Visit with Nema

Nate's mom, Nema, arrived the first week of November to spend some time with us and help out during a busy week with parent-teacher conferences for me. Having her here to treat Claire to some special time and help with meals while I worked long hours made the week much easier! It was the last of our mild Fall weather, so we were able to enjoy the park and walks too. On Saturday, we traveled to Butte since Susan and I had both just finished Ivan Doig's Work Song novel (set in Butte during it's heyday) and were eager to explore some of the historic sights again. Butte is about an hour away, and, at its peak, was one of the major cities of the West during the late 1800's. The history of the mining and the diversity of the town, which has not gotten "yuppified" like much of the New West, make it one of our favorite places. We were also able to fit in a hike at at Lost Creek State Park, a park we hadn't visited yet. Unfortunately, I was so distracted during the week with work, I didn't take a single picture! All the pictures below come from Nema's camera, so we don't have any of Claire and her together. Thanks for all the spoiling and help, Nema!

Yes, my daughter insists on wearing a dress to hike and carrying a backpack full of doll stuff (which I carried for 90% of the hike).

About to start the hike at Lost Creek State
At the home of one of the Copper Kings in Butte. There was a ballroom upstairs; give this child a stage....
We had a wonderful dinner out, a treat from Nema, at the Sacagewea Hotel in Three Forks. It's been recently renovated and is quite an elegant and fine place to dine now. We usually go to the bar/pub downstairs with friends, so eating upstairs was fun!
Nema captured one of Claire's favorite activities; she still loves to swing, but now it's all about getting as high as possible. She loves being up to the ceiling.

Trick or Treat

We fit in a few fun Halloween activities this week: baked some Halloween sugar cookies, pumpkin carving, costume parade at the Senior Center, and Trick or Treating Friday afternoon in Downtown Bozeman with some friends. Although it gets harder and harder to move on the sidewalks every year, going in the afternoon and having to only walk a few blocks with the toddler/pre-school age is a great approach to Halloween. After a short while, Claire and her friend, Jade, were bored and playing ring around the tree anyway. I guess not having a bag FULL of candy is a good thing, though there's less for Nate and I to snitch.

Carving the scary pumpkin face
She's a pretty good double for Cinderella, I have to admit.

With friend, Jade, downtown Bozeman.
Maya as a ladybug in the mix too!

Grandpa Charlie Visits

Nate's father, known to Claire as Grandpa Charlie, came out for a long weekend visit from Western Massachusetts. We were able to fit in some visits to some of our favorite local spots: Headwaters State Park, Lewis and Clark State Park, Norris Hot Springs, The Museum of the Rockies, downtown Three Forks, and even an evening in town (without Claire) to enjoy some great food and wine at Over the Tapas and Plonk. In the time at home, Claire loved playing play-dough with her grandpa, flying her kite, playing Big Bear and Little Bear, listening to him play the mandolin, looking through the beautiful edition of the Holy Bible with wood engravings by Barry Moser (Nate's former art teacher and family friend) that Charles brought us, and working on her art with her new sketchbook and real artist's pencils.

Shared time sketching
Learning about the mandolin
At Lewis and Clark State Park
Final Hugs...Claire was incredibly sad to see her grandpa go. We had a memorable visit and will miss him!

Fall Fun

Our late September and early October has been unseasonably warm--good for the garden, bad for the dust and allergies. However, we've taken advantage for a few outings on beautiful days. Last Friday we went to a corn maze with some friends. This included a horse drawn carriage ride, various farm animal viewings, and finally a chance to get lost and found in the corn maze.

Claire and Nate on the ride out.
With Lacy and Jade at a stopping point.
Claire pretty much wanted to run ahead and lose us the entire time...I'm thinking this does not bode well for the teen years.
My sunflowers and garden are thriving in the warm weather.
Rocky Creek Farm has a great hayride to the pumpkin patch; we go every year with friend Jade and her mom, Claire.
This year the girls got to help drive the tractor out to the field.
Though we brought home a small pumpkin, Claire can't wait to get a big one to carve with her dad.

Big Girl Bed

I started looking around last month for a good deal on a big girl bed for Claire, knowing her time in her toddler bed was growing short. Combining a few good tag sale finds with another Craigslist find and some new butterfly bedding from the store (though much to Claire's dismay I overruled the Disney princess sheets), we have a whole new bed. As with most of the transitions with this child, she didn't bat an eye and loves her new bed. I, on the other hand, faced a bit of mixed emotion packing up the crib-turned-toddler bed that she's slept in since she was six weeks old. We also stored away the glider that's been in the "nursery," so her room now seems to fit the little girl she's too quickly becoming.

Fall Routines

Can it be this is the start of our fourth week of a fall routine? Leaving the house at 7:15-7:30 AM isn't seeming quite so early anymore, and Claire has stopped asking if it's still summer and whether or not I have to go to work each day. We are settling into a routine with our afternoon time of combining "must-dos" and fun activities like going to the museum, park, playdates, or, Claire's new favorite, swim lessons.

Last week was the first lesson, and I wasn't sure how she'd respond to having to go into the pool without me (as is required for these lessons). However, true to her independent and adventure-loving personality, she forged right ahead, loving every minute. I think she asked me every day last week if it was time to go back, and, finally, today was a swimming lesson day again! I love seeing her have such anticipation and watching her grin from ear to ear the entire time. It's also a good mommy moment to step back and observe how she listens to other adults and reacts to her peers when I'm not around, since I don't get to see much of that when she's at daycare in the mornings. She's making her mom proud so far!

Caught one of the big grins!

A Stringer

Fall weather in Montana can be squirrelly. Snow has already dusted the mountains we see out our windows, so our hikes and big mountain adventures are probably over for the season. As a closer and milder alternative, we've spent one day in each of the past two weekends fishing Crow Creek in the Elkhorn Mountains (those closest to our house). Though the trout aren't big, they are eager and catching fish is always fun. Claire fishes with her rod a little, plays with sticks, splashes in the water, eats peanuts, and watches us fish as we take turns. We decided to actually keep a few for dinner the other day--something we haven't done since we've been together (ten years this fall!).
Claire and I fishing one of the deeper holes. The dry fly fishing has been great practice for me.

We actually took Hem the first time and he did remarkable well restraining himself as we reeled in the fish. However, it wasn't so easy to wade in a freezing stream with a dog right next to me.

The final product...pan fried trout, fresh Hutterite green beans, and cheddar buttermilk biscuits--a final summer meal.