Weekend Edition
We decided to go to Red Lodge this weekend because the weather looked good and we didn't have anything else to do. We stopped in Billings first and took the kids to the waterpark there. It's called "The Reef." The kids were chanting "Reef! Reef! Reef!" for several miles. We could probably just entitle this blog "Things Andy can't do anymore."
The Reef was full of fat people who think that shorts and tank tops have replaced good old fashion swimsuits. The kids had fun. Zia got stuck in loops like she always does and Lincoln finally figured out the slides.
Here's Lincoln trying to stay awake in the wave pool. He was yelling, "Awake! Awake!" so his eyes wouldn't close.
Meanwhile, I tried to make myself sick with waterpark food, which is like the food service version of state fair food. Not pictured: the most awful cheeseburger I've ever had.
In Red Lodge Zia and Amber went skiing. Zia has left the beginner hill behind and this time skiied mostly blue runs with Amber. We got her a helmet since she just points herself downhill and goes. She looks like a little cannonball.
Zia got in some wrestling with Grandpa.
Back at home we've been having trouble with Boomer. He's a great cat and is dealing with Lincoln OK (Lincoln has frustrated us more in the last week than I can ever remember) but everyday he pukes somewhere. Not a lot of puke, just a little watery puddle. We don't think he has worms or a stuck hairball. We don't know what's going on. We're going to change his food, wait a week and then take him to the vet. We have to get him fixed up - we can't have a cat vomiting on the rugs every day. I don't really want to take him to the vet though: it will quadruple his value.
We found Lincoln trapped in the mud room a couple days ago. He had a mostly empty gallon of milk in his hand. He thought the cat would like some milk so he got the milk out of the refrigerator, filled up the cat's food dish with it and then kept on pouring.
On a positive Boomer note, he found and attacked a snake in our dining room this week. We definitely need a cat to take out the occasionally snake that finds it way in. Boomer kilt that snake good.
In other news it's still winter. It's not too bad. I just we'd get one really warm day to melt the snow that's been there since November. That would be awesome.
Catastrophe
We got a cat. It turns out our standards weren't so high after all. Amber went back to the shelter and liked a 9 month old cat so we went back the next day and adopted him. He looks kind of like a serval. He is adjusting to life outside of a cage and is very sweet. He follows us from room to room and if I sit down he's right there in my lap or on my shoulders (which might be a problem when his claws grow back). He spent the first night sleeping right on top of me and walking around on my head when he woke up now and then. He's been banned from our bedroom and is now sleeping in Zia's bed at night.
We named him Boomer. Hopefully he will grow into his name and be a tank someday. Lincoln has been beating on him a lot. He just doesn't get it and seems awful mean sometimes. Where did our nice little baby go?
Here are a bunch of cat pictures and then I won't bore you with more unless Boomer does something really spectacular (like eat a chocolate muffin off the countertop and have diarrhea. Oh wait...).
And here are some pictures of Boomer putting up with the kids. He really does well under the circumstances. I'm sure he's thinking "Oh christ, just send me back to the pound already."
It was pajama day at Zia's school so here she is, happy to not have to get dressed in the morning.
It was really beautiful at sunrise around here the last couple of days. I tried to take a picture out the car window of a barn on the road to town but it didn't come out very well.
Our mailbox got vandalized last Sunday night so I spent a morning attaching a new one to the post. It doesn't bother so much to have to put a new mailbox on. What bothered me was having to talk to so many people that day. Like the lady at the post office and the neighbor (who also got his mailbox busted up) and the sheriff who drove out. Goddamn kids. Sadder still, I forgot to take pictures of the damage. It was blogworthy for sure.
