We arrived in Missoula on the evening of November 6th. It was already growing dark when we got there and it was dark, dark by the time we reached Kristie's home in Florence, Montana. We didn't get a chance to see how pretty their property was until the next morning. When I opened up the blinds in our room Sunday morning, Elliott exclaimed "Trees!" And boy was he, right!
My friend also told us that they were now the proud owners of six chickens "The Ladies" and a cow "The Cow" aka "Cheeseburger" (I'm sure you can guess why he has such a moniker). Elliott was fascinated by the chickens and really loved to follow them around. This was Elliott's first experience with them out of the coup.
They are really beautiful chickens and it was so much fun to watch them eat and run around.
I have to admit, the cow was a little odd and had these big googly eyes. But one of my favorite memories from our trip is when my friend's husband asked Elliott if he wanted to go out and help feed the cow, to which Elliott responded by running straight to the front door, saying "Moo" and "Cow", over and over. Hee, hee.
Now as you can probably guess, it was a little chilly while we were there. I think we woke up to ~20 degrees each morning and I don't believe I saw it ever get over 43 degrees, with it usually being in the 30ies most of the day. Luckily Old Navy had a 50% off sale on kids coats the week before we left because I almost didn't get him a coat (~$50!!!), but not only did he wear it, he really used it every day we were there.
Now, when you see the full photo album from this trip, there is one thing featured VERY prominently, the playgrounds. Not only because we visited a couple due to the company we were keeping :) , but also because they have some of the coolest playgrounds I have ever seen. They are truly community efforts with the contributors names prominently featured on the fencing and other special features. They are also very different than what we are used to seeing here. They are primarily wood, cement and a cement looking composite. Each one also has a theme and a very unique design. The one in Florence has a pioneer theme and Elliott is climbing over the seats in a (un)covered wagon in the video below:
(You can hear Elliott saying "iseeyou" a couple times :)
The one you see below (I forget its proper name - the kids all knew them by name), but it was a giant twisty tower that a dragon had taken over.
We visited this particular playground in Missoula, which sat next to the fastest carousel...ever. (It was all I could do to keep Elliott and I from sliding off our bench seat!). It was really elaborate with lots of twisty ups and downs and secret ways here and there. I had so much fun exploring the main tower, I can only imagine how awesome it would be for a kid! The best part? Even though the tower was made for older kids, the steps were all 1/2 tall, so Elliott was able to navigate everything really easily.
One of the best parts of our trip was spending time with Kristie's kids. They were so much fun and were so great with Elliott. By the time we left, they could do the best imitation of Elliott I've ever heard...to the point, I sometimes couldn't tell if it was Elliott or one of the other boys saying "Da, Dah" (what he usually calls to me - and apparently all parental-types - when he's trying to get my attention).
Elliott was also very intrigued by them and all they did. I often caught him just following someone around...even into the bathroom. He also seemed to really enjoy being at the dining room table when James did his homework in the evening. They were also very good sports and shared their cars, which Elliott was obsessed with (He had to point out and say "cars" every time he saw one or wanted to play with them). Kyle even picked a couple cars out of their collection so Elliott could start a collection of his own!
And the trains...I had recently been thinking Elliott might be interested in trains, but hadn't really put much thought into it beyond that. As soon as he saw them, Elliott was drawn to Matthew's Thomas the Train set. This is the most concentrated I have seen Elliott play for quite some time and he would have stayed out in the play room all day, if we had let him...just pushing and pulling the train cars around on the tracks.
(Needless to say, a train set may have already been purchased for Christmas...)
Each day we were there we got to explore a new little part of the surrounding area and got a feel for the Montana way of life. It was so beautiful and we apparently didn't even hit it on a "good day". I have a whole series of 'scenery' photos coming up after this post, that I felt need to stand on their own and now be bogged down with words. And I will also be posting my Montana photo album on our photo share site in the next few days, so look for that as well.
Both Elliott and I were sad Brad wasn't able to join us on our little Montana adventure because he would have had a great time as well. But with his school schedule we probably wouldn't have been able to plan a trip out there any time soon if Elliott and I hadn't taken off on our own.
Now this brings me to something I don't want to dwell on too much...our flights. I was VERY nervous about flying with Elliott on my own. Almost to the point where I wasn't sure I could do it before I booked my ticket. But I didn't want that to stop me from going and I knew the trip itself would be great for both of us. So I bought tickets and promptly wanted to throw up. Fortunately, I had some time to get myself together before the trip and the day of our first flight went perfectly. I was able to sit next to an empty seat and use Elliott's car seat for the flight. He was great and even slept most of the trip. I couldn't have asked for more. Unfortunately, the 'low budge' nature of the Missoula airport (paper lists instead of computers) led to a lot of miscommunication about the availability of an empty seat on our flight home. I was finally told I couldn't move my seat next to an empty seat because the flight was full and I would have to check the car seat at the gate. I was prepared for this since I hadn't paid for Elliott's ticket and that would have been fine. However, what still chaps my hide is the fact that it turned out there was indeed one empty seat on the plane...the ONE NEXT TO ME. But by the time I knew this, it was too late to get the car seat out from under the plane. So the flight home was not smooth and not painless and had its share of tears, screams and mini tantrums. I'm just glad Elliott is almost 2 so the dilemma over to buy or not to buy a seat will soon be a moot point...at least once we get through our Christmas travel :P
1 comment:
I'm so glad you guys had a nice vacation. I must have been fun to go somewhere so different for a few days. ps: Nice hat, E! :)
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