Summer adventures - Part II

Second part of our summer begins in Columbus.  We drove home on a Sunday and our house was mostly done.  The crew was still here finishing up the trim, deck, outdoor lighting, all that good stuff.  :)  The kids loved watching them and asking questions and talking to them and they even got to play with one of the builders kids one day.  They always joked with them about if we could keep the outhouse in our front yard and other things.  They were pretty nice.  Mark, our contractor and his guys did pretty great and we love it overall!  Unfortunately, he used a new dry wall/painting person and this guy did not do a good job and he's making him come back and redo it.  The first days home, the kids were so excited to explore and figure everything out.  It felt good to get back home!  I especially love our view each evening out our back kitchen windows and french doors.  Lovely Big Sky, I love you!

We did a scavenger hunt to get more familiar with our new neighborhood.  I had different activities for the kids to do, like take a picture by the Columbus sign, get library cards, visit daddy at the hospital, have a picnic at the train park, go swimming at the pool, etc.  Then when they finished, we got them a prize.  This is a great place!

Lots of unpacking and workbooks and Lego building and outings and art and playing in our dirt outside and cleaning and getting settled and wrestling and driving each other nuts somedays...;)

We went to the River a few times, once with the Charles and Jamie and with the McCallys too.  The kids love wading and playing in the rocks and sand and floating and swimming and splashing and finding wildlife.  We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful area, even with the smoky air lately!

Dave and I were able to go to the Billings Clinic Classic.  It is a benefit for a different cause and this year it was for kids They blocked off a couple of blocks right downtown and have a big white tent semi-formal event.  Everything looked so pretty!  We had dinner first while listening to music and talking, getting to know our new hospital board president and his wife.  They were great and the food was good too.  I liked the lobster mac & cheese, fresh fruit and desserts best, while Dave enjoyed the flank steak and fancy cheeses but not the lamb.  We went to the Jewel & Billings Sympony concert next.  It was so good!  I have always liked Jewel, but now knowing her story makes me like her even more.  Dave wasn't as impressed.  She's been through so much.  I really liked her song "Broken Until Open" where she talks about how sometimes God puts us through so many trials until we break, so we can be open to helping others and being sympathetic, open to God.  It was pretty cool!  After, we checked out the neat auction items and there was band playing and dancing and desserts.  It was a great date night together!

We got to hit up the Montana State fair.  It was a good time!  The kids loved the rides the best, of course, and also the high divers, Mango and Dango show, the animals and bands.  Good times at the fair!  

The last night of freedom, we had our annual family fight - this year it was a color chalk fight.  It was so fun, but it stains really bad.  So worth it though!  Dave volunteered to take pictures and hold the baby if she didn't like it.  We  Then we had our crazy dinner where everyone picked something to contribute.  This year we drew for different things - main, vegetable, fruit, drinks, dessert, side dish.  So that worked out a little better.  The kids were pleased!  It was a colorful and fun night!  It's been a tiring, crazy fun summer and we are looking forward to getting back into a real schedule again and back to normal.