From the mouths of babes

Linnaea-isms:

lellow = yellow
ogange = orange
Lamaly = Laramie (WY)
riggaly = regular (as in "I want a riggaly bun" meaning "I want a bun with nothing inside of it.")
resagna = lasagna
ba ba ba ba wool so high = up above the world so high (Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)


Elise-isms:
Nannaea = Linnaea
hmell = smell (as in "I want to hmell your mouf" after we brush our teeth.)
fwing = swing
gull = girl
wif a come cob pi wif a butt on nose = with a corn cob pipe and a button nose (Frosty the Snowman)

The Big Announcement

We are moving...again! Kevin was offered a PERMANENT job as a botany technician at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. We drove up there last weekend to check it out before we accepted the position. We would like to live in the town of Hot Springs, which is the closest town to the park. It's a pretty little town with about 4200 people in it. It has 2 grocery stores, a movie theatre, a VA Hospital, a medical center, several banks, 2 libraries, a water park, 3 schools (elementary, middle, and high), and some fast food options. Wind Cave is adjacent to the Black Hills National Forest and Custer State Park, and less than an hour from Mount Rushmore. There is a Rails to Trails trail called the Mickelson Trail running all through the area which I can't wait to ride and run on. We looked all day Saturday for a place to rent but couldn't find anything that would accept a pet. We would like to move up there for Kevin to start work on May 10, but we need to find a place to live first. There are tons of homes for sale that are all reasonably priced, but we want to take our time to find a good home this time, so we'd like to rent for a few months before we commit to a purchase. The closest major town is Rapid City, which, unfortunately, is VERY expensive to fly in and out of. The next major towns are Casper or Cheyenne, Wyoming. I am really going to miss Walden. It's not a perfect town but the mountains surrounding it are absolutely gorgeous. I've met some good friends here as well. I will NOT miss the cold! The high temperatures in Hot Springs average 88 in the summer and 38 in the winter. I guess that's about all for now. We'll keep you posted about when we find a place to live!


Elise and Linnaea at the visitor center. Kevin will work right out of the park headquarters.





There are herds of buffalo roaming wild in the park.





More buffalo.





Linnaea sneezes in front of the opening of Wind Cave. The natural opening is quite small. The park runs tours into the caves everyday. There is a bigger opening for the tours.





Elise at the cave opening.

Easter 2010

We've had more snow in the past 4 days than we have had in the past 4 months. We were all prepared to go to our town's Easter Egg Hunt and wade through the snow to find eggs when we learned they had moved it to the high school gym. And I wouldn't really call it a "hunt" as much as I would call it a "scramble," as they just lay out eggs all over the gym floor and the kids run for them. Luckily the hunt was divided into age groups and it was fun to watch all the different ages race to get eggs. Elise even won a prize of a stuffed bunny and is very proud of it.





Elise with the basket Grandma and Grandpa sent.





Elise's 3 eggs. She has never really cared for hard boiled eggs until this week. I guess coloring them really makes a difference.





Linnaea watches over her 3 eggs.





Linnaea scrambles for some eggs...





...and Elise takes her time.





Elise examines her loot.





Linnaea got up the courage to sit with the Easter Bunny.





She says "Listen, Bunny, we need to talk."





Elise and her prize bunny.





The girls strain their arms hoisting up their baskets.

Welcome to Spring

Our winters are usually cold and windy. Last winter I always said that if it weren't for the wind, the winter would be great. And this year we have been SO lucky that it has been TOO COLD to be windy. Apparently when it's below 10 degrees consistently it's too cold for the wind. Ask a scientist how this works because I don't know why, I just know that it is. This winter really has been great as far as us being able to go outside all the time. Even though it may be 15 degrees, it really hasn't felt that cold. Until now. Now that it's getting into the 30's the wind is back. With a vengeance. So when it's 32 or 36 degrees, the wind makes it feel colder than when it was 4 degrees. Plus now the ice and snow are melting and there are mud and water puddles everywhere. So now we are REALLY looking forward to summer. Enough complaining. Here is what we've been up to.


