Anniversary Week

Monday night baseball game!  Go Bucks!

Tuesday night baseball silliness...

Wednesday was Luke's last baseball game. 

What a great season!

The boys found a trout in this creek, and they thought it might need to be freed from the shallow water.  They found it around 4 PM, and we went back around 8 PM and it was gone.  We came prepared with the bucket, a net, and of course Grampa!

As we were walking home, Luke told me he's a Kardashian  -- big pockets.  Ha ha ha!

The boys went to Great Falls for three nights, and we started the freedom streak out right, with a night with a few beers. 

Friday was our 17th anniversary, and we celebrated by going to the Red Chair. It's our favorite place. Nothing fancy, just right. 

Saturday we went to Holter Lake and camped at a boat-access only campground. It was so great! 

A trip to the lake with no kids...it was pretty relaxing. 

Ruby is getting better at relaxing on the boat.

We went to Indian Trails, a step back in time, for a memorable lunch.

I carved 17 in the picnic table, in honor of our years together.  

Check out the view from our campsite. 

The view to the north (ish).  It was gorgeous. 

I found this black snake, and I think it's some kind of rare and obviously scary snake. 

Our campground...love these panoramic views!

Cousins on a boat!  Sunday we got the boys back, and Sierra came with gramma and grampa for the day.  Love to watch the kids play together. 

Josh surfed his head off...he's fun to watch!

This low tuck would kill me, but he does it often and repeatedly.

Babes on the Bow. 

A dip in the lake!  Silly Smiles! 

In closing, this is the GEM that I bought at Indian Trails.  I saw it last year and didn't buy it because I wasn't sure how much it cost. When we came back, I knew I'd buy it if I could find it.  Sure enough, it was there and I negotiated for it. It's a 1974 beauty.  

Birthday & Father's Day Weekend

It was Bobcat football camp week!  Luke had morning practices, so I dropped him off.  They both loved their camps and can't wait for football season! 

Luke's a great little catcher! 

He's got the deep squat down pat. 

The Harleys were in town, so we went to dinner at The Red Chair after Luke's game, and he was begging for ice cream after dinner.  Who can say no to this face? 

Friday night we had the start of Josh's birthday party.  Kyler was able to spend the whole weekend with us.  Aden could only come for one night, so we opened his gift first.  A very exciting new Nerf gun!  

Saturday morning I took Aden back, and picked up Gabe, Spencer, and Weston.  Mike took Luke, Kyler, and Ruby for a morning boat ride. 

I loved watching the boys' long hair blowing in the wind.  Luke was eating and couldn't stop for a picture. 

Spencer and Weston checking the depth of the lake.  They guessed 30' but it was 100' deep! 

Most of the Krazy crew! Luke was being a cat at the time, who knows what that kid is thinking. 

Our 11 year old driving! 

Luke wakeboarding in front of an audience of 5 friends!

Spencer gave Josh these tiny lacrosse sticks that are made for playing in the water, a perfect gift!  This is a pair of happy boys! 

A picnic table full of boys! 

Gave gave Josh a hysterical card that has a cartoon of Trump on it and it say "I hope your birthday is HUGE"
 and the inside says "Bigger than my ego"  so this is Josh saying "HUGE" of course. 

Gabe gave Josh a Bobcats sweatshirt, which will come in handy this season! 

Smores!  We went through 6 Hershey bars! (nice photo bomb, Spencer!)

Sunday morning, mancakes of course. 

This was the ride back, 6 boys and a boat!  You can't see Weston, in the way back left, and Gabe is our resident middle schooler, so he took it! :) 

Happy Father's Day!  We went to Bridger Brewing for pizza, and then to Sweet Peaks for dessert.  Mike had whiskey pecan ice cream, and it made him a very happy guy! 

Silly faces with ice cream.

And the "normal" smile.  

Our baby robins are getting so big!  Every year we have robins on our vent, but they don't survive to fledge the nest every year. These look close, I hope Champ doesn't get them! 

Cliff Lake Getaway

Saturday we headed to Cliff Lake for a night with friends (Amber, Tim, and Josie Blazina, plus Carol and Kevin Diffendaffer -- most of the Smith River crew from last June).  It was stunning scenery and just what the doctor ordered.
We took our drift boat across the skinny part of the lake and camped on the far shoreline in a  little tucked-away cove.  The boat ride over was sketchy, and Mike is a champion rower for getting us and all of our crap there safely. 

Our first stop before braving the windy, white-capping lake was a little rock climbing in life jackets. 

We did a community meal, and the Diffendaffers brought "a Taste Of Italy" for the appetizer.  Roughing it. 

Josh found a snake and proudly brought it back to show us.  Ick. 

The boys have been watching "Wicked Tuna" and were trying their hand at spearing fish (or Gaffing, as they call it). Surprise, no fish were killed. 

Luke did snag this nice rainbow Saturday night before dinner. 

This is the smile of a promised meal that he caught himself. 

This is the face after he collected downed wood with his dad. 

The boys hiked to the top of the island, they dubbed it Rocky Top Island, and staked their claim. 

The scenery was amazing. 

Friday night we decided to take a fishing trip and try trolling.  This is Josh rowing his heart out. 

And Luke giving it his all. 

Sunday morning the boys went on a shed hunt walk up the hill.  They found these treasures. 

Luke got to eat his fish for breakfast Sunday.  

After we ate, we headed out to catch more fish. Love this look, glasses over the shaggy hair!

Tim rowed Josh around all morning, and Josh caught 7 nice fish! 

Luke and daddy both caught 4 fish Sunday morning. This is Luke's biggest one, and my favorite grip. :) 

I caught three total, two on a fly!  I still hate to touch fish, so Mike took pictures of the proof in the net. 

This was my first fish of the morning, and I laughed because I thought he was just following the lure, but when I looked closely he was spinning with the lure.  Thats SMALL!

I can't remember who caught this nice one, but both guys look pretty proud!

Ruby was one happy and worn out doggy!  We had 6 adults, 4 dogs and 3 kids on the trip, so she was in great company! 

Before we knew it, it was time to go. Josh kayaked and trolled across the lake (he also kayaked on the way over...but this time he was fishing!).  Tim never misses an opportunity to make us laugh! 

He caught a fish on his kayak!  I can't believe the trolling worked out!

That was an incredible weekend!