The county fair.

Was a bit of a let down again this year.  Skyler enjoyed all the animals though.  He'll be really excited next month when we travel to Nebraska and get to stay on the family farm.

This is how today has been...

So far. Sorry for the late post...

Tractors in the suburbs.

I took Skyler on a bike ride yesterday morning.  Nothing too exciting, ride through the neighborhoods and then along the canals, right?  Wrong!  We got towards the north canal road and Skyler was saying "tractor" I figured he was mistaking something else for a tractor.  But he was right.  Two county tractors mowing the canal banks wasting fuel and making tons of dust!  One was the right color, the other, not so much.  Skyler was so entertained that I rode along the canal road after they were finished and we raced ahead to the entrance to the next canal road to see the right color tractor finish and cross the neighborhood street.  It was fun!  Not sure who was having a better time though, him or I... :)

Wrong color tractor in the distance.  The elm trees on the left didn't make it past the mower...

Note the dust!

More dust!

Closer.

Closer..

Closer...

Turned around and headed back.

We beat the Deere to the other end thanks to my incredible cycling prowess! :)

Even the Deere makes dust.

I felt for the neighbors along the canal, all their yards were covered in dust afterward.

Intensely watching from his bike seat.

The JD dealership I used to work for, would lease 40 of these 6430's to the State of Utah every year!  Each one made in Mannheim Germany and shipped over here through the port of Tacoma in Washington.

Here it comes!

Crossing the neighborhood street!

He kept his PTO (power take off) running when the mower was raised.  Dangerous!

The mower is a Ferri flail mower, about $12,000.00

The John Deere 6430 tractor is $90,000.00  Next year I'm supposed to mow roadsides for state contract through the JD dealership.  I get to use the new 6R series that just came out.  Soooo excited!!

Make some more dust!

Bye!  (I love the tire tracks on the road)

The zoo, visit number two.

Skyler and I went to the zoo again yesterday with Sarah.  I've know Sarah for 10 years and Altair has known her even longer.  Sarah wanted to take Skyler to the zoo so I thought why not?  Sarah was present at Skyler's birth and honestly, I don't know if I could have made it through with out her there.  (She's also an MD.)

Polar bear doing the back stroke.

She was very happy in her new pool.

She would come up to the edge and look at the visitors and turn around to swim away.

Elephants

Some of the nice plants near the elephants.

Skyler and "Auntie" Sarah.

Drought.

It's bad in the US.  Why do you care you ask?  Because it affects the price of food.  Your food!  I saw an interview on RFD (the farm channel, yes, I watch it) with a retired farmer who is 93 years old and said this year is as bad as the dust bowl era in the thirties.  The dirty thirties they were nick named.  Let's all hope for rain and lots of snow this winter.  Unfortunately, this year is pretty much a loss when it comes to saving crops.
Drought map.

More corn!

I found an ear of corn in our garden that was ready to eat yesterday.  We also found out that Skyler loves corn on the cob!

Waiting for a train...

Skyler on the pedestrian bridge at the City Creek Center in down town SLC. He was saying "toot toot"in anticipation.

The smartiest or the naughtiest!

Skyler is getting too smart.  It's astounding how fast he figures stuff out.  Like the deadbolt on the back door.

At the aviary.

Sunday we went to Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake.  It was nice.  They too benefited from the zoo fund everyone voted for a couple years ago.  Skyler was asleep for the first part but woke up to see the Macaw birds talking.

Sleeping!

Macaw!

Chinese pheasant!

Pecky thing!

Walking!

Skyler and I matched.

Using camera+.

There's an app called Camera+ for the iPhone and iPad. It allows you to take ordinary photos and turn them into extraordinary photos! Like this: