Road Trip

We did it! What you might be wondering? Well, we finally stopped talking about it and went on a little trip. We left our little town(and our country for that matter) and headed south... approximately six hours drive south, to the charming little town of Bozeman, Montana. We went to visit John's sister and her family, and if you've ever seen the movie "A River Runs through it"-that's where we were. I was a little bit worried about the driving aspect of the trip-the part where I have to be in a van with 3 kids under the age of 5 for FIVE and a half hours-but even that was FUN! Considering our kids have never really travelled (further then two hours) they did great!

I love this picture of John because it is the perfect illustration of what we were feeling as we left. "Uh we don't know where we are going...but we're havin' fun!" Of course, the kids did get a bit restless a couple of hours into it (it was bound to happen), so John just pulled over...cut them a few stalks of grass and voila, they had some nice swords to tie them over for a few more hours.

Needless to say we were thrilled when we finally arrived. Abby and Sam were delighted to be with their cousins and ...their cousin's TOYS! Abby and Sam spent most of the weekend being pirates, droids, sorcerers building train stations and anything else that their cousins introduced them to. It was great!


John and our brother in law took the kids to a dinosaur museum one morning. Abby loves dinosaurs. Something about seeing replicas though just freaks her out:) She still talks about the dinosaur that kept "winking" at her (There actually was a replica of a sleeping baby triceratops whose stomach moved in and out to simulate breathing... Abby's concerns about the dinosaurs being alive seemed to have snowballed from that point forward.) Sarah showed me some great shops in the downtown area and I really could have spent all day there just exploring...and spending. She was really nice to show me several Art Stores which consisted of the work of local artists in that area. I was able to buy some Art supplies which I was so excited about. In fact, when I got home last night, one of the first things I did was organize all my supplies into my new "supply box." You know how in elementary school when you go shopping for school supplies and then spend all day putting your name on everything, organizing it and just basically loving it all? That's how I felt. Anyways, I'm deviating. Back to our trip.
We went out one night to a cool pizza place that served the most authentic and unique pizza we'd ever had. Think mandarin oranges, almonds, and hawaiian toppings on a thin crust... it was a flavor sensation! I feel the need to state however, in case Sarah and Ed are reading this, that their own cooking FAR SURPASSED any restaurant we could have ever gone to! The most amazing shrimp pasta, roasted goat cheese with olive oil and pepper spread, waffles with maple cream, nutmeg and toasted pecans, oh my goodness! (you can't tell but I'm drooling right now!!!)



One of the highlights for us was traveling to a nearby resort named Chico, Montana. It was a very pituresque resort that utilized some natural hotsprings in the outdoor hotel pool. The kids had never been to a hot spring before, and I'd not been to one since I was little. I couldn't believe how HOT the water was. The weather was stunning, almost Summer-like, and it was nice to just sit back and watch our kids almost drown...uh I mean have so much fun! Seriously, the concept of a hotspring still baffles me. This earth can do some pretty cool things!!


The second major highlight for us was getting to tag along and watch John's sister perform in her first big piano recital. Now she is already a talented pianist, but she is one of those people who always seems to be striving for excellence in one way or another. She's begun taking lessons to STRENGTHEN her skills as a classical pianist. This was her first real recital and we were glad that we were able to crash it. When I say "We", I really mean everyone but me, Sam and Jess. They were simply to loud for us to feel safe taking them into the auditorium, so I simply walked the halls with them. Sam found a vase of decorative plants which he enjoyed taking apart. You'll notice in the pics below, he literally fell asleep under the chairs while clutching some of the buildings decor. Yes...I should do more to control my kids, I know. There was a quaint little duck pond across the street so after the recital the kids fed the ducks. That is always a hit!



Whew. That was a lot to catch up on. Believe me when I say that I did'nt even mention it all. John and I got home last night, and felt quite certain that this past weekend was in our eyes-darn near perfect!! We had such fun, and saw some neat things. (On the trip home, we saw some bald eagles too. Gorgious!) It seems that the more places and people we visit lately- the more we realize we have a lot to learn about being good "hosts". We LOVED every second of being down there.