Creative fun - Bamboo Raft

Sasha has been wanting to do wood crafting lately.  It all seems to fall so well with Steiner's ideas for third grade.  He has been thinking up designs for a tree house, a go-cart, boats and many other things.

Sailing Raft for Moose

Fabien and the boys set out to cut some of our dried bamboo that had fallen recently. The smaller pieces were cut from one of our bamboo palms.  They joined all the pieces securely by using my thin cotton yarn.

Raft

Look how beautiful it turned out.  We did have a silk sail but Sania preferred  it like this. A sail boat for his little moose.

Long Boarding at the Beach

It is so wonderful to be back near the beach.  We missed the ocean and the refreshing salt water.

Sailing leaves down the Stream

The children love sailing little leaf boats and twigs down our stream.

Sasha's watercolor painting

Sasha painted this pretty little peacock using the three primary stockmar watercolors.

Building Bridges

Almost every evening the boys build train tracks or homes and bridges with their Kapla.

Mango Lassi

I can believe it has taken me so long to make this nutritional drink especially that we always have so much buttermilk left after our butter making.  I first tasted this refreshing drink about 17 years ago during my backpacking trips to India.  Two and half cups of mango, 1/4 cup of sugar (I used our raw honey) blend it, then blend more with 1 quart of buttermilk.  Strain through a fine sieve and serve cold.  It's so delicious and very rich.  The boys made some ice cream with the left overs.

Colorado Rafting and Friends

Rafting

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The rapids were not as big in Durango as they were in Buena Vista so we felt rather brave to ride with the wave.  It was great fun and after that the boys said they wanted bigger waves.

A big wave

Today we went tubing in the smaller rapids of Pagosa, that was so much fun.  Since we were all in the water we didn't have a camera to catch those comical moments.  We nearly toppled a few times and boy did we laugh.

Shining Silver Fish

Our Shining silver fish traveling home nestled amidst the large pines.  It is so nice to wake in the morning to the fresh smell of pine.

Creek in Vallecito

and refresh in the cool, crisp waters of this cascading creek.

Renee and her family

To enjoy the company of Renee and her sweet family who we met last year and visit with once again.  We celebrated sweet little Chloe's 11th birthday.

Playing on the rocks

The children played so beautifully together.

Sweet Children

Sweet unworldliness.

Campfire songs and roasting marshmallows

A little campfire singing and roasting of marshmallows to compliment our beautiful day.

Mama with baby boy

Cuddles with my little boys after a fresh swim in the creek.

Sasha

More adventures - Jackson Hole and Yellowstone

Laura Ingalls Wilder Books

Myself and the boys have enjoyed reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder book series of nine I purchased before leaving.  As we travel over all the vast open prairies, through mountains and snow we imagine how Laura and her family's arduous journeys were by wagon.

I was initially surprised by the hunting in the first book Farmer Boy, the story of Almanzo. As one journeys through all the series of these wondrous little books, it is miraculous to learn how they survived in the wild, with relentless weather conditions, living in total isolation, completely depending on nature for survival. So much is taken for granted in our modern day life.

Old log homes from the early settlers

We were thrilled to see a reproduction of the log homes built by the early settlers. Laura's pa built most of their homes himself.  They survived cruel fires and unyielding blizzards.

Log Homes

The wooden creaky old wagons that were pulled by horse over vast prairies and though great rushing rivers and creeks.  Our next book will be Little Town on the Prairie.

The boys in a wagon

The children playing on a wagon.  We found a miniature wagon for them to play with.

Grizzly Bear

How fortunate we were to see a few bears in the yellowstone park.  Watching them amble about the sage brush, looking for grubs and slugs.  They looked so cuddly and warm.

Bison grazing alongside the steam near the warm spring geysers

The bison, so powerful in the herds.  I remember how the great herds used to roam in Africa, it's hardly seen with their restricted land.  The animals struggled with the late winter and deep snow in Yellowstone, many calves were lost.

