He's growing up

Josh outgrew his dinosaur bedroom, so we redecorated it this weekend. He basically chose everything in here, and I just "steered" him toward cool stuff. :) 

In their natural states

Champ loves being in the backyard.  She is quite a hunter.  She loves my dogwood bushes.

We set up a slack line in our back yard.  Josh was super serious about it, and got pretty good at it.  We had to take it down because we were pulling over our fence posts. :) 

Luke preferred hurdles for his outdoor obstacle. 

Greg Louganis Who?

We got to go swimming at the country club in Great Falls and there was a diving board for us to try out.  Josh took to it very well.  He takes after his daddy in form, no? 

p.s. Luke jumped off it too, but I had to "catch" him and so we have no photographic evidence of his bravery.

A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work

We took our boat and its new trolling motor up to Hyalite on Saturday.  We had a lovely time and it was a gorgeous day. 

Josh was serious about his new cowbells. 

Luke doesn't 100% grasp the point of the sunglasses.

I LOVE that the boys can sit in this part of the boat.  It is not a seat, and I doubt that they can fit there next summer, it's just too cute. 

Luke is apparently posing with his fishing pole. 

This boy loves a good stick.

gallatin county fair

The petting zoo this year was fun. It was a mix of cuties, like this one, and freakish bulls.

Batman greeted us at the fair on Friday.  The boys were beyond thrilled. 

One of the first things we did at the fair was ride the train -- with Kyler. What a happy surprise to see him there. 

This made my day.  Next Halloween costume?????

Josh saw the tractor pull show and knew he had to participate in it.  He did really well...and it was quite entertaining. 

After a quick bit of fair food dinner, we were off to the rides with the Ryles. These two made quite the pair. 

I wonder what she's seeing.  

Me and my boy at the top of the Ferris Wheel. 

The Super Slide is always a crowd pleaser.

Everyone seemed to love the carnival games. 

I think Luke wanted a different toy.  What do you think? 

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We stopped in to see Ashtyn and her friend Avery, who were both selling 4H pigs.  They did such a great job.

She looks like a pro around that big ol' pig. 

After the auction we rode more rides and did more games.  The tilt a whirl was Luke's favorite this year.  Josh got a little green on it -- which was surprising since last year he loved it so much.  

We played several carnival games and closed the place down at 11:30.  These are some happy kids with their loot!

Gone Fishin

Luke's all ready to go fishing.  Those poor fish don't even know he's coming.

Josh with one of his many small mouth bass

Josh caught a blue gill.  Luke was there for moral support. 

Luke with one of his bass.  He's becoming quite the little fisherman.

Campin Cousins

We had a mini family reunion, with Grandma and Grandpa, the Fontanas from Great Falls and the four of us all meeting at Newlan Creek Reservoir.  The kids didn't miss a beat and spent a lot of time getting wet or muddy or both!

We brought the drift boat, and the boys played in it a lot.  They make their own fun!

This is a strange picture of Luke doing his "trick" of getting his hair wet...

See how proud he is.

Josh posed for me like this, and I couldn't help but laugh at his shadow.  Fighting Irish anyone?

Cassie had fun with the inflatables...

Cassie and John trying the canoe out.

Don't know why the pouty face, but it didn't last long. 

Smiley Sierra on the boat.  She loved being around the water!

Luke and Sierra play together very nicely.  Both are fiddlyfarters at heart, I think. 

They take after this guy.  This umbrella has been around since he stole it fair and square from a bar in Lakeside in the mid 1980s.

Happy under the Reunite Umbrella after all these years.

We put an electric trolling motor on the drift boat (keeping it classy), and this was the fun we had with it-pulling the kids around on their floaties.  No chance of falling off here.

If you look close, you can see Josh smiling.  Rare, during an activity he's usually all business.

Luke loved it.

Real smiles and all

And sweet, cautious smiles too.

Here is Sierra and her turn -- she didn't want to get wet, so she stayed on the inner tube for this round.