Lewis and Clark Caverns

On the way home we stopped at Lewis and Clark Caverns. Looking back, we realize that a 2 mile hike up a hill and through the caverns wasn't our smartest move ever.

So Much to Do!

We spent one evening feeding the ducks and watching them set up for Shakespeare in the Park. We didn't stick around for the play. We thought that might be pushing our luck...

The kids did so well on this little hike we took in Bozeman. I couldn't believe how far up the trail they hiked on their own, and they were having a great time!

More Fun in Bozeman

Bozeman and Big Mike

David and the kids came to join me in Bozeman while I was there for a work conference. We turned it into a fun family vacation and Lanie is still talking about "Big Mike" (the T-Rex)

Aren't they too cute??

Daddy's learning that fishing trips are no longer about him...and he's loving every minute of it

Summer Time and the Livin's Easy...

These were taken on the same trip to Missoula. This was our first big outing of the summer. We went to the Children's Museum, the carousel and the Dragon Hollow playground. A great day!

Time to Play Catch Up!

So I know it's September, but I'm going to go back and try to catch everyone up on the Keast family summer. It was a wonderful example of how normalcy can be the most thrilling thing ever. It was so much fun spending the summer at home with Lanie and Jack. We spent most of the time hanging out at the house and were also able to get in some great trips. They have grown beyond belief over the past few months. I no longer am the mom of a toddler and an infant, but instead have one big kid and one little big kid as Lanie would say.

This picture at the Missoula Children's museum reminds me of a picture my grandma took of me when I was just a little bigger than Lanie.

Jack's first carousel ride

Fun Visit With Grandpa!

Ahh...Montana Weather

We went from having fun in the sun to needing our"rainbrella" and boots in a matter of a day.

"You Belong Among The Wildflowers..."

Here are a few pictures from the weekend mentioned below...
Lanie loved going for a walk in the woods, finding wildflowers, and looking them up in our field guide. In fact she keeps asking when we'll go again---if only this stinking rain would let up!

Beautiful Pre-Summer Weekend

We had such a wonderful, beautiful weekend. It truly felt like the start of summer vacation. We started the weekend early on Thursday when we went for a walk with granny up at her house. We tried out the new double stroller on lend from friends. It was great except Lanie didn't really want to ride. She was much more content dawdling along picking up rocks and noticing every little thing on the side of the road. At the turn around spot, Lanie and Jack both spent a good 15 minutes throwing rocks into the creek before we headed back to meet up with David at granny's house.(He got to go on a real hike sans kids) Friday David and I took the kids for a walk. The idea was to go in the woods so Lanie could look for flowers. Unfortunately we hadn't renewed our Tribal Permits and got turned around by the only Tribal Game Warden I've ever seen up at the Dam. So that lead to plan B which was a lovely walk along the canal path. Lanie still got to see plenty of flowers, and we came across a mama duck and 6 or 7 newly hatched babies (or I should say Pipps and Tucker came across them!). Saturday morning was the town clean-up. Lanie was very excited to pick up trash and tell "all those people to stop throwing trash in my town" Sadly, only about 4 other people showed up, so there was no one to hear her on her soapbox...Saturday we also broke out the sprinkler from great grandma, and Sunday was the official 1st day of the swimming pool. I'm worried about what I started here. They both loved splashing around, and I'm sure it will be the request every day from now until December. We finished the weekend off Sunday night by working in the garden, if you can call it that. We didn't have a garden last year, so now we have to dig through a giant patch of weeds to reclaim our area. For some reason this just filled me with hope and anticipation. I cannot wait to see our yard in full bloom nor can I wait to spend an entire summer home with the kids. All in all it was the perfect weekend and I only have 2 1/2 weeks of school left!!!