Pumpkins, Party, and a Butterfly

I feel like on most days if you asked me what our family has been doing lately you might get a blank stare and “not a whole lot” response.  But now that I am actually getting to sit down, upload pictures and write…well we have been REALLY busy.  I guess that’s why August was my last post.  So this morning I’m just going to start with last month and fill you in on all the Dakota pictures and funny stories that I can.  I’m sure you all could use something better to read then more election results anyways.

Her smile sums up her whole outlook on pumpkins!  She had a great time digging and carving.  

Just a little slimy.

 Searching for seeds.

 Doing what she does best...playing around!

 Trying to get a handle on the stringy and slippery guts.

 Just going to keep playing in it while she can.

 5th Annual Pumpkin Carving Party.  Lonyn trying to sneak in on Paige's pumpkin prep.

 It's a fine balancing act to keep this light stick firmly on her head :)

 Another round of pumpkins that she enthusiastically wanted to participate in.

 Likes it just as much as the first time!

 Captain America, cupcake, butterfly, devil, and a pumpkin. Anyone having fun?!

 

 The key is to take as many pictures as possible and hope for a good one.

 Everyone is in their own little world!

 Still holding out for that keeper pic...

 I think we'll roll with this one!

All dressed up on Halloween night. 

 Post trick or treating. 

 Candy basket fits nicely on her head.

 Gathering her loot and heading off to bed.  Successful 2nd Halloween!!

Did I just hear the lawn mower?

Every week since the beginning of spring Drew has faithfully fired up his lawn mower and endured the heat so that we could enjoy fresh cut grass under our feet.  And every week, just as the lawn mower starts, you can hear two little feet running full speed towards the sliding glass door.  I am not exaggerating when I tell that Dakota is obsessed with the lawn mower.  She insists on climbing up and sitting on the seat everytime we go into the garage and she insists that her daddy take her for trips around the yard when he is finished mowing. 

First of many rides with dad.

 Hoodie, jammers and boots...appropriate riding gear :)

 Running to find her daddy...

 She found him!

 Lawn crew 2012!

 



Third Times a Charm?

If you have followed our blog in the past then you know all about our camping adventures with Dakota. Our first two camping trips last summer were a little rough. Rain, thunder and lightning, baby throw up and very little sleep. I would like to say that this year was better, but it just wasn't.

We had a great first evening running around our campsite, eating treats, fishing, and watching Dakota's excitement build over the tent, the air mattress and the new surroundings.  Then my arch nemesis of mountain camping descended on our camp...mosquitoes, flies and all kinds of disgusting bugs.  I despise these insects so much.  I have awful allergic reactions to their bites so I am always on a quest to do anything possible to keep the bugs at bay.  Unfortunately, these bugs just hounded us and we all suffered.  First night of sleep was horrible...it rained, what a surprise!  Dakota slept horrible....what a surprise! 

The next day we got to fish, play in the dirt, pan for gold, pop bubbles floating down the creek and swat mosquitoes.  As horrible as night time sleep is in the mountains, naps aren't any easier.  Dakota finally laid down and relaxed for about 30 minutes but the little nap did not help her out one bit.  After being annihilated by bugs all day and being completely worn out this little camper of ours would not go to bed.  She cried and cried and cried.  We finally made the call to throw all the camping gear in the truck and get out of camp.  We knew deep down that she would sleep so much better in her own bed and after being bitten so many times, it was probably best to be closer to town.  Of course as we were heading out of the mountains the sky opened up again and another great rainstorm moved in.  I guess we lucked out on that! 

Here are few pictures to capture another camping trip for the books.

Hanging out while camp was getting setup.



Reading a little Brown Bear Brown Bear while the rain came down.

Drew's first fish of the trip.  Dakota's face is great!  She did touch almost every fish we caught and thought it was pretty funny to see them flop around.

On a roll.

First time roasting a marshmallow.

This looks so yummy!

Making her move.

Successful!

Playing around.

Graham cracker, marshmallow, chocolate and milk!  Yes, I like these a lot :)

Breakfast of champions...biscuits and gravy.

Hello sunshine! 

Perfect water droplets.

Trying on mom's hat.

Such a pretty smile.

Putting sticks in a water bottle.  This kept her busy for quite a while.  See those horrible bites on her face?  When we got home I counted at least 25 bites from head to toe on her little body.  So sad :(

She finally fell asleep next me for a short nap.

Packing up her chair and getting ready to leave camp.

Trying her hardest to wrangle the dogs up.

Drew said "Pumpkin smile for the camera.  This is your last camping trip till mom lets me buy a camper."

Dakota's face "Dad, get me out of here.  There is nothing to smile about."

Asleep within 5 minutes with snack cup in mouth.

Bound for Yellowstone

Oh, how I have continually thought of updating our blog night after night as I drift off to sleep.  But then I would think about the last four months of pictures that needed to be downloaded and it all seemed a little daunting.  Tonight however, I decided I would just get down to it and share just how busy our life seems to have become and of course what fun we have been running into along the way.

Recently, the Clark family moved back to Montana!  We really missed them during their years in Colorado, and now that they are back living in Bozeman, we have been working on meeting up when we can.   Our first adventure was bound to be good...at least we really hoped!  Yellowstone here we come!

We were lucky enough to make a three day weekend for our trip and headed to Bozeman on a Friday afternoon.  I hope I never forget the first few minutes that Ryerson and Dakota got reacquainted again.  Ryerson walked right up to Dakota and said "hi cutie pie"!  These two kids play together so well, and I am so excited for them to grow up around one another.   

Ryerson and "cutie pie" sharing a horse ride.

Leg stretching, running around and lunch time in the park.

 Sticks and cookies...good stuff.

 Headed to Old Faithful.  Ryerson is ready to see this gyser in action!  The wait time to witness Old Faithful's eruption can be any where from 60-110 minutes.  We lucked out and waited maybe 15 minutes.

 Say what!  That water is shooting way up into the air!
Unfortunately the pics of Old Faithful showing us her magnificent water display were deleted from the  camera.  Just imagine how cool it would look :)

 Yellowstone's landscape is extremely diverse.  Here are a few pics of things we stumbled upon.

 So the buffalo...yes they are HUGE and there are A LOT of them.  But, I see buffalo when I drive to Missoula or Stevensville every week to buy groceries  So while it was cool to see them living in the wild, we weren't about to stop and take pictures of them.  We stuck the camera out the window instead.

 Beautiful waterfall we stopped off at.

 First trip to Yellowstone as a family.

Lacy, Soren, Ty and Ryerson Clark.

I didn't take as many pictures of our trip as I had hoped to.  The sun was really bright and everytime you stop to look at something, you have 20 people walking around you or in front of your camera.  We are most certainly looking forward to returning to the park in the near future and spending more time in each of the areas.