Montana Fair

The weekend of or neat Hailey's birthday we usually go to the fair on Saturday and have her parties on Sunday. It always works out good, but I was very worried this year. Saturday morning it was raining...and raining HARD! And, the high was only in the 70s for the day too!! We just played at home in the morning (the fair doesn't open until 12 anyway) and believe it or not, it was SUNNY and perfect when we left a little before noon!! We got there to find little to NO lines for the rides....no lines for the food....and no big crowds anywhere we went! We did the rides first (good decision!), ate a late lunch (yummy!), and then went to see the exhibits, etc. The kids LOVED it!! The weather was better than you could even ask for. By the time we left (after 6pm), it was busy at the fair again and a great time to leave. :)

Ryan was quiet adventurous this year. It is funny, but he wanted to go on the Farris wheel FIRST (reminds me of Hailey ... she wanted the same thing in 2006 when she started riding the rides too!). We all went on the ride, and Ryan's famous line "THIS IS MY WORLD" was said during the ride. He loved it and wasn't scared at all! :) Next, they went through a crazy, fun house that has strange things to walk through, etc. Ryan had a hard time on the moving steps that were so big for his little legs, but he kept working on it. Then there are pictures of Hailey and Ryan both coming out of the spinning thing! :) Lots of laughs!! :) Finally, 2 pictures from the tilt-a-whirl. Ryan didn't want to go on that...so Doug, Doran, Hailey and Chris went on that. There spot was just spinning all the time, and NO, it was not Chris doing it! :) Ryan thought it was fun to have a video of it instead! :)

Hailey and Ryan also went on the kids roller coaster. This was the first time Chris and I didn't have to go with them! Yippee! They both thought it was great and I love that they put their arms up ... how funny! :)

Another picture with Ryan's arms up --- seems to be the trend today :) Hailey behind bars ... I told her I NEVER want to see this again :) And, Ryan on the race car ride. How appropriate that he is in the McDonald's car :)

The last ride they went on was the bumper cars. Hailey and Chris were together, and Doug and Ryan were together. It was fun, but will be better once they are older!! :)

After lunch we went to see the animals...and we got to see more this year than we have in the past. The kids loved the bunnies! :) I just love walking by the 4-wheeler displays and hear all 3 of my kids (Chris is included here!) talk about how they want a new one!! Hailey said that she wanted this pink one for her birthday (dream on little girl!) and Ryan wanted his for his birthday too (nice try Ryan).

Next up was the 4H building. We walked in there at the RIGHT time! They were making this little horses out of the swimming "noodles" and the kids LOVED 'EM! After they made their horse, there was a obstacle course to go through, and then they got a prize (their first fair ribbon and candy!). It was fun. I thought I would be carrying both of those around the fair the whole time, but Hailey held hers ... to my surprise! :) Here they are with their horses and going through the race.

The kids also wanted to do the jumping thing too. Two years ago Hailey did this, but didn't get to go very high. This year....they both had a BLAST jumping. Hailey was going SO HIGH and was really getting into it. Ryan wasn't scared at all either. He loved it!! :)

They got to pick ONE game to play (those games are EXPENSIVE at the fair!)...so they both picked the fishing one. Hailey got a fish right away, and a split second later Ryan did too (then he put it down and went fishing again and got a second one without the guy noticing!). They both got a cute little stuffed animal, and were happy fair-goers! :)

It was a WONDERFUL day and the kids enjoyed it so much!! Okay, the parents and grandparents did too! :)

VBS '09

Ever since Vacation Bible School was over last summer, the kids have both asked when they could go back again! So, I was very happy when VBS week came up. They were both so excited and happy to get back to the church where they go (or went) to preschool. There were lots of friends there for them, and a fun-filled week of arts, crafts, stories, learning activities, and of course songs!!! :) It is great that they love this so much! :)

Camping fun

Our weekend continued to be fun on Sat Aug 1 and Sun Aug 2. The kids were able to sleep over in Grandma and Papa's camper on Friday and Saturday night...they LOVE THAT!!! And, they got to spend some time on Sunday fishing at Wild Bill. Or, if you can tell by the pictures below, Ryan was fishing (and KILLING 'em!!!), but Hailey wasn't interested today. She said they were too small at Wild Bill :) So, she decided to color on the rock instead :)

They also decided that they wanted to go in the stream by Basic campground. We all knew how COLD this water was, but they still insisted that they wanted to go in. We heard a lot of "cold cold cold" but they still were having fun and that is what matters :) Look at how RED their legs are in the last picture.

