We had an incredible week in Montana visiting our Obert family. The girls loved the freedom to run around on the ranch and especially loved getting to play with their cousin Hailey :)
The trip didn't start off quite as well as we might have hoped... Izzy threw up in the car on the way to the airport, which actually was a BLESSING, since it prompted me to put several changes of clothes into our carry on bags instead of checking them all... and as it turns out, our babies get motion sickness! Izzy threw up again on our first leg, and then Abby threw up twice on the second. Yikes. All in all, not a huge deal, and Dramamine came to our rescue on the way home... Mom would much prefer to coddle sleepy babies on the plane than to clean up puke-y babies :)
Thus, Papa and the uncles greeted two mismatched, tired, and slightly queasy babies at the airport :)
The girls didn't waste any time before wrapping Nana and Papa around their fingers... :)
...and their great grandparents were quick to lavish hugs and kisses on them...
Great-Grandpa John
Great-Grandma Katy
...but I think the girls' favorite relative this trip was their cousin Hailey.
Hailey is two years older than the girls, and she was SO sweet with them, helping them up and down the porch steps and showing them the ropes all around the ranch. She helped them on the swings...
...taught them how to jump off of the doghouse...
...and generally giggled, ran, and played with the girls to all of their hearts' content.
Nana got all three girls matching T-shirts with three little moose on the front... they were definitely a big hit!
Haily showed us where her room will be in her new house. Jessie and Jon are building a house on some acreage out by Cooney Dam. It is GORGEOUS out there... and the adjacent lot is for sale, prompting some speculation about whether we need to build a summer house there! I'm sold, as long as the deed restrictions don't prevent me from raising chickens... :)
This is the first time in quite a while that we've had all of Dan's siblings in one place!
The girls met their Uncle Greg, Dan's older brother, for the first time this trip. He didn't waste any time before endearing himself to them by giving them rides on the 4-wheeler. The girls loved it, telling their drivers to go faster, faster.
Lest anyone think that a week on the ranch was too rough-and-tumble for our generally very girly-girls, we thought we'd share some pictures from the softer side of Nana and Papa's...
...and lest anyone call me a bad mom for letting the girls go barefoot on the gravel, please know that I tried and tried, but they were INSISTENT that they wanted nothing to do with their shoes. Given Izzy's generally very sensitive feet, I thought I'd go with it! Oh, and speaking of gravel, the girls were FASCINATED by the rocks, and collected them with great care, running over periodically to show us particularly amazing finds.
We made another trip to the Beartooth Nature Center, this time later in the afternoon when the animals were eating dinner, which the girls LOVED. We didn't get any great shots of the animals, but the girls were introduced to the all-American pastime of blowing dandelion seeds. We have plenty of weeds in Texas, but so far, I haven't noticed the classic blow-able balls in our yard. The girls were pretty captivated.
Nana and Hailey taught the girls to dig for worms in the garden. The girls were pretty excited about them, but were a little disconcerted when the worms started to squiggle.
Nana is a little jealous of our lengthy growing season in Texas, but she definitely has the upper hand in acreage. Her potato patch is bigger than ALL three of the gardens that we planted this year put together! It's awesome. The girls helped her plan peas and squash... Abby was delighted to help.
In preparing the girls for all that we would find in Montana, we explained that they would get to see lots and lots of animals, including dogs, cats, horses, and cows. AND alpacas! One of the neighboring ranches raises them, so we stopped for a closer peek. They are much shorter than we thought, even after having driven by them so many times. They're very cute, but we opted to keep a safe distance on our side of the fence.
The girls helped paint Nana and Papa's house on Wednesday. Everyone pitched in and the house got a completely new and beautiful look in five hours that afternoon!
On Thursday evening, we took in a Billing Mustangs game. Izzy gobbled down the better part of Papa's hot dog and ate a bunch of Nana's popcorn, but wouldn't have anything to do with Hailey's cotton candy, despite Hailey's repeated insistence that she was trying to share something VERY VERY good. The home team lost, but we all had a GREAT time!
Abby took a definite shine to her Uncle Ryan when he came to visit at Christmastime last year, and on this trip, she declared that he was her favorite. :)
We took an afternoon to drive up into the mountains a little bit. It is SO gorgeous there... when the girls get a little bit bigger, we'll take a day trip into Yellowstone, which is up over the pass... by all reports a treacherous drive for which the girls will indubitably need to be doped up on Dramamine :) But for now, we're all absolutely content to take in the views of the wilderness from just past Red Lodge.
The girls loved being farm girls for the week. They did a lot of running, climbing, laughing, jumping, and just general frolicking.
