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!

Roadtrip to Montana

Within 2 months of getting married I inherited the only 4 sisters I've ever known. And boy are they amazing!  The bar is high for my two younger brothers to find companions near the caliber of my other sisters in law.  I love them all dearly and have found that as great as it was before we had kids, my relationships with these women have skyrocketed once I (or they) had kids. 

I have one sister in law in particular whose children are very near in age to my own, and who has always lived close.  As close as we are now it's a surprise to think back to the days before we both had kids and realize that we NEVER hung out. At all. Then LOST happened. I had a small baby and nothing to do, she was super pregnant with a job she could do at home and so we came together and watched LOST.

4 years later Kate and her kids accompanied me to Montana for the second time in our friendship.  I have gone of road trips with many friends and used to say "A road trip is the true test of a friendship. It ALWAYS seems to make it or break it."  Then I took a road trip, in a van, with 4 kids and Kate.  I can tell you right now that THIS is the true test of friendship (and motherhood) and we made it.

Archie experiencing what it must feel like to be vacuumed up

Kate planned all the fantastic stops on the trip.  We planned on stopping at any and every place that struck our fancy, doing exactly what our husbands (or any husband I would imagine) would NOT do.  We planned on stopping for pie in Brigham city (but it wasn't open) and instead went to a park.

A couple hours later we went to the most fantastic thing to ever hit Idaho. The "CLEAN MUSEUM"!!!!  I know, everyone we told rolled their eyes when we informed them of this plan- but it was amazing!

Those goofy shirts the kids are wearing were made the day before departure, by them.  We are so cool.

It was FULL of old vacuums, washing machines, bathtubs- you name it!

And EVERYTHING was hands on and totally touchable.  No glass boxes to keep you out, or ropes for the kids to sneak under.  It was a old warehouse they had fixed up and FILLED with portable toilets, vacuum cars, buffers and mops.

We spend 2.5 hours there and could have easily stayed for another hour.

This was the place I discovered that getting all 3 kids to look at the camera was not going to happen on the trip. Ever.

Annie was such a sport and by far the most well behaved child on the trip.

I think I lost all my good parenting strategies after the first 45 minutes and then spent the next week trying to explain to the preschoolers in the very back that "If you drop something I CAN NOT get it for you, so STOP dropping things".  Kate was the champion of patience the entire week and I can tell you right now, our husbands could not have survived.

Day one was acclimation for Alex and Archie who had never been tied down so close to each other for so long.  They amused themselves by touching the other persons car seat to annoy them, and trying to get me to turn around and look at them ever 4.2 seconds.

By day 2 they were pretty well past the "lets drive each other nuts" stage and moved on to best friends for the week.

Kate was nearly a master at the floor buffer obstacle course.WOW, that thing is powerful and unpredictable, but the kids all managed to get out of the way in time.

Kate and I had loaded the car with treats and prizes to be rewarded regularly throughout the trip, and I had even hot glued fast food trays to pillowcases so they could color or snack or whatever on them.

I thought they were brilliant, the kids were not impressed.

Annie kept taunting us, our goal was to get her walking but instead she grew in 2 teeth.

On one side of the entryway was this giant green 3 level ball.  On each floor were super fun stations like a typewriter or dollhouse, a play kitchen and a bed to make.  Across from it was a giant 2 level Noah's Ark for the kids to run around. I'm telling you, the Clean Museum in Pocatello, Idaho is a definite rival for the Children's Museum in SLC! GO THERE!

An hour out of Pocatello we hit Blackfoot and stopped for a photo at the World Largest Potato!

There was also an old caboose by the parking lot and we spent another hour climbing up, down and around that thing.  

The kids were on a "pretend" high and herded cows, fixed the train and fought off bad guys forever.

They did NOT want to leave.  Kate has the pictures of our next stop, the St. Anthony Sand Dunes!  We ran and jumped and rolled and dug and had a blast.  This is another must stop at, every time we go to Montana.

We were almost to West Yellowstone (where we had decided to get a hotel at the last minute instead of camping in the park) when traffic stopped.  We drove for a mile behind a truck stuck behind Mr. Buffalo who was walking directly in the middle of our lane.  Every single oncoming car had to stop and take a picture so there was no going around him for a good 20 minutes.

West Yellowstone greeted us with a rainbow and a motel with 2 Queen beds. We were in heaven.

Not only did the kids boycott looking at the camera all together, but these two secretly decided to make goofy faces at me nearly every time I took a picture of them. grumble grumble grumble.

The next morning after a more restful sleep than you would think (sharing a bed with two kids and a room with 4) we had a super fantastic breakfast at the Three Bear Hotel (I highly recommend it) and walked out of the restaurant to find that it was POURING on us.  We ran to the car and got loaded up just in time for it to stop, so we decided to unload and be tourists.

The kids wanted to take pictures with every bear that we saw.

And so,

We did.

Then we ran to the car and loaded up again just as it began to pour, again.  This was the theme of the day.

We did see Bison, baby Bison, Elk, deer and a momma bear with her babies though!

We had about the ONLY kids at Yellowstone park that day, and were the least appropriately dressed tourists.  Everyone else was wearing pants and coats and the foreigners all had fancy matching slicker outfits on with hiking boots.

An older Asian man stopped and followed Kate and her kids for a few minutes video taping them, and my girls were honored to have a complete stranger take their picture, also Asian.

I'm pretty sure the entire park wondered who these children's parents were as we tried to keep up,

me pushing and empty stroller, hoping they would be able to stop running on the slick wood without sliding into the hot water,

and Kate trying to maneuver stairs with Annie in the stroller yelling for the big kids to come back.

We were very lucky in that we made it to Old Faithful just in time.

Me "EVERYONE COME HERE AND LOOK AT THE CAMERA!"

Within 5 minutes of arrival we saw hot water shooting in the air!

The kids might have been able to care less.  I think if they had to wait for 40 minutes like I always had to as a kid, they might have appreciated it more.

But perhaps not.

It seemed as though the two young women with the 4 kids ages 1,2,3 and 4 were the half time attraction while the late comers waited to see the eruption, and we tried to have a picnic and get back to the car.

The kids napped until Cook city where we stopped for a great lunch and another rainstorm and then headed towards Beartooth Pass and Red Lodge.

It was hailing as we passed our last chance to divert before heading into the land of snow and steep switchbacks.  I was nervous, but Kate's nerves were made of steel.

The view was breathtaking.

It was one of the most scenic drives I have ever been on and I made a mental note to hike them thar mountains with Tyler (sans kids) before we got old and boring.

There was lots of snow.

I had planned on getting a great shot of Kate with the scenery, but it was hailing again as I took this picture and as we drove down the pass.  We stopped in Red Lodge to sugar up at the Candy Emporium, and then we finally made it to Billings!