Montana- Sunday and Monday

The bedroom where we slept in Montana has this magical window shade that blocks out ALL sunlight.   It is amazing.  I would open it just enough when I went to bed, so that the sun would awaken me at some point during the day, but the kids could be tricked into in past 7.

We were very happy that church didn't begin until 1pm, so we would sleep in and so the kids got to enjoy the morning exploring the farm and helping grandma with the chores.

The kids were thrilled to find a garden snake on the way to get ready for church, and did NOT want to let it free.

So we took turns passing it around and around until finally mean old Mom set it free.

That didn't stop them from trying to track it back to it's home, in hopes of catching it again later.

Monday was farm day.

Alex had been so excited to see the horses from the minute she discovered we would be visiting Grandma's house.

But what everyone loved the most that day were the sheep!

The kids chased them back and forth from one end of the property to the other and then left open gates for them to escape.  We would have to run around the yard trying to herd them back through the gates and Alex felt like a little shepherd.

Alex has decided to grow her hair out.  I threatened her that if that was her choice then she would have to let me brush and do her hair EVERYDAY!  So we would sit down for 20 minutes every morning and I would get to do everyone's hair.

The farm is a magical place for little kids.

And I'm so glad that Archie was able to come along on our visit so that Alex could have someone to share all the adventures with.

Heidi's companion of choice was Sammy, or "Sandy" as she called her.  I can't remember if Heidi had just kissed Sammy's nose, or if Sammy had just licked Heidi's mouth here.

Alex was quite concerned when one little sheep got separated from it's friends and took it upon herself to reunite them.  It was so cute.  That night we talked about Jesus and the 1 sheep of the 99.  I don't think she got it.

Alex is  my little bleeding heart.  I think she got my "gift" of over empathizing with things.  Fortunately for me that does not yet extend to spiders or grasshoppers, which she will eagerly squish for nickels.

Most of all it was just fun being with my Mom and David (not pictured).

We spent plenty of time with the horses.

And mean old Bucks even let Heidi pet him.  Then she became obsessed with the white horse and asked all week to ride it.

Alex was secretly thrilled when both her and the sheep were headed the same place and it seemed as though they were following her.  This was the day my Mom reminded me of when we had just moved onto the farm and Michael and I shared the job of guarding the fence at the far back pasture.  We would take 3-4 hour shifts sitting on a chair in the field trying to keep the sheep from sneaking through the fence to the neighbors field.  This was before ipods. It was very boring.

Grandma had saved some milk from when the lambs were babies so the kids could have a try at feeding them.

Archie and his lamb were both champions at the task.

Heidi didnt' quite have the strength to keep the eager lamb from pushing her over.

But Annie did it like a pro and got down to business.

There was lots of team work going on the whole week.  It turns out if you set a couple of kids free in a giant yard with plenty of dangerous things, they don't feel the need to come bug you about being bored or to ask for help every 15 minutes.  Heidi was always 5 steps behind the big kids.

Which scared me to death after learning she could climb up AND down the ladder to the tree house on her own.  I tried to help her down once but was so terrified that I almost made her fall myself.  She didnt' fall out of the treehouse, but before the week was over she got shocked by the electric fence, fell off the trampoline and got bit by the dog on the face (she earned it and I think the dog let her off easy).  I did catch Alex once trying to scale the fencing at the top so she could climb higher in the tree.

My favorite part of the trip was leaving these two to their own devices.  They would run in and out of the house as they pleased, asking for snacks and then disappearing again.  We didn't have to worry about cars or strangers and I learned that I can trust Alex.  She knew what was off limits and where not to go, and I didn't have to worry about cars running her over or her getting lured into neighbors houses by sly children.  They played so well, and loved their freedom!