All of the big farming implements were big hits...
..but the best of them all, at least in Izzy's opinion, was the tractor...
On Friday night, Dan remembered that Izzy had asked to ride the tractor, so Papa fired it up and gave the girls a quick ride around the shop. Each girl got a turn, but when it came time for Izzy to relinquish her seat, she refused. We ended up playing "tractor rides" for over an hour that night, with the other men stepping up to the plate and taking Abby and Hailey for rides on the 4-wheeler and the other tractor.
Abby was, of course, tickled pink to ride the 4-wheeler with her Uncle Ryan.
We had an amazing week and miss everyone already. This morning, Dan asked the girls what they wanted to do today and Abby replied, "Montana!" I think that's something we were all wishing we could be doing a lot more often.
For a little perspective, I thought I'd dig out our pictures from last year for a little time-lapse montage...
2009
2010
The girls met their Uncle Greg, Dan's older brother, for the first time this trip. He didn't waste any time before endearing himself to them by giving them rides on the 4-wheeler. The girls loved it, telling their drivers to go faster, faster.
Lest anyone think that a week on the ranch was too rough-and-tumble for our generally very girly-girls, we thought we'd share some pictures from the softer side of Nana and Papa's...
...and lest anyone call me a bad mom for letting the girls go barefoot on the gravel, please know that I tried and tried, but they were INSISTENT that they wanted nothing to do with their shoes. Given Izzy's generally very sensitive feet, I thought I'd go with it! Oh, and speaking of gravel, the girls were FASCINATED by the rocks, and collected them with great care, running over periodically to show us particularly amazing finds.
We made another trip to the Beartooth Nature Center, this time later in the afternoon when the animals were eating dinner, which the girls LOVED. We didn't get any great shots of the animals, but the girls were introduced to the all-American pastime of blowing dandelion seeds. We have plenty of weeds in Texas, but so far, I haven't noticed the classic blow-able balls in our yard. The girls were pretty captivated.
Nana and Hailey taught the girls to dig for worms in the garden. The girls were pretty excited about them, but were a little disconcerted when the worms started to squiggle.
Nana is a little jealous of our lengthy growing season in Texas, but she definitely has the upper hand in acreage. Her potato patch is bigger than ALL three of the gardens that we planted this year put together! It's awesome. The girls helped her plan peas and squash... Abby was delighted to help.
In preparing the girls for all that we would find in Montana, we explained that they would get to see lots and lots of animals, including dogs, cats, horses, and cows. AND alpacas! One of the neighboring ranches raises them, so we stopped for a closer peek. They are much shorter than we thought, even after having driven by them so many times. They're very cute, but we opted to keep a safe distance on our side of the fence.
The girls helped paint Nana and Papa's house on Wednesday. Everyone pitched in and the house got a completely new and beautiful look in five hours that afternoon!
On Thursday evening, we took in a Billing Mustangs game. Izzy gobbled down the better part of Papa's hot dog and ate a bunch of Nana's popcorn, but wouldn't have anything to do with Hailey's cotton candy, despite Hailey's repeated insistence that she was trying to share something VERY VERY good. The home team lost, but we all had a GREAT time!
Abby took a definite shine to her Uncle Ryan when he came to visit at Christmastime last year, and on this trip, she declared that he was her favorite. :)
We took an afternoon to drive up into the mountains a little bit. It is SO gorgeous there... when the girls get a little bit bigger, we'll take a day trip into Yellowstone, which is up over the pass... by all reports a treacherous drive for which the girls will indubitably need to be doped up on Dramamine :) But for now, we're all absolutely content to take in the views of the wilderness from just past Red Lodge.
The girls loved being farm girls for the week. They did a lot of running, climbing, laughing, jumping, and just general frolicking.
All of the big farming implements were big hits...
..but the best of them all, at least in Izzy's opinion, was the tractor...
On Friday night, Dan remembered that Izzy had asked to ride the tractor, so Papa fired it up and gave the girls a quick ride around the shop. Each girl got a turn, but when it came time for Izzy to relinquish her seat, she refused. We ended up playing "tractor rides" for over an hour that night, with the other men stepping up to the plate and taking Abby and Hailey for rides on the 4-wheeler and the other tractor.
Abby was, of course, tickled pink to ride the 4-wheeler with her Uncle Ryan.
We had an amazing week and miss everyone already. This morning, Dan asked the girls what they wanted to do today and Abby replied, "Montana!" I think that's something we were all wishing we could be doing a lot more often.
For a little perspective, I thought I'd dig out our pictures from last year for a little time-lapse montage...
2009
2010
No comments:
Post a Comment