Smith River

We floated the Smith River from Thursday-Sunday.  We went with Amber, Tim, and Josie Blazina, Carol and Kevin Diffendaffer, Joey Roberts, these three!  Kyler got to join us at the last minute, and it was so much fun having him!

This picture was taken at the put-in, and they were already ready for an epic adventure!

I have pictures from two cameras (my phone and the GoPro) and they're out of order...so here they are in no particular sequence. 

Luke found a nice, comfy place to sleep on top of the coolers.  

Thursday afternoon it rained for a few hours, and we had the boys put their rain coats on over their life jackets. I thought they looked so funny all bulked up (except Josh was wearing Mike's old rain coat and so it still looked baggy on him!).

Luke did not like floating in the rain, he bundled up. We huddled under a tarp to keep our legs and feet warm. 

Before we knew it, the weather had cleared enough to start doing trick panoramic photos. 

We sent the kids to find willows for smores sticks, and our boys whittled these tiny 18" long sticks.  They couldn't imagine why we thought they should go longer. 

Paisano around the campfire, an epic tradition. The 7 adults finished this huge bottle the first night.  We had a blast!  

Kyler caught the first fish for our boat, and the only one on a spinner rod.  A nice little rainbow!

One day they'll be too big to stand on top of coolers and fish, but not today!

The second morning, Tim gave each boy a feather for their hat to make them look like their own little tribe of wild boys. 

Can't beat this scenery. 

The pictures don't do it justice.  It's just breathtaking. 

Josh caught a nice rainbow later in the day. 

Luke is reeling in one of his fish. He caught four on his fly rod but couldn't get any into the boat for pictures.  

Campfire shenanigans! Josie is a great sport and hung in with these three boys so well!  She's every bit as silly as they are!

Joey was Josie's gym teacher, and was brave enough to take all four kids in his raft.  He's a river manny. :) 

Around every turn it seemed like we had another stunning vista.

This was our campsite after day 3.  20 miles on the river, and still got there before sunset. :) 

Luke didn't like getting up early after the late nights they pulled.  Dance parties in the tent are exhausting!

Our biggest fish of the boat.  

Boat selfies never get old.  We made good use of Josh's selfie stick.

Camp from Night 2.  The boys were having fun on the rock cliffs as we were setting up camp below, closer to the water. 

This boat selfie makes me laugh. I think Josh looks like he's trying to be tough.

Luke can't hide that smile, no matter how much head gear he wears.  

Happy floaters!

The Last Week of School

Tuesday night Josh's team had an end-of-season bbq at the park.  They got matching shirts, how lucky! 

Wednesday I chaperoned a field trip for 4th graders to the Lewis and Clark Caverns.  I rode the bus up there and got these two for seat buddies.

This is the smiley picture.  They're just so cool.  Josh is in the back row, pretty much in the center. 

Dabbing is HUGE in their class. Josh doesn't like it, so he does a silly face where he puts his hat too close to his eye lids. Ack. 

Wednesday night the boys had their Cub Scouts Crossover.  Luke moved up from Tiger to Bear. 

Josh is now a Webelo 2.  

Thursday morning was their last day of riding the bus this year.  They are thrilled. 

Friday was the last day of school!  Woo hoo!!

I asked for a picture without Josh's hat, and this is the pose he threw. 

And I couldn't help but post this silly face pose -- it's off the charts awkward.

Fast forward a few hours, and we were here.  Canyon Ferry for a birthday bash camping weekend.  

We had 6 boys -- our 2 plus 4 friends - and Ady and Asha too.  It was a crazy crew for sure!

Check out this bunch of happy boys!

Boys will be boys.

The weather wasn't that great, so we didn't spend much time on the boat.  We came into shore and the boys had fun on the kayaks.  

We did one more trip, and Josh got to drive home. 

This is a terrible picture, but they don't sit still.  They whittled for hours and most of them came away with tiny wooden pencils. :) 

They had a pretty epic whiffle ball game. Eventually Tom pitched, and the score was something huge like 22-19 at the end.  

This is the birthday dinner that Josh planned.  Hamburgers and hot dogs, watermelon and corn.  Nummy!

Right after dinner they put the song "Pissing in the Wind" on repeat, and shook water bottles (which had been pierced by their new carved tools) to make it look like they were peeing.  Boys will be boys - again?

We sang happy birthday to Josh in our trailer.  He loved the attention.

He opened presents from his friends and brother. He got some really fun stuff--he's got some really good friends. 

Saturday night was nicer weather than we had seen all day and the boys asked if they could kayak across to the other side of the bay.  We said yes, but hurry, ha ha. This is actually a funny picture because Josh was riding in the green kayak, and you can see the wake of where he fell in from standing up (showing off). 

Where was this smooth water all day?  It's so pretty!

Every year these two do a campfire picture, and this one was the first of the year.  They've been doing this since Luke was 1!

Before we knew it, we had hungry boys for breakfast.  One of the friends, Aden, had to go home at night to be with his family, but these 5 hung strong. 

Sunday was MUCH nicer weather.  The boys did a quick morning kayak ride (Ruby was thrilled about this), before we went tubing. 

These girls are so stinking cute watching their brothers/friends. 

The last ride of the day was Kyler, Asha and Ady, and Luke - we let 4 of them ride together because we wouldn't go fast.  Look at Asha asking for us to speed up...she's a daredevil! What a fun weekend -- we are ready for this summer stuff to get rollin!!

Another Fast Week

I can't remember the circumstances of this amazing photo, but I think it had something to do with helping dad in the crawlspace (headlamp around the neck) turn on the sprinklers (watching out the back door) and right before bed (in his undies).  This kid knows how to rock a look.

Josh got to celebrate his summer birthday on June 1, so I brought chocolate covered strawberries to his class. He was embarrassed as they sang to him. 

And then embrrassed that I was there with a camera. 

This one was OK -- he asked me to take this picture.

His friend Spencer asked for this one...

And then the 4 boys called for a group pic.  Oh to be a 9 (or 10) year old boy!

Thursday was Josh's spring musical performance.  He played the part of the scientist. He nailed his part, but said it so fast that I bet 1/2 of us couldn't understand it.  He looked pretty rocking' in his goggles, though! 

Thursday night was the carnival at the school.  Josh had his last lacrosse practice so I took Luke to the carnival alone. He liked it and was thrilled when he won candies for prizes. 

And then before we knew it we were in Billings for a lacrosse tournament.  The boys played at 9, 1230, 130, 330 and 5.  They were tuckered out by the time we headed home. 

Josh fought hard, but finally gave into sleep. 

Luke had two afternoon games, and man were they hot!  So hot you have to roll down your knee high socks!

Josh played at 9 and 130, which was a very hot game too - that's why the water bottle is in the picture.  Now lacrosse season is over and we won't know what to do with our free time.
As I write this, on a Monday after school, we have two friends over and the 4 boys are playing lacrosse in our backyard.  I guess we do know what to do with our free time -- more lacrosse! :)