Monday, July 28, 2014

A Few Views from our Trip

We traveled through 9 states...
Indiana
Illinois
Missouri
Kansas
Colorado
Wyoming
South Dakota
Minnesota
Iowa
Illinois
Indiana
and
saw some beautiful views.
Variations of the color green...
Land flatter than Kansas (in WY and SD)
Land with NO trees (WY and SD)
Drastic changes in landforms...around each corner
Animals...Plants...and more...

Here are a few of the nearly 300 pictures...
 

These pictures were taken on my last run in Boulder on Tues morning at Wonderland Lake area.

Obviously, Mount Rushmore





 In Wyoming...








At Badlands National Park...

















The sunset at Badlands NP...









Buffalo in Custer State Park...






 Pronghorn and a Prairie Dog...


Needles Highway (in the Custer/Black Hills area)...






Summer Awards


 Although the boys enjoyed climbing the equipment at the Fair, they also enjoyed doing the projects that they chose to present at the Fair.  I enjoyed watching both...the learning and the exploring!





Here the boys are standing in front of their displayed projects.

 JAKE'S WORK...
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Jake's chicken coop...complete with the roost, the nesting boxes, the water supply and the food along with a place to cool off under the coop.  Sounds like the one in our backyard! :)

(I took this with my phone and can't rotate it now)
 Jake wanted to do the splatter painting.  So, he chose to create a Tiger Shark by placing various shaped leaves on top of each other.  After some trial and error on how to splatter the paint, the end result was pleasing!


 JOE'S WORK

 Joe and I discussed models.  He wanted to build a barn. So, we started with that to create this mixed items scene of a farm.  He was very proud of his work and kept thinking of new things to add...Farmer Joe, the picture in the back, etc.
(can't rotate this one either)
Joe was eager to see what would happen with the blue dyed water and the plant.  Each day he enthusiastically exclaimed the current state of being for the plant.  He was very disappointed when the flower eventually began to die. But he also understood the science of what was happening.



While on vacation, we acquired 2 more Junior Ranger badges...


And then there are the swim season awards...
 Jake was the high point winner in his 8 and under age group.  And he received a certificate for his record breaking (3 times) 100 IM.
This is Jake and Nick...Jake broke Nick's 8&U IM record...and the same night, Nick broke the 18&U IM record.

 Joe and his ribbons from the season. He especially likes the blue ribbon from a relay! :)
 And Jake with his baseball trophies.  The right one was for participation and the left one is the 2nd place team trophy from the championship game his team played in.