Brock's first mallard!

Clint, Brock and Dane headed out today to see if they couldn't find some ducks on a creek outside of town. Waterfowl season opened today and one of our favorite ways to hunt ducks is to walk along the creeks and jump shoot any ducks that might be there.

Kimber and I had some tasks that we had to do so we didn't go along...  but they had a great time, and Brock shot his very first mallard duck. 

Here is Brock crossing the creek to get his duck.

 Nice shooting!

 Brock is always really good to Dane and he even let him carry his duck.  

 Lookin' good!

Fall Fishing at Holter

Last weekend we headed out to Holter for some fall fishing.  The weather was beautiful and the fish were biting!!!!   Can't ask for anything better than that!

Early in the day I landed this beautiful trout!

 Little man reeling in fish on a big boy rod!

 Dane proudly holding up his awesome catch!  (Kimber in the background wanting to drive the boat!)

 There were a couple bald eagles in the area!  I was able to get this one good picture!

Dane lost his first tooth!

Dane lost his very first tooth! (he actually lost it on the 16th...  I'm just a little behind!) What a little stud!

Here he is showing it off!

The tooth fairy did come, but was nice enough to leave the tooth behind so he could show it off at school the next day! 

 Kimber wanted to show her teeth off as well!

Snipe Hunting and Kickin' Asphalt!

Yesterday we took Dane snipe hunting...  there were a couple hiccups; walking in the tall marsh grass and mud is challenging for us, and really tough for Dane.  That made for some cranky moments when he would fall.  Then he moved up on the drier ground.  He was still close enough to get to see the action, carry the birds, etc.  But, the walking was much better.  I forgot the memory card for the camera (in the car) so I didn't get any pictures until they were cleaning the birds.  Dane watching with rapt attention to see how Clint does this.

 This morning I ran the Kickin' Asphalt Half Marathon.  Here is Dane finishing the race with me!  

 After we got home from that, Dane helped Clint with some "man projects" like painting the playhouse!

The Montana Bale Trail!

Last Sunday Mom, Dane, Kimber and I loaded up to do the "Montana Bale Trail" tour.  It's an annual event where people show their artistic talent with hay!  It was actually quite impressive and you will see from the pictures.

 We also stopped at the Mid-Way Cafe"Hay" to try out the hay maze.  It was a pretty good maze and a fantastic opportunity for the kids to burn off some energy!

 Then we were back out looking at the bale art!

 Obviously we picked the right direction to do the tour...  It was stretched over about 30 or 40 miles and the  traffic coming the other way looked like this in places...  So yes, we do get traffic jams in Montana, just not anywhere near a town!

 How awesome is this?

 and because I work in public health...  I loved this one! :)

A trip to Wallowa County

I love taking the kids back to Wallowa County, where I grew up and Marsha and Dad now reside.  It is totally worth the 12 hour road trip!  This time I really did try to remind myself that it is about the journey and not the destination.  So, on the way there we stopped a little more and played a little more, and we still made it!  Along the Clearwater River the smoke was truly awful.  In fact, Dane and I both were feeling quite ill by the time we got out of it.  You can see how thick it is in the picture below, and it was like that for at least 80 miles.

Once the smoke cleared a little, we stopped to play in the River...  First, Dane asked if he could get his feet wet. "Sure" I replied "but don't get your clothes wet"....  So we all had a great time playing, finding minnows, and snails or anything else we could locate.

Hmmmmm....  So much for the "don't get your clothes wet" part of our conversation!  Oh well, being the over prepared mama that I am, I had a clean, dry pair of clothes waiting in a bag on the front seat of the car!

We got there in one piece, got settled in and then the next day Dad, myself, and a friend named Noel did a trail run up to the top of Aneroid Mountain.  It was a blast and SO BEAUTIFUL!  Marsha was kind enough to watch the kiddos for me!

Back at the house we had a lot of fun as well...  Here Gramps is giving Dane lessons on how to use a sling shot.  Dane was intent on learning how to work that thing, and by the time we left he was doing pretty darn good!

Of course we had to get a drink at "cold springs".  That water is so cold and delicious!

Mastering the slingshot

Of course the kids got to ride on the back-hoe and Dane took a couple motorcycle rides with Gramps.  

Kimber wouldn't go near either of them without me...  so here we are on the back-hoe for a little while.

Dane had NO trepidation at all...  so here he is on one of his rides with Gramps.  

 Then Gramps let him drive the tractor, not from Gramp's lap, but actually in the seat all by himself.  He felt SO PROUD!

Here he is getting a little instruction.  Notice the look of concentration!

 and we're off!

 We met Noel and her family in town one day for a picnic.  Dane and her son, Bridger were total buddies and couldn't get enough of one another!

 The even built a really cool "beaver dam".  Here is Dane showing off his muscles, and his cool dam!  Notice how wet he is again!  That boy is drawn to water like crazy.  It actually wasn't really that warm, maybe 65 degrees...  and he played in that creek with Bridger for a solid 5 hours.  

Back at the house, Grammy and Dane are catching some grasshoppers

 A little frog with his tail still attached.

 Another little frog

We all had such a wonderful time!