Big Sky Procrastination

 We took a trip up to Big Sky, Montana.  It was pretty much the only thing we did this summer (other than pack 9 billion boxes) and it was seven weeks ago. 

Summer was kinda a bust around here is what I'm saying.

But.  At least we had Montana and it treated us very well.  

I should have taken some pictures of the cabin.  It was really nice - gave me lots of good ideas for building a new house.  Like a fireplace on the deck!  And a fridge drawer!  Floyd was loving all my discoveries.  We had cousins staying in Big Sky the same week and one night we had them over for a BBQ.  It was fun to see them and funny that we had to travel that far to get together. 

We started out the week with a little waterfall hiking.  Just a short one so even the littles could make it.  

 

 I like waterfall hikes cause it's always nice and cool in the mist once you get to the falls.  

 

You might notice Cole is rather absent from these pictures.  That's cause he's too cool/fast/something to hike with his slowpoke parents.  Cue the sentimental music - wasn't it just last summer that it took us three hours to hike a mile cause he had to stop and look at every rock and bug and plant on the trail?  He just won't stop growing up!

One of our favorite activities during the week was hanging out at the lake.  It's just a teensy little man-made lake, but we had access to paddle boats and paddle boards and kayaks and canoes and we had so much fun paddling around the lake.

 

 

 

Most of us preferred the paddle boards, but Cole was the kayak master.  Some of us weren't coordinated enough to figure out the kayak paddling, but he had it down.

Others of us preferred hanging out at the beach and digging in (or eating in someone's case) the sand.

One day, we took a little day trip to the Lewis and Clark Caverns (which were neither discovered by Lewis and Clark nor explored by Lewis and Clark).  The science nerds amongst us enjoyed them...

 

 ...while others in the group were a little bored.

 

While the big boys went fishing one day, some of us went to the rock climbing wall. 

Children - you should know great sacrifices were made by me, Aunt Kelli, and Aunt Karlee for this event to occur.  It was killer hard to be the balay-er for ya'll.  You know we all have rather pathetic arm strength and it was not an easy task.

With that little disclaimer out of the way, you can see the kids enjoyed themselves.  They loved it.

  

 

 

And then there was the horseback ride.  

Oh the horseback ride.

 {don't worry - Cole settled in and enjoyed the ride after he got over his horse's name - Latte}

It almost didn't happen.  Horseback riding on a trail in a resort town is just so touristy that we weren't jumping at the chance, but a few of the kids really wanted to and we had an open afternoon, so we headed down.

I haven't enjoyed myself so much for a loooooooooong time.

It wasn't because the ride was so pretty, which it was.

Or because I love riding horses so much, which I do.

It was all because of these two cuties:

I had the privilege of riding right behind Annie and Landon and they were absolutely hilarious.  I didn't stop laughing the entire time and neither did they. 

Landon was clearly born to be a cowboy.  He worked the entire ride to get his horse off the path.

Annie had a naughty horse that kept getting into trouble and making us laugh.

There is really no way to describe why they were so funny on their horses, but it was just so fun to watch them.  They razzed each other like old cowboys the entire time.  It was a highlight of the trip and when I'm 90 and bored in my rocking chair, the memory of those two riding along the trail will still make me smile.

 

And to finish off the week, we celebrated my dad's 60th birthday!  What a great way to celebrate.  I have a feeling we'll make this trip again sometime.

Doce {And also Uno!}

I've been dreading it big time.  My baby is one!  But lucky for me, she such a little peanut that she only looks about 8 months old, so let's just pretend, okay?

She got to celebrate her birthday Big Sky style, livin' it up in Montana.  Quite a place her grandparents rented out for the big birthday celebration;).

We spent the day spelunking at the Lewis and Clark Caverns.  We were going to leave Molly with Grandma, but decided to bring her along at the last minute.  She was a trooper.

The cake turned out a little lopsided - apparently the oven in the cabin wasn't quite level (which seemed odd to me cause it was like a $5000 oven - why not bother to take the ten minutes and level it?).  No worries, though, we just added extra frosting to that side and passed out those pieces to the frosting-loving kids.  

