bozeman lovin'

How's this for a half-birthday present? Our "Auntie" Caitlin promised Isaac a trip to any Montana dino museum of his choosing! After much see-sawing, he finally settled on the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, a 3-hour drive from Missoula. We had incredible 70-degree weather to cap off an amazing time!

Caitlin with Link and Cheky Lou The boys were just a little bit intimidated of the life-sized dino models! Can you detect a bit of fear in their faces?

This cool bone had T-Rex bite marks in it! In the late 80s this nearly complete T-Rex skeleton was discovered in Montana. The museum also houses the most extensive triceratops collection in the world! What would a fun trip with Auntie "Taitlin" (as Link calls her) be without ice cream? We camped near a gorgeous river and capped off the night with some fine soaking at Norris Hot Springs complete with a live musician. We took the long route home through Ennis and Virginia City and enjoyed the sites there. Thanks for a fantastic time, Caitlin!!!

farewell, summer

Ah, summer. Tis always sad to see you fade into Fall. Some highlights from our summer:

Link riding his new bike Playing with Andi and Henry at the Bob Dylan concert! Link and his pal, Mr. Fuzzy Bunz Simple pleasures Scary wolf and lion! . . . don't ask! . . . Hiking in Blodgett Canyon Welcome, Autumn!

coeur d'alene

For a little Labor Day vacay, we headed west for 2.5 hours and hit up Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The lake there is so gorgeous!

Found a few amazing hikes

Jed telling the boys the legend of Bigfoot in our tent Meese art (dedicated to Madison :) More meese art!

preschool

Link started preschool!

a visit from britt

Wow! FOUR--yes, count them--4 weekends in a row we had out-of-town guests. FUN! We loved every minute of every visit. The last visitor to crash our place was my awesome niece Brittany and her friend, Liz, who came just for the Brandi Carlile concert. We had an amazing time!The highlight was, you guessed it, the Brandi concert in the historic Wilma theater. It was a gorgeous evening and an incredible concert!

Brittany and Liz were so sweet to play with the boys (I think Link even developed a mini crush on Liz. . . early one morning I overheard him, still laying in bed, whisper to himself, "I love Liz." :) Thanks for coming and the great time, girls!

a visit from lisa

Wow! 3 weekends in a row we had family in town! This time Lisa, Suz, and Ani braved the 536-mile drive (Lisa alone!) to see us. We had a ball!

Kids lined up on our hike in Pattee Canyon

Playing at Bonner park Ani and Link getting into Lisa's lip gloss! (We also went tubing, as you can see :) Lots of bike rides! Dragon Park, revisited What would a trip to Missoula be without a ride on the Carousel? We were nearly rained out at the Celtic Festival, but we managed to stay long enough for Young Dubliners live (and loud!) performance! Picnic dinner at Caras Park, Clark Fork River in background Link and Ani LOVED the Celtic music and danced their hearts out--but Suzy, who is scared of loud noise--cried and covered her ears! *sisters* But we couldn't outrun the storm forever. . .on our bike ride home, we were caught in a drenching deluge! I was proud of Isaac, though, for making it without complaining!

We also took a trip to Splash Montana for an afternoon, which was really fun! Thanks for the amazing time, guys!!!