Where there's smoke...

Drought.  Heat.  Dry lightning storms.  Fire.  

It's been a bad year for wildfires.  They are fascinating events of nature--in just a short time,

the work of decades can be destroyed, drifting away in ash and smoke.

 The range fire near Blackfoot only lasted a few days,

 but cast a pall over the area.

 The forest fire out by Salmon (over a hundred miles away), left heavy smoke in the area.

At least it made me feel right at home--often does Tianjin look just like this?  Clear on top, yellow

grunge down below where we get to breath it.

 Other fun:  rides on the 4-wheeler with Grandpa...

 Nightly games of Rook--and despite the tipped-over glasses, all the hilarity was achieved

with only good Idaho well water.  (It tastes the best of any water I've had ANYWHERE).

And somehow, there were lots of times when it was an all-female experience.  The husbands all had to go back to their homes for work and once the grandsons went to bed at night, it was a girl party!

 And so it was in Colorado, as well.  Once Ryan was at work each day, 

the girls partied--picnics, playgrounds, splash pads, popsicles, etc.

 And even an outdoor learning experience where we learned about earthworms

and then had a little hike.

 This grandma certainly had a great time!