Fairmont

After our trip to Utah went bust, we spent a couple of days at home while Joey recuperated.  Then we felt so bad about our kids missing out on their only summer vacation, we called up Fairmont Hot Springs to see if they had room for 7 slightly strange people.  Luckily, they did, and off we went.

 

We went exploring as soon as we got there.  We found a nice golf course, a mini-golf course, some barnyard animals, and a playground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and a Totem Pole that reached to the sky.  It was huge, but I called Grace over to stand by it (she didn't want to, because it was weird, but she finally relented), just to show how big it was.

 

 

Joey likes to pretend he's a Ninja Warrior (thanks, Ben, for introducing them to that show).  He's really good at it, and he even does it on the school playground now (even though we don't tell anybody that's what he's actually doing).

 

 

 There was this old-timey slide at the playground.  Actually, there were two, but one of them was really long.  Matt was the first one down, and he landed in a heap at the bottom.  I'm surprised his butt didn't catch on fire -- he was going so fast!  He was a little shocked when he got to the bottom.  I don't think he even knew what happened. 

 

 

But, just like the lunatic that he is, he climbed right back up there.  I was relieved to see a look of contemplation on his face, though.  He thought for about 3.2 seconds about whether or not he should try it again.

 

 

And then he did.  And again, he shot like a rocket right to the dirt at the end of the slide.

 

And that was the last time he did that.

 

 

The very next thing he did was waddle over to the next slide, which was about half the size of the first.  This one had much better results.

 

 

And Joey was still being a Ninja.

 

 

Grace, who didn't see Matt's first attempt at this slide, got to the top of the big slide, and took a few minutes to build her courage to go all the way to the bottom.  She also hit the dirt like a rocket.

 

 

And back to our Ninja:

 

 

 

***

 

Before we hit the pools, we decided that a game of mini golf was in order.  It was super windy, but fortunately that is not a problem in mini golf.

 

Grace studying Joey's approach: 

 

Grace not being affected by the breeze:

 

 Grace cutting in line because everybody else was going to slow:

 

 

 Joey, looking very bored (but still cool):

 

 Grace working really hard to get that ball (she always quit counting after about 5 shots)

 

Matt (who didn't actually play) messing with all the stations:

 

 Every game means war for Ben:

 

After golf, we all dressed out to go to the pools.  They have 1 slide there, and I think our kids went down it about 100 times.  We even went back in the morning (because we had to work off our late night root beer float run) and swam again before we packed it all back up and headed home.

 

We also grabbed a few bags of farm animal food, and went to say goodbye to our new little friends.  The black goat, by the way, was a total meanie.  We didn't like him very much, because he kept eating all the food and biting the nice little white mommy pygmy goat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, I forgot -- we also found a super cool fountain.

 

AND... we even managed to get a nice family photo (minus the photographer, of course)

Bozeman Trip

 

We went on our big summer vacation in July.  We were headed to Utah, although we never made it.  After our stop in Bozeman, I accidentally gave Joey some chips that had sunflower seed oil in them.  Well, Joey is allergic to sunflower seeds, and so his body decided that it wasn't happy, and promptly proceeded to expel the offending food in every direction.  Unfortunately, Andrew was his seat-mate, and suffered some of the wrath.

 

But we did have a great time in Bozeman.  We went swimming in the hotel across the street from the one we were staying in, because our hotel pool was going through renovations.  We also visited the Museum of the Rockies.  The kids' favorite part of that museum was the kids playroom, where they were able to make crafts, play in a fort, and go "fishing".

 

 

We also took a stroll through Napoleon's collection, where they had real pieces of his history.  I think that would have had more impact if they actually knew who he was.  Haley and Andrew had heard of him, but Ben and I were the only ones who thought it was really cool.

 

We then went through the dinosaur exhibit, which was less impressive to the kids than I thought it would be.  But they still enjoyed it, even though Grace had to look REALLY hard to see what these things were, and Joey was mesmerized and disgusted by the display of carnage and blood.