Someone volunteered me to do facepainting at the Tongue River Valley community center winter carnival tonight. Now who could that have been? I made a poster with some line art on it that people could pick from (since no one ever has their own ideas). It worked pretty well, but here's a little advice in case you find yourself volunteered to do facepainting. DO NOT put the goddamn Transformer logos on your poster. It's easy enough to draw them with a pen but they're really tough to paint on moving cheeks. And everyone wanted them. All the kids wanted them because they thought they were cool and all the teenagers wanted them to be ironic (or whatever teenagers are thinking these days). I painted about 35 faces in 2.5 hours without getting up for a break. Unicorns were popular (one little boy even wanted a unicorn!), cats, dogs, Batman logos (which are pretty easy and look good) and those fucking Transformers faces. The last picture here is of me doing the Autobot. I have to wear a hat now in public by the way. Heh.
I spent most of the week working on the manuscript about Samuel Hardin and our house. I think it's going to turn into a 30 to 40 page little book that I will self-publish in a small quantity. It's turning out well I think. I was born to write research papers and I'm really embarrassed I just wrote that.
So I better quit now. Wind sucks, by the way.
Trip to Gillette, etc.
It was sometime last weekend when we realized that we don't have any friends. So we drove over to Gillette to visit the few that we do have. We decided to take Zia and Lincoln to a waterpark located at hotel there. It was no Wisconsin Dells, but it was pretty nice for Wyoming and Zia was in seventh heaven, of course. She must have gone around the "lazy river" part three dozen times, with and without an inner tube. 
Lincoln's favorite thing was shooting baskets with the basketballs.
Zia held Lincoln's hand going down the slide. It's nice when they get along.
Afterwards we visited Timothy, Candice and Hazel. Zia gave Hazel a make-over.
We also visted Davette, who courageously met us at KFC for some chicken. Or "chicken." I don't know. How do you screw up fried chicken and ready-to-mix mashed potatoes? I guess we'd have to ask the teenage boys working there.
Lincoln was out of control and grouchy.
He escaped his high chair and ran around the resturant doing this:
Which we encouraged because the chicken was bad.
I spent this week building a Lego town with Lincoln. I build it and Lincoln tears it apart, so it's kind of a continual process.
This weekend I've been working on some logos for friends and relatives. When you call me or email me I know you're not just checking up on me. I know you want something. You know you've done it too. Heh. Logos, tattoo designs, that sort of thing. I like to do things for friends but I sort of don't like doing these things either. For starters I never had a single graphic design class in college. I barely know how to use Illustrator. All my designs gravitate towards circles. And I know that 90% of those tattoo designs never get used. But hey. Usually I'm glad to help and it gives me little projects to do. This week I'm working on a logo for Amber's brother's new business as well as a logo for a friend's Chinese association. I like the Friendly Fish name.
I did manage to finish a small painting this weekend. It took weeks and weeks and weeks. Let's not think about that part.
We were going to go to an auction in Buffalo today where a book I was interested in and a cigar store Indian were up for auction but our babysitting fell through. So we went to Sheridan where I finished going through the library's resources about our house and it's original owner (not much I didn't already have, but not completely fruitless either). Then we went to Walmart, which is standard. Zia finally got the Zhu Zhu pet she's been lusting after. If you don't know about Zhu Zhu pets they're little hampsters that were the must-have Christmas present this year. People were paying $60 a piece for them online. Our's cost $7.44 and I'd be surprised if it's worth that. Zia likes it (at least for today).
After Walmart we went to the Dog and Cat Shelter since we're (sort of) trying to find a kitten. We have high standards unfortunately. The shelter was busy and Lincoln threw himself onto the pee-stained floor and on top of every cat he could get near. He yelled "Nice to meet you!" at whatever cat he'd just tackled. Sadly, no cats that meet our critieria. Or should I say no kittens. If we're going to have a pet I at least want the benefit of a kitten to begin with (hence the reason why shelters are full of old animals no one wants, I guess).
Zia has a loose tooth finally. She's pretty excited about that.
That's about it for now. We bought the New Super Mario game that everyone has been complaining is too hard so we're looking forward to playing that tonight!
