We decided the end of August to head to Montana mid September so Hans could do some archery elk hunting and the girls could ride horses. It is definitely not ideal to go on a trip just a couple weeks into the school year, but it has been awhile since we have been in MT in the fall so we decided to go for it. We took two days to get there and found a great hotel just past Spokane that had a family suite for a good price. Which was so nice!! The girls loved the breakfast and going for a swim the next morning.
When we arrived at the cabin the girls could hardly wait to see the horses! Seriously I think they were more excited to see the horses than Grandma and Grandpa. Aubrey said some cute stuff along the way. Aubrey- "Why didn't God put Grandma and Grandpa's cabin closer to our house?" (Good question...LOL!) "I can't wait to get there and see Deuce!" "Why is the cabin so far away?" Yeah, it was a LONG trip!!
Olivia did a great job journaling about our days events each day. I may have to check her journal to make sure I get this blog right! Ha!
When we arrived at the cabin the girls could hardly wait to see the horses! Seriously I think they were more excited to see the horses than Grandma and Grandpa. Aubrey said some cute stuff along the way. Aubrey- "Why didn't God put Grandma and Grandpa's cabin closer to our house?" (Good question...LOL!) "I can't wait to get there and see Deuce!" "Why is the cabin so far away?" Yeah, it was a LONG trip!!
Olivia did a great job journaling about our days events each day. I may have to check her journal to make sure I get this blog right! Ha!
Wednesday night...reconnecting with the horses and enjoying the sunset.
Thursday was horse riding day. The girls took a short ride around the property on Thursday, fed the horses, helped move the horses, and soaked up the horses as much as they could. Oh and the dogs too!
And a campfire and s'mores was a great way to end the day!
Playing with my panoramic setting on my phone. Kind of fun ;-)
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| Love this one! |
On Friday we went to Yellowstone for the day. It was beautiful out, we saw lots of animals and saw a new area of the park that I had never seen.
A buffalo just right off the road.
A first for me, we saw a large bull elk just off the road. We followed it around and were within 20 yards of it. I never got a super clear shot of him, but in a few of these pictures you can see how big he is.
Next we stopped to see a pretty waterfall before having some lunch at a different little spot.
After lunch was when I about had a heart attack! We walked down to top of the lower falls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The walk down was not tough but I was anxious about holding onto and keeping track of the girls. After hearing of a little girl that fell into the river and then went over the fall my heart just broke for that family and I wanted to be sure I kept good track of my girls!! It was definitely awe inspiring and breath taking. But standing at the top of that rushing falls was enough to make me just a whole lot nervous. I just don't like heights much and the fence did seem sturdy! Anyways we survived and walking back up with 2 little ones was a tough job, but we survived that too. Here are the pictures!
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| taking a break on the way down |
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| From the top! |
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| The canyon |
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| Seriously? We were so close! |
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| Can you see the fear in my heart? And see what I mean about the fence? |
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| Another view of the canyon |
Then we headed off for a different view of the falls. I could handle this spot a whole lot better! It was beautiful!
On the way back we saw a few more buffalo and I loved the meadows!
Saturday was football day!! Hans and I met in college at Montana State and we loved to go to the games when we were in college. This is where I learned about the game of football. So it was really fun to return to our alma mater to watch a game. And boy have things changed since we were there 10 years ago. The stadium is expanded and we were blown away by how much the fans have changed. The student section was packed and they actually knew how and when to cheer! And talk about school colors! The whole stadium was packed and full of yellow and blue and it was LOUD!!! Olivia even got an ear ache from how loud it was. And we great seats to boot!! It was hot, fun and so nice to be back. The game was great even though we were ahead the whole game and lost in the very end by just one point ;-( I could go on and on about how different it is....makes me wish I were going to school now. But instead here we are 10 years out and 4 girls later. It was fun to bring our girls to see the town where we first met.
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| Holding my sleeping baby |
On Sunday we took the girls for another short trail ride at the same spot we went this summer. The girls love, love, love these horses!
This time I was lead "horse" with Raelyn on my back and leading Minnie with Claire riding solo on her. Olivia rode solo and Hans and Aubrey were together with Grandpa pulling up the rear.
Raelyn got to sit on the horses for the first time. She loved it!
On Monday we tried to go see the Earthquake Lake Visitor Center but it was closed for the season, which was a bummer. That area is really amazing to see. But on the way back we got to see some big horn sheep. Yeah they were this close to our car ;-)
And spent some more time with the horses, whilst packing and prepping to head back home.
And did a quick walk down to the lake to check it out and get the dogs some exercise.
Another great trip and then it was back to the grind here at home! Oh and Hans unfortunately didn't get an elk, but he did get into them some and looks forward to spending some time hunting in this area in the future.
