Happy Anniversary to Us

After 17 years together (as of today), I guess I shouldn't be surprised at how quickly life gets in the way of celebrations.  It was a crazy day!  Lennard ended up planning an outage for today!  When he called earlier in the week to tell me I just shook my head.  I reminded him that it was our anniversary, and he didn't believe me... until he looked at the calendar... ooops!  Oh well.  I had Ward Council this morning too, so because Lennard was gone, I had to have the kids up, get them breakfast, get them dressed and then drop them off at Shannon's so she could watch them for me while I was in the meeting... all before 7:30am!  (Thanks, Shannon!) What a nice relaxing anniversary!  ha! ha!  Church by myself with the kids, the usual craziness in Primary and then home to make dinner.  Lennard didn't get home until about 4:30ish. We had a few hours to visit and then it was getting kids in bed.  Oh well... happy anniversary, Lennard!  Love you more each day.

Addendum:
Lennard took me out on Monday night (the 29th) to the Keg for our anniversary while my parents watched the kids for us.  Such a nice night and amazing meal.  Definitely made up for the crazy day yesterday!

Birds of Prey Centre

We packed up early and got on the road to go to Coaldale.  We were going to meet my brother and his family there, but he ended up getting called in to work, so we went by ourselves.  We've never been to the Birds of Prey Nature Centre.  The kids enjoyed getting to see all the different kinds of birds they have there.

 They loved getting to feed the ducks, geese, etc.  Although, they just threw the food.  They didn't want to put their hands anywhere near the birds.

 Lennard had them touch his arm, so they could feel the vibrations from the ducks eating out of his hand.

 We were able to watch a demonstration of one of the birds flying.  Emma was not very sure about it and was quite concerned that the bird would fly at her.

 It took a little convincing for them to try to hold this little burrowing owl, but they both did it!  Such a cute little bird.

We headed home afterwards and got everything unloaded and the trailer emptied and stored in the hangar again.  It's been such a great vacation.

Fun Days

I haven't taken many pictures the last few days (gasp!).  We had such a good day yesterday... just no pictures except this one of Ben... ha! ha!  He loves hanging upside down for some strange reason!

 We went shopping in the morning and got a lot of errands done that we normally don't have time for.  It was great not having a deadline!  We had lunch at the trailer and played for a while and then got changed and took the kids swimming at the Holiday Inn.  Everyone has told us how warm the pool is and how fun it is, but we must have gone on an off day.  It was SO cold!  Even the hot tub wasn't hot!
It didn't bother the kids at all though.  Emma hopped right in and played.  Ben took a little longer, but he was still in way before Lennard and I managed to get brave enough to take the plunge!  They have a couple waterslides and it took a LOT of convincing to get Ben to try it, but eventually he did and he loved it.  We could ride tubes down the one slide, so we were able to go on a double tube and take him with us.  Emma went with us a few times and then was off with another little girl that was swimming (she makes friends everywhere we go!).  They only went on the one slide, as the other one was completely pitch black and you had to lay down to go on it.  Lennard sat down to try it out and then decided against it, so later on, I thought I would be brave and try it out.  Big mistake!  I have never panicked as bad as I did on that slide.  I don't mind the dark or laying down, but when there's not enough slope or water or something to keep you going on the slide and you get stuck... that's when I panic!  Seriously scary!  I couldn't sit up and I just had to keep inching my way forward as best as I could until there was more of a slope to get going again.  I know I'm heavier than kids, but seriously, an adult should be able to go down the slide without stopping!  Totally gave me a complex! We were all tired from swimming, so we ended up grabbing KFC and taking it back to eat at the trailer.

Today, we had a nice relaxing morning again.  The kids played at the playground and with friends. We played cards, layed in the hammock and just enjoyed being there.  The only downside is that there are SO many flies at this campsite that it's been a constant battle to try to keep them under control in the trailer!

 After lunch, we took the kids to go on the go-karts and play mini-golf at the Evergreen golf course.  The morning was quite cool, but by the afternoon it was hot.  Lennard and I pretty much melted!  The kids were only able to ride with us on the go-karts, but I think they still had fun.  Ben and I won the race - although, it was only because we left first and stayed in the middle so Lennard and Emma couldn't pass us!  lol

Mini golf was lots of fun.  There were a lot more interesting holes on this course and the kids loved seeing their ball disappear down a hole and reappear somewhere else on the course.  They also loved the water features and (I think) attempted to get their ball in the water just so they could fish it out!

 We were all melting by the end, so we stopped at Costco and got a berry sundae for the kids.

Park Lake

As a last hurrah before school starts, we went to Park Lake for an extra long weekend!  We left after Lennard got off work today.  

 As soon as we pulled in, Ben saw the big trees and immediately wanted the hammock put up!  We'd bought this hammock from Costco about a month ago, but we haven't had a chance to use it until now.  Ben loved it!  It became the 'go-to' toy.

 I love that he wanted to snuggle with me in it.  Sure do love my Benny snuggles!

 The kids quickly found new friends to play with and were back and forth between our campsites while I made dinner.  We had a yummy dinner outside in our screen tent (best invention ever) and enjoyed the beautiful sunset over the lake.

 The biggest excitement of the night was when Emma lost another tooth!  We'd had corn on the cob for dinner and she bit down and complained that it hurt her tooth, but we didn't think too much of it.  When she got in bed, she called out to me and said, "I think my tooth is going to come out!"  I went in there with a piece of paper towel thinking that I might need some leverage, but as soon as I touched her tooth it just fell out!  Easiest tooth ever! (Tooth #4)

Evening Out at Beazer

We had such a fun evening out with the Toone's and Hill's.  The kids got to play in the creek and just be kids... exploring and using their imaginations.

