Trip to New York/Massachusetts

Claire and I arrived home Tuesday after almost two weeks on the East Coast visiting Nate's family. Nate stayed home to work through the busy construction season, and despite quite the heat wave, we had some great day trips and activities. Lots of pictures follow!

Our first day in New York we had a wonderful picnic and visit to Sarah's local town pool. Here Claire and Julia look for the map (a la Dora) before a little walk through the woods.
The town pool had a great splash park and kiddie pool which helped us keep cool!
Claire's cousins Sam and Will are great with her, and she loves to get their attention.
We took a day trip to the Bronx Zoo which has wonderful exhibits and great architecture too. Here we decided to enjoy our lunch by the oldest section of the zoo (from the late 1800s) instead of sitting in a snack bar. Wise choice!
Claire and Julia had lots of time to play dress up, princess, dolls, and all kinds of girly games.
On the 4th of July we all headed to Massachusetts to spend the holiday at Nate's mom's house and enjoy her pool. We had a great barbecue with the family and other friends.
We had several outings with Grandpa Charlie, whom Claire adores as is clear by the look she's giving him. Since it was so hot we stuck to indoor activities--seeing Toy Story III one afternoon and visiting the wonderful art collection at the Smith College Museum another day.
When the heat broke a little we had a dinner out and a scenic drive to the top of Mount Sugarloaf (a tall 632 feet!) where the vistas of the Connecticut River Valley are lovely.
A highlight for me was a trip into NYC with Sarah and Bruce (adults only!) with ample time for strolling the streets, eating dinner, and seeing a Broadway play. I have to say, the food, service, and vibe of the city is really a fun treat for a country girl from Montana!
Wagon made for two--no chance of looking up for a smile when a juice box can be had.
Another big event was the girls only trip to American Girl in NYC. Nema spoiled Claire with her own new baby doll, and we all loved the lunch in the restaurant.

They even provide a mini cup and plate for the dolls. Here Julia is being a good little mama.
They also came home with matching outfits for all their dance routines--favorite music of choice, the Disney Princess Soundtrack, of course.

So many great memories...a big thanks to Nema, Tia, Bruce, Sam, Will, Julia and Grandpa Charlie who spoiled us rotten!

Good to be Home

After 4 1/2 days away, I arrived home again late last night. My conference definitely was worthwhile, and I valued having time to hang out with some of my entertaining colleagues from school just as much. It's great to have a whole brain filled with ideas to try out in August when school starts again. Nate valiantly held down the fort here, though he has a lot on his plate with work right now, and Claire had some long days at daycare. If I go again, we might need to recruit some help from some help from any willing grandparent (hint, hint...).

I can't get enough of these hugs today...

I even started missing this dog, though as he was chasing a gopher through my garden I began to rethink it. This is the best picture of him I've ever taken; it captures his Chesapeake spirit.

After my time away, I even missed messes like these--dumping out all the drawers to find the perfect outfit. To her credit, she did put all the clothes back in, just unfolded and in completely the wrong places.

For my husband...

This is a post especially for my husband who will be alone with Claire on both our anniversary (7 years!) and Father's Day while I attend a conference for Advanced Placement teachers in Spokane, WA. I'm leaving Claire for the first time for longer than just one night (it will be 5 nights total!). I know she's in great hands and is excited about the extra time with her Papi, but all the same, I think I'll be VERY ready to come home on Thursday. I am very lucky to have a husband who supports my career and is a wonderful father to his little girl. Thanks for all you do, Nate!

Here's a blast from the past...Claire's first hike, three years ago when she was two months old. Nate started as a great dad and continues to build this amazing relationship with his little girl. Happy Father's Day!

And from even further into the past...leaving the church as Mr. and Mrs. Cutler: the first steps of our life together that gets better all the time. Happy Anniversary!

Summer Activities

We're keeping busy around here with summer activities. Claire got her own fish last week (and it's still kicking!); she's named it "Coddy," rejecting my suggestion of "Sushi." It's a Beta fish since I got upsold from the 14 cent goldfish by the girl at PetCo assuring me the Beta fish are hardier and cleaner.

