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!