Lawson

 After an hour or so, we headed over to the 'camp' and, while Cody got the fire going, the kids played more and we got stuff ready to eat.

 We roasted marshmallows and had a great time visiting with everyone.

 Ben looks comfortable!  He's happier now than he was after he took the zip line and ran right into a tree!  Oops!

We could have stayed there all night.  It was so beautiful.

Another Day at Wally's

We were going to go to the pool today, but then we found out that Mishel and Katie were going to Wally's, so Shannon and I decided to join them!  Jen ended up there too, so we had a huge group of kids and friends to play with

There were SO many people at the beach today!  The kids had a blast and could have stayed way longer than we did!

Fun with Friends

We went to Wally's Beach with Shannon (and kids) and Dina (and kids).  It was such a fun day!  The kids all played so well together and us gals were able to sit back and enjoy a good visit together!

 The Phillips family were out with a boat and all the 'toys' and they were kind enough to let the kids play with some of their stuff for a while.  The big boys ended up being the 'boat' and pulling the little kids around.  Too cute.

 These kids were SO covered!  It was crazy how much sand there was everywhere!

 Ben was living the life with the Phillips' kayak.  He had a blast and was quite good at it too!

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.  I didn't want to leave!

Heading Home

Since we didn't have time to attend church before we had to load up the trailer, we had a very quiet morning together as a family.  The kids were in rare form and thought it was hilarious to tell secrets to each other (even though we could hear almost everything they were saying!).

 We took the kids to a beautiful little park to walk around.

 They loved seeing all the ducks.  We just wish we'd thought to bring some bread to feed them!

 The trip home was long.  The kids weren't bad... they just couldn't stop bugging each other!  We stopped for a bit and let the kids run to try to wear off some energy!

It's been a great family vacation.  Fun times.

We Spent WAY Too Much!

What a day!  We went to WalMart first off and bought everything on our list - groceries, a few clothes, dance stuff for Emma and some shoes.  Then, we unloaded everything at the trailer, got changed and headed out to go swimming!

 We'd found this water park and decided to try it out.  What we didn't realize was how ridiculously picky and how many rules it had!  I've never been to a pool with so many rules!  The kids had to wear life jackets and even then weren't allowed to go down the waterslides.  They couldn't go in the deep end or jump off the diving board... so bizarre!  The kiddy pool was so cold that after a few minutes of just standing in the water my toes were tingling.  We spent the entire time going around and around in the lazy river on tubes.  The kids loved it though, so that's what counts.

 I went down one of the waterslides and Lennard tried them both out... although after he lost his shorts one time, he didn't want to go again for some strange reason!  lol.  Guess I should have made sure not to pack his old swimming trunks that couldn't tighten up enough!  I got a good laugh out of it at least!

After about an hour, we decided we'd gone around in circles long enough and went back to the trailer to dry off and change into dry clothes.  We then went to Costco and loaded up on more groceries... and ice cream.  I couldn't believe how huge the cones were!  We could have shared one between the four of us, but I'd already ordered four!  Yikes!  We were definitely ice creamed out!

We spent a quiet rest of the afternoon/evening watching a movie and having dinner at the trailer.  The kids hung out down by the river with Lennard for quite a while.  There was a guy fishing there and he told Ben that when he caught another fish that Ben could reel it in.  Well it happened!  Ben was SO excited that he 'caught' a fish!  Then, when the guy got it ready to take a picture with, Ben didn't want anything to do with it!  We had to convince him to stand still and let daddy hold the fish.

 He was pretty proud of 'his' catch!

More Fun in Kalispell

We had a super relaxed morning.  We needed to move the trailer to a different (larger) site, so we waited around until 11:00.  It was an easy move and we got everything set up in record time.  This site is so much better as it was on the end of the row with a large area to play in.  

 The kids loved getting to go down by the river and throw rocks in the water.

 They especially loved getting to hang out in our big chairs.

 After lunch we went to WalMart to check out prices on some of the food we are wanting to buy.  After making a list there, we headed over to Super 1 Foods and bought a few items.  We walked through Costco, Cabelas and a few other stores and then headed back to the trailer.  We made dinner and then played Skip-Bo with the kids.

 They are getting pretty good at playing this game without much help now.  We also loved having our screen tent over the picnic table so that we could sit out and enjoy the evening without all the bugs!

Kalispell

With water issues in the Milk River right now, we can't play in the water.  Then, it's been raining SO much that we finally decided to leave early and go down to Kalispell.  We had an easy going morning.  I love how Ben snuggles right in on the couch in the mornings.

Once everything got packed up, we stopped in a the office and they gave us a coupon to come back for a night before the end of the season. After a quick stop at the tourist center to use the dump station, we headed home.  We grabbed a few things that we needed and then headed out to Kalispell.

We got the trailer set up in a temporary site for tonight and then went straight to HuHot for dinner!  A trip to Kalispell wouldn't be complete without eating there!

Writing-on-Stone

The forecast was for more rain, but after a while in the morning it cleared up and we decided to take the chance and go to Writing-on-Stone.

 It was a nice drive out and the kids kept us entertained.

 We walked through the interpretive center first and then headed out to walk through the hoodoos.

 Ben loved climbing through the hoodoos and 'leading' the way.

After climbing through the hoodoos for a while, we drove down to the campground to check it out.  We found a few sites that we'd love to try out next year.  There is a great playground that the kids had fun playing on.  

We headed back to the campground in the afternoon and ended up hanging out in the trailer while it rained most of the afternoon.  We watched movies and played Skip-Bo together.