Despite continuing wet weather, we took our first road trip/camping trip of the summer last weekend. We traveled to the center of the state, Lewistown, and managed to find a great, sheltered campground near a creek in the Little Belt Mountains on the way home.
We also fit in another canoe trip to Harrison Lake--just 30 minutes down the road and quite scenic with views of the Tobacco Root range, green pastures, and even Angus cattle in the distance.
Claire has started dance class for the summer. She got to go a few times with Nate's mom while she was visiting in February and loved it. I have to admit, a room full of little girls in pink dance outfits is pretty irresistible, as much as I want her to bike, hike, ski, and fish like her mama!

Welcome to Soggy Summer

School's Out! Summer is here, but the summer weather has been slow to arrive this year. It has looked more like Washington than Montana the past few weeks. I did manage to get some flowers and a garden planted this week between rain storms, but we've been doing more puddle jumping than sun bathing lately. Regardless, we are looking forward to a summer schedule--time for walks in the morning, afternoons at the park, summer dance lessons for Claire, trips to visit family, and camping trips on the weekends!

Claire decided to see if her rubber duck liked puddles as much as she does.
The umbrella--Claire can't wait to use it, though we've had to set guidelines after an umbrella opening in the car incident.
Nate reminded me I failed to post any of his turkey hunt pictures from April/May. He shot two gobblers in South Dakota, and the one pictured above came from central Montana, as evidenced by the great scenery in the background.

Visit with Tia and Julia

We shared a wonderful weekend with Nate's sister, whom Claire calls Tia, and her youngest, who's also three, Julia. Their visit coincided with some of the first Spring weather we've had this year, so we were able to take full advantage of some outdoor activities.

Friday afternoon when I was done with school we all headed to a state park close by--Madison Buffalo Jump. We hiked to the top, and since we (me) forgot to bring the backpacks, the girls (Julia did better than Claire) actually had to walk most of the way with us carrying them to get through the tired patches. The views from the top are great this time of year as the valley turns green and the ranges still have snow on them.
On Saturday we went into Bozeman and enjoyed a few hours at a Watershed Festival with some great exploration/science activities for the girls, bluegrass music, and yes...ice cream. Could my daughter have picked something that screams SUGAR any more than this? Those eyeballs? Yuck.
Eating ice cream and dancing are a good combo though.
On Sunday we headed north to Canyon Ferry Reservoir and Helena. We had a morning walk by the lake. My first time in shorts this year. This was supposed to be a girls' picture, but the two little ones didn't cooperate. I'm so thankful for a sister-in-law like Sarah who's so much fun to hang out with and such a wonderful friend to me.
After the lake, we went into Helena to visit the Exploration Children's Museum. Nate was a good sport all weekend as he was slightly out numbered--mostly evidenced when we took over the TV for Grey's Anatomy instead of letting him watch a basketball playoff game.
They had some Wii dance game in the museum that the girls loved, once I barely managed to figure out how to work it. We got some video of them that will be perfect for future embarrassment--like at their weddings.
We still weren't done Sunday. On the way home we stopped at the lake again for some canoeing.
A final cute picture of these two characters. Thanks for coming all the way out you two!

Claire Turns Three!

Although I literally have HUNDREDS of pictures from Claire's wonderful birthday weekend, I'm only posting a few here. (For those of you who want more and haven't already seen them, check out my Facebook album.) Having my parents, sister Kari, and nieces Elly and Lauren here to celebrate really made the weekend more memorable. We were able to enjoy some nice weather and spend time flying kites, blowing bubbles, going swimming at the hot springs, and having a picnic at the lake. Claire had been inviting (or uninviting us when mad) to her her birthday for weeks, so to actually have the party complete with "Pin the kiss on the frog" and "Musical Pillows" was at long last quite fun.

Looking smashing in her new party dress!
New PINK trike from Nema, a princess crown, and a lollipop...does it get any better?
Baby Lauren checking out this furry creature, Hem. Though he's a bit wary, he's very good with the kids.
Note the pink theme...all Claire's doing...plates, cake, flowers, etc.
Nate actually had a birthday in there somewhere (Friday). Since it's two days before Claire's, she was having a hard time with the concept that it was his birthday, not hers, and almost didn't "let" him have it!
Some of the bubble fun. Though I made the mistake of getting two slightly different models, only ONE of which, horrors, had pink on it--major source of contention between the cousins.
Good think Grandpa's lap is equally good for stories on either side!