Crazy cousins

 Zach is going to be the saddest boy when we get home, when he's stuck with just us to play with.  He has had an absolute blast playing with his cousins, all day long.  Zach can't walk next to Maryn without holding her hand, and Charlie loves his "Bin B" (we call Bryn "Brynnie B")!

Do you love their matching duds?

Adventures in NE MT

Because I know many of you will never be in this part of our wonderful country, I thought I'd include some pictures of what you're missing.  Here's one:

I took some other pictures out the windshield (my apologies for the bugs), but when I looked at them, I realized they basically look all the same.  Some have hay bales in them, but most of them are just miles and miles of some sort of farmland or pasture, or a sad, dry-looking prairie.  I confess it's not my favorite landscape (my father-in-law is shaking his head in disgust right now)... I need trees!  But we weren't up in the northeastern corner of Montana for the scenery; we were there for family.  And that I do enjoy.

We started in Wolf Point; visiting Scott's grandma.  Myrtle just celebrated her 94th birthday, and it was great to finally introduce our boys to her.  It's amazing to think that while we had four generations present that day, there is one more generation that descended from Grandma Myrtle and Grandpa Bob!

^ We had lunch at an interesting spot where you sat down, perused the menu, and ordered over the phone!

^ I was slow getting my camera out; there were 3 or 4 kisses before this one where Charlie kissed Myrtle smack on the lips.  Very cute.  But I'm glad I didn't capture the moment when he first met her, and greeted her with a bop on the nose.  Yes, that really happened.  Not my proudest moment as a parent.

^ After spending time with the boys' great-grandma, we continued on to Glasgow, where we met up with Scott's aunt and uncle, cousin and her family.  Then we were in for a treat - one of their daughters was in the play Willy Wonka, and we got to check it out!  Lily was Veruca Salt (in red), and she was the perfect little snot (on stage only!).  The boys loved the show; Charlie was especially enamored of the Oompa Loompas. (Pictured are Maryn, Zach, Bryn, Lily, "Charlie Bucket," "Violet Beauregarde," and Olivia - Lily's 6 year old sister)

^ Mandy, Bryn, Maryn, and our little family spent the night at Scott's cousin's house (Thanks Allison & Pete!).  The kids had a blast playing with their 3rd (???) cousins, and we adults enjoyed some great conversation, food, and drink.

^ Charlie thought I needed to see the sunrise.  It was pretty, but he was wrong.

^ After a Willard family traditional breakfast - pancakes with chocolate syrup - at Aunt Carmen's, we hit the road again.  Does the scenery on this part of the drive look any different to you?  And more importantly, have you ever been on a road trip where you've gone 134 miles without a gas station??!?!?    We did!

From WI to MT

Catching up on more recent events...

Mandy, Maryn, and Bryn had never been to Wisconsin, so we crossed the river and showed them some of the best the cheesehead state has to offer: lunch at Culvers and a view of the St. Croix from scenic Hudson.

And then part II of our August adventures began: the Montana leg.  Through North Dakota we caravan-ed, the three older cousins in one car with Grandma, Grandpa, and Mandy, while Scott, Charlie and I rode in the quiet car.  What a difference a year makes - Charlie was a MUCH better traveler than the last time we tried to take a long-ish road trip with him.  It was amazingly peaceful!

Still, after that 10-hour ride the kids were ready to stretch their legs.  So we headed to the park in not-so-scenic Glendive, MT.

Up next... our adventures in northeastern MT.

Cool dude

While looking for a specific photo in my phone, I came across this one, from October of last year.  I don't think I ever shared it, and since it made me smile, I thought it might do the same for you.  Our cool dude at the dentist:

The beginning of our August adventures

Our August adventures were kicked off with a visit from Scott's parents, his sister Mandy, and her daughters Bryn (almost 10) and Maryn (8).  Once again, I didn't do the best job of taking pictures, but I did manage to capture Mandy's birthday celebration:

If I had taken more pictures, there'd be lots of the kids playing together, inside and outside.  It's fun to see how well the older three get along, considering they generally see each other only twice a year.  But the majority of the pictures would be of everyone at the Mall of America, which I believe I will start referring to as the mecca for the Willards of the west.  Of the 8 full days they were with us, four of them were spent at the mall; two shopping days and two amusement park ride days.  They closed down Nickelodeon Universe twice.

Zach was convinced to try a new ride - the Pepsi roller coaster.  He loved it; depending on who you believe, he rode it somewhere between 5 and 20 times.  And as you can see, they all rode it enough that they figured out when to pose for the camera:

^ Grandma Cookie & Zach in the back; Mandy and Maryn in front

Charlie didn't get to ride as much as the big kids, as his mean mom took him home in the afternoons so he could nap.  But he did get to experience the Wonder Pets ride for the first time (he's too short, but we found a ride operator who wasn't paying much attention).  Check out the video here; you may want to turn the volume down, unless you enjoy having your eardrums pierced by a toddler's shrieks.  Yes, that's Charlie.

When Mom and Dad are away...

When Mom and Dad are away...

The kids hang out with Grandma & Grandpa at the park:

 Get silly with second cousins (or cousins once-removed???):

Play with first cousins:

Head back to the park:

Play lots of fun games on Grandpa's ipad:

 Check out the dinosaurs at the zoo:

Whew.  And that's not even everything... not pictured are two trips to the swimming hole in the quarry, a movie outing, and lots more playtime with their cousins.  And more that I can't remember!

These two did not miss us a bit while we were in Boston & Cape Cod.  I can't tell you what a great feeling that is - to be able to leave your kids for SIX DAYS and know they are not only in good hands, but having the time of their lives!!  Time for us to plan another adults-only trip, I think...!

Safety first

Charlie may be the only kid I know who wants to wear a bike helmet.  This is Zach's, but it fits him, and he likes nothing better than wearing it when tooling around on the driveway.  Or just running around in the yard.  Wherever.

PS... I apologize in advance for the randomness of all upcoming blog posts.  I'm in catch-up mode, and still not feeling particularly chronological.