Pine Wood Derby 2 time champion

Tonight was the Pine Wood Derby.  It was Wyatt's second time to participate and he decided to use his car from last year.

He won the derby last year and minus over dosing the wheels with graphite and participating in a re-weigh he didn't make a single change to his car.

Our cub scout group isn't very big anymore, so all the kids got quite a few heats.  At the end of all the heats, Wyatt was in fourth place and barely squeaked his way into the final round.

And guess what - his car won every single heat and he defended his title by winning the derby the second time in a row.

His car is in a special place, waiting for next year's derby to defend his title.

Yellowstone

After batting the idea around for weeks, we final bit the bullet and decided to make a Labor Day weekend trip up to Yellowstone.  It was a fun way to celebrate Quinn's birthday and spend some time together before the craziness of school and soccer took over our lives.

We stayed in West Yellowstone and though it was very expensive, it was well worth it for the convenience of being right by the gate.  On our first day we got up super early and were into the park before 8 am.  We saw a coyote, froze in early morning fall temps under 30 degrees, and pretty much had the park and all it's foggy glory to ourselves.

On day one we headed into the Lamar Valley - an area neither Ross nor I had every really visited and we drove all the way to Cooke City, Montana and the east entrance of the park.  We saw thousands of bison, some so close we could touch them.  And also a lot of antelope.

We had desperately hoped to see bear or wolves in the park.  It seems like everyone we know who has visited Yellowstone this year has seen bears but alas, we were not so lucky.  No bears.  We saw a spot where a bear had been, but we missed it.  We did though see a juvenile bald eagle in the Hayden Valley along a river bank and that was pretty cool. I think though that even though moose is my spirit animal, my back-up may become a bison.

We did see some bears and wolves at the grizzly discovery center in West Yellowstone.  It's always pretty interesting to watch the animals AND we heard the wolves howling and being nervous while they were switching enclosures.  That was fascinating.

And, on the way home, just outside of Rexburg, Idaho in a dried out river bed, we sped by a baby moose.  I promise.

Happy 6th Birthday, Quinn!

Oh my goodness.  Today, you are SIX YEARS OLD.  I cannot believe it.  Your life has been pretty amazing lately and time needs to slow down a little.

You have lost a bunch of teeth, letting most of them hang out in your mouth until they turn gray and are dangling.  A couple of them fell out right into your hand.

You have started little kid competitive soccer, called "academy".  After practicing all summer, games have finally started and you are doing really well.  You like to score goals and also defend.  I'm just happy that you like it, and that you get some exercise.

You started school, obviously, and really seem to like it.  You say it's a little boring, and that you don't have any friends yet, because it's only been a week and you don't even know any kids names.  But, there is a little girl named Emma, and she protects you.

It's amazing to me how cool and fun you are.  You are such a smart little fart and we have some pretty interesting conversations about animals, life and death, and about farts.  Always about farts.

Your art talents impress me regularly and I really just cannot get over how well you draw.

You follow rules, tattle tell only when necessary (It usually comes in the form of, "Mom, the boys are killing each other"), and are really interested in grown up stuff, participating in conversations that other people would probably figure you aren't old enough to even know what's going on.

Even though you refuse to shower and still take LONG baths, its a fun time for the two of us to talk to each other. 

Since turning six, you've also changed the way I refer to you and your brothers.  I've always called Elliott and Wyatt "they boys", but you have told me that because you are now a year older that you are officially one of "the boys" and that if I am talking about Elliott and Wyatt I need to say, "the brothers".

Your favorite TV shows are Gumball, Teen Titans and Finding Bigfoot.
Your favorite color is purple.
Your favorite song is Let it Be by the Beatles
Your favorite food is pizza (#1 Mountain Mikes, #2 Litza's Pizza, #3 Little Caesar's)
You still love gorillas and orangutans.  But, you are expanding into Bears and Birds of Prey.

We all love you so much and hope that your birthday is as special as you are.