Montana

We took a trip to Montana over the 4th of July with Jonathan and Amber, my mom and the boys. We drove and on the way out it took us about 3 days because none of us had seen that part of the country before. We saw the Badlands, the Rockheads as Emerson and Easton call it (Mt. Rushmore), Yellowstone and Old Faithful. The kids really were great and being in a car for up to 8 hours a day wasn't as bad as we all thought it would be. I was about 8 weeks pregnant (!) so I didn't feel great but we made it work.

Once we got to Montana, we met about 15 or so family on the Braby side.  My cousin Dan and Susan have a beautiful cabin on about 750 acres so we were able to do lots of fun outdoorsy things the girls have never gotten to do before.  The landscape was beautiful.

The kids went rockclimbing on the property (there's literally a massive boulder the guys took the kids to.)

There was a lake nearby we went swimming in one day.

One of the last days we went horseback riding which was Ryan's first time.

My mom was showing off and almost fell off.

Emerson, not so much.

We spent a lot of time hanging out at the resort and swimming, it was awesome.

Emerson got reacquainted with her 2nd cousin, Maddie.  They had an absolute ball together.

My cousin Dan and my Uncle Howard took the boys out to shoot guns.  Very Montana.  Ryan's first time shooting a gun also.  How did this guy grow up on a farm and not do any of these things???

The last night night the kids put on a show for us- it was priceless.

Recital!

The girls had their recital (Easton's first) and everything went off without a hitch. Easton was adorable and of course, was the cutest bumble bee out there. Emerson did awesome and had 2 dances this year, Hey Mickey and Zip A Dee Do Da. It's a really busy and stressful weekend but it's come to be one of my favorites. I'm just so proud of them both.

The "babies" go on stage before the dress rehearsal to get a feel for the stage. I think Easton was good...

Ice Skating

At the Independence Events Center they had a free ice skating workshop we thought we'd give a try. I have to say, Easton on ice skates might have been the cutest thing I ever saw.

Emerson took to skating right away. They used these things that made them all look like elderly people using walkers but they worked.

Easton went right out onto the ice and immediately fell so it took her a bit longer to warm up.

They were teaching the kids how to stand up if they fell on the ice.

I think she liked it in the end.

I'm not sure we'll be trading in their ballet shoes for ice skates but it was sure fun to try it out.

Deanna Rose

My BF, Jayme, and I took the kids to Deanna Rose. I hadn't taken my girls in 2 years so it was pretty much new for Easton. We had a great time feeding the goats, going on a hay ride and Easton got her first pony ride. I saw Easton munching on something (I hadn't given her a snack recently) and I realized she was eating the goat food. In her defense, I handed her a sack full of "food." I should have been more specific...