Ups and Downs

Life never ceases to amaze me how fast it can change.

Monday we spent the day together as a family finishing up our 14 straight days of daddy time.  Chris left during the night and it was a really hard adjustment for the girls to go to bed and be used to having dad around to waking up and it's just mom.

 It was hard for me to and I really didn't want to deal with daily life so I figured we'd wait until tomorrow to do that and go to the beach instead.  That was a great idea. We had the beach to ourselves so we got the best sand castle building spot and set to work having a great day.  Until a giant thunderstorm rolled through and we ended up back home facing the chores we'd tried to avoid.

 Our next two weeks are pretty low key.  I wanted to keep it that way since school starts up soon and I figured it would be good for us to start working on a more normal routine.  Since they are slower I decided I'd use Pais's love for ice cream and convince her to start using the potty.  After an extremely long discussion, she is way to smart for her own good, I finally convinced her that it is okay to be a big girl and she'd try and wear the panties that are taking up extra space in her dresser.  The kid seriously rocked it and went the whole day without any accidents and using the bathroom like she has been doing it her whole life.  Life was looking great and she really wanted that ice cream cone so we went and got them instead of waiting the week like I'd originally told her.  Of course as soon as we got home she peed all over my couch.   

None of these things have really been that dramatic or really that big of a deal I just couldn't sleep at night and was thinking about how life really can change fast.  You never know what tomorrow will bring.  It was a good reminder to me to appreciate the here and now.

Utah

The girls and I were able to go to Utah for a week for my cousin Shelby's wedding.  We had a blast at the wedding, played lots with cousins and friends, went to the carnival, an outdoor movie, enjoyed ma's backyard, and went to splash pads and the pond.  We really miss splash pads and the pond.  I did a really crappy job of taking pictures but did get a few of the fun we had.  Now that we are home I'm glad to be out of the heat but really missing Taco Amigo.  Bad enough that whenever I ask the girls what they want to do and Pais responds with "go to Ma's" I actually consider it just so I can get my TA fix.  Nothing can compare to that glorious little gem.

Celebrations

Chris got a new job!  He's still doing the oil rig thing but with the new job he's home twice as much as before.  Which leads to a whole lot more daddy daughter time and maybe now I'll actually get a date in here and there.

 Before he started the new job he got a few extra days at home and we wanted to do something extra fun to celebrate.  We're only an hour away from Yellowstone so we decided with all of our new family time we might as well buy an annual pass.

 The girls finally got to see Old Faithful blow and try and gave their mother a heart attack while looking at the view of the grand canyon.

 We even saw a grizzly bear.  Pretty cool but made even better by the fact I convinced Chris to park and stand on the side of the road with all the other tourists watching it.  The lady in the pink hat had been waiting for half an hour to get the "perfect" picture that she would be willing to sale to us online shop if she wasn't too old school to get an online shop.  Forget animals.  I think all future trips to Yellowstone will be used to document all the lovely people I meet.

 This trip was also a celebration in the fact it was the first day I've been able to leave the house in a few months without getting stuck in the bathroom the rest of the night.  Hooray for baby number three joining our family in January.  (Seriously though, this pic is only at 12 weeks, third babies do not mess around!)

Lots of Adventures at Lakes

So this isn't actually a lake just proof that things are so much more fun when Chris is around. 

 Yesterday some friends took us to Axolotl lakes which are only six miles up the road from our house.  I had no idea they were even there.

 I am so glad they told us about them because I think it's going to be my happy place in Montana.  It was gorgeous.

 The girls loved playing in the water and the fact there was snails made it Huntley's favorite place too.  She can spend hours picking up gross little shells and has talked about going back constantly.

 Earlier this week we went and explored some places farther away from home.  We found an awesome meadow up a place called Beaver Creek to have a picnic.

The girls weren't a fan of the flies and sat in the car the entire time.

 After we ate we drove to Hebgen Lake to go swimming.  (I love that we have lots of lakes near by to swim in but really am missing the manilla pond, where the beach was perfect and I didn't have to worry about stinking snakes, ugh.)

 Just below Hebgen Lake is Quake Lake.  I didn't take any pictures of it but sure should have.  It's really funky looking.  The fact it was formed when an earthquake tipped the water out of Hebgen lake and a landslide created a dam probably has a lot to do with that. 

 The girls loved standing on the dam and Hunt kept saying "tell me more about it" and wanting to understand everything that had happened and all of the details.  I love weird natural disasters like this and the stories that go with them so it was really fun for the two of us to explore the visitor center and learn all about it.  Although it never fails at night I get home and can't stop thinking about it and the coolness wears off and I can only think about how horrible it must have been for the people who had to endure the experience.  Even better was today at church they announced our camping trip next week is going to be in that canyon.  Now I'm just crossing my fingers there aren't any earthquakes. 

I like being spoiled.

Chris is home.  And I'm actually posting while he is here.  Yes, it's a miracle.

 We love when he is home.  Huntley gets to ride all day long.  Penny gets to eat nice green grass out of my lawn.

Chris also spoiled Hunt and bought her some fancy new boots.  I never thought I'd spend that much money on shoes for my kids but she did look pretty ridiculous riding around in leggings and flip flops.

 I got spoiled by a quiet night out on the river.  The girls played together and I was able to have a conversation with another adult that just so happens to be my favorite adult in a quiet shady beautiful place. 

 Now if only this could happen on a daily basis and life would be perfect.

For the Fourth

We had lots of fun, parade, food, and fireworks.  The downside was my girls were in a constant state of motion and this is the best we got picture wise.  Oh well.

The next day we went on an adventure with Ma.  She came and spent the weekend with us.  We tried to explore a cave but luckily they had a fake cave you could look at while waiting to go in the big cave and we found out Pais is a wimp.  She wanted nothing to do with it and I was extremely grateful they had the fake cave so we didn't waste a ton of money to go in the real cave and have her freak out.  So we went on a picnic instead. And then most exciting of all we found a map!  That lead down a trail and pointed out all the different types of vegetation.  Hunt was obsessed and wanted to make us hike the three mile one way trail and back but Pais was not having it.  And since I forgot the backpack and didn't want to carry her the entire time I made us turn around.  Lame, I know.  At least we left the house.  Thanks Ma for exploring with us!

 

Dinosuar Park

Earlier this week we had to drive into the city to stock up on groceries.  The girls hate doing this!  The only way I can convince them to go willingly is with bribes of happy meals.  I also try and make it somewhat fun and stop off at a park too while we are there.  This week we found the Dinosaur Park which is like the Discovery Park but so much better.  At least in my opinion as a parent because it's not as intense and I actually didn't lose my children like I always do when we used to go to the Discovery Park.  It even had a huge sand box complete with buried dinosaur bones.  The girls didn't really care about that but I had fun playing in it while I watched them run around.