The Wild West, Lizards, & Babies

We'll start with the Wild West.

Austy has had Monterey & Mission San Juan Bautista on his to do list for the summer.

When he told me these desires of his, I obviously invited myself & my reds to join.

And, naturally, I sent out an invitation text to Whit too.

And, knowing that we have plenty of room in my car, Whit invited her friend to come too.

So what was originally Austin's plan of spending a few hours hitting up some sites, ultimately turned into a full day of our tourist vehicle cruising the Wild West.

First stop, Mission San Juan Bautista.

When Austy arrived at our house in his cowboy gear, Avy immediately decided she HAD to don her Cowgirl Jessie get-up.

So we rode off into the mid-day sun of SJB.

I always feel so much better being warned that the building I'm about to enter may collapse on me if there's an earthquake:

Austy & Aves spent most of the time doing their Cow-folk thing:

(yes, trusty steed Bullseye made the trek with us)

Linc spent his time trying to catch the wild roosters that were running all around the gardens.

This is a man on a mission (no pun intended):

After we had enough of the 1800's & after Austin put a card of St. somebody up on my rearview mirror to protect us for the rest of our journey, we cruised over to beautiful Monterey.

And what good is Monterey if you don't stop for some fresh sea-foodie?

(& why did nobody take the time to let me know I should change

out of horizontal stripes before leaving the house?!?!)

We had dinner at Louie Linguinie's & then headed across the street to Dippin' Dots for dessert.

I'm not gonna lie...I don't love Dippin' Dots.

In fact, I don't even like them.

The few times I've tried them, they always leave me feeling barf-a-riffic.

So I settled on this beast instead.

And don't go thinking I didn't pound the whole thing myself.

Thanks for not inviting us on your journey, Aust.

It was a blast!

Lizards

This should come as no surprise to you that Tat knows how to make a lizard lasso.

He starts with a long piece of grass, ties a special lasso knot, then has the kids keep occupied on our hike by searching for lizards.

After one is spotted, he assumes lizard lasso-ing position,

and BAM! That lizard has no idea what hit him.

He then pridefully shows the kids what a stud-muffin their father is:

Unleashes Lizzy from from lasso torture:

Let's them give Lizzy a pat or 2:

And then hands her over to the kids to hold:

My kids are definitely their Dad's children when it comes to animals.

No fear, & no thought of possible bacterial contaminiation.

Oh well, they were in heaven.

After lizard lasso-ing came to an end, we finally made it up to the barn stage where Avy put on her usual show, this time with Tat as her special back-up dancer.

Linc was running around to the back of the stage so I could introduce him like I was doing for Avy, & he clotheslined himself right into a wood railing.

Knocked him right down & left this little shiner above his right eye.

No biggie. Dusted off his britches & popped back on stage.

Babies

Here goes:

6 weeks left folks.

Let's hope for a smooth, painless, piece of cake delivery...because heaven knows this pregnancy sure hasn't been.

(No, I shouldn't really complain too, too much. This 3rd one has just taken a toll on the ol body. As tyler likes to remind me, the ol' gray mare...she ain't what she used to be.)

But speaking of babies, Linc has taken a liking to babies of his own.

He organizes them before bed so they are right next to him.

He makes sure they have a "nite-nite", or a blankey, on them.

& he even occasionally feeds them.

It's precious, really, it is.

Thanks for tuning in for the adventures of the
Wild West, Lizards, & Babies.