A Weekend Trip at Izaak Walton Inn

Hunter, JP, and Charlotte took their first train ride to the Izaak Walton Inn, along with Grandma Betty, mom and dad. We arrived at the Inn shortly after 9 and had a nice breakfast before getting ready to play outside.

With our bellies full, everyone bundled up to spend the morning snowshoeing. I think the jury is still out as to whether or not Hunter and JP enjoyed it or not. 

 This was not only Hunter and JP's first time snowshoeing, but mine as well! I had a lot of fun with it too! I imagine Charlotte enjoyed it too as she slept through the majority of it.

 Perry had to do all the hard work getting everyone strapped in. It was a little tricky for me with Charlotte on my back!

 Within minutes of getting their snowshoes on, both Hunter and JP got themselves stuck in this tree "hole." Hunter was able to get himself out, but with snowshoes on, it made it impossible for JP.

 These little boys were SO CUTE with their itty bitty snowshoes on!

 After a little snowball fight, Grandma and the boys hiked up this fairly large hill. Coming down was fun to watch as Grandma had to slide on her butt for most of the way.

 Although we had to take quite a few breaks, both Hunter and JP were troopers!

 And so was Grandma, who again found it challenging to go downhill! She used her snowshoes to ski down this little trail.

 After packing Charlotte around, my back was starting to hurt a bit and my hips were aching. So I finally sat down with my hubby in the snow and took a little break. With all the breaks we took, we got back to the Inn just as the little St. Patrick's Day parade was coming down the road. When I say little, I mean there was maybe 5 "floats" but the boys score a few pieces of candy anyways!

We spent the early afternoon inside relaxing. The adults worked together on a puzzle while Hunter and JP played trains. Once they started getting a little stir crazy, we took a little walk up the road.

There was a TON of snow piled along the road. Nearly taller than Perry! 

We walked until we made it to a bridge where Hunter enjoyed throwing snowballs off the side, even though he couldn't see over the berm. 

Meanwhile, Grandma got a little Charli, all the while sparing my back a little bit!

On the walk home, Hunter had more fun throwing snowballs, and even managed to hit dad with a few!

JP spent his time simply walking slow and punch the berms as he went. 

We made it back to the Inn just as the wind was starting to pick up a little bit, so we hung out by the fire place until the lobby area to warm up, before it was closed briefly for a wedding. Before leaving the lobby, we discovered our departing train was going to be a little late. Originally we should have been leaving the Inn at about 7:35 pm, but the board in the lobby showed it wouldn't be arriving until 9:15 pm. As the afternoon progressed, the later the train was scheduled to arrived. Eventually the boys fell asleep on the couches around 8:30 and after a lot of bouncing and shushing, Charlotte finally fell asleep too. 

Our train finally arrived at the station at 11:30 and by that point, everyone was exhausted from the long day. After another hour on the train and a short drive home, we all crawled into our beds around 1 am and passed out for the night, well everyone but Charlotte. And mom. 

Although the day turned out much longer than expected I think fun was had by all!

A Train Ride to Izaak Walton Inn

For part of Hunter's birthday present when he turned 5, Grandma Betty gave him a suitcase. For the other part, she gave him a card promising to take him on the train. There was talk about going in December, then January, and then February filled up too. As soon as we had a weekend for the train scheduled, it was up on our calendar and Hunter, very eagerly, counted down the weeks, and then the days. We couldn't have picked a better weekend to go! The weather was perfect!

Once Perry arrived home from work Friday evening, we loaded up in the car and headed to the Whitefish house for the night. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have drank a large cappuccino on the way there because I was up ALL night. Needless to say 5:30am came too quickly for me! 

 We pulled into the train station just as our train was pulling in. Unfortunately, I missed any and all photo opportunities because holding a coffee in one hand makes it impossible. I would have liked to get a picture of Hunter and JP standing in front of the train before they boarded, but I missed it. At that point, I just tossed my coffee and scored this one. Barely. 

 JP was a little nervous at first but Hunter was very excited and made himself right at home. Because of daylights saving the week before, it was still dark out when we left Whitefish so there wasn't much of a view until a little later in the morning. 

 Charlotte enjoyed her time looking out and banging on the windows anyways. 

 Once the train got cookin', Perry and I took Hunter and JP one car back to the observation car. I can't explain how hilarious it was to watch them try to walk while the train swayed back and forth. I completely forgot how tricky it can be, otherwise I would have had the video function on. If I remember correctly, JP nearly fell over. 

 They had a lot of fun looking out the big windows and seeing everything fly by. 

J - Look up there! I see another train!

M - That's the same train. The train you're on right now.

J - Oh.....Look! There's another one!

M - Nope. Same one. 

 The train had a quick stop at West Glacier so we returned to our seats and Hunter and JP had the opportunity to use my camera to take a picture of mom and dad. They pretty much rocked it. 

We pulled into Essex just after 9:00 am. The train ride was about an hour and fifteen minutes long. Just long enough to keep them entertained. But again, I missed the opportunity to have a nice picture of Hunter and JP standing by the train, so this is the best I got. Since the train ran a whopping 4 hours late for departure, they were sleeping when the train arrived to pick us up to take us home...Next time!

You can read about the rest of the day here. 

