Gotta love these kids!

It's been a long week.  Last Wednesday I had to go pick Dane up cause he had pink-eye.  Well, we took him tot he Dr., got some drops and figured we would be good.  Friday he hadn't improved much so he went back to the Dr and got different drops and oral antibiotics.  That night his fever climbed to 103+ and stayed there for the entire weekend.  When he was medicated it would come down some, but as soon as the tylenol or ibuprofen wore off it would shoot right back up.  Nights were super rough and then we added some puking to the mix.  He wasn't eating very well and I started getting worried.  Monday I was supposed to go to Missoula for work but Clint was working that night.  We had made arrangements with someone from his daycare to bring the kids home and hang out with them until Clint got home, but obviously that wasn't happening.  Luckily, Clint was able to get Monday off and after getting Dane another appointment to go back in I headed out to Missoula.  Good news is that they got him into an eye Dr. and got some different meds to put in his eyes.  Turns out it wasn't pink-eye but a different eye infection.  Monday night his fever was up to 103.7 when he went to bed, but it ended up breaking overnight and by Tuesday night he looked so much better.  Clint had Wednesday and Thursday off, so Dane and him ended up spending some great time together.  (even though Dane could have gone back to daycare on Wednesday, Clint kept him home and they went fishing at the River on Wednesday and out on Holter today...  Lucky guys! 

Kimber is such a cuddle bug...  she will climb in anyone's lap who is sitting on the floor.  Here she is taking advantage of Dane's lap...  as little as it may be!

Tuesday night Clint was cleaning up after dinner and the kids were outside playing.  I don't think we have to wonder if Kimber is going to be a tomboy!

I know I've said it before, but Grammy is an awesome seamstress.  Here is Kimber sportin' a super cute dress that Grammy made her! 

The next few pictures are from the boy's trip to Holter today...  here are some crawdads that they were able to catch.  As well as a stick and a flower!

Dane showing off one of the crawdads they caught!

Even though he only went a few times, swim lessons really helped Dane's confidence around water.  Here he is splashing around and having a great time!

Fishin' the Missouri with Dane

Monday we decided to give Dane a special day.  He's been missing his Daddy since Clint switched to afternoons, so we thought that a special day fishing on the River might be a lot of fun for him.  So, Kimber went to daycare and we hiked down to the Missouri for the morning.  It is a tough place to take Kimber at this point anyway.  She only wants to be on my back for a while or if we are hiking and then she wants down.  She is walking but not that great and as you will see from the pictures it was really muddy.  Plus, Dane felt pretty special!  Here are some pictures from our great day!

Dane's getting his Daddy a minnow. 

 One of Dane's goldeneyes.

 My special catch...  yes that's right.  It's a carp!  They actually fight pretty good! 

 Dane actually caught the first bass of the day!

 Dane's pretend "sailboat".  He talked Clint into riding his "sailboat" with him.  It was pretty darn cute!

 It was truly a little boys paradise.  Look at all that mud!

We all had a really fun time. It was pretty hot though, I think it got up to about 104 here yesterday, which is hot for Montana.  Luckily we had a nice cool sprinkler to run through last night!

In addition, today I got some good news.  I lucked out and drew a bull elk permit for the Beartooth Mountains which is a pretty great area.  I am SO EXCITED and can't wait to start hiking and scouting!  

An awesome visit and a fun fourth!

Clint's parents left last Sunday after a great visit.  They were amazing and helped us so much while they were here.  We did have a little fun as well.  Here are some pictures from our fishing trips.

It's a walleye!

Just chillin'

Bill with a nice trout

Sheri and Kimber enjoying lunch

 I also picked Dane up a kite one day so Sheri (Nana) and I took him to fly it at a local park.  The wind was pretty light so we had to run a little to keep it up, but it was so fun.  I think I had as much fun as he did.  Plus all the running tired him out!  Awesome!

 This was taken on Holter during one of our fishing trips.  I thought it was so beautiful!

 The day that Bill and Sheri left we decided to just hang out and have some fun.  So, we headed out to Freezeout for some bowfishing.  Dane thought that it was about the coolest thing EVER!  He was telling everyone about shooting carp!

Clint ready for a shot

 

Kimber is quite the walker these days and has a great time trekking everywhere.  Here she is bringing me a rock!  What a treasure! 

and of course, there was the fourth.  My mom came over on Sunday night and we lit a few fireworks for Dane.  Here he is with some sparklers!

Way Behind!

I've been up since 4 am after a long (or short?) night with Kimber.  So, I'm tired and I'm sorry this post will probably be short.  But, I did want to catch everyone up on what we have been up to.

Finally we got some nice weather and made it out on Holter.  For this trip we didn't catch too many fish, but had a wonderful time and enjoyed getting out on the water. 



Daddy and his princess!



 We got Dane a bike and have been having a great time teaching him how to ride/brake/etc.

 Clint received a Medal of Honor through MACOP for his response to a particular call last year.  They paid for us to go down to BigSky, Montana for the Award Ceremony.  I am so proud of him for the amazing work that he does and it is wonderful to see him and his coworkers recognized. 

 This past week, my Supervisor at work left to return to Michigan and go back to school.  She really is an incredible person and has become a good friend.  I was sad to see her go... 

We did have a nice time at a BBQ last weekend. 

Kate, Kimber, and I

 There was a pond out where we had the BBQ, so the boys did some fishing and caught some beautiful brown trout!  The whole property is incredible and is owned by another coworker of mine who was generous enough to invite all of us out! 

 Both kids adore Kate, but Dane is especially fond of her!

Dane and Kate

Kate and Kimber

This week Clint's parents are here so we are working around the house (painting) and today we made it out to do some fishing.  I will do my best to update again with pictures from their visit soon!

It's a Walleye!!!!!

Kimber walking

She is so darn close to getting really mobile.  She just needs to get her confidence up, then there will be no stopping her!

Another fun day in the sun... with water too!

Sunday was another fun day with sun, water, and Grandma!!!  Fun was had by all!  The only thing missing was my amazing hubby, Clint... 

Oh yeah, there was mud too!

 At this point Kimber is happy to play on the blanket.

 Making her way to the buckets, water, and fun!!!

 Time to stop for a snack...  in the perfect little chairs that mom got the kids.  They LOVE them!

 She made it to the water!!! :)

 Back at home...  this doesn't look like an accident waiting to happen...

 She wants to be like her brother so bad!!!

A fun weekend!

Kimber has really started to enjoy dinner with us...  unfortunately things can get messy.  Avocado was on the menu this night! 

 Saturday was "National Trail Day".  An organization here in Great Falls set up a bunch of different hikes around the area.  Since Clint was working, me and the kids decided to participate in the hike on the river that was designed for kids.  It was 2 miles long, and was a part of the River's Edge Trail that we had never been on.  It was quite pretty and Dane had a wonderful time.

 Then, when Clint got off work we headed out to Benton Lake.  With all the water that we have had, there are a lot of ducks in the area.  We got a fair amount of pictures that I wanted to share!

Shoveler



Shoveler



Cinnamon Teal

Long Billed Curlew

Long Billed Curlew

Yellow Headed Blackbird

Beautiful Wildflower

Walking down the boardwalk

 As I said, we have a lot of water in the area...  Since we were in the car, we decided to turn around at this point!

 Of course we had taken the net, so Clint and Dane caught a bunch of waterbugs.  I think that these are water fleas and freshwater shrimp.  We took these home and put them in the fishtank for our minnows.  They were thrilled, and quite fat!

It was a really great day and we had a lot of fun!