When Cole turned one, his birthday cake was pretty much the first time he had cake.  It was kinda old hat to Molly cause her dad and sibs have been sneaking her bites of good stuff for months!

 

 

And then she opened a few presents.  But actually, everyone else opened presents while she sat there cause that's what happens when you are surrounded by lots of very excited older siblings and cousins.

  

 Molly is such a delightful little thing.  She is a dream baby and we all adore her.  At one year old, Molly:

-Is very tiny.  I bought her two outfits for her birthday.  They were both 6-9 months and a little baggy.

-Loves people.  While we were in Montana last week, she would immediately through her arms open to people whenever she entered a room or they entered the room. 

-Sleeps pretty good.  She usually only wakes up once a night which is leaps and bounds above her brothers.  They were the worst.

-Takes some steps but isn't really an independent walker yet.

-Jabbers so cute.  "Ah-diddle-diddle-diddle."

-Loves eating raspberries.  It will be a sad day when we can't go out and pick breakfast from our bushes every morning.  

 

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl.  Molly-Dolly.  MollyPop.  Mollserati.  Baby Sue.  Little Love.  Goochie.  Cutsie Tootsie.  Hot TaMolly.  Rati-Roo.  Miss MaGooch.

Birthday Girl #1

We were partying hard at our house last week with three birthdays to celebrate!  First up was Annie's seventh birthday.  I wasn't really planning to have a big  party for her cause we were leaving on vacation the next day, but that girl is a born party planner.  She decided to have a watermelon eating contest at her party and I said that would be fine and before I knew it I was inviting friends and building a watermelon piñata and making watermelon cupcakes.  I'm a bit of a pushover is what I'm saying.

So the friends came and after a few quick games, we busted into the piñata. 

 

Everyone got a sufficient supply of candy and prizes and then we played a few more games:

Exhibit A:

Ben lost, but with a smile so it's all good.

Exhibit B:

She won, of course.  By a landslide.  No one else lasted more than 3 seconds.

Next up, the watermelon eating contest.  Her original plan was to get everyone their own watermelon but I was able to convince her that was both a little costly and also likely to make everyone sick. I thought a flock (herd? group? harem?  who knows) of vampires had descended on my yard as they slurped and sucked their way through while red juice dribbled down their faces.  

 

 

Even this little angel got in on the fun.

We chased down the watermelon with cupcakes and watermelon slushies while Annie opened her gifts.  And then went out to splash in the water because why have a July birthday and not do that every year?

To finish off the night, we had a visit from Grandma Rose and more presents and cake.  Little Annie knows how to party.

 

Happy Birthday, Annie Rose!  We love you to pieces.

Bear Lake

We had a gem of a day up at Bear Lake.  It's such a great summer spot if you get lucky.  Some days it's too cold or windy or blazing hot, but we were spoiled with a perfect day.  

There was lots and lots of sand.

Lots and lots of water.

Lots of lots of smiles.

 

 

And even a couple lucky lobster catch (or crayfish if you want to use it's real name).

 

Can't wait to go back!

Ragnar IV: Team Akusamo

I ran Ragnar last month.  Our team started out as a bunch of my cousins and their spouses, but as happens when you have to register a year early, we lost a few along the way and ended up with mostly my cousins plus my sister-in-law (who we convinced one week before the race), my old babysitter, my friend Diana (cause that's how I do my Visiting Teaching - don't you wish I was your Visiting Teacher?), and somebody named Laura who none of us actually knew, but it turned out okay cause she wasn't crazy.  The race was great, minus some serious traffic delays.  I was runner 3 this year and my favorite leg was the last one, an almost-8 miler from Kamas up past Jordanelle.  I like those hills.  I was totally dreading it, so it was a pleasant surprise to like running it that much.  

It was fun to meet up with my cousins at various exchanges along the way.  My favorite part was when Lori asked what her last leg was and Kelli pointed to the mountain you see in the background of this picture.  Lori thought she was joking and it took some convincing and pointing to runners on the mountain before she realized Kelli was serious.  I shouldn't take such joy out of that moment, but Lori did awesome so all's well that ends well, right?