Monkey Shiner Babblings

P - If the train was on schedule we would be boarding pretty soon, but it's in Havre right now.
M - Hunter, do you remember where Havre is? Think really hard.
H - Uh yeah.
M - Where is it?
H - It's in the middle of nowhere!
M - I'm not sure you could have answered that any better if you tried!

Since most of all the snow has melted since the snowstorm 10 days ago, I took the kids to the park to enjoy the 50* weather we're having. Shortly after we arrived, a little girl showed up, as well as a little boy. Hunter was pretty much the park host, if there is such a thing! I was very proud him!
LB - Hi.
H - Hi! Do you want to play with us?
LB - Okay.
H - Okay! I'm Hunter and I'm just hanging out with my buddy Jimmy fighting bad guys. And that's our girl friend over there. We have to save her from the all the bad guys.
LB - My name is Carson.
H - Okay Martin! Let's go over here and you can help us play!

M - What's wrong Jim? Why are you crying?
J - My nose is plugged and I can't pick it!
M - Why don't you lay with me for a little bit and then you can go back to bed when you feel better?
*Ten minutes later*
J - Mom! I got it! I can go back to bed now!
M - Oh good! Can I have a kiss first?
J - Uh. No. You got one when you tucked me in.

M - What are you guys doing out here?
J - We're just playing in the mud we made!
M - What do you mean, "the mud you made?"
H - We peed on the dirt. I had to pee and then Jimmy had to pee so now we have mud! Can you go now so we can play in it?

Casey Gets a Puppy!

This weekend we spent some time hanging out with the Concienne's and their new puppy Cora.

 I'm sure for Kile and Chris, it was love at first site with their new puppy, but I think it's going to take some time for little Casey to warm up to him. 

 His first few hours with her were pretty cute though!

Good luck on your puppy training! 

Charlotte got in on the puppy action too, but she wasn't too amused either. Like with cousin Stevie, she was mostly interested in Casey's binky.

We ended the evening playing Apples to Apples, and Hunter insisted on playing as well. He quit when he was winning though. Because he can't read yet, or even know what the majority of the cards meant, he threw random cards. His most memoriable throws included playing "Bill Clinton" when the hint card was "trashy" and also playing "Women" when the hint card was "clumsy". Nicely played Hunter.

Monkey Shiner Babblings

M - Hunter, I need your help today at the store. We need to get a little boy a present but I don't know what little boys like. Do you have any idea?
H - Yes mom! I know! All little boys love hugs & kisses! Just send him hugs & kisses!

H - One time Aunt Kim went to the doctor. They cut open her leg and looked at it. Then they sewed it up with a machine and put the skin back on it. You know, if you get hit by a car you'll get hurt. And if you get hit by a deer you'll get hurt. And if you get hit by your brother you'll get hurt. Aunt Kim just needs to learn all this stuff because there are lots of ways you can get hurt!

H - Ugh! Where is Aunt Em at?!
J - It takes her a long time to get pretty!

M - Jim, it's time to get up. Do you know what shirt you want to wear today or should I pick it out?
J - Just get me a green shirt...

Occasionally Hunter and JP will play horse together and surprisingly they fight over who gets to be the horse, as opposed to the rider. During their play it was JP's turn to be the horse and as Hunter attempted to hop on, his horse took off on him which landed his face on the floor. His horse ran off giggling saying, "Your horse was too fast for you!" leaving him behind, crying with a red welt on his forehead.

Snow Day!

  The past few weeks have brought us TONS of snow! I don't so much mind it...but it's getting a little ridiculous! Last night Missoula County Public Schools declared today to be a snow day, and the University of Montana, as well as many other schools, and offices around town followed suit earlier this morning. It's nasty out there!

 You can hardly tell we have shrubs in the front yard! I won't even get started on the back yard!

 We're running out of places to put all this snow now. Our piles are getting HUGE! I'm glad I pushed a few of my piles back to allow me to throw more snow on them today!

 Have I said this before? I live on an AWESOME street because we have wonderful neighbors! Who needs husbands to shovel for us when we can do it ourselves?! Go Team Judy & Kerry! After lots of shoveling this afternoon, we finally cleared Kerry's driveway of snow...but with all the wind, it's not going to last long!

Hunter enjoyed his afternoon in the snow too. 

 

He was a challenge to get to come inside! JP on the other hand was eager to go back inside. We warmed up with Monster Hot Chocolate. Yumm!

 A few weeks back when we had significant enough snowfall, Perry built the boys a sledding hill in the backyard.

 He even spoiled them with wooden steps to get up! Although the steps are no longer there, this pile is now massive. And because they didn't put their sleds away, they are now buried. Somewhere.

Bathroom Update #4

I can't believe I forgot to post another bathroom update! 

With family coming to town for JP's birthday (2 weeks ago), Perry raced against the clock to finish up the cabinet and get the tile up. 

 He did a lot of swearing with these drawers, but I think they turned out nicely!

We spent far too much time at Home Depot picking out hinges and handles though. I'm glad we were able to finally agree on some!

Once the cabinets were done, he set to work on getting all the tile up. I completely forgot what tile we picked out so I was a little excited to see it up and have it match the rest of the bathroom.

I'm so lucky to have married such a handy guy!

Most recently he crafted this towel holder for us. I'm not sure this is what I had envisioned but it gets the job done! Now I just have to decorate!