Moose

We were delighted to finally see a moose.  Moose is a popular animal in our home as Sania's favorite plush toy is a moose whom he's been loving for 3 years and shares life with us.

Bison on the freeway

This impressive fellow was moseying along the freeway all by himself.  He must have climbed down one of the mountains.

Scenery from a park in Yellowstone

Overlooking Yellowstone Lake.

Knitted scarves

It was so cold that I quickly knitted up two scarves for my little boys from some amazing hand spun pure wool, kettle dyed from Uruguay that I purchased at a cosy little knitting store.  What a pleasure it was to knit with such fine wool.

First time in Snow

The boys found a small mountain of snow in the alongside the road to play in.

Sliding down a snow bank

We then took them up the tram in Jackson WY for some REAL snow.

Trying to climb through the thick snow

I slid down a small snow bank

I managed to climb to the top of a small hill after continuously sinking so deep in the snow, obviously not dressed for it, to slide down and enjoy the fun with the boys.

Brrrrrr

A wonderful snow experience but next time we will be dressed for it because the boys wanted to play more but their feet were almost frozen.

Exploring Grand Canyon and Utah

Grand Canyon

Passing through Arizona we stayed in National Parks alongside the Grand Canyon.  Marveling at the spectacular great rifts and canyon's which has been so deeply carved by the Colorado River.

Amazing Grand Canyon

We felt so small sitting, looking down into the great Canyon. So quiet and peaceful in the greatness of it.

Utah

Surrounding views of the land as we drove further along the Canyon.

Park in Utah

A national park we stayed at in Utah.

Comfortable on a bed of weeds

Resting comfortably in a soft, cool bed of weeds after a couple hours of traveling.

Kristin

How fortunate we were to visit and connect personally with Kristin from Singin' in the Barn.  She showed us around her barn and I admired her beautiful horses. Her home was cosy and warm, full of wonderful treasures. The children were spellbound by all her playthings she keeps so neatly for her grandchildren.  We chatted away, of course there was not enough time. We explored her lush, almost secret flowery garden and were amused by Kristin's very playful sheep dogs!

Beautiful Snow Capped Mountains of Provo

These are the beautiful views we had from the camp grounds.  The snow capped mountains in Provo not too far from Kristin's home.

Bear Lake

Heading further north towards yellowstone we passed by Bear Lake, turquoise and like glass.

Dandelion Fields Forever!

Golden Fields of Dandelions

When we moved to our farm in Dominican Republic about 5 years ago I brought along some Dandelion seeds.  Although they do not grow well in the tropics I am happy to now have 10 plants and continue to spread the seeds.

When we ventured through the countryside of Utah and Wyoming I was delighted to see an abundance of Dandelions growing in the pastures.  So much goodness!  The healthiest greens ever for man and beast.  I was amazed to see them in the Organic Grocery in Jackson WY for $4,99 when they grow all over the place, even in the town gardens and in the cracks of concrete pathsways.

Here is a link for some wonderful Dandelion Recipes over at Mountain Breeze.

Beautiful Barn amidst the Golden Florals

I am one post ahead, I will post photos of Utah, an incredibly elevating state, in my next post.

I am at awe by the beauty of the farmlands between Idaho and Wyoming near Jackson Hole.  So fresh, green and colorful.

Dandelion Magic

Their weather has been extremely cold and rainy this year that most of the plains are flooded.  The animals are waterlogged in many of the lower pastures. The mountains elegantly wrapped in their white winter gowns.

Lying in a soft bed of flowers

Soft, cool and fresh.  Summer in Wyoming, is a winter for us.

My Flower Child"

My little boys are always overjoyed by the timeless magnificence of mother earth.

Flower Delight

gaily dancing between the flowers.

Blowing Fairy Puffs

and blowing the fairy puffs.

Dandelion Beauty

My other Flower Child

Wild Flowers

They could not resist climbing this hillside to gather these honey scented wild flowers. So many flowers to adorn our family dining table.

Rolling Hillsides of Montpelier

Picturesque view of the rolling hills in Montpelier, Idaho.