Holidaze

Fat and Happy in the chariot.  We decided to go skiing up in Hyalite.
Bozeman has received a net 13 dm of snow this winter, so Laura has been
unable to skiskiski as she did last year.

A fine new year's day

So over the holidays we headed down to the Montrose to visit with the fam.  Twas excellent before christmas...well, and after. In the mass of christmas presents, sienna discovered something that is near and dear to the schoenes: recycling.  Being the third son that I was, I learned to appreciate hand-you-downs.  In fact, I'm not sure that at any point in my life I've worn an outfit, or get-up, that did not contain something that did not belong to me.  Indeed, using my brothers' style while I was in middle/high school got me many a date, and I'm thankful.  In colorado, the toys were plentiful, though certain proprietary assumptions were made regarding whose toy was whose.  Though our hosts are always beyond gracious, those that are around the three foot tall mark (no names) make a point to ensure that no trespassing occurs.  But, come christmas, amongst the six hour throng of opening presents, sienna discovered that another person's trash is another's treasure. Distracted by the flashy bells, books, blocks, and bridges, sienna laid siege to the forgotten toys of the house that just one day before were invaluable tokens of the childrens' identities.  As the saying goes, in with the old, out with the envy. (I am, of course, being facetious.  Yale was particularly generous with the *awesome* driving car noise thingy, as sienna loved that thing. I also have to say that I was astounded that he allowed any/everyone into his room to play with his toys.  I don't think I'd be as generous as he was, as a kid or today.  thank you sir).

Sometimes hand-you-downs cross generations: the upsides
of cyclical fashion.

This is the *awesome* toy I was talking about. You'll note
squeek has to keep looking over her shoulder, as her three foot
cousin is just outside the frame in this picture watching her.

This was probably sienna's favorite toy.  We were going to get her
one, but it would only fit in one place in our apartment and
it would prove mostly impassable, thereby dividing the apt in two.
The upside is that we could rent out the other side and make some
cash.

We took a day to head down to ouray and scope the gnar.  Looks good





For anyone that is scared of heights, I would recommend not only
not going to the ouray viewpoint, but more importantly, not taking your
1.5 yo daughter to the viewpoint.  Laura was a wreck.

This was Sienna's first car ride facing forward.  In the last year, the official recommendations were changed to not to face kids forward until 2 years of age (used to be one year and 20 lbs).  We had to make a gray area decision, however, because every time we got into the car she would scream until we stopped.  this proved frustrating and distracting and dangerous.  therefore, we decided that it was safer to not get into an accident and have her in a less safe position than to get into an accident and have her in a safe position. I'm sure the law would disagree with our reasoning.

We went sledding. Sienna loved sledding, and went down about fifteen times, asking for more.  This was the sixteenth time, the time that we decided to get the camera.  d'oh.


Seeing sienna with all the (male) cousins provided an excellent opportunity to begin the process of observing and enforcing gender stereotypes.  1) girls like clothes and shoes.  Sienna spends at least 30% of her waking hours dressing herself and trying on outfits.  She's actually gotten quite good at it, being self-sufficient with shoes, socks, pants somewhat, and working on shirts.  she picks out some excellent outfits, and likes big colors, particularly stripes and polka dots.  Now, I didn't assume that this was unusual since I also spend 30% of my time trying on outfits.  I was surprised to learn, however, that the male cousins have zero interest in dressing themselves. in fact, supposedly the three.5 yo still can't (won't) put on his shoes.  Compare this to sienna, who when mama mentions under her breath "maybe we'll go outside this morning" as she's preparing breakfast, sienna shows up five minutes later wearing a coat, a hat, mittens, boots, and an expectant look.  2) boys are wusses.  The boys can't keep up with her runnin', sleddin', swimmin', slidin' self.  Whereas sienna loves going outside, romping in the wind and weather, and craves speed and spills, her male counterparts are, umm, unenthusiastic about such ventures. You'll note that there are no little boys in the video above, and that is not due to a lack of trying on our part.  Their strengths lie in more domestic pursuits.  I guess it does start at a young age.  3) Girls have more hair. the head hair genes must lie on that second X chromosome, and when the odd boy has long hair, it must be because they inherited the wrong X chromosome from his mother.  4) Boys are happy-go-lucky and smile a lot.  I am unsure of the direct mechanism for such behavior, though I suspect that it is not genetic.  More likely, even at a young age they infer the unjust privileges heaped upon the male sex.  Our patriarchal, phallo-centric culture coaxes optimistic smiles from boys who learn early that they're gunna have an easy go of it.  Sienna, however, wilts in the bigotry of this world.
(in case it isn't obvious, I'm joking on all accounts).
But yeah, highlights of the trip included: painting pottery (we got a sweet bowl with all the kiddos' hand prints on it, though I've been informed that I'm selfish, as that bowl has become "dada bowl."), Delta hot springs (where I sat in a hot tub listening to a guy go off on the the history of the facility, and telling the story completely wrong.  How do I know he was wrong?  Because there was a huge sign hanging up that was readable from our vantage point in the hot tub, detailing the history of the facility.  i didn't have it in me to call him out), meat dinners (always a highlight), pass the ball game (after the kids went to bed, all the adults got a small item, and then we threw them in order to each other. chaos ensued, and it was a lot of fun. midway through, who should find his way out of bed because "he had to potty" but yale-bud, with an aghast look on his face. "they're having fun without me??!?!??!!!"), RISK (I'd never played before.  Adam and andrew were on a team and kiiiilllllled us), running (we went running). Hopefully we'll make it back sooon.
In other news, Bozeman is getting washed away.  Laura and sienna went to the old haunts on the north side of town, where we used to live, to check out the water levels at bozeman creek.  Turns out that the river has taken the trails for its own.

yeah, there used to be a trail there. hrmm.

okay, that's all for now.  bye.