Anyhow, the fun started right away! The first morning we were there the kiddos helped Gigi make some muffins using fresh berries that we picked from their yard! Yum!
Making muffins with Gigi
Later that day we took a quick boat ride over to the Flathead Lake Biological Station. They had an open house celebrating the 114th year of operating (the oldest biological station in the U.S.).
They had some interesting stuff to take a look at and the University's mascot Monty was there! This was funny because the whole way there Ryan wanted to see Monty. He asked all about him, asked where he was, said he was so excited to see him. And of course, when he showed up Ryan was terrified. And so was Grayson. However, whenever Monty wasn't around Ryan talked about him like they were buddies. Such a silly guy!
Lyla wasn't scared of him - in fact, whenever Monty did a trick...Lyla did one too!
A picture of Ethan & Lyla at the event made it into the local newspaper!
Heading back home...
Afterwards we headed back home for naps then played in the lake!
On Friday we headed over to Lone Pine State park for their Little Saplings program. It was really cute and Ryan had a good time (even though it was suppose to be for 4 - 7 year olds). They learned all about Ants, read an Ant book, did a science experiment, hunted for ants and then made an ant craft. Right up my alley :)
Here they are listening to the book about Ants.
Putting together their science experiment. They experimented with apple sauce, cherries, mustard and ketchup to find out which the ants liked best -- the winner was apple sauce!
Flipping rocks over to find ants. Surprisingly it took quite a few rocks to actually find them...
Once they found some ants they were able to catch a few with some plastic spoons and put them in a little jar so they could examine them further.
With little magnifying glasses to get a closer look.
And after they checked out their ants (and set them free) they made ant goggles! So silly and cute!
Although there is so much to do in Montana, we didn't want or need to leave the house everyday. It was so nice to stay home and play outside. Lyla and Ethan helped the neighbor sell freshly picked cherries roadside. (They helped pick and sort them as well.) We walked the smaller kids up there to check it out.
So cute! The McDonoughs also have a few cherry trees that we picked some from - they are delicious! I actually never liked cherries before...not sure when the last time I tried one was...but I am now a huge fan!
On Sunday we hit the Rollins BBQ - some might say the social event of the year for Rollins.
Ryan was photographed and made it to the front page of the West Shore News online.
There was also an emergency helicopter there that the kids all enjoyed checking out. Ryan kept the paramedic busy with all of his questions. He can be so chatty sometimes!
We also headed up to Big Mountain for a little Alpine slide action. The slide is a lot of fun but I can't wait for the boys to get a little older so we can do the aerial adventure park, zip lining and even mountain biking...hey pretty pumped that I am a 'boy mom'! There is a ton of more things to do as well...so fun!
The boys loved it!
And the next couple of days we stayed closer to home. Here are the boys picking some of the McDonough cherries!
Grayson loved them - he looked like a little vampire.
He also learned how to climb a ladder...trouble!
Audrey and Ryan had a blast together. They picked some cherries and some raspberries - Ryan is now a HUGE fan of raspberries! yay! He would never eat them before so I am hoping it continues now that we are home!
He also decided that he liked black licorice - one of Papa's favorite deserts.
Hanging by the lake
Paddle boarding with Lyla
We took the boat over to Wild Horse Island for a little hike with the kiddos. We actually saw about five deer while we were walking - it was kinda crazy because they didn't dart away...they weren't scared of us at all.
We had so much fun the first week we were there but we were very excited to have Kevin join us for the rest of the stay!
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