan relaxing at one of the camps. 

The kids headed down to Lewis and Clark's camp. This was the actual spot that Lewis and Clark camped in 1805 I think they said. 

Some men in the expedition were cooking their dinner. 

More exploring of the camps. 

Elizabeth collected some shells and rocks as usual! 

Gram and Papa Norm were very nice and bought the kids popcorn, snow cones and a small token from the gift shop. Thanks grandparents! 

Funny Fights

The kids have had some pretty bad fights over the years.

Today, they had a big fight over who got to keep a piece of dried up playdoh.

Yes, fighting over a piece of dried up play doh.

I threw it away and they were both sent to their rooms crying.

As ridiculous as that sounds, it will never beat the fight over the ball of old carpet fuzz. That was a doozy.

Just goes to show they will fight over most anything!

Piano Lessons?

We have piano for an hour a week now. Nathan has a lesson for half an hour and then Elizabeth has her lesson. Since it's not dark out yet, the person not having their lesson has several outdoor activities while waiting. 

Horses! They love the horses. 

Bunny counting! You can't see in this picture, but there is a jackrabbit hopping across the driveway. And not just one! Elizabeth counted 13 jump across as we got closer. A few times, we have seen a coyote or two.  

Finding sticks, leaves, and cool rocks. We usually leave piano lessons with a new collection of sticks, leaves and rocks! Who can say that about their music lesson? 

Also, this time of year, the piano teacher has a lot of leaves and pods falling from trees. Nathan has been raking those for her while he waits for Elizabeth to be done. 

Once it gets dark early, the kids will have to read for that 30 minutes they don't have piano. 

Civil War

We went to the Civil War Reenactment yesterday. Nathan had a fantastic time. 

He loves cannons. He wishes he could be one of the people who get to load the cannons and fire them. 

Waiting for the battle to begin. 

These guys on horseback kept shooting back and forth at each other. Eventually, the union soldier got hit and died. 

The rebels had 2 cannons. 

The smoke rings were pretty neat. 

I'm surprised I got pictures of them! 

Nathan was quite interested in watching the battle. 

The union soldiers would fire. 

The confederates would fire back. 

After the battle, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech and answered some questions. 

Elizabeth was not so interested in the battle or the artillery demo so I went with her to climb trees and watched her play on the playground equipment. 

She played on her favorite rock in the river. 

She wanted to pose there. 

She collected many rocks and sticks. 

A picture with Rattlesnake Mountain in the far distance. 

We also explored all the tents.