 

 

The museum also has a living history farm, where you can go into an old farmhouse and walk around the grounds.  There are people there who are dressed in clothes from the 1800's, and they show what life was like back then (you know, with no water, and outhouses -- which Matt had to check out 7 times).

 

The kids really liked to watch the blacksmith, who was busy in this little shop making some wonderful thing out of iron.  After that, we stepped outside and took a picture.  Before they would sit still, Matt had to excitedly point out that Haley had something crawling on her leg, which brought the whole procedure to a standstill.

But we finally got it done:)

4th of July

We started the 4th of July pretty much like we always do... with a bbq in the back yard!  We made organic burgers, and had lots of salads, fruit, and of course -- a cake -- to celebrate Wilma's birthday.  She got a new hat, too.  I think the color worked perfectly with her wardrobe that day!

And then it was off to the fireworks.  We left pretty early this year, mostly because I always forget what time we left last year (it always turns out to be too early), and then we leave too early again.  But at least we got the spot we wanted!

We brought lots of games and snacks.  Joey, Grace, Matt and I played catch for a long time.  We always walk around the cemetery -- we go to the cemetery because it's got a good view of the fireworks that go off down the hill, and it's easy to get in and out.  We look at the names and dates and ages of people who died.  Joey always gets a little weepy when we get to the children's graves.  He hates it when anyone or anything dies.  Even bugs.  He's got a very soft heart.

Matt likes to walk off by himself.  We lose him a lot.  It's really a miracle he's still alive.

The sun was going down, and Haley was practicing the song she learned on the guitar.  Matt decided it would be a good time to draw.  At least he was sitting in one place.  Plus, he was drawing a map of how to get home, because he thinks I'm an idiot.

I made everybody their own bag of popcorn.  It was supposed to be eaten during the fireworks, but Matt had a hard time deciding if he should wait or not.  He kept looking at the bag, unrolling it, rolling it back up, contemplating...

He did a good job using self-control.  Then he decided to eat it.  He lasted a lot longer than I thought he would, even though it didn't make it until the fireworks started.

The moon was a bright red because of all the fires.  Love the red moon, hate the fires.

I knew when the sun went down, it would be hard to keep track of the children.  It gets pretty busy around the cemetery, so I brought 3 packs of glow sticks and gave them to the kids to wear.  It helped a lot (except when they decided to take them off and twirl them around -- which was stopped the first time they hit someone's car with one).

The kids are usually ready to go home before the fireworks are done, so we just pack up and head out.  It's kind of nice that they want to leave early, because we don't have to fight the crowds, and we can still see the fireworks display on the way home!

Painting Salt

We've been bored a lot this summer.  We're kind of just waiting around for our vacation to get here.  So, thanks to Pinterest, we decided to paint some salt.  We took glue, made a design, and then dropped watered down paint onto it.  We watched the colors spread, and the kids loved it.  It wasn't something that we could keep, because the salt begins to crumble after awhile.  But thank goodness for pictures!  I can snap one, and then throw them away!

Matt went with his standard rainbow picture.  He loves rainbows:

Grace did a beautiful smiley face:

Andrew and Joey went with swirly sunbursts.  They each did them a little different, and they turned out great:

Amazing Grace

Grace is a garage-sale-lover.  When she gets bored, or wants money, she sets up a garage sale in her room.  She merchandises everything very well (there may be a future there), prices everything accordingly (usually her prices are steep, so be prepared to bring lots of cash), and stays open all day long (or until we need the benches back).

Also, she is great at snorkeling, and looks fabulous in goggles.

Red Lodge, Part 2

After we had stuffed ourselves with pizza (see post below), we decided to go to a little creek side park and digest for awhile.  We found The Smallest Beach in the World, where we all just barely managed to fit.  The kids skipped rocks and played in the sand.  Then we washed them up, packed them back in the car (after Matt used the outhouse -- not because he had to go very bad, he just wanted to see inside there), and headed back to the park.

It was much cooler by then, so we enjoyed our time there a little more.  We also helped some local grandparents figure out how to fly their grandson's remote control helicopter.  Andrew was very useful, and had it figured out in no time.  Before we left, he was instructing them on how to use it, how to charge it, and how to store it.