Viva Las Vegas!

 

Mommy flew away on an airplane to see her friends in Las Vegas! 

 

 

I joined six girlfriends from college at the Bellagio for three nights.  Robyn came from L.A., Suzie from Berkeley, me from Idaho, Kate from San Antonio, Laura from Louisville, Alice from Durham and Melissa from Atlanta.  We spent a lot of time poolside, got our spa treatments, saw a terrible show (Cee Lo Green), and enjoyed dinners together. It was wonderful to see everyone and catch up.  We'd spent years apart, but we just melted right back into our friendships from college.  Once you've lived with people, I think you always maintain a close relationship.   

 

 Ten minutes after I landed, Ben called to let me know that he had nearly cut his thumb off.

 

 

I thought he meant the whole thing, but when I got home it was the tip of the thumb.  The bone was smashed, the nail had broken off, and he had twelve stitches, some under the nail.  His back is still sore so it's been a bad spring for his body.  Our minds struggled too with worrying about things like whether we could balance working for dad, the kids' schooling, and our relationship.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that on the same year I was meeting my friends in Vegas for our 40th birthdays I should be going through somewhat of a midlife crisis, but not the sports car kind!

Easter

 

Mumsy came over for Easter to decorate eggs.  She brought the children baskets full of beautiful clothing.  The day before we had an Easter Egg Hunt with our Rydalch cousins and friends.  Grandpa Rydalch moved to Nampa into Daddy's old blue house so he's closer by now.  Mumsy and Papa Gayle decided to get divorced this spring.  Mumsy was in the opera Pagliacci with her friend Christopher playing the clown.  It was really interesting to watch and then we had dinner with Mumsy, Adelia and cousin Jackie. 

 

We changed Clyde and Alice from 5 and 3 days of school to 4 for both of them.  On Wednesdays, Mumsy takes them to swim lessons at the Grove Hotel with Mr. Mickey.  We meet her at the Plaza Grille at the Owyhee Hotel and Mommy can get work done and have lunch with friends while we're with Mumsy.  Mumsy moved into a beautiful condo on the 6th floor of the Royal Plaza building.  We love the elevator!

 

On Spring Break we got to sleep in so many days.  We went to Givens Hot Springs with Daddy and Mommy.  That helped Daddy's back.

Another Year of Calving



 

 

It was a really really cold January, but not a lot of snow.  Then February came, still cold.  Calving began.  We moved feeding to the afternoon this year.  That made for an inconvenient schedule in some regards, but what was great is that occasionally the kids got to go out and feed with Ben.  Our friends Joe, Kara, Alec and Andy joined us one afternoon too. 

 

 

We even got a picture of all four of us... a rare thing indeed!

 

 

 

 

Not too long after this, Ben hurt his back loading hay.  He was really out of commission for two weeks.  It was a tough winter that really made us question our choices and look at all our options.

 

 

 

 



Legomania

Clyde is all lego all the time these days.  Here he's demonstrating the hammer and nail he made.

Spa Day

Alice sporting her Turbie Twist.  Every day is spa day for this little one.  Her hair is growing so long and she's getting so grown up.

A Real Vacation - 7th installation

Day 11- L.A. to Madera

We left Anaheim as the sun rose over Disneyland.

We stopped for breakfast in Santa Clarita after braving all the L.A. traffic which though worse in the other direction was still pretty gnarly around the interchanges.  The Central Valley was amazing, mile after mile after mile of nut and fruit trees interrupted only by vineyards.  After an hour or so we had figured out how to distinguish between almond and pistachio trees.  Midafternoon we arrived at our friends' house.  They've bought Harry's calves for years and years, so we planned to stay and see last fall's calves and the rest of their operation.  Clyde elected to stay home and play legos.  Alice, Ben and I headed out and saw the almonds and grapes. 

Day 12 - Visiting the Calves

The next day, Ben headed out early to see a couple ranches while we played in a park.  In the afternoon, we all headed out and it was beautiful, crisp and cold, but the grass was green.  The calves were happy, running around with their tails up and their bellies full.  There were a couple of wonderful old farmhouses and we picked oranges at one.  

It's surprising to me every time I see these ranches how few trees and shrubs there are, just solid green grass growing.  

Day 13- The Long Road Home

We left early and planned to just get as far as we could.  Luckily Donner Pass was clear of snow, so we made it to Winnemucca in the early afternoon. We decided to press on and made it all the way home.  The kids were troopers.  It was a long long day (13 hours).  It was wonderful to get home and sleep in our own beds at last!