The kids and Grandma and I went on a walk by the creek too ... I of course wanted pictures ;) Hailey found this rock in the water that she LOVED and had to pick it up. Now I am wondering where that is....I think we left it at the cabin, but it is around somewhere and I am sure she know exactly where it is! :)

Here are my cute kids by Rock Creek in Red Lodge, MT! :)

Elliott

Even before we saw Mike the moose on Friday (7/31) Ryan was on another hike up the mountain and found an antler. He was SO EXCITED! One of the first weekends after we bought the cabin, I found one and gave it to Hailey. Ryan has always wanted one, and it was perfect that he found it up the mountain by the cabin like I did for Hailey. Now they don't have to fight (yeah right!). He was very happy....and don't you think he looks like Elliott from "Open Season" with just one antler?? :)

MIKE!!

FINALLY!!! It took FOREVER, but we finally got to see MIKE the moose again! Doran and the kids were on a "hike" up the mountain behind the cabin. They came down...and Ryan told us "we found a mooooose"! Sure enough, Mike was just up the street and we got to see her a few times!! :) She just stayed there, and one time Chris got VERY CLOSE to her too! She didn't like that as much, so she walked away a little and took a little nap. :)

Right after supper, Chris comes running in the cabin that Mike is right behind the cabin on our property and I need to grab my camera. I go outside to get it, and run to the side of the cabin. By the time I get close to the corner by the shed, we are all so excited. I think that she is up the mountain and I will get a great picture of her on our property. WRONG! I turn that corner, and she is RUNNING AT ME! She was RUNNING and she was between the shed and the cabin!!!! Only a few feet from me. NO PICTURE! I turned around so fast and ran into the cabin! Chris was upset that I didn't get a picture, but sorry, she was a little too close for my comfort! :)

Earlier on that same day (Friday 7/31), Chris and Kari saw 3 other moose! And, then that night, we saw a bull moose over by Wild Bill! Not sure why we saw so many that day, but we LOVED IT! :)

Yellowstone National Park

We decided to spend Thursday, July 30 in Yellowstone with the kids. We missed going last year, and the kids were excited to go too. We have come to one conclusion....no more of these "do it all in one day" trips! It is just too much!! So, next time, we will spend at least one night in the park! :)

We started the trip on Thursday morning from the cabin. Here is Ryan...all set to go to Yellowstone....with his GUN! :) Silly boy! He wanted to make sure he had it so he could "shoot" some animals.

The animal population was NOT out for us. Of course we were driving fast...and trying to get from here to there and not taking our time at all. We did get to see a lot of buffalo so that made the kids happy! And, we packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed that in the park too. The kids love any sort of picnic!! :)

Of course it was time for pictures after lunch (thanks to Ryan!). Aren't these cute! :)

When we finally got to Old Faithful, we had just missed it, so decided to get our usual stop to get ice cream in the Old Faithful inn. Ryan didn't want ice cream, so he got a HUGE cookie instead and ate almost all of it. Hailey had no problems with her ice cream! :) yummy!

We walked by Old Faithful...then went to the store. The kids LOVED shopping in that store. They got a penny "smashed" into an oval with a new picture on it, flashlight, shirts, and treats! We all got something and enjoyed shopping together in the fun store! Then, it was time to head back to the cabin.

Remember Ryan and his gun?? Here he is in the car looking for animals. He got VERY UPSET with us when he realized that his gun won't really kill the animals (he threw a FIT!). He was so mad. Gee Ryan, do you really think I would give you a REAL GUN to have in the car when you shoot it right over your sister (among other things too)!??! ;) Finally we found a big buck by the cabin and he got out with Chris to practice there. He is ready for hunting season to start now.


It was a looong day in the car, but we all had a really good time together at YNP! :)

Horse wagon ride

During the summer in Red Lodge...for 100 days....from Memorial Day to Labor Day....only from 7-9pm, you can get a free ride on the horse-wagon ride. We always seem to miss it. However, when we drove through town on Wednesday (7/29) night (Chris and I took Thursday and Friday off of work to have a nice looong weekend at the cabin) we knew it was a good chance for the ride. We dropped Chris off at the cabin and the kids and I went back in to town for the ride. For being the end of July...it was FREEZING OUT (I think it was like 52 degrees!) so we brought along blankets. The kids LOVED it and it was a fun way to start out little "mini-vacation" as the kids called the long weekend together.