Elise's bedhead. She's really going to hate me for this picture one day. She likes to sleep mostly on the left side of her head and apparently she likes to rub her head around a lot.





Just a cute photo of Linnaea.





We went bowling yesterday. Elise was really excited about her shoes.





Linnaea bowls with dad. She actually got the hang of it fast and was able to bowl all by herself.





Linnaea was most excited about the ball return machine.





Elise bowls with dad.





This is a picture Linnaea took. She is actually getting really good at taking pictures.





Another one she took of Kevin.





This one Linnaea took of me. See how good she is?

Messing Around

Today I was reminded that we have lots of cool effects in Photobooth on our Mac laptop. So we decided to mess around and take some funny shots.


Before...





...and after...

We spend all day every day in our "jammies with the feet." And we got a super special Valentine treat from Grandma and Grandpa---lip lollipops!





We get a little bit confused about the seasons here in Walden. Mittens and wool socks are a must...but don't forget the bathing suit!





Now, if they only wanted to keep their mittens on while we're OUTSIDE...





The haircut Elise gave herself. Well, at least it's in the back!





We got excited about the summer and decided to pull out our tanks tops and shorts. Don't worry, we balance it out with fleece mittens and a hat.





Kevin and I got to go snowshoeing again today. We started up at Cameron Pass, which is about 10.200 ft elevation, and walked uphill. So the mountain behind us should be about 12,000 ft we guess.





The trail gave us about a 270 degree view of Crags.





And the weather was obviously gorgeous. It felt about 80 degrees due to the direct sun and radiant heat but I think it was only about 30 or so.

Christmas Part One

Yep, these posts are all out of order, but at least I'm getting all the photos on here. So we were in Florida for 3 weeks. 3 COLD weeks. I was so disappointed that I couldn't wear flip flops and tank tops the whole time! But the girls didn't complain. In fact, they did really, really well on the flights both ways. We had lots of snacks and some movies on the computer which got us there and back quite happily. That's not to say I wasn't completely stressed out traveling alone with two 2 1/2 year olds. And we did get to leave Walden for most of what was the second coldest December in the county's history, so I really shouldn't complain.



Settled on the plane for the flight to Tampa. We got to the Denver airport 2 hours and 15 minutes before our flight was to depart, and it took us all of 15 minutes to check in AND get through security, so we had LOTS of time to kill. Luckily, the airport has a bunch of those moving sidewalks which kept the girls entertained for the whole 2 hours. They became experts at getting on and off all by themselves.





Pickin' oranges at Great-grandma's house before going to McDonald's. McDonald's is quite a treat for Elise and Linnaea since the closest one to us is an hour away.





Swingin' at the park.





Elise rides the...um...beaver? Squirrel? Otter?





One of the few days we could wear shorts!











Linnaea decorates the Christmas tree.





Giving Aunt "Calolyn" (Carolyn) a hair do.





Decorating our gingerbread house. I was amazed that most of the candy made it onto the house and not in their little mouths!





Ta da! Man, it looks like a couple of two year olds made it. Oh, wait, it WAS a couple of two year olds! (Notice the chimney stuck flat onto the roof.)





The Kovacs Clan. Top left: Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Liz, Tim, Carolyn, and Jason. Bottom left: Kevin, Linnaea, Great-grandma, Amy, Elise, and Jennifer.





The Kovacs/Blood Clan. Top left: Lisa, Johnny, Carolyn, Tim, Uncle Doug, Kevin, Linnaea, and Grandma. Bottom left: Aunt Kathy, Becky, Naomi, Amy, Elise, and Grandpa.





Grandma reads to the girls.





Elise and Linnaea get cookies and milk ready for Santa.





The Christmas tree and all the loot.