A rainbow.

Hard to see here, but Skyler found the rainbow created when the sun passes through the glass coffee table.  He's rather pleased. :)

A new bike for Grandma.

My Mom got a new bike after riding the same one for 18 years.  She got a killer deal on a Salsa Mamasita complete bike.  Now there are 3 Salsa Mamasita bikes in the family! :)  Skyler and I went over to Grandma & Grandpa's house to put the bike together yesterday.  Skyler was his typical high energy self and even got in the box the bike came in.

This only lasted a minute or two, he was way more excited to find Grandpa's tools in the shop.

Looks a lot like mine and Altair's.  This is how they come spec'd from Salsa.  I'm jealous of the blue Salsa hubs.

Play night at Auntie Karen's.

Skyler has been asking to see his friend Roan from North Carolina for months.  Last night he got his wish.  My sister hosted two high energy toddlers at her museum quality house for nearly 2 hours.  Nothing was broken, only one incident of hitting (Skyler hit Roan with a donkey), and Karen's cat is somewhere still hiding in her house probably at this moment.

Karen picked up an IKEA train this week and Skyler was just thrilled!  A flurry of motion!

Skyler and Roan taking turns playing train.  I think Roan was a bit hesitant from Skyler's authentic train whistle noises.

Beautiful weather.

It's unseasonably warm here.  Like 65 degrees warm.  Skyler was outside almost 5 hours straight yesterday playing in the dirt.  Even the sunset was spectacular!

Black and white.

The cat pretends to hate the dog, but I think he really likes her company. :)

Completely unrelated to pets, I found this article about ten things I said my child wouldn't do.

How does it feel to...

...mow the lawn on February 22nd?

Like this!!  Yep, I used the mower to suck up all the debris yesterday.  Skyler even rode on my lap for a few rounds. :)

Niner the robot!

Sometimes the simplest little things make the greatest play times.

This started Wednesday.  He's still playing with it today. :)

Re-rail 2.0

Let's try for part two.

The silly TRAX trains were still going by as the workmen worked on the derailment.

The Cat crawler loader is towing the locomotive here!

They towed it so it was over the switch that it ran through.  Now it was time to correct the switch by crawling under the locomotive!

On to the next one.

They used 2 side booms on this one.  One to lift, the other to stabilize the locomotive from tipping all the way over.

Starting the lift.

Hmm, not working as hoped.

Wow! It's really up in the air!

Time for plan B.

Crawler loader needed at the other locomotive!

They had to use wooden cribbing to get the loader over the rails so it wouldn't damage the rail.

Letting it back down.

Here comes the loader!  They were driving the metal tracks right on the asphalt road!  Train emergency!

Using the loader to remove all of the displaced ballast that the locomotive pushed when it derailed.

One more pass.

Side boom time.

The side boom is in place, now the loader is needed on the other end to apply tension to the locomotive so it doesn't slip.

The winch on the loader actually pulled the locomotive for about a foot!

Everyone is in place and ready to start.  This was about the time it started to rain and snow and Skyler was getting cold.  We left.

Derail!

There was a train derailment a few miles from our house yesterday morning.  I loaded up Skyler and called Grandpa and we were on our way out there to watch them re-rail the engines.
  
After the last 2 hours of trying to upload all of the pictures and videos, I give up for the day.  I'll try and have part 2 tomorrow with video hopefully.  Sigh...

We arrived to see them lift up the rear of the trailing locomotive.

The crew went through a closed switch to the main line causing both locomotives to derail.

Almost upright.

Repositioning the side boom crawler.

The threatening sky made the scene especially ominous.

Skyler was somewhat interested.

All of the orange vests were lazy UTA workers.  The yellow vests are from the rail recovery company Durbano Metals.

I think the UTA guys just wanted an excuse to screw off for the morning.

The side boom crawlers are amazing!  Each one can lift 100,000 pounds!

Ready to pick it up.

See how the locomotive is up in the air!?

Setting it on the rails.

 Part two tomorrow.  I hope.  Google's Blogger is especially sucky lately...

Outside!

With a temperature close to 70, Skyler and I headed out to the backyard yesterday to play.

He's been asking where his yellow excavator was for about a week now.

The soil was a little on the wet side to play however.

I raked up the driest part so he would be able to dig.

Except he found mud!

He's drinking Koolaid and walking the garden here.  We were out just over 2 hours.  It was wonderful!

Mowhawk hat.

Up and over!

What do you do when there's a fast approaching rainstorm and a locked gate while on a walk?  Pick up the stroller (with toddler attached) & lift it up and over!

Another reason I don't have a clean house.

Our weekly popcorn indulgence watching " This old House " turned into a construction site using the popcorn yesterday!