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Driving just a little further into NM,
we came to another favorite climbing spot.
And the first thing we saw
upon disembarking
was this:

Isn’t he cute?
The countryside was alive with his relatives…

 

Loved this moment with Grandma and Geneva:

 

The petroglyphs on the side of a big rock:

 

Lisa, taking it easy:

 

I can’t tell you how much I love that shirt…

 

Super Girl!

 

Climbing down…

 

Looking up the mountain…

 

At the climbers!

 

Father & Son:

 

Heading back to the truck:

 

A sign we saw along the drive:

 

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Just when I’m ready to take the pic,
up pops this dude…

Meg,
my fellow photographer.

The road less traveled…

 

If there are rocks and mountains,
they must be climbed.

 

Grandma and Lisa:

 

Grandpa and his Dolly:

 

Pretty puffs:

 

The Boy making the long trek down from the mountain top:

 

Overlooking the dam:

 

Where there are valleys,
they must be explored:

 

Where there are high places,
they must be sat upon precariously
so as to stop mummy’s heart:

 

Again I say,
GET OFF THE WALL BEFORE YOU FALL!!!
(Not that anyone ever listens to me…)

 

I love these:

 

I caught a fluttering from the corner of my eye,

And found this tiny butterfly -
about the size of my pinky-fingernail!

Another:

 

Lovebirds:

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~*~*~*~*~

Snuggling with grandparents in the morning
is a holdover from the early years.

Somehow,
they can still make it work.

Paul and Megan have a very special father-daughter relationship.
It involves complex,
and excessively vigorous,
rituals.

The Simultaneous Mutual Thumping/Hollering Ritual:

 

The Alternating Head-Slap Ritual:

 

The Hugging Ritual:

 

The “Hi Dad!!!” “Hi Meg!!!” “Hi Dad!!!” (etc. etc.) Ritual:

 

The Jig Dancing Ritual:

 

Yup.

That’s my family.

And finally,
here we have everyone standing around helping Grandpa finish his crossword puzzle.
Whoever guessed a word
won a banana.

Not to brag,
but
I won the most bananas.

~*~*~*~*~

 

~*~*~*~*~

Here commence the blurry pics.

Lots of activity in the cabin kitchen as

the Elder Heidmanns
teach the
Younger Heidmanns
the fine art of frying fish.

Browning the taters.

Chopping the onions.

Bringing the fishes.

Bringing the onions.

Breading the fishes.

Hmmm.  This is not fish.

Observing the activities.

Oh, my yummyness…

Getting the hands all messy.

Fish-hating Lisa
tasting her first bite of perch,
and deciding it’s delicious!

Lap-sitting sister.

Dad-climbing kids.

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~*~*~*~*~

An afternoon of hiking…

The first plan was to do the very steep mountain hike:

This was too much,
so we went in a different direction…

Fastening the rickety fence…

Heading off down a gentle slope…

With a gorgeous view…

I wanted a family picture with this great vista in the background.
Nice, right?  Lol!  My family… gotta love ‘em!

Much better.

Meg and Grandpa:

Back in the truck, The Boy had dibs on the middle front seat:

The back seats…

Cows in the corner.

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~*~*~*~*~

One of the hazards of camping
with dogs
who sleep
beside their kids
on top of
sleeping bags
is when they
pee in the night.

Worse than that,
when the sleeping bag on which they pee
is the queen size
that was to be used
the very next night
by the Grandparents.

What to do?

Why, wash it of course.

In the outdoor sink.

With 35° Water.

This required a great deal of help.

And coordination…

To get it from the sink…

up the hill…

to the makeshift clothes line…

so it could dry in the sun…

before nightfall!

Giving it the sniff test…

After that major accomplishment, Lisa decided to do her laundry in the sink as well.

The wringer.

The clothesline.

Resting from labor.

Lisa & her God-Father.

For much of the morning, Jacob sat atop the hill,
in a chair he carried up there himself,
watching the road through binoculars.

Finally, that for which he had been looking came into sight!

When they got to the top of the hill,
he jumped into the van…

…and rode down the hill and up the driveway sitting on Grandma’s lap!
(that’s quite a load for such a little grandma!)

Then came the greeting ceremony:

And then came opening the Grand Gifts… Jacob immediately set to putting together his Lego Creator set.

Grandpa took out his frozen fish to thaw for the annual Fairmont Fish Fry.

Every kid got some comic pages that Grandpa saved from the MN newspapers.

Enjoying the sunshine and view.

Finished with the first creation:

~*~*~*~*~

 

~*~*~*~*~

Buddies for life?

Buddies for life.

Father/Daughter.

Camfire aglow.

Nutso.

Warmth.

I have no words.

~*~*~*~*~

 

~*~*~*~*~

This time of year is the best for bonfires because
the tumbleweed bushes are all dried up
and ready to burn!

But first, they need to be raked.

Boy with bare feet…

 

Going for a drive,
we saw some cows.

Pretty pics at sunset along our drive…

Meg drove us to the wash
to see the floody place.
While there, the girls climbed up onto the railroad
so I could take a picture.

While up there, they heard a train coming.
They wisely moved.

Meanwhile, there was another train across the range on the other track,
which looked so picturesque with the sun setting behind it.

Girl under Salt Cedar.

The floody place.

The train!

Pretty.

On the way back, the girls decided to climb up on this
big old earth moving machine by the side of the road.

Back by our place,
the happy cows were still hanging out by the corner.

Sunset on Heidmann Valley.

 

~*~*~*~*~

Hello blog!  I’ve missed you!

 

I am back from

• a great weekend at the ranch with the family, Lisa, & Paul’s parents, who are now back in AZ for the winter
• a flying trip to Fargo, two days with family, and a 3 day drive back to AZ with Mother, who is now ensconced in her quarters and organizing all the goodies we brought down with us in her van.

Here are a few choice nuggets from my travels:

On the way to the ranch, 10/28 — 5 kids, 2 dogs, 2 parental units, 250 miles, no radio = insanity.

After driving halfway through Carrizo, we were turned around when we reached the wash where the road goes underneath the railroad — totally flooded.  Having to go all the way back to town and around the back way to the ranch gave us another 40 minutes in the car with those crazy kids…

~*~*~*~*~

To be continued…