We arrived late on July 25th and spent the next couple of days opening up, stocking the fridge and pantry, and trimming the grasses. We picked up Alex and her two little ones at the airport on Monday just in time for lunch at the DQ in Whitefish. Leo was absolutely thrilled to see Radlee again, and loved driving the tractor with Grandpa and riding the ATV. He was a little nervous about the tire swing, but was so proud once he mastered climbing on/off by himself. Leo couldn't wait to attend the Farmers Market on Tuesday evening where he could take his turn holding the fire hose and helping the firemen put out the "fires" on a burning house.
Leo was anxious to help me dust the rooms downstairs and get things ready for the Cosbys to arrive late Tuesday night. It was pure joy Wednesday morning for Belle and Livi to bundle up and join Leo and June to sit out on the porch for toast and hot chocolate for breakfast. They love wearing their warm jammies to play outside until the sun warms up enough to get dressed. Alex found their buckets/shovels and they made "nature soup." They loved taking turns on the tire swings and hammock,riding the ATV, playing in the dirt, eating snacks, and hiking up to the railroad tracks. Grandpa and Ben hooked up the horse trailer and took all three of them to the Bar W to pick up the horse.
Another fun tradition was the rodeo in Columbia Falls Thursday evening. Isabelle is determined to be a barrel racer someday, Olivia thinks she can ride a bull, and Leo loves the tractors!
The Woodbury family reunion this year was an Alaskan cruise, so Alex, Leo, and little June left very early Friday morning to meet Nick in Seattle and join the rest of his family onboard. Charles & Audra and Shari took a little vacation up north and stopped to spend the night with us Thursday night. They had planned to drive through Glacier National Park, but part of the park was still closed due to the forest fire, so they headed north to Lake Louise, Banff, and Calgary. They stopped at the temple in Cardston, then came back around the bottom of the park to spend the night with us again Saturday night.
Sunday, August 2nd, Happy Birthday, Amy!!! We went to church, then strolled through downtown Whitefish and had lunch at MacKenzie River Pizza Co., and sang "Happy Birthday" over yummy homemade ice cream at Sweet Peaks.
This summer we added something new to our list of "must dos" and spent an afternoon at Whitefish Lake. We got lunch at the Fart & Slobber Inn and took it with us. The girls loved playing in the shallow water, and Ben rented a kayak and took them paddling out on the lake.
Tuesday morning we headed to the ski resort. Belle was excited to once again spend hours on the Aerial Adventure Park in the trees, while Livi explored the Spider Monkey Mountain tower/slide. We rode the lift up the mountain, and I rode it back down again while Ben & Amy and the girls rode the Alpine Slide down! We had just enough time to go home and regroup before heading to town for one of Olivia's favorite things, the Farmers Market. We sat on a blanket on the lawn and enjoyed dinner from an eclectic group of food vendors, shopped for souvenirs at the craft booths, and munched freshly made kettle korn.
Isabelle grows a little more confident each year riding the horse. She did a great job riding all around by herself every day. She created her own "barrel loops" riding around and through the trees, and did all of her riding bareback this year. Olivia rode some naked back too (as she called it!) but preferred riding the ATV. Belle also mastered riding the ATV solo this year, and loved it whenever Grandpa asked her to take Artie and go get something for him.
All the while all of this fun was going on, Lee and Ben were on the roof of the barn! Lee's goal was to get the trusses on the center roof up, and the sub-roofing on. I was especially grateful that Ben was able to help him accomplish that goal. Next trip will be the metal roofing. I will be so glad when Lee is finished climbing on the roof!
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