Wow, here's a great article on the failed government bailout!

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/near-death-of-state.html

Today we went to IHOP for breakfast and then to the World Center Birds of Prey south of Boise. They had several different types of falcons and eagles and lots of interesting displays. McKenna really liked the eggs (fake) that they had out on display to show the different sizes and colors of the various raptors. We watched a short video and looked into a tree burrow (again fake) that had eggs in it. Lots of historical stuff in the archives as well on the sport of falconry. But the point of the trip was to learn something and have fun and we acheived that, especially when one of the staff brought out a male peregrine falcon. McKenna kept wanting to hold it, and obviously that was out of the question. She really just wanted to go back to the eggs! LOL

So that was our Sunday out. This autumn I want to go to the Meridian corn maze because there will be lots of other fun activities for the kids there. We missed it last year and with the wrap that I've learned for carrying an infant against you, I think it will work out with taking Madelaine along.

In other news, Noel has gotten his green Geo running and it seems to be doing well. He'll drive it to work for a couple weeks to get the feel of it and make sure his motor is doing well before starting work on the red Geo. And now we'll have a functioning alternate vehicle for me to use if I want to make a short trip and want to save on gas. I never liked driving the red one as I couldn't shift down into 2nd gear. The green one is automatice so I don't really need to worry about that.

I've discovered freecycle and am giving stuff away as I declutter our home. I've also given away some produce from our garden as I'm now getting a bumper crop and am really burned out on blanching and freezing. I didn't do too much canning, but will try to get more of that done next year.

You all have to check out my 5-strand braided loaf that I did yesterday. It's the very bottom picture at the bottom of my blog. For a first try, I don't think it looks too terrible. Next, I'll try a 6 strand and we'll see how that one comes out. I'll keep you all posted. Next, it'll be on to sourdoughs! :)

We went to the park today. Brought our blanket and sat under some massive trees... McKenna played on the playground, and we also went to check out the ducks, which had mostly left since last time we were here. We saw one, though. Also saw some fish jumping for some bread that some kids were throwing for them. Then we took off our shoes and dipped our toes in the water. McKenna wanted the minnows to come up and nibble her toes, but I think her red nail polish was scaring them off! :) Then we headed back to daddy and the blanket. Real nice day.

We got back and I managed to get the place picked up a little. McKenna's taking a nap and the little one is making noises so I guess this won't be as long as I thought! Mom and dad have headed up to Stanley and they swapped an RV chair out for one of the others that they had given us. It's nice, though and will be easy to keep cleaned.

I'm tempted to try to make some more diaper covers from the pattern that mom left, but I'm too intimidated. I seem to only have the courage to attempt sewing when she's around! LOL Okay, gotta go... Madelaine wants some mommy time.

Came across a cool site referenced here in my research on new urbanism. It scores the walkability of your neighborhood! My score was zero - what's yours? ;)

http://www.scour.com/view/result/renewed%20interest%20gas%20prices%20walkable%20neighborhoods/PHN0cm9uZz5HYXM8L3N0cm9uZz4gPHN0cm9uZz5wcmljZXM8L3N0cm9uZz4gcGlxdWUgPHN0cm9uZz5pbnRlcmVzdDwvc3Ryb25nPiBpbiBXYWxrIFNjb3JlIHwgSW5tYW4gTmV3cw==/aHR0cDovL2Jsb2cuaW5tYW4uY29tL25ld3MvMjAwOC8wNi8yNS9nYXMtcHJpY2VzLXBpcXVlLWludGVyZXN0LWluLXdhbGstc2NvcmU=/?URL=http://blog.inman.com/news/2008/06/25/gas-prices-pique-interest-in-walk-score

As you can see, new pics! Mom's here keeping an eye on things, so I thought I'd take some time to update. I love this baby stage... some of the things at the tops of my list are the way Madelaine bumps her nose against my shoulder when she wants to nurse. She reminds me of a hen pecking for food. It's really cute. I love gently picking off the skin flakes from her scalp when she's nursing. (I know, only a thing a mother could love!) I love seeing her get nice and plump and know that it's all my doing! :) I love the way she nestles into my shoulder and neck when she's tired and falls asleep that way. I love the sounds she makes - interesting little high pitched hoots... but don't like the way she cries MUCH more than McKenna ever did. I think she slept 6 hours last night, too.. which is great because she tends to not sleep as well as McKenna did, either!

It's harder to get things done, but I think I'll be doing a lot of stuff after Noel gets home. Computer time is much less these days, as well. I'm trying to get in quality time with McKenna because I can see in her eyes sometimes that she's sad she's not in my arms as much as she used to be. But for the most part, she's still good with her sister, especially in the mornings. Can't leave them alone during the day though, unless Madelaines sleeping in her play pen and then that's all right. Okay, enough for now. I'm expecting a herdshare lady and a freecycle lady to come soon. Also need to write to my bro!