Montana Summer 2015 - part 1

 So excited for Montana!

Seriously - check out those happy faces :)

 

So as we pulled out of the driveway I got an email from American Airlines that our flight was delayed. No problem, right? Well....so when we booked our tickets we took a chance with a 40 minute layover in Denver. So yeah, we were going to miss our flight into Kalispel.  Unsure of what would happen we headed to the DFW and hoped for the AA crew to take pitty on our little family with three kids under the age of five and magically book us on the next flight out. So it's fun to live in lala land every once in a while. We ended up getting moved over to Alaska Air with a six hour layover in Seattle. Same thing, right?

We survived our four hour flight to Seattle and decided to make the best of it and check out some of the city! We hoped on the light rail and headed down to the original Nordstrom and Pike Place Market.

Unfortunately we didn't get to see any flying fish...it was 5pm and all that was left was their stench. 

 

At 11pm local time we boarded our flight to Kalispel. ..Kevin sat with Ryan and held Hayden. Both kiddos passed out within minutes. I got little G, who despite it being 1am Dallas time was still wide awake and also incredibly chatty. Good thing they gave us free alcohol. 

We arrived and were greeted by Kevin's parents. Hooray! A 45-minute drive and we were at their house and quickly into bed.

 

The kids were so excited the next morning - first up picking some raspberries!

 

After the raspberries the kids picked some cherries and I snuck off to put Hayden down for a nap...and perhaps take a little one myself :)

The weather was beautiful and we spent the day hanging around the house...

 

 

There was a fire on Wild Horse Island so we took the boat over to watch the fire fighters/helicopters/planes 

 

 

 

One happy little lady despite the uncomfortable life vest.

Day 2: Wild Horse Island

 

Hayden loved hiking! She hung out in this little pack happy as a little clam - of course she had some snacks too.

 

This picture doesn't quite do justice.  It was beautiful and not to mention steep. You can see Mary, Sarah and Audrey climbing and I believe that is Ethan standing on top of that rock at the top. I think he ran the entire thing. Oh to be 12 again... 

We made it to the top!

 

This crew waited for us at the bottom. 

 

The good ol jumping pic...

 

Walking these tired little boys back to the boat. 

 

sweet cousins

Day 3: Happy Birthday Ryan

 

Gotta bring the streamers!

 

So much fun opening gifts. Ryan loves his new 'treasure box' from Gigi and Papa and we all loved the DJ mat that his cousins got him. lol - it is loud. I am not sure it would be on my list of recommendations - but the kids do love it!

 

Ryan wanted to do the Little Saplings camp at Lone Pine Park so we headed over there mid-morning.

 

After camp we headed out for cheeseburgers & milkshakes. This boy loves himself a cheeseburger!

 

Later that afternoon we had a water balloon fight!

 

We used those water balloons that you can fill a bunch in 30 seconds, which was awesome...but they didn't break easily. You had to really peg it at someone to get it to break...it was a little painful. 

 

This little lady enjoyed watching it all. 

 

And for dinner I made Greek meatballs & orzo pasta per the birthday boys request.

 

And of course there was cake! So happy to celebrate this special little man with our family. While as I write this now I remember a wonderful day filled with fun and laughter. I have no doubt it was not a perfect as I remember but that's the great thing about having kids- you tend to remember the good times.  Day in the life with this sweet boy. Wouldn't trade it for anything.

Montana Fun - week 1

Sarah and I headed up to Montana with all the kiddos - that's right, 2 adults & 5 kids. It actually wasn't really an issue...the biggest pain in the neck was that the airline messed with our seats and we weren't together....like any of us. It was pretty easy to switch with people...I mean - you can babysit my 3 year old or switch seats? People switched :) lol.

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!

 All the kiddos loved playing on the paddle board!

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!