Chicago Marathon 2019

Here's our little diva incognito. Our granddaughter is almost 2!

Last weekend was the Chicago Marathon. We traveled to Chicago to hang out with our son, daughter-in-law, granddaughter and grandpuppy and to support our son who was running the marathon on Sunday.

We arrived Friday afternoon and in the evening went to a nearby town Fall Festival where Harper was going to trick or treat for the first time. Grandpa is helping this little monarch butterfly get ready by putting on her antennae.

It was a crispy fall night so the antennae had to be replaced by a hat.

This festival was so much fun! There were vendors, games, music and lots of pumpkin carving.

And then the coat had to come on. Brrrr! 

Sunday morning was a little cool but it all went well. Riley did absolutely fantastic and even beat the goal he had set for himself. Riley is in the light green shirt.

Our daughter-in-law, Lindsey, did such an awesome job getting us around by vehicle or putting us on the right train to cheer Riley on in several spots along the way. The marathon is 26.2 miles long.

Here he comes!

High fives!

Harper cheers "Go Daddy!"

Here's a video Steve took. Hopefully it will work for you to view. After clicking on the start button in the middle of the screen, you can make the screen bigger by clicking on the bottom right square button.

The race is over and his teeth are chattering. Let's get this guy warmed up!

We also spent time over the weekend in the park. This grandma hasn't been on a teeter totter for eons!

Oh, and grandpa and Harper made soup. Well, they were making soup. I guess the conversation changed. I'll get details from my grandpuppy Gus. :)

So Happy the Elk are Back!

Last evening we came home from town to find the elk had returned and were in the backyard down the hill!

Lots of them. So glad to have them back.

But last night it snowed so everything is white again. And tonight we have a winter weather warning so in the morning we will have more snow.

But we're glad they are sticking around and enjoyed their day on Big Hill.

Have a great week everyone!

~Debi

Snowmobiling the Big Horn Mountains

Saturday the mountains received a fresh snowfall. Everything was coated white on Sunday - a gorgeous sunny day with a big blue sky as far as the eye could see.

So we drove our snowmobiles up Crazy Woman Canyon into the Big Horns.

We came across this big hill...

...and two friends who were also snowmobiling.

So the guys had a blast on the hill while I took pictures. Yep, I'm a sissy to big hill climbing and really deep snow. I will get stuck.

Here comes Steve...

A perfect end to a perfect day - a Big Horn sunset.

ATVing with Tracks, Up and Down Crazy Woman Canyon

Steve put this bad boy together before we drove out west to Wyoming right after Christmas and then worked on it a bit once we arrived. The other day we took it up and down the Crazy Woman Canyon. What fun! The quad is a two up (two seats made for two riders) so I just ride and take pictures!

The canyon is so quiet and peaceful this time of the year. We felt like we had the whole thing to ourselves...

A quick little selfie cuz I can :)

Would this be considered a shadow selfie? My what long legs we have here...long and skinny, I like that...

Crazy Woman Canyon Creek to the right.

And just one more selfie...

California Sea Lions

A couple of weeks ago I posted about our trip to San Francisco and about how our son swam from Alcatraz to the San Francisco shoreline. Here's a link to that post. It was an awesome trip and we saw many things. Above is the Golden Gate bridge. I oohed and ahhed about it. Riley finally said to me, "Mom, you have the same kind of suspension bridge a half hour from you house!" I said, "True, but it isn't painted red." 

We have the Mackinac Bridge by us that connects the lower peninsula of Michigan to the upper peninsula.

Here's a link to the Mackinac Bridge if you want to check it out.

While walking along Fisherman's Wharf we came across these sea lions basking in the sun.

A cargo ship passing by in the bay.

This sea lion watched his friend jump into the water.

He decided to follow him in.

Ha.

A meditating sea lion.

An itchy sea lion.

I miss San Francisco today. Why?  Because it is dreary, rainy and cold up here today in my beloved UP. I would rather be basking in the sun with the sea lions. But on a different dock. Ha.