Flat Stanley does Helena

Meet Flat Stanley. He's not just any Flat Stanley, this one belongs to my cousin, Grace, in Virginia. She's a third grader, and her class is participating in the "Flat Stanley Project". You can read more about it here. Grace asked us to show Stanley around Helena, and we were excited to help out. Ethan cut him out and Jason picked out the places we went.

Stanley traveled by purse since it was VERY windy that day. 

Elliott and Ethan were both excited to get out of the house.  

Our first stop was the fire watch tower. Of course it's at the very top of a very steep hill. 

Cool huh?  

Whew! We made it!  

Stanley had a rough time in the wind, but we got a couple pictures of him by the tower. 

The tower is much taller than it looks when you get right up to it, and it's surprisingly still in good shape. And you really can see the whole city from up on that hill. It's GORGEOUS here.  

Then they stood by the statue of the miners. Helena was built around mining for gold and the streets downtown are just paved trails that were used while they were mining. They are narrow and crooked and not in any sort of organized direction. A huge pain for getting around, but an interesting fact. 

This is a trolley car downtown.  

After seeing what downtown had to offer, we went to Fort Harrison. We showed Stanley the tanks. 

The Medal of Honor Grove was closed, but I can't wait to go back and read all the plaques. Ethan decided to salute his Dad for this picture. Hehe

They even have a small helicopter there. You know we had to have a picture of that.  

Then it was back in the purse for Stanley and we headed to the lake. I am so in love with the scenery here. How awesome is this lake?  

Those were the highlights of Stanley's first trip out in Helena, we are hoping to find a few more places to go, and maybe we can even meet the Governor!?!?

a little family time

Yesterday while I was getting my hair done (thank you Andrea), Jason called to tell us he would be getting off early. He's not "that person". He doesn't just take time off for no reason, so I was certainly surprised. It was so nice to be able to have a day all together with nothing to do. We decided to take the kids to the Exploration Works since Ethan hasn't been able to go yet (and keeps begging). Of course the kids loved it.

But so did Jason. He was totally into building the best water setup.  

This is one of the exhibits Elliott and I hadn't done yet. It "freezes" your shadow on the wall. This was fun for everyone. So here they are making the shadow....... 

and if you look close (it's much better in person), when the bright light goes out, they move away and the shadow is still on the wall. They stood in all sorts of crazy ways. 

After we were done there, we walked next door to the carousel. None of us had been there yet. 

Elliott didn't want to ride an animal so he chose this. It's like a teacup ride on the carousel (puke).  

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, but it meant a lot for us to have some carefree family time.

trip to arizona

Get ready. I have a lot of pictures for this post.

On the 19th, after we took Tyler to Bozeman, we tricked Ethan into thinking we needed to drive to Missoula. He had no clue what was going on, and to say the least, he was NOT impressed. That is, until we got to the ticket counter and the lady said "Going to Phoenix?" Ethan got so excited. Then he told us that it was cool because the Blackhawks were actually playing IN Phoenix while we were there. Luckily he didn't think we could actually go, but was satisfied knowing it would be shown on t.v.

Ellett and the kids came over to see us, and we got to meet D'Vonte for the first time! They all had so much fun together.

Uncle Jas and his Nook were a big hit, and Kyah has Jason wrapped right around every one of her little fingers. 

The weather wasn't stellar, so there was a lot of this. 

But there was also some of this. Haha. I'm sure he will love this picture in about 8 years. 

Then, we lied to Ethan one more time and convinced him that we all needed to squish into Papa's truck to go into Phoenix to reserve a hotel. Ellett kept Elliott for us, and I am so thankful she did.

We pulled up to the hotel right across from the arena, and Ethan could see all the hockey fans going to the game. Jason gave him his jersey, and we thought for sure he had figured out we were taking him to the game. We went into the hotel to use the restroom, and we were headed to the arena and he said "Are we going to the hockey game?" Hehe. Talk about an excited boy.

When we planned this trip, we didn't know it, but my dad's sister, Sandee, was visiting them at the same time! I have only met her once, 10 years ago. It was so awesome to see her, for her to meet Jason and the boys and for her to come to the game with us. Isn't she the cutest?

My dad was excited to show us around the commons area of the arena. He had already been to a game once.  

Uncle Jas is also Dominik's favorite. :) I love this picture. 

Ethan got to show off his skills. He didn't make it, but he had fun trying. 

The fountain was so cool. It "danced" to music every half hour. Plus, it's great for a photo op. :) 

Ethan won the Coyotes visor and gave it to Dominik so he had some team apparel. By the end of the game Dom was a Blackhawks fan, and I think my dad ended up with the visor.  

My guys heading into the arena.

Waiting for the game to start.  

Unless you were there, or know what you are looking at the game pictures are not that exciting, and since I have plenty of pics for this post, here is just the important ones from the game. The Blackhawks won!

Dominik stayed the night with us, and Elliott stayed with Ellett, so first thing the next morning, Ethan and Dominik were in the pool. It wasn't very nice out, but they made the most of it. 

Later, Jason and I took the boys to see Grandma Mac. She is in a nursing home and doesn't walk anymore, but is very happy there. She plays BINGO and cards, along with other social things. She was excited to see the boys. 

After dinner, we had a little birthday party for D'Vonte. 

The kids all loved it. They all got cake and each one got a gift. 

LeKyah 

Elliott 

Ethan 

Dominik 

D'Vonte (the birthday boy) 

He was so funny when he opened his gifts. Each one was SO exciting!  

The next morning we had to fly home. Our trip was way too short, and we can't wait to go back.

last week

This post takes us back in time to March 12. Yeah, I'm a little behind, but I have a good excuse. :)

On Saturday the 12th, the boys and I waited anxiously at the airport for Jason to get home from training. The boys were so excited! And this may just be my new favorite picture.

After picking up Jason, we drove to Bozeman to pick up Tyler. He spent his spring break with us. Ethan and Elliott both loved having him here.

On Sunday, Ethan requested "special breakfast" and since I only do "special breakfast" on the weekends, I made St Patrick's Day pancakes. Fun, huh?

Later we took all the boys to the park to run off some energy. It was a gorgeous, sunny day.

For whatever reason, I only took a couple pics at the park. Ethan and Jason played catch for a little while. Ethan cannot get enough of his dad.

Elliott, Tyler and I enjoyed our days together while Jason worked and Ethan was at school. Elliott had so much fun with Tyler. Tyler helped me out a ton by being able to stay with Elliott during nap time for some meetings I had and he even let Jason and I get out of the house a couple times.

On Friday, Tyler and I took Elliott to Gymtrix. It's a gym for toddlers, and on Friday they have open gym time. Elliott was full speed ahead for 2 straight hours. He jumped on the trampoline, jumped into foam blocks, played ball, swung on the rings, and just ran around. He was exhausted by the time we left. TOTALLY worth $5.

After school on Friday, I took the boys to the hangar to visit Jason and see the helicopters.

Even Elliott got to get in this time.

On Saturday, we drove Tyler back to Bozeman, and began our next adventure. That's another post though. :)